Fighting the Dragon

For me, diabetes has become a dragon - a large, cold yet fire breathing dragon.  As I struggle to battle that dragon, I have been researching what tools I could put in my arsenal of weapons to use against said dragon.  I have examined my life and looked at all the pits that I seem to fall into.  And I have looked at so many pages of suggestions that my eyes seem to blur at the thought of reading more.  But like St. George of old,     I am determined to destroy (or at least cage) the dragon.

Here are some of the tools that I have come up with:

1.  Add at least one fruit or vegetable to each daily meal.  I plan to keep a container of bite size veggies in the refrigerator.  Hopefully, this will make it easier to add those fruits or veggies.

2. I am realizing that I need more physical activity.  Basically, I am the Queen of Couch Potatoes (which probably accounts for my Mrs. Potato Head shape).  Since I will have to start slow, I am resolving to find ways to gradually add more activity to my daily life.  This cannot include miles of walking, jogging or stair climbing.  I'm not up to that at this point.  But I like to believe that adding a few more steps to each day will become easier each week.

3.  I love chocolate.  When under the influence of a chocolate craving, I have been known to search the kitchen pantry for a loose chocolate chip if nothing else was available.  Superman had Kryptonite, which weakened him.  I need to think of chocolate as my Kryptonite.

4.  And my last, but perhaps my best tool is to STRESS LESS. I am a natural born stresser.  If there is nothing to stress about, I stress because there is nothing to stress about!  So for the next week or so, I will write down when I stress the most, and how I can calm myself.

If you can offer any suggestions on how to battle and cage my "dragon",  please don't hesitate to offer them.  I can use all the help I can get.

WOW!!!

Last evening daughter Mary showed up with a jar of the Cherry Chocolate Chunk Refrigerator Oatmeal.  She had made two and brought me one to sample.  I had it this morning for breakfast.  The nutritional information is as follows: 274 calories, 8g fat, 55g carbs, 8g fiber, 12g protein; Weight Watchers PtsPlus: 9 .  At first this seemed a little high to me.  But if you subtract the 8g fiber from the 55g of carbs, you have 43g carb.  At 15g of carb per exchange, I was basically eating 3 carb exchanges.  This would have been equal to 1 serving of cereal, 1 serving of milk, and 1 serving of fruit - a well balanced breakfast.  Mary had substituted Truvia for the honey in the recipe.  She used fresh bing cherries, and dark chocolate chips.  She used black cherry lowfat Greek yogurt, and mixed it as instructed.  What did I think????  It was delicious, almost like a sweet dessert.  But it is a legal breakfast.  So now, I need to decide which flavor to make next.  Have a great weekend. 

Healthy Is as Healthy Does

I've recently been introduced to a new website: http://www.theyummylife.com.  Some of the recipes had been pinned to Pinterest, and I found them there.  These refrigerator oatmeals looked so good to me, and I've decided to give them a try. These oatmeal recipes use oatmeal, greek yogurt, chai seeds and assorted other flavors and fruits.  I have recently rejoined Weight Watchers, and the recipes include the Weight Watcher points as well as the other nutrition facts.  So far, I've looked at 14 different flavors, and choosing which to make will be a hard decision.  

As I was checking out the website, I came across recipes for these Healthy Breakfast Bread Puddings.  I think they look Yummy, and they have less than 150 calories.  I'm planning to try both of these, and I think The Yummy Life is one of my new favorite websites.

I Am A Diabetic

There, I've said it out loud.  They say that the first step toward solving a problem is to admit that there is a problem.  Yep, I'm a diabetic.  As hard as I have tried to deny it, I can't any longer.  I've tried to live my life the last few years as if I weren't a diabetic.  But, I need to face the facts - I am a diabetic.  And as soon as I start living like one, my life will change.  I know what I should be doing to bring my diabetes under control, but my sweet tooth is the biggest one in my mouth.  I just don't seem to be able to say goodbye to sugar.  Oh sure, I use Splenda and I drink diet soda.  But I still eat cookies, brownies, and donuts.  Today, that changes.  I need to find things that are diabetic-friendly that will also satisfy my giant sweet tooth.  I'm thinking that sugar-free chocolate pudding, sugar free jello, and whipped cream might just do the trick.  I've heard all about cutting out white foods, foods like white flour, white pasta, white potatoes, and white rice.  And today, I heard Dr. Oz say it again on The View.  The GI Diet (I recently purchased the updated version) follows these same principals.  So, I'm about to give it another shot.  I've heard it said that, "If at first you don't succeed, try try again."  So, I'm about to try and try again.

