Monday, February 28, 2011

Day 43

1:15 p.m.
Fasting BG was good. I felt okay with my breakfast and my lunch food selections so I did not do finger-sticks for those. I will catch the supper check tonight. 

I also went ahead and added that fifth 10-minute session to my exercises this morning. I decided to try to trick my body & my mind by doing the 10-minute session and then two 20-minute sessions for a total of 50 minutes today. It probably helped some, but Oh Em Gee, I was really struggling in the last fifteen minutes or so. But . . . I persevered and finished so I'm glad for that and I'm glad I went ahead and added it. Once added it can't be taken back out you see, so now I'm committed to it! :D My philosophy, but it works for me!

And, my little Wii board tells me I have lost some weight - not enough to be bragging about yet, but some loss at a slow rate is good progress, so I'm happy about it!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Day 42

6:30 p.m.
Another day and both meals were good on the BG numbers. I'm eating some leftover pizza right now so I will test that in an hour & a half and see how much damage leftover frozen pizza is going to do.

I want to get a good bead on what foods affect my BG too much so I can limit more or eliminate completely. 

And, I've read that stress can cause the BG to be elevated too so I need to avoid stress as much as I can, but somehow it always finds me. And, sometimes, it is one of those things that there is no black & white solution to. Case in point? My 6 year old granddaughter. I think she is ADHD and she cannot be in the house and there be any peace and quiet. There won't even be a wee bit of quiet until she falls asleep. The noise makes me so edgy. But like I said, no black & white solution since I don't want to say she can never come over just to avoid her noise. I mean, she is my granddaughter, and I do love her dearly, but I just need her to tone down a bit. Fortunately she only visits every other weekend so it is no longer an everyday stress.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Day 41

10:45 a.m.
BG was higher after breakfast than I want it to be. And the carb amount was 54.70 - just about at the top of the limit I had set for my carbs per meal. That may have to be adjusted too - just depends on how other meals go without the insulin.

My new short term goal is to identify and replace foods that impact my numbers too much with the absence of insulin. First on that agenda is breakfast. I had my usual Special K with Almond Milk and coffee this morning & it sent my sugar higher than I want so the next test on breakfast will be tomorrow when I have a Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowl. Depending on how that works out I will go from there. And, while my doctor said I only needed to test twice a day, I will be testing more often these next two weeks to be sure I eliminate or replace any foods that hit my sugar too hard!

Gotta keep my focus on staying OFF the needle!

I needed a new goal with this new journey I am on since I had become somewhat comfortable with the process and the diet modifications and all. Always helps to have a new goal! :)

2:10 p.m.
So lunch was a salad - Baby Spinach Leaves with fresh strawberries, fresh pineapple, shredded Manchego Cheese, a bacon strip (crumbled) and Light Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing - carbs = 49.40g / BG = 98. 

I compare that to my breakfast of Special K Cinnamon Pecan with Almond Milk and a cup of coffee - carbs 54.70g / BG - 238. 

A difference of only 5.3g, but gosh at the difference in the BG numbers. I don't think it was the difference of 5.3g of carbs as much as I think it is the difference in the type of carbs. The different foods have different “glycemic indexes” (that is, how quickly they tend to raise blood glucose levels) and apparently the glycemic index of the cereal is one that hits my BG hard. 


So, cereal is on it's way out but my yummy salad gets to stay (yay).

Friday, February 25, 2011

Day 40

1:20 p.m.
BG still good. Or it was when I woke this morning. I'm not sure about my numbers after lunch since I am just now eating lunch. Got distracted doing coupon searches this morning. All I really want are some decent coupons on Folgers coffee. Is that really too much to ask of the internet? I didn't think it was, but all I found was a lowly little 25cent off coupon. I am going to watch Sunday and see if CVS is offering the 2/$5 on Folgers in our area and if they are I'll use my wittie bitty 25 cent coupons then.

 I'm not sure I can add another 10 minute session to my workout next week. The fourth one takes all I have just to get through - still. It may take a while to add more time but I am still proud to be able to at least do the first 30 minutes without major grief. And I am also proud to be able to push myself through the fourth 10 minutes considering a few short weeks ago I was pushing to finish the first 10 minute session.


6:30
Doing the Happy Feet Dance!!!
I e-mail my BG readings to my doctor every 2 weeks and today was the day to send them. I have been impressed that he always responds to them - on a Friday afternoon, but he does. And today's reply was . . .

"The numbers look very good…I want you to stop the night time Lantus entirely."

