I went to a new eye doctor today, and after reviewing my information he noted that I was diabetic.  I had clearly marked that I was a Type 1 Diabetic in good control, and he asked “So do you take pills or do you use diet and exercise to control that?”  I tried to hide my disdain and replied, “Well, as a type 1 diabetic, I am insulin dependent, so I need to take insulin.”  Honestly, I know not to expect that other medical professionals are 100% up to date about diabetes, but is it too much to ask that they at least know the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes???    Am I asking too much???  

 Besides that, the appointment went well – no signs of diabetic retinopathy yet and no other causes for concern yet.  Whew  

 On the diabetes front, I’m ready to throw in the proverbial towel.  For the past week I’ve had at least 5 days where I’ve gone low not once, but twice a day, and it they weren’t just little lows (like in the 60s), they were those low lows in the 40s that freak me out.  I can handle a high 50, low 60 low.  Those make me feel itchy, shakey, and irritable.  Lows in the 40 I usually don’t feel right away.  Those lows make my brain feel like mush for the next few hours.  Superb feeling when you’re trying to work on two online classes along with preparing a lesson for high school seniors who pretty much tune out everything that isn’t 100% thrilling (and word:  my English classes aren’t even 2% interesting to them)

On the weight front I’m, well, clueless – haven’t weighed myself in quite a while.  However, I’ve been noticing a lot of positive changes in the way my body looks after spending about a month in a really regular routine of doing The Firm cardio exercise DVDs. Of course, these DVDs may be the culprit that is causing the low blood sugar havoc .  These cardio DVDs incorporate weights and cardio, which I love (and by love, I mean hate with the firey passion of 5 million setting suns but endure because I know its good for me), and they make 40-50 minutes of sweating go by quickly, so I’m game.  Give me season tickets.  I’ll take two.

 The other night I tried a fabulous recipe from Roni  called Mexican Pie.  It’s delicious and my husband – the I’m-only-eating-heatlhy-food-that-doesn’t-taste-healthy guy – LOVED it.  The man ate seconds and then nearly licked his plate. Impressive. 

 Any suggestions on what a girl can do when the scale isn’t budging even though you’re working out hard (and doing varied workouts) and eating right?   I’m beyond frustrated, and I’m annoyed that being frustrated with my weight not budging is starting to feel normal.   GRRRR…. 

Food:
Breakfast:  1/2 c eggbeaters, 2 sl light wh toast, 8 sprays ff butter, cinnamon, coffee with 1 tbsp sf/ff creamer

Lunch:  salad with mushrooms, tomatoes, 1/2 c northern beans, bacon bits

Dinner:  Cold Packed Deer Meat (new thing my MIL shared with us – it looks craptastic in the jar, but I’ve heard it’s really good!) over 1/3 c barley; green beans

Exercise:  Cardio DVD (40 mins)

I do like to plan out my meals, but on Wednesday night my planned meal – which I ate all of stubbornly – wasn’t really the best for me since it left me feeling really, really full. I love being full, but I’ve learned that it’s better if I end a meal feeling satisfied instead of full. That’s probably one of the hardest feelings for me to recognize because I’ve usually taken insulin for a certain amount of carbs, so I feel like I should eat a certain amount of carbs regardless of how full I am. I know that I can take less insulin upfront and give the rest later, but I always tend to forget that concept when I’m getting ready to eat dinner. I honestly can’t remember how I approached a meal before I was diabetic, which was only 6 years ago. I can’t remember if I stopped when I was satisfied or if I stopped when my plate was clean. How can I forget something that was only 6 years ago?

One thing I know I need to work on now is to try to eat only until I am satisfied at dinner, my most difficult meal of the day in terms of carbs, calories, etc! Hopefully if I focus more on listening to my body I’ll have an easier time stopping when I’m satisfied instead of plowing ahead and eating until I’m on the brink of being too full.

Weight: 135
Food:
Breakfast: 1/2 c eggbeaters, 1 tbsp bacon bits, 2 sl light ww toast, 8 sprays ff butter, cinnamon; coffee with 1 tbsp sf/ff cream
Lunch: Tossed greens with 1/2 c northern beans, 1 tbsp bacon bits; diet pepsi, 5 tootsie rolls (midgets), light cheese stick
Dinner: 2 ff hot dogs, 1/2 c northern beans, tossed salad (with cucumbers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and 2 tbsp light Thous. Isl. drsg), light yogurt with 2 tbsp slivered almonds and cinnamon
Snack: ff lays chips, cheese stick
Exercise: 40 minutes run/walk interval; 20 minutes ab workout

UPDATE:  Well, I was doing quite well until about 2 hours after dinner….  my blood sugar was 74, and I still had 1.7 units left, but I entered the 74 bs in my pump and put in for 13 carbs for a pudding cup (sf/only 60 calories!) and thought that the pump wouldn’t let me bolus if I didn’t need the insulin… however, it showed me that I needed 0.7 to cover the carbs so I took that.  About 1/2 hour later I felt “funny” so I checked my blood sugar and rang in with a blood sugar of 47, so I ate a granola bar (16 carbs, 90 calories), a light string cheese, a handful of peanuts (ugh!  Why did I do that?) so I felt like I totally blew my diet for the day!!!   I tend to go on an eating rampage when I’m low, and this was no different.  UGH!!!

