Kind of an odd question....

Nich0le

Yes, he has Type II diabetes, I forgot to say.

I was wondering if it was possibly more mental than a physical effect of the disease and he was wolfing down sweets because he had been told he shouldn't have them anymore.

What does everyone else think or know?

My grandfather had type 2 diabetes brought on from alcohol consumption (didn't know this till I was older but obviously an alcoholic). Once he was given the diagnosis my grandmother said he got into a mental state of "no ones going to tell me what I can and can't have". I remember as a kid he ate a lot of Rocky Road candy bars and rocky road ice cream ( I see a theme) but he was also a huge potato chip fan.

I had a similar reaction that your husband seems to be having when my doctor told me to lose weight and I went on to actually gain 30 lbs more before I got a grip and listened. Your husband may be in a bit of denial or shock as to the diagnosis and you may need to get help for him by getting his meals planned and keep junk food out of the house. Junk food isn't good for anyone and when it poses a particular health risk to you or a loved one there is no reason to have it around.

It isn't easy to say no to ourselves or those we love but you may need to put your foot down. Plus, a glycemic diet is a great diet to follow for weight loss too.:flowerforyou:

stephaneyh

Thanks for all of the insight. Since none of his bizarre eating habits occurred until his diagnosis, I guess we can say he's in denial about his situation. He buys all the groceries in our house because I am unemployed. Whenever there is a big BOGOF sale at a grocery store in town, he will come home with at least $50 in potato chips and beer. I've noticed a recurring trait of his....now that he's been told to reduce his consumption of beer and switch to 'lite' beer and that he shouldn't eat sweets and lots of high fat food, he spends way more money on these things than he does on what I call real food, food that I can fix for meals. Right now, we have no less than 10 bags of potato chips sitting around the kitchen and there is enough beer in the house to have a block party.

He reminds me of the dieter who is constantly pressuring her 'skinny' friends to eat more of what she, herself, likes, because she's obsessed with it and can't have it, like bread or cookies. It's like an obsession with him to possess the things he shouldn't eat, even though things like chips and snack foods go bad before he can get around to eating them, because there's just so much of it in the house.

I'm amazed that all of his checkups have shown that his blood sugar is within normal range, considering all the beer and snacks he's consuming every night. I'm beginning to wonder if his positive diabetes test, so long ago, was a false positive.

Well, thanks for your interest and help.

bathedinshadow

I guess I'm not really answering your question in the way you want, but this sort of behavior would be a red flag for obsessive-compulsive disorder. I have a 13 year-old OCD son and, while he doesn't eat an entire container of ice cream at once, he has similar odd eating behaviors.

Right... I'm more getting at the concept rather than suggesting it's something I'm going to do.

bathedinshadow

no one seems to 'get' what you're asking........will massive, excessive amounts of sugar and fat be more or less harmfull when consumed in one sitting, than the same massive, excessive amount being consumed over a period of 7 days.........the body can't process that much sugar and fat at one time, just as it can't process that much food at one time in your stomach...........your insulin levels your body produces in response to food aren't capable of the massive doses that would be required to break down all the sugar, your gallbladder can't process such large quantities of fat at one time, so they will trigger other responses in your body that you can't ignore, such as throwing up what's backed up in your stomach, and feeling extremely nauseous. There will never be a poop out the excess so you're home free on weight gain scenario. What excess you were able to consume before you started throwing up, will be stored as fat and in about 2 days you should see a big jump in your weight.

However, if you ate the same amount over a period of 7 days in equal portions, your insulin levels would have time to adjust to the new higher levels of sugar intake and so on and so forth. Satiation involves the brain, too, not just the stomach and I'll bet at some point during that 7 day period that ice cream won't taste anywhere near as good as it did on day one. That's the brain trying to stop you from harming the body, through your taste buds.

Yes, I think you're right that the question was kind of taken more as "oh no this girl needs help she's going to eat a bucket of ice cream." But really it was just a hypothetical that I've always been curious about. Thanks for your answer. I was curious as to what the thoughts are around it.

stephaneyh

speaking of splurging.....my doctor was giving me a hard time about my weight and when I asked him if I qualified for that gastric bypass surgery, he said I'd have to gain another 30 lbs to be at the minimum weight required! I laughed and asked him if I could just enjoy myself and gain the extra weight THEN have the surgery and he said NO.

I was telling a friend of mine about my doctor visit and she said she actually knew of a woman who needed to be 50lbs heavier to get the surgery, so, she gained the extra weight and had the surgery!

I'd be scared to death that I would die of malnutrition if I wasn't naturally morbidly obese when I had the surgery. Imagine, dying of starving to death after having surgery because you over eat!

Mommy2Girls

Thanks for all of the insight. Since none of his bizarre eating habits occurred until his diagnosis, I guess we can say he's in denial about his situation. He buys all the groceries in our house because I am unemployed. Whenever there is a big BOGOF sale at a grocery store in town, he will come home with at least $50 in potato chips and beer. I've noticed a recurring trait of his....now that he's been told to reduce his consumption of beer and switch to 'lite' beer and that he shouldn't eat sweets and lots of high fat food, he spends way more money on these things than he does on what I call real food, food that I can fix for meals. Right now, we have no less than 10 bags of potato chips sitting around the kitchen and there is enough beer in the house to have a block party.

He reminds me of the dieter who is constantly pressuring her 'skinny' friends to eat more of what she, herself, likes, because she's obsessed with it and can't have it, like bread or cookies. It's like an obsession with him to possess the things he shouldn't eat, even though things like chips and snack foods go bad before he can get around to eating them, because there's just so much of it in the house.

I'm amazed that all of his checkups have shown that his blood sugar is within normal range, considering all the beer and snacks he's consuming every night. I'm beginning to wonder if his positive diabetes test, so long ago, was a false positive.

Well, thanks for your interest and help.

Perhaps he needs an eye opener of what can happen if he continues to induldge in foods he shouldn't be touching. Maybe that will help to ease him off of his splurges of ice cream, chips and beer.

molsongirl

Totally odd, I have a friend who lost 20 pounds eating nothing but chcolate ice cream, everyone told her she'd gain it all back again because as soon as she eats healthy the pounds come back plus more. Guess what? she kept it off, plus a little more, she says it helped her get on track, sounds ridiculous, but it's been almost a year, and she's kept it off, mind you she doesn't like chocolate ice cream anymore! lol :laugh: she does now eat healthy, it gave her I guess the start she needed...who knows? :happy: :noway:

Nich0le

Totally odd, I have a friend who lost 20 pounds eating nothing but chcolate ice cream, everyone told her she'd gain it all back again because as soon as she eats healthy the pounds come back plus more. Guess what? she kept it off, plus a little more, she says it helped her get on track, sounds ridiculous, but it's been almost a year, and she's kept it off, mind you she doesn't like chocolate ice cream anymore! lol :laugh: she does now eat healthy, it gave her I guess the start she needed...who knows? :happy: :noway:

Ya, I tried the chocolate milkshake diet too :laugh: Needless to say I did gain it back and then some, glad to know it worked for someone :laugh: :laugh: