My journey to better health

Some people simply don't notice things like that; they see you and not what you look like. Others think it's rude or embarrassing to comment on a person's personal appearance, good or bad. You can't be sure you were dissed unless you say, Uncle, I'm on a journey to better health and I've really lost weight. Don't you think I look better? and see what he says.

Last time he saw me he commented on how much I'd gained....so I thought he'd noticed I lost. Guys.....**sigh**
For some odd reason the cheeseburger in a bowl spiked me......very odd considering there was less than 15 carbs in the entire thing. Yet this morning I was fine with my usual oatmeal, not like yesterday. Gotta be hormone fluctuations at work here, no other explanation comes to mind.
Thinking about having some squash with butter tonight, nice filling dinner for a cold snowy night.

.....which somehow spiked me 30pts but thankfully still in the normal range....barely. No idea why I'm spiking in the evening lately, the rest of the readings are very good otherwise.
Rode a few extra miles on the bike this morning despite the cold....gotta get some exercise in somehow.

I did so good with my numbers yesterday I had 1/2 cup of icecream! Boy did that taste good.
Trying my pizza in a bowl again with different ingredients, will see if I do better this time with it than I did the last time.

My mom is still frustrated that her meter readings are so much higher than mine. Swears it's the meter being flunky....I don't think so. Anyway, dr appt on the 26th so will have extra blood drawn for a diabetes test. Told her she should do that annually anyway since her brother has type 2. Makes her risk for getting it higher just like it does me.

Made my cranberries and pumpkin pie again....the cranberries are still too sweet but the pie was much better. I think I posted both recipes here. I increased the pumpkin pie spice to 4 tsp.......much better. Still have to decrease the splenda some more in the cranberries......will try 1/2 cup next time (recipe called for 1 cup). I did finish cooking it without a lid AFTER all the berries had popped, to evaporate the excess water out. Much better consistency.
My numbers were quite good.

Christmas Eve however, I messed up. I ate the equivalent of 4 spoonfulls of tapioca pudding, not remembering those lil pearls are all starch. I was over 30 pts higher 2 hours later, and even though my dinner that night didn't raise me up much more, I was still a tad too high for comfort. No more tapioca for me.

Geez, danger lurks everywhere! We have to be so careful. Last week I was late and in a hurry for lunch, grabbed a sandwich from Whole Foods and hightailed it back to the office. Hungry, I took a big bite and realized to my horror that my "turkey avocado" had bacon on it! Well, I'm allergic to red meat! I spit it out, and scraped the bacon off the rest of the sammy, but I was pretty nervous to see if I'd get a bad reaction. Didn't. *whew!* The worst part is that that bacon tasted SOOOO GOOD! Lord, I miss it. Thanks a lot, ticks.

Well tonight I was truly disgusting. There is hot dog place that opened up near me.
Very fancy, possibly one of the most expensive hot dogs I had but also one of the best.
Complete with french fries, I ate the WHOLE THING!!!!

OhMy, but french fries sound so good! I can only handle a tiny amount of potatoes.....so a batch of fries would be too much temptation for me to resist. Don't fret too badly though Sue, it was only one meal and you can climb back on the wagon with the next meal.

Last night I had fried ham with quite a bit of cauliflower.....and did very well! Only went up 4 pts! I thought I had at least 30 carbs worth of cauliflower in that bowl, plus whatever carbs are in butter. But I was so happy about those good numbers I had ice cream again just before bed. Mint chocolate chip with brownie bits in it. YUM! Woke up this morning to 65.....lowest I've ever been since all this started. What a shock. 2 slices of splenda pumpkin pie and a huge glass of 2% milk for breakfast and I was only at 95. Already had an orange for a snack this morning, figured I could handle those sugary carbs being this low today. More hormone fluctuations at work today? Only in my favor for once?

suzzzz, I didn't know you were allergic to red meat. Glad you didn't have a bad reaction to that brief taste of bacon. I'd be sunk with my diet if that were the case with me. Only way I can handle potatoes at all is if they're fried in bacon grease to slow down the digestion. Canola oil does not have the same effect for some odd reason. And I LOVE bacon. I thought fat was fat but apparently to my body it isn't.

Okay, tried out the chocolate chip recipe I found using almond butter Didn't have stevia so subbed splenda instead. Dough was extremely stiff, cookies didn't spread much when I baked them either. They're a tad on the dry side but otherwise taste quite good. Just wondered: what's the difference between plain stevia and splenda?

