Geez!!!

It just seems that no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to say no to sweets.  And I really need to find a way to get my sugar numbers under control.  I started to keep a journal to keep track of my weak times, because I'm just so frustrated with myself.  My kids tell me that I've always been able to accomplish anything I have set out to achieve.  So why can't I do it with my diabetes, my weight, and my self control??!!

What I discovered with my journal it that I'm lazy.  I don't want to take the time or put the effort into preparing healthy and delicious foods for myself, so I just grab whatever is handy.

While searching Pinterest for some healthy snack ideas, I came across this pin for a snack drawer.  I think this may just be a solution for me.  But to take it a step farther, I am also going to create a snack basket for myself.  I've had one for the grand kids for years, but now it's time for my own.  I also found this chart for clean eating snacks, and am going to use it as a guide for my snacks.

I am going to put some pretzel sticks into single serving bags for myself.  I love pretzel sticks, and can dip them into hummus, sugar free chocolate pudding, peanut butter or just eat them plain.  I am also going to portion out some Nilla Wafers for the nights when I crave something sweet.  Hope this will keep me better on track.

Off To A Good Start

I haven't gotten brave enough to weigh myself yet, but will probably do that tomorrow morning.  I've tried to figure out when my weak times are, and am doing my best to change them.  I love to have something sweet with my coffee after dinner, so Hubby bought me some Weight Watchers snack cakes.  They aren't much more than a bite, but do seem to satisfy my craving for that time of day.

I'm a person who likes to grab whatever is on hand.  This morning, with Hubby's help, we cooked for two hours and have some great things stashed in the refrigerator for this coming week.  The first thing we made were Toast and Egg Muffin Cups.  I have done these in the past, and loved them.  They remind me of one of my favorite childhood breakfasts - poached eggs on toast.  My mom had a five cup egg poacher for on the stove, and would make them on Sunday mornings.  To keep the tops of my egg cups from getting hard, I add 1/4 of a slice of fat-free American cheese to the top before I put them in the frig.  To reheat them, I just pop them into the microwave for 30 seconds or so and they are good to go.  We made a dozen because I have a feeling that little Jake will help me eat them.  I used 35 calorie bread and so two of these are very WW friendly.

Lunch is another hard time for me.  I have been pinning some lunch recipes on my board, and decided to try the ham and pasta salad for this week.  We made the salad pretty much by the recipe and used whole wheat pasta.  We did, however, reduce the ingredients to make two servings.  I love the mini sweet peppers, and one of the orange ones was enough for my taste and looked so pretty with the ham and green peas.  Of course, I had to test it.  It was very much to my liking, and will be a great lunch.   But I wanted to make something else for two lunches and I decided to try Hungry Girl's Scoopable Chinese Chicken Salad.  It's another recipe that I had pinned.  The only thing I changed was the scallions.  I had used scallions in an Asian salad once before, and they flavor was very overpowering.  Instead I substituted a couple of sprinkles of Tastefully Simple's Onion Onion seasoning.  I didn't think I would like the dressing, but it's pretty good.

So in just two hours, we cooked 5 breakfasts and 4 lunches.  Will let you know how it works.

A New Beginning - Again!

Here it is 2014, and I'm still battling the Diabetes Dragon.  And the dragon has a partner - Obesity.  I've made so many fresh starts, and I'm sure you are all rolling your eyes and saying, "Here we go again!"  I have to tell you that I have been on a sugar rush.  I have been eating everything I can find that's sweet - not good for a diabetic.  And I have not been checking my blood sugar because I really didn't want to know - also not good for a diabetic.  I know that some of it has been depression.  This was my first Christmas without my mom, who passed away in May.  Since Christmas Day was her birthday, it was doubly hard.  We returned from Disney and I came down with a cold the next morning.  My daughter says I have "Disney Depression" - resulting from no trip to look forward to.  And then our Mr. Willy cat passed away.  He had been attacked by a stray dog, suffered some serious injuries, but was on the mend.  A blood clot thought otherwise.