Yay oh Yay!!!! I just hope that the next two weeks stay good and that I can stay off the needle! I am going to be soooo Diabetic Good! I may not be Sugar Sweet, but I will be Diabetic Good! YAY YAY YAY!!!

Day 39

Oops! Missed Thursday, Feb 24th completely! O.O

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Day 38

9:00 a.m.
Good Morning Wednesday! BG looking good! 

My salad last night was as yummy as I knew it would be! And let me clarify, when I say I'm having a salad for a meal - I mean A Salad! Not a side salad - A Salad. Last night's salad had about 2.5 cups of baby spinach, a cup strawberries (1/2 inch cuts), roughly 1.5 strips of crumbled bacon, 1/3 cup shredded Manchego and about 1/3 cup pecan halves. Big salad - covers a dinner plate!

 So, today is my off day from exercise so i guess I will pull together the information hubby needs to take our paperwork to the guy who does our taxes and see how we fared this past year. I thought that this years taxes would be a reflection on how taxes will look for us for the next few years until hubby retired, but lo and behold he got let go in February so this is the second year in a row that our taxes are out of the norm due to life changes. 

Not sure what's on the menu for lunch or supper today - that's always an issue since I know so few recipes that work well for both of us. hmmmm . . . . . gotta think a bit.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Day 37

2:15 p.m.
BG still looking good and fourth 10-minute Step session still kicking my backside! 

I was naughty for lunch today! I ate two, I shall repeat, TWO BLT sandwiches for lunch! I felt as if I were starving! I know I'm not starving, heck I could probably live a couple of months on just body fats, but I sure felt as if I were starving. And my sugar was dropping on me and that always adds anxiety and a sensation of an urgency to get food in me. I really gotta watch those lows because they really have a serious control over me when I go hypoglycemic! 

And  that's another thing that is still so confusing about having Diabetes - going hypoglycemic like I do. The doctor said it was not uncommon for some Diabetics to have those sugar swings - guess I drew that lucky straw! I did buy some glucose tablets at the drugstore, but I really bought those to keep in my purse in case I am out and my kitchen is not readily available. But today I was in the process of frying the bacon when it started. I kept hoping the bacon would all get done sooner so I could eat and finally had to break down and chomp a piece of the bacon that was already out of the skillet. I probably could have shot that sugar back up quicker with a piece of candy that's in the cupboard for the grand-kids, but I really don't want to start using the sugar lows as an excuse to eat sugar like that - so I ate that bacon and hung in there until it was done and then I scarfed down two BLT's faster than my hubby could finish off half of his second one. 

Well, I will make up for my extra bread carbs with supper. I'm going to have a salad of Baby Spinach, fresh strawberries, pecan halves, some bacon bits I made from the extra bacon at lunch and some grated Manchego Cheese topped with a Raspberry Vinaigrette! That is one wonderful salad! Yumm!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Day 36

1:15 p.m.
BG still good.

Gaaah! I am soooo bad today! here it is already after 1:00 and I still have not done today's exercises! I got distracted with the internet again! This time I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to add a Glucose tracking widget to my blog. I have it added, but it had some error status message that I hate to see so i may end up removing it after all this. 

Anyway . . . off to try to get my daily exercises done before the rest of my day slips away and I find myself exercises when I should be going to bed. O.O

2:30 p.m.
Okay, exercise plan modification time! I am still having to push hard to get through that fourth 10 minute Free Step session and I start stumbling on the Wii Fit board so I don't think it wise to try to add a fifth 210 minute set yet. I will go with 4 sets again this week and see if I get better with it before adding the fifth set. And I don't feel bad about modifying my plan because just getting through 4 sets is a 400% increase over what exercise I had been getting, so I'm okay with it.

Oh, and an update on my BK Whopper reward - yep, I got me a reward last night . . . well, a junior reward - one & one half of a Whopper Jr. I also treated myself to 3 of Terry's french fries. And, I checked my BG an hour & a half after eating my reward and it was only 118 - very good! :D

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Day 35

4:00 p.m.
BG good. Day has been slow. I don't know where it went, but wherever it went it went there slowly!

Had taco's for lunch and at the 1.5 hour BG check my BG was 92. Not sure if that is good or bad since I think it is suppose to be something like 150-180 an hour and a half after a meal. I will just wait & see if my doctor questions any numbers when I send them to him on Friday. But I feel as if I deserve a reward for such a good number after lunch! I told hubby I deserve a Whopper! Not just any old hamburger -  a Burger King Whopper! I sure miss that char-broiled burger taste! (I still am hoping he will shoot over there and get us some for supper, but I won't hold my breath! Love him to death, but going out for fast food is not one of his favorite things).