 Last night after I ate my salad, I was full and content.  However, I had taken insulin for my stuffed pepper, so I ate the stuffed pepper.  Makes perfect/no sense right?  Ugh.   I should know by now to take a conservative bolus at the beginning of a meal and then to take additional afterwards if I eat more carbs than I first planned on.  I should know that, but I still seem to enjoy using the excuse that I “have” to eat more after I’m satisfied because I took insulin to cover the carbs.   

Weight:  136

Food:

Breakfast:  1/2 c eggbeaters with 1 tbsp bacon bits; 2 slices light wheat toast with 8 sprays fat free butter and 1/2 tbsp cinnamon; coffee with 1 tbsp sugar free, fat free creamer, 1 water
Lunch:  Lean Cuisne Entree, 5 mini midget Tootsie Rolls (gotta have my sweet bite!), diet pepsi, 2 waters
Dinner:  Chicken breast over large salad, water, yogurt with 2 tbsp slivered almonds, cinnamon, 2 slices light wheat bread
Snack: light string cheese, 1/4 c sunflower seeds in shells, 1/2 green pepper

Exercise:  Pilates DVD (40 minutes)

 I hoping that I’ll see the scale move a little this week if I cut back on my portions, eliminate unnecessary snacks, and increase my exercise.  I figure I might as well give it a try. 

Food for today:

Breakfast:
1/2 c eggbeaters
2 slices light wheat toast with 8 sprays of fat free butter, cinnamon
Coffee with 1 tbsp sugar free/fat free creamer
water

Lunch:
Lean Cusine Entree
Green bean/carrot mix
Water

Snack:  light string cheese (2), 1 ounce beef jerky; 1 ounce fat free potato chips.
** Blood sugar before snack:  175 – no bolus due to workout
** Blood sugar after workout:  345 – SHIT!!!  Shit, shit shit!!!  Shit to the 3rd power! 
** Blood sugar 2 hours after taking correction….:  270 – what a bitch…
** Blood sugar 4 hours after taking correction, eating dinner, blah blah blah: 89 – kiss my shiney hiney blood sugars!

Dinner:
large salad with greens, 1/4 c diced carrot, cabbage, mushrooms, radishes, peppers, bacon bits, 1 hardboiled egg; 1.5 stuffed peppers; diet dr. pepper; crystal light fruit punch

Exercise:  30 mins walk at 3.0-4.0 mph; 40 mins Cardio/Sculpt DVD

 So anyway, I harnessed all of my inner strength and plopped on the scale this morning:  136 pounds. 

 To put it in perspective, I’m 5’4” so 136 pounds tends to settle on my hips, butt, and thighs – yep, every woman’s dream.  My most comfortable weight is around 115-120, so I’m setting 115lbs as my goal weight.  We’ll see how this pans out.   The competition is for about 40 days, I think, so I’m hoping the competition will help me to stick to a plan to weigh myself and to actually work each day on being more conscientious about what I’m eating.  I inwardly cringe when I typed that last sentence because, as a diabetic, I analyze each bite that goes into my mouth as it is, but I guess I don’t do it to the degree that would garner optimal weightloss or the maintaining of a lower weight. 

On the exercise front, I’m averaging about 4-5 days of exercise each week that usually consists of one of the following:  40 minutes on the treadmill doing intervals of walking and running; various cardio DVDs by The Firm; or walking outside at a semi-fast pace with my husband.  My goal is to become more consistent and to integrate pilates exercises into my weekly workouts.  I’m thinking these would be superb on the days that I come home later because they are very relaxing and involve more stretching and toning than my normal workouts. 

While I’m at it, I might as well log my food for the day on here too, for good measure.  Maybe it’ll help me to hold myself more accountable???  Let’s hope!   

Breakfast:  1/2 c eggbeaters, 2 slices light wheat toast with 10 sprays fat free butter, cinnamon, coffee with 1 tbsp fat free/sugar free creamer.

Lunch:  Spinach salad with mushrooms, cucumbers, and tuna with mustard; 2 slices light wheat bread; water; 4 midget tootsie rolls

Dinner: spinach salad with mushrooms, green peppers, 1 tbsp light feta cheese, 2 tbsp light italian dressing; green bean mix; steamed haddock; diet Dr. Pepper; light string cheese.

Snack:  celery, light string cheese

To get caught up, visit my previous blogs:

http://www.lalashilolog.blogspot.com/

and

http://www.lauracountingmyblessings.blogspot.com/ 

which should take about 2 minutes….

I’m apparently notorious for writing sporadically.  Not great for me or any would be regular readers. 

I’ll try to be more consistent, but I won’t make any promises.