But, I've picked myself up, dusted myself off, and decided to make a serious fresh start.  I've discontinued the Victoza.  Every time I start to use it again, I experience more problems with my gall bladder.  This makes things a little more difficult.  I have to curb my appetite, account for what goes into my mouth, and I have to do it all my myself!  I have an entire bookcase of diet books, all shapes and sizes.  But I've always done the best with Weight Watchers.  But I still need to watch my carbs and sugar intake.  So, I'm planning on meals that are Weight Watchers and diabetic friendly.  I've cut out caffeine - seems that it makes diabetes harder to control.  I am now three days into the "No Cheat Area".  For some that doesn't seem like much, but for me I need to start with little steps before I can do a long jump.  So, here we go again.  Let's hope I will be successful.

Disappointed But Determined

Well, another disappointing weigh-in.  It was another weight gain.  Not a lot, but still a gain.  Two bumpy weeks in a row, but I am more determined.  When I plugged my numbers into my weight tracker, the message said to review my tracker and see what changes I had made.  And that's exactly what I did!  Here's what I found.  The first few weeks when I had a significant loss, I had made a protein shake for breakfast.  It was quick and I didn't feel hungry before lunchtime.  For some reason, I have been eating cereal these last two weeks.  I noticed a rise in my mid morning blood sugar readings, and perhaps that cereal also contributed to my weight gain.  For lunch, I had been eating tomatoes with sandwiches or soup.  Our tomato season has ended, and store bought tomatoes just don't taste like our home-grown.  I had been eating one slice of thick sliced bologna on my sandwich.  Perhaps, this next week I will try thick sliced turkey with mustard and pickles, and drink a tomato juice (Mmm).  There were no significant changes in dinner, but I had changed my evening snacks.  Also, I found that I had not been eating my yogurt.  That will change!  This morning, I am making a protein shake, but I don't have any fresh strawberries.  I have strawberry protein powder which I haven't tried yet, so I'm going to add a container of strawberry yogurt to my milk and use the strawberry powder.  And, I will start pushing the water.

I am now realizing that although I am staying in my points allowed, what I choose to use for those points can, and does,  make a difference. I am so glad that I am using the Weight Watchers online site because I wouldn't have thought to look at my food tracker had they not suggested it.  Just as with my blood sugar numbers, what I choose to put into my mouth affects my weight numbers.  Its a fresh week and time to make a fresh start,

Was Last Week a Fluke??

Today was weigh in day.  I was very apprehensive because last week showed such a large loss.  Could it have been a fluke?? I stuck to the program just the way I have been, but when I stepped on the scale and looked down, it showed that I had gained 2.8 pounds from last week.  I was so disappointed, could last week have been a fluke??  I don't really know.  But time marches on, and so do I.  I'm not giving up.

Last night we made Weight Watchers Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli.  It was delicious, and the rest of the family must have thought so too, since Rod had 3 helpings!  One serving, however was 7 points.  Right now those points aren't a big deal, but as I lose weight I will lose points and that could be a problem.  But in my Scarlet O'Hara mode, I won't think about that today.

This morning was really chilly for this time of year - 39 degrees.  It was the perfect morning for oatmeal.  I had 1/2 cup left over from Sunday, and I still had pumpkin with spices added that I had stored in the refrigerator.  So I took 1/4 cup of the pumpkin, added it to the oatmeal and heated it.  I added some milk, and mmmm it was so good! Fall is my favorite time of year - partly because I love apples and pumpkin.  I was born in the fall, I was married in the fall, and I guess that if Mother Nature asked me to help with the seasons, I'd pick fall.  Soup, apple butter, pumpkin pies, football games, and hot cocoa - what more could a person asked for.

Strange Things are Happening to Me

I started Weight Watchers on September 3, and I'm surprised by the "Strange things" that are happening to me.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am an uncurable chocoholic.  I have been known, on occasion, to search through a cupboard looking for just one chocolate chip that may have fallen out of the bag.  On Friday, I had a terrible craving for chocolate.  But I didn't want to ruin my determination to take off the pounds with just one moment of weakness.  I went to the cupboard and took out a box of Krave cereal.  Hmmm, 3/4 cup of that cereal was just 3 points - and it has a chocolate flavored center.  So I measured out my 3/4 cup into a little plastic bag, grabbed my Kindle, and went out to the deck.  I sat there all alone, listening to the birds, watching the fish in the pond, and munching my Krave (what a suitable name).  It was a relaxing and satisfying afternoon.  And. . .  no breaking plan.  And I'm discovering that I like sliced radishes as a crunchy snack better than potato chips.