I keep having mild headaches. I suspect the Metformin, but what do I know? I didn't read the insert when I got my prescription filled, but something that is regular in my habits is causing the headaches since they are regular also. Fortunately they are mild headaches - not intense and not migraines. Sometimes you just have to take your blessings where you find them. 

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Day 34

6:15 p.m.

BG still doing well. Gonna test out a pantry stand-by that my grandson likes for supper tonight. Hormel Tamales with Chili (the canned variety) and cheddar cheese. Hoping it is not too harsh on the BG since it is a quick & easy meal prep - and I'm all over quick & easy! :D

8:00 p.m.

Tamales with Chili & Cheddar was not too bad. BG was 118 at 1.5 hours after eating. Well within the acceptable range. :)

Friday, February 18, 2011

Day 33

8:30
BG is still good and I must be feeling better - I actually worked on crafts and in my craft room a few days this week (if you wanna see what I've worked on just click to see my complete profile and there you will find a link to Perpetual Playtime - my crafty blog) and I have been waking up before my 8:00 alarm this week. I like that. I want to wake before the alarm - I only set the alarm for 8: 00 so that if I do sleep in, I still don't sleep my day away. But being up before the alarm means I get an earlier start on things and I feel as if I have more hours in my day. :D

5:15 p.m.
It is interesting what affects my BG and what doesn't. I haven't tested the things that my "really" good sense says to avoid such as regular soda or regular hot chocolate, but I have tested out a few other things that didn't impact my BG as much as I expected it to. For example, for lunch today Terry brought home corn dogs from a short order grill at a truck stop not too far away. I figured they would make a significant impact and that I would pay for it with having to eat a totally carb-free supper. But when I checked my BG 1.5 hours after I ate my BG was only 101. I have also eaten half a potato at two different meals and they didn't hit my BG like pasta does. So far that is the one food that I know for certain will shoot my numbers up - pasta.


And, I could probably say regular hot chocolate, regular soda or true-to-the South Sweet Tea, but those are the things I am not willing to test. Those I will just go forward as if I had tested them and that they had failed. If for no other reason than because those are the first things I eliminated completely and my BG has been getting better & better. So those items are guilty by circumstantial evidence! 


Beef Stew for supper - I threw in extra carrots so that I can dish up mostly carrots in my dish. No cornbread with our stew tonight. For one, I have no dairy milk in the house at the moment. And for another, I've had my allotment of bread for the day when I ate the batter on the corn dogs for lunch. :/

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Day 32

7:00
BG still good.

today I went to lunch with some old friends (we try to do this once a month) and I was a good girl. And my post meal BG check was only 130, which is good for a post meal check! We went to Cracker Barrel and I was pleased to see an entire section dedicated to Low-Carb options! I saw several things on there that I will try, one-by-one when we meet there on other months.

Exercise today was better than Mon. & Tues. was. I think partly because I bought a cheap pair of earphones at the bookstore yesterday and they have a soft ear-bud, unlike the hard plastic ones that came with my iPod, so I was able to listen to a good selection of music today. I did receive the iPod speaker/docking station I had ordered, but it turned out that it was not compatible with my generation of iPod, so I ordered a different one today and shipped the first one back. I will be even happier once I get a speaker/docking station that works because I really don't like having external sounds blocked by the earphones. One of my many quirks. :P

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Day 31

11:45 a.m.
BG is good, but really? I mean, I have only had one check since yesterday's post (since I was so late posting yesterday!). 

This morning went a little better with hubby's new laptop. I think I have everything moved over, but to be on the safe side I am not deleting all his stuff from the old laptop for a couple of months. That still took most of my morning so it's a good thing this was my off day for exercise. Now my afternoon will be taken up with taking my Mother-in-Law to the second-hand bookstore. She is an avid reader. And by avid I mean voracious, ravenous, prodigious. She will go through a stack of books so fast it just floors me. I once thought she would never go through the seemingly endless supply of free books available for an Amazon Kindle, but I don't know. I now suspect she would!

So, anyway, off to go pick her up, then we will have lunch at Pizza Hut & off to the bookstore!

800 p.m.
Well, all I can say about Nutrisystems food, after eating about half of the foods I ordered from them is - I sure am glad I ordered from the A' la Carte option and didn't sign up for any program. It just does not taste so good and the portions are rather small. I hate to use up my carb allowances on small nasty portions. So this much is certain - I won't be ordering any more! :/

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Day 30

9:30 p.m.
BG is still looking good. I checked after lunch today to see if a grilled Reuben would have a very bad impact and was delighted to see it did not. Of course it is bad on the fats, but the carbs were good,.