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup unsalted almond butter, stirred well
1 large egg
3/4 cup Stevia
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 ounces 90% dark cocoa, broken into small pieces (I used unsweetened baking chocolate, crumbled into tiny bits)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, stir together first five ingredients until
blended. Stir in chocolate.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoon-fulls onto parchment paper lined
baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly brown. Let cool on
baking sheet for five minutes. Removed to a wire rack and let cool
for 15 more minutes

ATTN: diabetics or friends of diabetics.........my numbers have been quite low the past 3 days, ranging from lows of 66-75 in the morning, and no higher than 94 after dinner, which is when I'm usually at my highest for the day. My usual average for morning premeal is in the 85-95 range, evening aftermeal is in the 100-110 range. So I've had icecream, cupcakes, and cookies as a prebed snack yet still am quite low in the morning. Is that okay? My mom seems to think that's a bit too low. I don't know....I feel wonderful.

Found a recipe for lowcarb meatloaf that looked and sounded yummy, will let you know how that turns out and if you want post the recipe for it.

I wouldn't worry if you feel great. Check the sites you normally go to
and see what they say.

I agree with Sue on both counts. Have you found a good "same boat" community to post with yet? So glad you feel so well!

So, New Year's Day is the time for resolutions. Here's to saying goodbye to 20 pounds for me! I know it's a typical (and usually failed) resolution, but I'm pretty determined! Figured I'd post it here since it kind of fits in with the better health thing even though I'm pretty durned healthy anyway.

Good for you, Becky! Of course, now that you've posted it, you'll have to make it happen.

I'm hoping it helps my determination. I have loads of leftover cookies and ice cream from holiday feasting. What to do, what to do?

I made an interesting dinner tonight. I baked a speghetti squash and used some of
the pumpkin tuscany sauce over it. Pretty tasty.

bpaquet wrote:I'm hoping it helps my determination. I have loads of leftover cookies and ice cream from holiday feasting. What to do, what to do?

You can do what I do Becky.....if my blood glucose is very good I have either 2 cookies or 1/2 cup of icecream about a 1/2 hour before going to bed. Portion control is the key here. I still have nearly 1/4 gallon of blue moon icecream in my freezer in airtight containers. Will probably take all winter for me to finish it off. Also, if you do check your blood glucose levels you might find you can have a small treat like the cookies or icecream more often.
My glucose levels were so low yesterday morning (59) that I alaking NOODLES for brunch. Raised me 40 pts but I was still well in the normal range. Today's reading was even lower.......49. Not only had my usual oatmeal but also a huge glass of 2% milk AND 2 oreo cookies. More oreos in my pocket for around 10:30am. Definitely hormonal shift responsible for my ultralow readings the past few days.

oh becky 20lbs you can do that! three things to remember....
1)fresh...fresh...fresh...fruit and veg (and fruit is great when you want sweet! Clemintines are all over the place right now and two of those little suckers have around 50calories together!)
2) NO PROCESSED FOOD (okay..well..at little as possible...they're full of salt and sugar and fat and other crap your body really hates though they're fun and easy to stuff in your micro and your mouth...think of them as a 'rare' treat' instead of a stable)...you'll also find you eat less and it costs less in the long run to eat the real stuff. (major hint here...shop the parimeter of the grocery store and avoid those inner aisles)
3)read labels...when you know that's in that stuff you're putting in your body you tend to eat better....if you really want to be good pretend you can't have more than 2000mg of sodium (its really not hard if you're a little careful and stay away from canned,frozen and other processed stuff!) and try to keep the sugar to....i think its under 10mg (should be under 5 i believe..but 10 is easier to do).
oh..and (according to Dr Oz and pretty much any doctor ....don't eat 3 hrs before you go to bed. if you have to have something (I do..or else i get up in the middle of the night and stick my hands into stuff i'm not supposed to eat!)make it caffiene free and no sugar....like a small bowl of corn flakes or plain shredded wheat or rice krispies...a plain greek yogurt with a little bit of fruit...or a piece of fruit..something like that.

except for the time i was in the hospital earlier in the month (and was on IVs for 4 days)i've kept within the same 3-4lbs since Sept. I'd like to get 5-10more lbs off but keep being told not to lose too much..and figure if they finally do the surgery and get that horror out of me i'll drop maybe 5lbs from that..