But the strange things are continuing to happen.  Normally on the weekends, Rod cooks me eggs and bacon with toast for breakfast.  It's all "legal".  But for some strange reason, I woke up this morning craving oatmeal.  Rod makes the best oatmeal, and happily made me some oatmeal with dried cranberries.  Not the quick oatmeal, but the real stuff - full of fiber.  It was so good, and so filling.  I think my normal weekend breakfast has just been overhauled.

We have planned a trip to Walt Disney World in December, and I don't want to destroy my success for a one week vacation.  So I have been looking at our dining reservations, checking the menus, and planning what I should eat to stay, well pretty much, on plan.  I want to learn to "guesstimate" my portions.  I do have some really cute collapsible measuring cups and a mini scale to take with me, but still want to be able to "eyeball" my portions.  Last night for dinner, I cut a piece of steak and then weighed it.  I was only .5 ounce off the three ounces on my plan.  Pretty good, huh?

I'm delighted with these strange things, and hope I continue to witness changes.

Weigh In Day

Today is my weigh in day - the day I weigh myself and track my weight on the WW app.  I was very apprehensive about stepping on that scale this morning.  I did so well with my weight loss last week, and was afraid that this week's loss would disappoint.  I followed my Points Plus tracking very seriously, tried new recipes, and enjoyed my new way of eating.  But it wasn't just the eating.  I forced myself to move more -not too difficult for most people, but for me it was major.  And was it worth it???  Oh, Yea!!!

That makes a total of 12.5 pounds since I started Weight Watchers.  I realize that losing this many pounds in a week is not usual, and am not expecting this type of loss each week.  But for now, I'll rejoice in it and use it for incentive.  

WAHOO!

Today is Tuesday, my weigh in day.  And . . . .   drum roll please . . . .  this week I lost 4.5 pounds.  I have followed Weight Watchers religiously this past week, and no cheating.  And my numbers show it.  I feel so proud of myself, I can't remember the last time I stuck to an eating plan without a cheat.  I have tracked everything that has gone into my mouth, and have said "no" to sugary sweets when the grandkids have offered them.  And now, as I write this, I feel almost giddy.  It's the incentive I needed.

A Fresh Start. . . . Again.

photo borrowed from diabetesmine.com

It's been over a year since I posted on this blog, but today I need to start over - again.  I guess anytime one undertakes a weight loss journey, one needs to have incentive, a really strong incentive.  I have a wonderful family, all who love me just the way I am.  And perhaps that's part of my problem.  I've had some gall bladder issues, and stopped taking the Victoza again because of some unpleasant side effects.  I decided to try the Glycemic Index Diet again, both to try for some weight loss and also to keep my blood sugar levels in a good place.  I had already re-read the book, made a shopping list, and studied recipes.  But after eating some chicken wings, I suffered serious gall bladder pain, and made an appointment with a surgeon.  Several times I started to cancel the appointment, but didn't.  Today I wish I had.  I went to the appointment yesterday and left his office feeling ashamed, embarrassed, and beaten down.  He told me that he wouldn't do my surgery because of "my size".  He used that phrase over and over, and I fought back the tears.  He told me I needed to take off 100 lbs. before he would feel comfortable doing any surgery on me.  He suggested the ever popular "gastric" surgery, and I told him no way.  If I am to lose weight, I want to do it on my own, with diet and exercise - not someone with a knife and an elastic band.  I'm not sure if Rod knew how down I was.  But as is my normal way, I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and got mad - really mad.  And, I began to make plans for my future.  I enlisted the help of my family.  Already I have gone three days without chocolate - a major step for me.

We have a large picnic planned for Sunday, but first thing Monday morning, the GI diet becomes my new Fresh Start. I hope that you will travel with me as I begin this journey.  I know that I can do it, but if I want to take a wrong exit, I will need your support and encouragement.

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.