[pct-l] diabetic meal plan

[Janet Grossman]

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:32:43 -0500
From: T Cook <ts.kt at hotmail.com>
Subject: [pct-l] Diabetic Meal Plan?
To: <tom-pct at spacing-guild.net>, <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Message-ID: <BAY114-W48ACB5692B65C9DD1F990DF9400 at phx.gbl>
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Any diabetic hikers out there that can provide some insight into a good, solid diabetic hiking meal plan?

I have Type I, have been wearing an insulin pump since 1986. Although my attempted thru on the PCT in 2007 was aborted, I've been doing section hikes since and hope to do another 500 miles this summer. I find that my blood glucose is much more stable on the trail than at home, and I just cut my basal rates by about 40%. Since I'm a vegan "health food" eater, I dehydrated my own "dinners" of things I eat at home like lentil soup with brown rice and spinach, mashed sweet potatoes with tofu and spices (add peanut butter on the trail). I then ground the dehydrated stuff to powder in the blender and just add hot or cold water to rehydrate. I've also been using some purchased dried refried bean powders, and occasional "natural" mashed potatoes with added garlic and soy powder. Since my partner keeps getting various bars at prices like $2 for half a plastic grocery sack full, I've lately been eating bars for breakfasts and snacks. I haven't yet tried the Justin's Nut Butters on the trail, but finally got some on sale and believe they will be a lot less messy than the various leaky containers I've tried previously for pb. What I generally do is trial and error, just testing my glucose frequently. This is all much simpler than it was when I did the AT in 1978-79, when home glucose meters didn't exist and I just took my 2 injections a day and hoped I was doing ok, with the occasional meaningless urine test. Of course I've had some lows and highs, but nothing really terrible. Feel free to contact me off list if you have specific questions.
Janet