When we think of “temperance,” we automatically think of abstaining (“abstemiousness”) from tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse. But temperance for a diabetic goes beyond that! I often say that the real temperance for diabetics is portion control!

You also may know that one of my pet peeves is the saying, “Everything in moderation.” NO! Moderation is not a unit of measure. Portion control is a system of measurement for your food. You have to establish a strong habit of awareness of exactly how much of any given food you eat and the amounts of macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, fiber, protein) and calories in that portion.

If you have never kept a detailed food journal before, you need to do that for at least a few weeks (often much longer) until you have an accurate idea of what and how much you are eating. You won’t have to do that forever. But you do in the beginning. Or at any time when you feel yourself slipping back into old habits. Keeping a detailed food journal provides you with accountability.

Remember to “eat to your meter” when you are trying a new food or new recipe, or even foods which you have tested before, as your tolerances for specific foods may change as your body changes.

For diabetics, the most important thing to abstain from is sugar. Sugar in all its forms! And abstain from anything and everything that raises your blood sugar into harmful levels. This includes high stress, the number one non-food cause of high blood sugars.

This is true abstemiousness!

Read (or re-read) our article on Temperance at https://adventistvegetariandiabetics.com/getting-started/learn-about-diabetes/8-laws-of-health/temperance/. As well as our previous blog post on Portion Control of March 7 at https://adventistvegetariandiabetics.com/2021/03/07/practice-portion-control/.

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