And my legs complained again about me adding that fourth 10 minute free-step. They should be nicer to me tomorrow since they will get an off day.

My head might just chew me out though. My Dear Hubby has been using the same laptop since 2003 and it had gotten to the point that it was slow as molasses - not as slow as cold molasses, that would be the speed of my daughters old desktop that is in my craft-room, but Terry's is as slow as room temp molasses. Well, he ordered a new one and got it this evening and I spent my entire evening getting him set up and installing the Microsoft Office apps. I also pulled his outlook files, desktop images and screen-saver images from his old one to his new one. But, as is always the case, none of that worked quickly or smoothly. Tomorrow I have to transfer his bookmarked/favorites. I just hope that task goes better than any I have done so far. (I plan to swap my daughter's old one out & use my hubby's old one after I get finished moving his stuff)

I was so stressed when I finally  stopped for the night that my neck was in intense pain. Geez, it sucks getting old and having things become dilapidated with the body!!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Day 29

12:00
BG is still looking good. Slightly higher readings than last week, but still in the acceptable ranges - and this with only half the insulin I was taking last week. Hope this keeps up! :)

Added my fourth 10-minute Free Step on the Wii this morning. My legs protested a little, but not enough for me to listen to them. They (whoever "they" are) always say No Pain - No gain. Well, maybe the leg complaints meant I made a small amount of gain today. 

I think my next wellness investment will be a pulse monitor so I can see what my heart rate is doing and determine if I am even getting into a cadio rate. My doctor said walking was fine, but he wants me to get to where I am doing an aerobic type workout. If he could smell me right now he would have to agree I had my heart rate up there - LOL! And, I even had to turn on the ceiling fan today because I was getting so hot & sweaty!

I am also taking advantage of the change in BG reading times to track the effect of some of my foods to see which ones affect my sugar more and which affect it less. That project is affecting my menu planning since I want to test after certain foods. So like today I tested after my cereal - good reading - my cereal will be a  keeper. We are going to have grilled Reuben sandwiches one day this week, but since I tested after breakfast I couldn't have grilled Reuben for lunch today. Maybe tomorrow. :D I do love a good grilled Reuben!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Day 28

6:00
And my day got away from me again. BG is still looking good, even with the reduced dose. Not as low as they were before my doctor lowered the insulin units - but not in the range that goes above normal. And I even had half a potato with lunch today. So all is well so far. :)

Energy still seems to be my biggest issue right now. I still get tired easy & then it is hard to get motivated to get up and do anything. but I still have hope of that no longer being a problem one day.

Today has been a good day vision-wise. I can actually read my monitor without eye strain - and that is always a good day. Hopefully it will remain clear this time.

Well, short post - my day got away from me and I still have a stack of CD's sitting here that need to be loaded into my iTunes interface so they will sync to my iPod. I am hoping the docking station gets here early in the week. :D

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Day 27

8:00 
BG still good. I'm am hopeful it stays as good in the next few days as it did for the last few days. 

I saw my doctor yesterday and he was very pleased with the improvement in my numbers so far. He reduced my daily Lantus to 10 units & took me off any supplemental Humalog for the time being. He also has changed up the way I am to test my BG for a while. Rather than 4 set checks a day he wants a fasting check first thing in the morning & then one other check during the day - 1.5 - 2 hours after a meal - any meal and switch up which meal each day. I will email him in two weeks with these BG checks and we will see if that schedule needs to be modified any. WooHoo! that is two less finger sticks per day! My poor fingers are dancing with delight! :D

I also asked yesterday what my A1c was when he diagnosed me three weeks ago - it was 12.46. For most people with diabetes, the American Diabetes Association recommends an A1C of less than 7%. Another group of experts, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, recommends an even lower A1C of 6.5% or less. Either way, mine was definitely high! My doctor said it wasn't the highest he had ever seen, but it ranked way up there. But I expect it to be much improved when I go back in May since I have made so many modifications to my diet and my BG check numbers have been good lately. More about A1c can be read here. It's really kind of amazing that there is a 2-3 month footprint in our blood that can be read by a test.

I thought my doctor would also be very pleased with my getting exercise four days a week, but he said walking was fine, but what he wants me to look at doing is a more high energy aerobic exercise. I told him that has to come later because I sweat up a storm and  get winded just doing the walking exercises! Seriously, we are talking about someone who has not done anything close to aerobic exercise in over 15 years! Eek!