A New Journey

At the beginning of the year,  I posted about a new journey.  Well, let's just say that the path was rocky and covered with brush.  My numbers haven't come down, my weight hasn't come down, and it seems my life is all about food.  And I hate it.  This past week, I had a headache everyday thinking about diets, what I need to eat, and what I need to buy.  But no more.  I'm tired of thinking about food, diets and all the clutter that goes along with it.  So, starting today, I will begin a new journey to a new life.  No more playing Russian Roulette with my life.  Richard Simmons always said that you don't need a DIET because it has the work "DIE" in it.  But rather you should go on a "LIVE-IT"  so that you can live.  I've decided that I'm going on a Live-it, and food isn't going to be my every waking thought. Wish me luck!

I'm also going to start keeping a journal - not a food journal, but a Life Journal.  A journal where I can write my good thoughts and the bad ones.  I can keep track of how certain foods and activities made me feel.  And try to figure out what makes me happy, and what makes me grumpy.  Do you journal?  If so what do you write about?

I'm Still Buzzin'

Yep, I'm buzzin.  But I'm still frustrated with my numbers.  I've tried counting carbs, no change.  I've tried counting calories, no change.  I've tried using my exchanges, no change.  Do you see a frustrating pattern.  So my new plan is just to eat whatever I want whenever I'm hungry.  No, I'm not crazy.  And I'm not going hog-wild.  But I'm going to eat more often, smaller portions, and what food I crave - minus the sweets.  More veggies, more fruits, more protein.  And I may try to eliminate the white foods - potatoes (I love them), white bread, white flour, and sugar.  But I'm so tired of thinking about food constantly.  I'm so tired of planning, cooking half the day on Sunday to make foods for the week.  I'm so tired of feeling like YUK.

And my battle cry will be. . . I will persevere, I will not give up.

The Word of the Month

I've decided that I need a word for the month.  And for the month of March it is "MOTIVATION".

Dictionary.com describes it as:

mo·ti·va·tion

   [moh-tuh-vey-shuhn]  Show IPA

noun

1.

the act or an instance of motivating,  or providing with a reason to act in a certain way: 

2.

the state or condition of being motivated: 

3.

something that motivates;  inducement; incentive: 

While talking with daughter Mary yesterday, we started to discuss diet and exercise.  And she questioned, how do we motivate ourselves to move, when we've become such sedentary people?  We know what we should do, but where do we get the motivation to do it?  Mary is starting to student teach today, so she will be moving.  But I've got to admit that I've become a "Lazy Boy potato".  Most of my waking hours are spent sitting in my Lazy Boy, my throne if you will.  

Over the past few weeks, in an attempt to bring my blood sugars into a normal range and begin the tedious task of losing weight, I have been analyzing and re-analyzing what I eat .  And what I have found is that it isn't so much what I eat.  Oh I admit that I don't follow my recommended food choices to the letter, but I don't binge or over do the sweets.  But my biggest problem is that I sit. . . and sit. . . and sit.  For hours at a time, I sit. I get up, use the "facilities" and then I return to my throne and I sit!  and sit! and then sit some more!  As my health and physical abilities have declined, Rod has taken over more and more of the household tasks.  So, now that I have identified the problem, how do I fix it?  How do I force myself to begin taking back my life?  Where do I find the motivation to get up off my a$$ and move, regardless of how painful or tiring it is?  I got my pedometer out this morning and had great intentions of starting to keep track of my steps, but it was dead.  And I just had the battery replaced, but I didn't use it.  So once I get a new battery, my plan is to keep track of my steps and try to increase by some each day.  Even 25 steps per day will make a difference.  I live in a rural area, with hills on all sides.  So walking outside is not possible at this time.  And I don't have the money for a treadmill, so that's out of the question.  What I do have is a Wii game system and the Wii Fit software!  Have I ever used it?  Nope, but I did watch it once.  Unfortunately that doesn't make a difference.  I don't want to exercise with an audience.  Do you remember the dancing hippos in Disney's Fantasia???  

Can you say Shamu on dry land.  Last week on Good Morning America they showed this video:

And I immediately thought of myself.  If this big guy can be forced to do sit ups, maybe I should seek out his trainer.  Of course it probably involves food rewards!  Perhaps this could be my motivation, and then again . . . . So, this month, I will be on the hunt for motivation.  Wish me luck!

Slow and Steady . . .

I'm on my way.  When I weighed in this morning, I had lost another 2.8 pounds.  Yipppeee!!!  I've added a new ticker to my page so that I can see how I'm progressing.  I have a renewed excitement.

And So It Begins

Egg Cups

My numbers are not coming down as I had hoped they would after being off the antibiotic.  So, this past week I have researched, checked out recipes, looked at several suggested menus, and brainstormed with my family.  I think I've come up with several great ideas, and spent part of the morning preparing my make-ahead meals.  Breakfast is really tough for me.  I am usually rushed and grab whatever is handy.  Daughter Mary suggested that I make "egg cups", and have them ready to reheat in the microwave.  I sprayed my muffin tin with butter flavored Pam, and added a slice of wheat bread with the crusts removed.  This was baked at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes, until the toast was just starting to brown.  I removed the tin from the oven and then added some shredded cheese to each cup followed by an egg.  These were returned to the oven and baked until the eggs were done to my satisfaction.  And voila, 6 breakfasts.

