#Diabetes Day 156

8:45 p.m.
Good Supper - baked bean, slaw, corn and broccoli - BG 130 :)


I'm really happy today. At our house my dear hubby does the grocery shopping - that is something that we slowly morphed into over 30+ years of marriage. And it works well, for the most part. But then there are those other times. Most of you probably know those times. The ones where a person in our life, well, okay, admittedly, primarily the men in our lives don't actually engage full brain energy in decision making. Such has been the case the last few weeks as I put sugar-free ice cream on the grocery list. 


I told Hubby Dear that a friend had posted on facebook that Wal-Mart had their own brand that was sugar-free and fat-free and actually tasted good. But alas, hubby brought no ice cream home for me. He said they didn't have any Wal-mart brand ice cream that was both sugar-free and fat-free.


The next week I asked him to look for sugar-free ice cream again - any brand. No ice cream.


Last week I asked if he was looking just for the Wal-Mart brand or any and he said any. But still no ice cream.


Today he said he was going to go to Wal-Mart and I asked him to look for sugar-free ice cream again. He said he looks every time but that I was welcome to go with him and see for myself. So I did go. 


I came home with two different half gallons and was tempted to buy a couple of other flavors . . . ALL sugar free ice cream. 


So how is it that I now have sugar-free ice cream in the freezer that has not been there for the last few weeks? Well, it's because the carton reads "No Sugar Added" as opposed to "Sugar-Free". I never requested "No Sugar Added" ice cream - I requested "Sugar-free" ice cream.


I'm also proud of the fact that i didn't clobber him upside the head with a box of Edy's Fruit Pops that I also nabbed a few boxes of.


ummm . . . yeah, frozen treats are a weakness of mine.

#Diabetes Day 154

4:50 p.m.
Been a pretty good day. No BG reading so far. 


It seems odd that I was better able to remember my finger sticks when I had to do them more often. Now that my doctor says I only need to test once a day i tend to forget, over and over again. I need to tell him I am going to go back to testing twice just to see if I get better about remembering the post meal test if I start my day with the fasting test. 


And I really need to test my Skinny Cow treats to see if they are hitting me harder than I need. I sure hope not - it's summertime in the south and I need me some ice cream!


Speaking of my doctor . . . oops, I also forgot to send him my glucose numbers for the last two weeks. Should have sent that in last Friday. Guess I know what is next on my agenda. 

Day 133

8:00 p.m.
It's been a good day - haven't checked BG yet though - had ribs, baked beans and corn on the cob for lunch - should have tested after lunch but we had plans for swimming and needle sticks just didn't fit into that plan. Not hungry enough to eat anything for supper, but I may eat some more of the Strawberry Trifle my daughter brought for dessert today and test after that - she made it diabetic friendly, so that should be a clean test (is that cheating?).

Day 125

11:45 p.m.
Woooo, barely getting in here before the clock changes and I have another missed day posting. 
Sometimes it's all about the timing! :D


Good day today. I treated myself to some "real" chocolate milk tonight. My BG after supper was only 99 so I felt I was deserving of some naughty carbs. The real stuff - not the barely acceptable sugar-free chocolate syrup in almond milk. And it tasted soooo good! 


And if I had known my BG was going to come in so low I would have had half a baked potato with supper. But, not knowing I had broccoli rather than baked potato since I was also having corn. It's all good, like I said - I treated myself to some good chocolate milk. I do still miss some of my old favorites like real chocolate milk. I use to drink a lot of chocolate milk - and regular hot chocolate. I haven't been able to acquire a taste for the sugar-free hot chocolate. It just seems to turn kinda gummy - liquid, but a gummy kinda liquid. Hard to explain really.


Well, okay, bedtime now - just had to pop in long enough to get my post made. :D

Day 123

5:30 p.m.
Went to the doctor today and had a very good report. My A1c is down from 12.46 in January to 5.78 this week. My triglycerides are also down - down far enough that my doctor took me off the $100/month medicine that had no generic. WooHoo!