Friday, February 11, 2011

Day 26

12:00
Still doing well. BG still looks good. Vision is about the same as last week. Energy is about the same too, but I do use a bit of whatever energy my body allocates with my exercises, so I guess I'm doing pretty well, all in all.

Still looking for really good, low-carb recipes to supplement my limited list. Had Tomato Soup & Grill Cheese for lunch. It is slightly higher on carbs for a single meal, but I will make up for it with a salad supper, so it's all good.

Anxiously awaiting my iPod and docking station. So tired of being limited to my Discman and having to select one single CD to entertain me through the entire exercise time, which exceeds 30 minutes right now and will be pushing closer to 1 hour next week. According to tracking information the iPod is out for delivery for today, but the docking station is still in Kentucky and the ETA is Wednesday. USPS tracking site said not to look for updates to that delivery information for the next 3 days. Well, that kinda sucks! They work on Saturdays, so why no update tomorrow? And seriously? I could drive to KY and back before next Wed., so why can't they get it here in one direction quicker than that! Geez! Oh well, waiting is the price you pay for ordering online rather than running around the different retailers locally trying to find what you want.

Okay, off to shower & shampoo and get ready to go see if my doctor is pleased with my progress so far. I think I am doing really well. I just hope he doesn't say I am doing mediocre or not so well - that would break my little heart! O.O

And yes, my appointment is NOT until 3:30, but I hate to have to get ready in one non-stop action. I prefer to shower, piddle, blow dry hair, piddle, flat-iron hair, piddle, put on make-up, piddle, get half-dressed, piddle, piddle some more and then finish dressing just before I need to walk out the door. I have truly refined my procrastination streak since retirement - lol!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Day 25

12:00
BG is still in check. It took a small climb last night, but still under 130. And what would be the culprit? A frozen dinner - Blackened Chicken Alfredo. Apparently pasta is going to be one of my big enemies. Either that or the Alfredo sauce, which pretty much accompanies any pasta I eat. Oh well, not the biggest loss on this trip.

Still keeping up with my exercise. I am up to three 10-minute walking sessions. I shoot for 1000 steps per session, which should be about 1/2 mile each 10-minute session. Next week I add another 10 minute session and a fifth 10-minute session the week after that. Once I have that going well I will start migrating toward a 10-minute session followed by two 20-minute sessions.

Doctor's appointment tomorrow. Hopefully he will be pleased with my progress. I also need to have all my prescriptions re-written since they are suppose to be on a 90-day plan in order to be covered by my insurance. I was in too much shock that first day to even think about that when he handed me a bundle of prescriptions.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Day 24

5:30 p.m.
BG still looking good! :)

Let the whole day get away from me without updating my blog. But, trust me, I have been busy. Not physically busy, but busy. Had a hair appointment at 9:30 and didn't get back home until after 11. Lunch. Then started downloading & setting up an iTunes application. For the last three weeks as I exercised I either listened to the Wii voice count to four over & over or I played a CD in my old Sony Discman. I had to resort to the Discman because the mini-shelf system in my den stopped playing CD's a couple of years ago and I just never really worried about it too much until I started doing the Wii Fit and wishing I had something more entertaining to listen to. And the Discman is okay, for what it is and for what I bought it for years ago - a portable means of playing CD's. I actually used it a lot back when I would spend weeks at a time in Atlanta in training classes. But for listening to music from it in my den at home . . . it leaves a lot to be desired! 

I tried putting the TV on a different channel, since the Wii said I could do that while using the "Free Walk" exercise. But the screen had diagonal lines scrolling across it the whole time and I gave that up pretty quick.
Well, I looked for me a new mini-shelf system this week, but the only ones I found that would let me load more than 1 CD at a time were way overpriced, especially knowing that they don't seem to have a long shelf life. What I did find in my hunt was that docking stations for iPods are all over the place and really rather inexpensive. So I ordered one of those from Amazon and an iPod Nano from Apple. 

And that led to me downloading the iTunes application and setting that up . . . immediately followed by downloading some of my favorite CD's to the computer and pulling out favorite songs to an exercise play list. Yep, pretty much killed an afternoon. 
But at least when my iPod and docking station get here I will be ready. :)

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Day 23

4:00
BG still looking good. 