Jeane, you and Fif have done fantastic. I'm holding my own. Still my blood pressure is
down from where it was two years ago, though my weight could be better. Tonight I had
a veggie pot pie from Whole Foods with some avocado. Even from Whole Foods I know it
wasn't the best meal choice in the world but I can't get to the kitchen to cook.

I've found out if I can pronounce what's in something on it's label it's usually pretty good for me. Not a lot of preservatives, chemicals, or high fructose corn syrup. Doing the low sugar, lowcarb thing and it's working out pretty well so far. I can actually be offered something like chips or pie and walk away from it without so much as a nibble!

Started out low again today, 71 (normal), but with the stress of having to drive to Rockford to the unemployment office (through heavy traffic, construction detours, and those damned one-way streets I hate so much) after spending a good part of yesterday on the phone with them getting nowhere fast (kept getting the damned computer and hung up on after being on hold for what felt like forever multiple times) and dealing with the cobbled up mess they made of my claim my numbers shot up to 133! I had my usual oatmeal which raises me maybe 2-6pts....so I know that number was from the stress. I'd read that stress has a bearing on your blood glucose levels but wow.....62 pts? I didn't need it demonstrated for real like that.

I can believe that.

I'm lucky because I LOVE fruit/veg. My big thing is that I need to exercise. It's been a rough few months, and I haven't been as active as normal. I feel fluffy. I'm fortunate that I only need to lose 10 to get to my desired weight range, but I want to be 20 less just to be comfortable and have a bit of room to spare.

Recipe for the day for veggie pot pie. It freezes really well for baking later. Home made pie crust is best, but if you can find a whole wheat one ready-made, it's a pretty good substitute. Whole Foods should have something like that, right?

• To make the sauce, take 2T of flour (whole wheat is fine) and 2T of a light veggie oil/canola oil. Cook flour and oil in a sauce pan until very light brown. You should just begin to smell the flour toasting. Add the veggie broth (about 1.5 cups) slowly until you get a medium thick sauce. Add a dash of white wine for interest. Salt/pepper/dry thyme to taste. Add whatever other spices you like.
  

• Pre-cook veggies (any you like) until just beginning to get soft. Don't cook all the way. You can boil/bake. I prefer to roast them until I start smelling them, but they're just a bit crunchy still.
  

• Par-bake bottom crust so it doesn't get soggy.
  

• Put veggies in the sauce and stir to coat. Dump into the bottom crust. Put on a top crust. (Freeze now if you plan to cook later.)
  

• Bake at 350 until top crust is brown and crunchy.
  

I really like just a little sauce in a pot pie. If you like more, increase the roux to 3T oil/3T flour and increase the broth to 2.5 cups.

Happy eating!

That sure sounds good! I bet you can lower the carb count (and calories) even more by skipping the bottom crust. And losing 20# before next summer shouldn't be too hard Becky. Fresh fruit and veggies make it a lot easier....especially if you have some already cut up in the fridge for when those sneaky snack attacks hit.

Made my spaghetti squash with homemade sauce. 1/2 cup tomato sauce, 2 TB tomato paste, a good sprinkle of onion and garlic powder, an even more generous sprinkle of italian seasonings, a small palmful of finely chopped green pepper.....and simmer with a lid on so it does NOT evaporate on you. Meanwhile brown a bit of sausage, drain and crumble. Add to the sauce and simmer a bit more. Makes just enough sauce for one person's portion of squash so no leftovers to sit in the fridge. Turned out pretty good actually, and only raised me about 25 pts. How many carbs are in spaghetti squash anyway? The sauce itself only had about 18 carbs in it so I figured it wouldn't raise me quite that much. BTW, I measured out and then froze the rest of the tomato sauce and paste from the can. Making sauce next time will be even faster!

I have no idea what's going on with my body now.....I've been having oatmeal with cinnamon for nearly every breakfast since Oct 21st with little problem, until now. Yesterday I went from 57 to 101 with my usual oatmeal. Today I went from 76 to 135! If I can't handle oatmeal anymore what on earth will I be able to have for breakfast that will stick to my ribs? Can't have eggs everyday as that would give me heart disease, which is very prevalent in my family on both sides. So far my heart's okay and I want to keep it that way. Any suggestions or ideas? I can't handle bread, rice, or noodles very well at all.

Oats are supposed to be really safe -- I don't know what could be going on. What sort of cinnamon are you using -- could it have sugar added? One thought, do you absolutely trust your meter?