We discussed my fasting number and he said they are okay. he said I should not be concerned about them as long as they are below 120. So I will work on not obsessing over them for a while.


But there is also a down side. My LDL is slightly higher than it's suppose to be so he put me on a statin. But it comes in a (cheaper) generic. My overall was slightly high, but my HDL was pretty good. I don't see the highs as significantly high - just slightly. Hopefully the new med will help get that in check. So, my numbers were:
HDL 61 (40 or above is good)
LDL 114 (100 or below is preferred)
Total is 207 (200 or below is preferred)
Triglycerides 87 (90 or below is preferred - but I may have that "preferred" wrong since I didn't write down what he said for that number.)


And, back to good report. My weight is down a little. Well, more than a little if you factor in weight loss from October. I had not realized I was down from October when I was diagnosed back in January. Actually 19 pounds. It's a shame you can't see it when you look at me. Oh well, the scales say it so it is so! :D

Day 112

9:30 p.m.
Fasting BG was 99. Tested after supper of PB&J (well, actually that would be a PB&P - Peanut Butter & Preserves). Seems it made my sugar higher as a supper food than it did yesterday as a lunch food. Odd.


Mother's Day - it was a good day. We took my MIL to a gathering at her SIL and there was a lot of family there. I didn't find much to eat that fit my diet plan, but I made do. I did have one small spoon of what I thought was a hash-brown casserole, but it turned out to be a crust-less coconut pie. I knew as soon as I ate one bite of that small amount that it was a big no-no. It was sooo good! I got the recipe and I think I'm going to try making it with Splenda.

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 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.

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

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. 

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. :)

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!!

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

Day 8

9:30

Well, this afternoon will mark one week since my diagnosis and I feel that I am doing pretty good so far. This morning my BG was 104, which is a very good number. In fact, my last seven readings have all been below 200, so I have not had to inject any supplemental insulin and the last four of those seven were actually 121 or below.

At this point I'm feeling that the diet is my greatest obstacle. I still need to find a good collection of recipes that

do NOT contain any of the following:
1) seafood (no seafood - nothing - not even tuna fish or fish sticks)
2) onion (including scallions and other such noxious critters)
3) peppers (bell, banana - doesn't matter. However I am okay with ground peppers for spice)
4) mushrooms
5) celery
6) stewed tomato (pizza sauce is okay in moderation, but not in excess such as with spaghetti or lasagna)
7) beans or peas (I can tolerate green beans and if I add a lot of spice & seasoning I can tolerate baked beans made from pork-n-beans)
7) greens (as in spinach, turnip greens, collard greens, mustard greens. Cabbage is okay either raw or cooked)
8) wild game (no rabbits, deer, quail etc - Basically I only eat white meat chicken, beef, boneless pork options and turkey breast)
9) yogurt, cottage cheese or sour cream (it would be okay mixed in something cooked, but not as it comes straight from the carton)
10) squash
11) asparagus
12) something that someone will suggest that I did not think to add to my list yet

Yep, long list - and hard to work with for someone who has been pretty much meat and potatoes with some bread and gravy thrown in for a side and as dessert :D And I have always preferred the meats fried.But I still hold out hope!

1:00
Well, I know for certain that there is still a lot to learn about this disease. So what did I learn today? Well, I learned that if go to the grocery store just before lunchtime and miss my regular time for my BG check & my lunch that my sugar will drop - a lot. Went to Wal-mart to buy a Wii Fit and a few groceries and spent so much time reading nutritional labels and such at the store that I was an hour late. My 11:00 check taken at 12:00 was a 78. Of course that was before lunch, which, by the way, I was not really hungry for a lunch but made myself eat some salad with cheese and some "salad fixin's" type stuff that had cranberries & nuts in it. Half an hour after my salad I was back up to 98. 


I know I am suppose to adhere to the clock for BG checks and meals, but I really didn't think an hour would make that much of a difference in the sugar level. I am just going to have to be better about the clock. 