I am up to three10 minute walking sessions on my Wii Fit.  I don't play the games much anymore (I'll bet my penguin is hungry). It just seems that my days get gone before I even realize they are over and as I add more walking to my exercise routine I just have less time to play the games. Maybe I will play games on my exercise off days. I take Wednesdays and weekends off from the exercises. My doctor said he wanted me to work in 45 minutes of exercise 4 days a week so I chose Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday. And yes, I know I can get healthier and lose more weight if I added exercise to every day, but heck, I already have so much added to my everyday life, what with clockwork finger sticks and injections, that I just can't have exercise as another "every" day something. Not right now anyway. maybe some day in the future, but then again, maybe not. We'll see.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Day 22

2:00
BG still good. Doing my best to stick to the No Sugar - Low carb lifestyle. It has been a little easier than I expected since I found a few things I like, I have been trying to eat more fresh fruits and salads, both iceberg and baby spinach. I also tried a recipe for Diabetic Eggnog that is pretty darn good! 

Here is the recipe I found for the Diabetic Eggnog (found this on the Diabetic Connect website in the recipes section:

Ingredients

5 1/2 cups skim milk ( I used 2% milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (1 1/2 ounce) boxes sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
3 1/4 tablespoons Splenda sugar substitute
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Cooking Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine vanilla and milk
2. In another bowl, combine the dry pudding mix, sweetener, and nutmeg.
3. Whisk the dry mix into the milk mixture until smooth. Refrigerate until serving.




I will also post a recipe I made Friday night that turned out to be pretty darn good. I found this one on Food.com


Crust:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 eggs (I used 2 eggbeaters cups)
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (you will need 8 more in the topping)


Topping:
1 lb ground beef (I used 1.5 lbs)
3 teaspoons taco seasoning (I used the rest of what was left from making the crust and 1 additional packet)
1/4 cup tomato sauce
4 ounces chopped green chilies (I didn't have any green chilies so I left this out)
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (you will need 8 more in the crust)


Directions (Prep Time: 25 mins - Total Time: 1 1/4 hr)
1. For the crust, beat the cream cheese and eggs until smooth.
2. Add the cream and seasoning.
3. Grease a 9"x13" baking dish; spread the cheese over the bottom.
4. Pour in the egg mixture as evenly as possible.
5. Bake at 375ºF, 25-30 minutes.
6. Let stand 5 minutes before adding the topping.
7. For the topping, brown the hamburger; drain fat.
8. Stir in the seasoning, tomato sauce and chilies.
9. Spread over the crust.
10. Top with cheese.
11. Reduce oven to 350ºF and bake another 20 minutes or so until hot and bubbly.
12. Serve with the toppings of your choice (add additional carbs accordingly)


It says it serves 8, but it was rather thin so Terry, Brett & I knocked out half the first night. I divided the leftovers in half and stacked it 2 deep in a small corning square bowl and the next night Brett & I knocked that out between us. So take the "Serves 8" as you may.
Next time I make this one I am going to bake the crust and then split it in half and stack it 2 deep in a 9X9 casserole dish. A bottom layer of crust followed by half the meat mixture and 4 oz. of shredded cheese. Then the other half of the crust topped by the remaining meat mixture & the rest of the cheese.  It will make the same amount, but it will be a smaller footprint, just a deeper dish. And since everything will be "cooked" when it is stacked it will just be a question of will the cheese in the middle get hot enough to melt. We will see. 

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Day 21

3:00
Well, I am learning that this disease is not easy to learn. I expected my BG to go up after lunch today, but it didn't. In fact, it was still below 90 when I checked 2 hours after lunch. And, if you are wondering why I think it should go up, well, because I ate rice & gravy at lunch today. Not a lot mind you, but since rice is one of the foods (I thought) to be high in starch, which will convert to sugar, I really expected my BG to be high, or at the very least to be higher than it is. 

I was also confused by my cereal this past week. I had a BG over 200 for the first time in 13 days and I saw no cause for it. The differences between that day and the day before were 1) I slept late that day and therefore ate breakfast late; 2) a difference in the cereal I ate. Both were Special K. The day before the spike I ate Special K Blueberry - 11:00 BG was 154. The day of the spike I ate Special K Cinnamon Pecan - BG 221. 