Lunch was another problem.  After I fix lunch for the kids, again, I grab whatever is handy.  Hopefully, some pre-planning and make ahead ideas will fix this problem.  I had purchased the EasyLunchboxes, and didn't really used them.  But now they make a lot of sense.  I boiled some small seashell pasta and divided it into 1 cup portions.  I kicked up my "macaroni salad" by adding sliced celery, shredded carrots, chopped dill pickle and sliced black olives in addition to 1/2 hard boiled egg to each box.  To the salad in this box, I added diced lean ham and accompanied it with fresh strawberries.

To the salad in this box, I added nearly 3 oz. of tuna packed in water, which I drained.  After putting most of the tuna in my salad, I gave the rest to the cat.  Ok, so I'm a softie.  I added fresh watermelon to this box.

I took a full bone-in chicken breast, sprayed it with Olive Oil Pam, added salt and pepper, and roasted it in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  After it cooled, I removed it from the bones and added two ounces to this box of pasta salad.  Fresh canteloupe was added here.

I took another three ounces of the roasted chicken and added shredded carrots, peas, and dried cranberries. I also added a little Lawry's Seasoning Salt and will add some sunflower seeds or cashews just before eating.  And with this lunch, I will have the honeydew.  Crackers will add the necessary carbs.

All this prep work only took about two hours, with Rod's help.  Hopefully it will make sticking to my meal plan easier.  Wish me luck.

Checking In

I have lost another 1.7 pounds -- small steps add up to giant leaps.  My BS numbers aren't coming down like I wanted them to, however.  I went back on the Victoza, but developed the same stomach pain and leg cramps as before, so Vic and I have now parted for good.  My numbers during the day are OK, but my morning numbers are high and I don't know why. I've tried eating an evening snack - I've tried not eating an evening snack.   I have been reading about controlling my numbers, and will beat this thing. But it's not easy.  And let me caution you about advice.  If you aren't a diabetic, please don't offer any.   A person who is NOT diabetic cannot begin to understand how frustrating it can be to not be able to control your numbers.  Lots of people don't hesitate to criticize or offer advice, and lots of them don't have any idea what they are talking about.  Sometimes I just want to shout "Shut up, you have no idea what you are talking about".  But, I've learned to keep my mouth shut and just roll my eyes.  Hopefully, I haven't offended anyone, but I have taken classes in health and nutrition. I know what should work, but it doesn't always.  But I won't quit trying -- I'm not a quitter and never have been.

WAHOOOO!!!

I am down 4.8 pounds in about 3 weeks.  Started back on Victoza today.  Hopefully my numbers will come down, and I'll be on my way.  I'm feeling sort of Wizard-of-Oz-y -- follow the sugar free road!!   And since I'm so happy, the road has to be happy yellow.

Hmmm. Tis a Puzzlement.

Yesterday I began my new journey.  I ate only what I should - no cheating.  I was so proud of myself.  It doesn't seem like much to some, but one day of no cheating for me is an accomplishment.  And it's a small step that I climbed.  For my snack last night, there were no cookies or candy, but rather a single serving size of microwave popcorn, and it didn't even all pop.  I felt so good about the day when I went to bed.  And yet this morning when I took my blood sugar, it was 174.  I don't understand why it isn't coming down.  I don't really want to go back on the Victoza, but it did bring my levels down.  I think I'll give it another week, and see what happens.  Eat Healthy!

Welcome 2012

If you follow this blog, you know that weight loss and I are pretty much strangers.  Oh, I take a stab at it, but find I easily fall off the path.  Before Christmas I downloaded a book for my Kindle on Motivation.  I thought it would help me to build my will power.  But some of the things this book proposed seemed a little weird to me, and I have only finished reading 23 of the 100 proposals.  I subscribe to a few magazines, mostly on food and quilting.  One of my favorites is Diabetic Living, which is published by Better Homes and Gardens.  I also follow Diabetic Living on Facebook, and lately I have been getting some pretty good tips and recipes from this source. One of their latest posts advised that one stop dieting.  It caught my attention, and so I continued to read.  They advised that if one concentrates on bringing one's blood sugar numbers into the right zone and on healthy eating habits, that weight loss will be a welcome side effect.  There are some other really great tips in this article, and I'm making my way to implementing them into my life.  I'm beginning a journal, sort of a diary where I can list my short time goals and check them off when I've accomplished them.  I plan to keep track of when I was tempted to binge or eat what should not be a part of my diabetic regime.  And then try to decide how to prevent it from happening again.  It's not easy to concentrate on "me", but I think I'm going to put up a small mirror in my sewing room and hang a sign above it that says, "This is your motivation".  Because my motivation has to be ME, not someone else.  I need help, I know that.  But I know that I also have a great support system in my family, and in my cyber friends.   I can use some company, if you want to travel along.