So, I bought the Wii Fit Plus. I haven't had a chance to get it set up yet, but I plan to do that this afternoon so I can start working myself up to the 45 minute workout my doctor wants me to do. Right now I doubt I can handle a good 5 minute workout - heck, I can get winded just doing housework. And before anyone says i should have saved the cost of the Wii program and just do more housework, umm . . . . no, I probably dislike housework more than exercise. I do what housework I have to do when I have to do it, but I certainly don't intend to do more and call it exercise! 

3:45

Okay, well, I got my Wii Fit Plus connected. It is 67 degrees in my house and it made me work up a sweat. Of course I am overweight & sedentary so really most any exertion could cause me to work up a sweat, but this did it without me realizing it or hating the devil out of it. I did several rounds of basic step and one round of free step (that was 800 steps in 10 minutes) and then played the balance game of the penguin catching fish - although my penguin was doing more swimming that catching of fish. All in all I'm liking it simply because I did these things without hating it and wishing it was over. I stopped because I was sweating & I  also know that if I overdo it on day 1 that day 2 will be harder to face. Baby steps, baby steps.

Day 7

9:00

Good numbers for my last 3 BG checks. I like the 3-in-a-row, but would love some 4-in-a-row's. And I am ever sooooo happy that my vision is actually a good bit clearer than it was this past Monday. I can again read the clock in my den and I no longer have to sit with my face 18 inches from my (big, like 22" big) monitor. I can't say how safe I would be driving yet. i will have to go out with Terry and see if I can read street signs again or not. In time, in time.

Kinda got a slight let-down with my breakfast this morning. I decided I need to start counting the fats as well as the carbs and discovered my "fallback" frozen breakfasts will seriously undermine my attempts. I have got to find a better solution that is quick and easy as well as tasty. I will finish the week and a half worth of what we already bought, but then I will pass on the Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls. I have one that is a Jimmy Dean "D-Lights" Breakfast Bowls and it has better numbers, but it is turkey sausage and I haven't much cared for the turkey sausage I already tried. But, if that's what it takes, then I will go with it. I am also going to look at some type of cereal, but it will have to be a tasty cereal - I will not eat things that taste like cardboard, so for me Product 19 is out (that's the one my dear hubby is pushing me to go with. Nope, tried it before and don't care for it.) I think I want to try Total cereal, one of the ones with little chips of dried fruit in it.

6:00
So happy! I have had 5 BG reading in a row below 200. And while they are not necessarily within the prime range of 90-120, they are below 200 which means I do not have to give myself the supplementary Insulin injections (of course the 9:00pm is always the exception since I have to inject the Lantus at 9:00 regardless of the BG number). So for right now I am just happy to be below 200! Once below 200 is the norm I will change my Happy Meter to register the numbers that fall in the acceptable range.

Overall I think I am doing okay with this. I had one day of shock & one day of emotional distress, but all in all it's okay. I expect there to be other days that fall into the emotional distress category as I deal with adjusting my diet to fit the Diabetes. Diet is gonna be my biggest obstacle to overcome because I am a very picky eater.

Today I also found a website that I think is going to be pretty helpful - http://www.everydayhealth.com/

This site has a calorie tracker that is pretty neat. I set my calorie, carb & fat ranges and then just plug in the foods I eat and it calculates the balances for me. It has a lot of foods  already pre-built so all I had to do for most foods was search it my name, such as Arnold's Italian Bread, and it found it for me. And for items that I can't find in the food search I have the option of loading the food and it's nutritional information and going forward I can select it from the list on the "Foods I Added" tab.  And for foods that I consume either more or less than a serving I can edit the entry and the site does the math for me. Like for lunch today I had a leftover steak - roughly 8 oz., the food search gave me a 6 oz so I just edited to show I consumed 1.33 servings.There is also a Glucose Tracker and several other tools, so I think I will be using this site a lot.