I verified the serving sizes are the same. And the differences with the 2 cereals are:
Calories - Blueberry 110/Cinnamon Pecan 120
Calories from Fat - Blueberry 0/Cinnamon Pecan 15
Total Fat - Blueberry 0/Cinnamon Pecan 2
Sodium - Blueberry 140/Cinnamon Pecan 180
Carbohydrates - Blueberry 28g/Cinnamon Pecan 24g
Sugars - Blueberry 8g/Cinnamon Pecan 7g
Other carbohydrates - Blueberry 15g/Cinnamon Pecan 14g

Looking at the nutrition labels and would have thought the Cinnamon Pecan was a better option since it was slightly lower in carbs and sugar. But, I had to suspect the cereal and was annoyed since I really did like the Cinnamon Pecan better. But not at the cost of having to inject a supplemental Humalog shot.
Being curious by nature, and ... needing to better understand my foods and how they will affect my BG I tested the cereal a bit.

Well, I ate the same cereal again yesterday morning and this morning. I woke at my normal time both mornings and ate at my normal time both morning.

Yesterday I tested my BG at the regular intervals - 8:00 BG = 90 & 11:00 BG = 102.
So, assuming the issue the day before was related to the shorter time between getting up and eating and then taking the 11:00 BG check I decided to do an extra BG check this morning. This morning I tested my BG at 8:00 and it was 86. I checked at 10:00 and it was 111. So since it was not back up into the 200 range with the abbreviated test interval I have no explanation.

This journey is really going to be a roller coaster ride - never really knowing what caused spikes and what caused lows.

On the bright side - I don't look at the cereal with a suspicious eye anymore, which is a good thing since it really does taste good!


Saturday, February 5, 2011

Day 20

11:00
BG had a small spike yesterday, but so far it is back into an acceptable range. The only difference between yesterdays morning and today is that yesterday I slept late so I was an hour late eating breakfast and the BG spike was with the 11:00 reading. Today I woke at my regularly scheduled time and ate at my regularly scheduled time. And, I ate the very same thing today as yesterday. Next step in testing out what happened yesterday is to wake at my regularly scheduled time and eat at my regularly scheduled time, but check my BG an hour early (10 rather than 11) to see if the spike was simply because of the abbreviated morning. At least I know that on a 3 hour span between breakfast & test the BG was good today. And that is good because I like the cereal I ate yesterday & today. Yesterday was the first day trying it, so I had to be suspicious of it. I feel better about it today - yay!

My doctor was having me email him my BG tracking each week, but last night he replied and told me every 2 weeks would be acceptable for reporting to him. I see that as an improvement! :) Heck, at this point I will take anything as an improvement!
So, almost 3 weeks in and I feel I am adapting to the Diabetic Lifestyle more & more. I guess it will always be a lifetime journey but it hasn't been as bad as I was dreading when I was first diagnosed. I didn't have as much issue sticking the needle in myself as I expected I would, but then, my BG was so high the day I was diagnosed that I was afraid not to stick myself!

For me the hardest part so far has been the things I have have to give up - potatoes, rice, gravy and reducing my bread consumption. I am a very picky eater & for me my staples were meat & potatoes with bread & gravy. In fact I have been known to pass on dessert just to have more bread & gravy! And, before I retired I was going out to lunch with friends everyday and my trusted fallback option was always chicken fingers - yep, those nice, crusted batter, deep fried kind. Thank goodness I was forced into retirement 2 years ago by a force reduction because then I started eating most meals at home. And, while my diet was still very bad, it was certainly better than greasy chicken fingers 3 or 4 times a week.

But I am working real hard at learning to eat the better foods and I am truly hopeful that with a better diet & the exercise I am now working on incorporating into my life will both help me lose weight and hopefully one day be off the injections and as an added bonus, maybe be able to come of my Blood Pressure meds too.
My doctor started trying to get me to modify my diet when he put me on BP meds, but I was stubborn and figured if the meds controlled it life was still good. But the diagnosis of Diabetes? That scared me. Really scared me. All I could think was Diabetic coma. That thought is what makes me try harder to change my ways!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Day 19

1:00
Lost another morning to sleep and the internet. I was so tired this morning that I went back to sleep for an extra hour after my alarm went off. I'm not sure why I was so tired since I got more than 8 hours last night. But then again, one of the issues with Diabetes is being tired. 

Once I was up I got online to update my Food Tracker and got sidetracked by a new Diabetes website with more discussion boards. Lost the rest of my morning to that. Didn't update mt food tracker, didn't post my morning blog. Didn't even do my morning exercises.And having skipped my exercises means I skipped my morning shower. Now I have to do my exercises as soon as I get this post published and then hop in the shower.

Egads! Time does get away from me!

2:00
And still haven't started my exercises. I think it's a good thing I told my daughter that I would rather she brought my grandson over this evening rather than me going to pick him up from school. At this rate I may not have my exercise & shower out of the way by suppertime!!

7:00 p.m.
Got my exercise and shower around 3-4 this afternoon. Way late, but gosh it is so easy to procrastinate. Especially if you find interesting reading on the internet.


Made a high-protein/low carb casserole for supper. It was good. Good enough that I will make it again. My hubby and grandson said it was good and that they would eat it again, but neither helped themselves to seconds so I don't know if they were just trying to make me happy by saying it was good or not.


Ah well, still on the prowl for more & better high-protein/low carb recipes. :D

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Day 18

9:00
BG looking good! I am trying new recipes (simple ones of course) and some so simple as to grate hard Parmesan cheese and bake it into crackers. They taste salty. They also smell funky when they are baking, but they don't smell funky when they have cooled and I eat them. This will be a "go to" when I need that salty snack. And, since I learned with baking chicken coated in Panko bread crumbs that even cooking spray does not prevent stuff from sticking to the pan, aluminum foil or wax paper, I ordered a silpat silicon baking mat and waited for it to arrive before I even attempted these cheese snacks. Wow! I love that silpat mat! Love it so much that I sat down last night and ordered me a larger version so I can bake Panko chicken in bigger batches.

I found a recipe on Diabetic Connect that I am going to try. It is called Taco bake. The crust is made using cream cheese, eggs and shredded cheddar. Other stuff too, but I don't have the recipe in front of me so I forget what else. But not flour or cornmeal - which reduces the carbs tremendously! It is definitely worth a try, even if I never make it but once.

Okay, exercise time. Hopefully I will do better today than yesterday and I will actually come back later to post more.

3:00
So, let me tell you what I learned today. I learned that Almond milk does not want to be chocolate milk. I had Terry pick me up some sugar-free chocolate syrup when he went to Wal-Mart earlier today and as soon as he got home I mixed me up a glass. I guess when it didn't want to dissolve easily into the almond milk I should have known. I just figured it had to do with the difference it the consistency of almond milk as opposed to dairy milk. I stirred long enough to get it to actually mix up. I certainly wasn't going to give up too quick. But when I had it mixed well and drank it I was really rather disappointed. Oh, it didn't taste bad. It just didn't taste good. It actually just tasted like the almond milk tastes straight from the carton. 

Well, nothing ventured - nothing gained. At least I have a bottle of sugar-free chocolate syrup and I can get some sugar-free ice cream one day and have a sugar-free sundae.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Day 17

11:00
BG has been low for the last 2 checks. It has been a bit up and down these last few days, but I'm wondering if the low readings this morning are caused by my "bad" injection last night. And by bad, I mean I apparently hit a small blood vein in my stomach and maybe some of the Lantus got into the blood faster than it would/should. I know I hit a small blood vein because not only did the injection hurt more than normal but I bled at the injection site a good bit. And, of course, I could be completely off about the Lantus getting in the blood because of that and it may just be a normal sign that my BG is still not stabilized. Ah well, I will add that to my note paper to ask my doctor next week.

Time for food.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Day 16

1:00
Another morning slipped by soo quickly. My how time flies.

BG is still looking good. And I increased my walking with the Wii Fit yesterday. Last week I was doing two sets of the Basic Step, one Free walk, which is a 10 minute walk - no less than 800 steps) and then playing some of the games. Yesterday I switched to two sets of the Basic Step, one Free walk, [repeat] two sets of the Basic Step, one Free walk. That gives me 20 minutes of walking plus the little bonus of the basic Step as my warm ups. I also started bumping the pace of the Free Walk - after 30 seconds I increase by one click and after 30 more seconds I increase to the second click. Then I reverse that when I get down to 1 minute left of the 10 minutes - I click one step back down and when it gets to 30 seconds I drop it back to the pace the systems set by default. That gives me more than the 800 steps and also gives me a little faster pace, which, oddly enough, keeps me from stumbling over my own feet stepping on and off the Wii board. Next week I will add a third set of both.

Had a most delicious sandwich for lunch today. I make these Ham Balls with ground ham and ground pork, bead crumbs, egg & milk. There were some leftovers  from the other day so we sliced them in halves, warmed them in the toaster oven and put them on toasted bread. Terry used mayo (actually, it is Miracle Whip Dressing, but it is what we use for mayo since I do not like real mayo) & honey mustard on his, but I used mayo, lettuce & fresh pineapple! YumYum!! :D Of course we used the Arnolds Italian bread that I found has a bit less carbs than any other bread at Wal-Mart. Even less carbs than the multi-grain or whole wheat options, and I like Italian bread where I don't like multi-grain or whole wheat bread.