Walk it Out

Just read this article from Lifescript stating taking a short, 15-minute walk after meals is helpful to keep your blood sugar levels in check. Read more about it here.

I do this at lunchtime but not after the other two meals – maybe I should start!

Getting Herbal

I just saw this article on herbs that might help reduce blood sugar. Anyone tried any of these herbal supplemtns? What kind of success have you had? I’m willing to give it a shot. Heck, anything that helps, I’ll try!

Read the article here.

Back to reality

Beautiful view of Laguna Beach, California.

I’m back! I had an awesome time in Southern California. Special thanks to Phil for arranging such great weather while I was there. We packed a lot into our four days there, including many beaches and of course attending a taping of the Jeff Probst show. However, I did not get to meet my man. He didn’t interact with the audience as much as I had hoped. I was almost actually “on” the show, too … they chose audience members to participate in a game, and the production people were talking to me before the show. I think that because I was a little bit nervous they probably went with someone else. I was bummed, though …

I was also extremely sick on the trip, which made for a not-so-fun experience. My poor friend who had to put up with all the nose blowing, pill popping, coughing, complaining and random wadded up kleenex all over the place! She is a good soul for enduring such torture. My own husband probably would have left me on Venice Beach to fend for myself with all the weirdos.

My second favorite activity, after Jeff, was attending the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, a rehab facility for baby seals and sea lions. OMG. The cuteness! Sadly, they have more baby seals at the facility than ever before, and they don’t quite understand why. The facility relies completely on donations, so my friend and I not only put money into the donation box, but raided the gift shop where I got sea lion stuffed animal souvenirs for my boys, a t-shirt and photo prints for myself. Money well spent, I say.

My sugars were not so good out there. Not sure if it’s being sick, not eating 100% right, being screwed up on the hours, or a combination of all of them, but my fastings were anywhere from 130-160. I saw a couple of 200+ readings while I was out there, too. Yikes. What’s weird is I was really worried about going low because of all the walking we did. We walked A LOT. Miles and miles each day. We hiked up hills, we walked on sand. I was tired, but didn’t have any hypoglycemic episodes. I made sure I always had a protein bar or some almonds in my bag that I could munch on.

We took the red eye home Saturday/Sunday and I didn’t sleep worth a hill of beans. I got home and slept for a couple hours, then hung out with my kids for a while, took another nap, got up and ate dinner, napped again, and then finally went to bed. Yesterday I slept in until 11 a.m. after going to bed at 10. I guess my body needed to catch up!

Today I had my endocrinologist appointment. I had been dreading it, because I thought for sure my A1C was going to be bad. Between the holidays, my birthday in January, New Year’s, the Super bowl, Valentine’s, and any other little excuse I could come up with, I really haven’t been doing the things I need to be doing. Not to mention having at least two sinus infections in this stretch, as well as a cold that never really went anywhere. Anyway, it was 5.5, which wasn’t bad at all! I was surprised!

When my endocrinologist looked at my log book for my own BG testing, she was baffled. She said I am only one of two patients of hers where the numbers don’t match the A1C. My numbers of self-testing are way higher than my A1C would indicate. She even had a nurse come in and  test me right there with their meter to make sure mine was ok. (Remember, I’ve had this suspicion before.) However, their meter confirmed what mine said. Not sure what that means, but I guess I shouldn’t freak out at high numbers on my meter.

The bad news from my bloodwork is that my thyroid got worse, so she upped my dosage on that. She said that once the thyroid levels come down, that should help with my blood sugar, as well.

I drove to work after that, telling myself that I need to be more strict with the diet, stop the little cheats I’ve been allowing myself. And then my boss walked in with a box of Samoas girl scout cookies and I caved. No self control!!!!

Now that vacation is over, I need to get back into the swing of things, get healthy, and start eating right. I need to hold myself accountable more than I have been. But man, is it hard.

We Made It!

Happy New Year to all! We made it!

We made it through the holiday season, where temptation lurked around every corner. Where trays of cookies, pies and other holiday goodies beckoned us to cheat just a little bit. And then just a little bit more.

We made it through the New Year’s Eve celebrations, where snacks abounded.

We made it past the most difficult time of the year. Now it’s time to get back to business and take care of ourselves.

It you were like me, you deviated from your diet during those celebrations. Maybe you had more carbs than you were supposed to. Maybe you didn’t exercise the way you usually did. I’m guilty of all of these. In fact, for the past two weeks, I think my only exercise was chasing my kids around the house and cleaning up after them!

So now it’s time to get serious again. I haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions yet, but I’m going to jot some down that I think are totally attainable. Some related to health, some not. Here we go:

My Health

I resolve to exercise every day – even if it’s just for a few minutes.

I resolve to test my BG twice a day.

I resolve to count carbs.

I resolve to not get discouraged when my numbers aren’t what they should be.

Other Resolutions

I resolve to hug my kids and tell them I love them every day.

I resolve to keep my desk at work neater.

I resolve to be smarter with money.

—

What are your resolutions this year? How did you navigate through the holidays?

Corporate Schmoozing and Diabetes

Last night I was very lucky to have been treated to a basketball game by the ad agency working for our company. They were very generous, taking us out for drinks and appetizers prior to the game, and the seats were in a suite, which was also fully catered.

But it was a little awkward for me, being that I had to refuse some of their offerings. These are people I know on a professional level, who know nothing about me personally. When we first arrived, the head of the agency wanted to get me and my co-worker a drink. When I asked for water, he gave me a weird look and said, “Are you SURE???” I nodded. Yes I was sure.

Then, he ordered appetizers for the table, but we didn’t know or have any input on what was ordered. By this time, it’s well past 6 and I am getting hungry, and needed to eat something, pronto. Out comes a huge plate of nachos and another plate of fried mushrooms. Hardly anything there that I could eat. I did have a few nachos with some cheese on it, because I figured at least the cheese was a protein offering, and I tried a small mushroom. Again, I felt slightly uncomfortable when the agency guys were trying to give me more food on my plate.

Finally, we walked over to the arena and went into the suite. Again, my choices were limited in food. I took a diet Pepsi, which garnered another “are you SURE?” as the agency guy was pouring others mixed drinks and serving bottled beer. Even the diet Pepsi was a splurge for me, as I am not supposed to have caffeine with my Synthroid. The food offerings included small roast beef and turkey sandwiches, pizza, wings, macaroni and cheese, salad, a creamy pasta with shrimp, and popcorn, chips and pretzels. Oh – and a whole dessert plate that I stared at with a little bit of longing, I must admit.

I was fairly well behaved and had a couple of wings, some salad, a tiny bit of the pasta and a few handfuls of popcorn and pretzels. But with all that food there, once again I felt like I needed to at least make a show of eating it.

So I guess my point is this: it’s hard to be diabetic all the time, but in situations like this, when you’re in the work force and need to attend events with clients, or vendors, how do you get by? And do you tell them that you’re diabetic? My co-workers all know, there was just no way around it when I was first diagnosed, due to all my PTO and trips to the hospital with the palpitations. And it’s not like I hide it or keep it a secret. I’m very open about it. A few times, someone has come over to my desk while I’m testing my blood sugar or fumbling around in my purse for my various and sundry medications. And I’ll tell them exactly what I’m doing. Most respond with concern or understanding. However, with virtual strangers, I didn’t feel comfortable enough to divulge that, and I also didn’t want to put an unnecessary focus on me or make the agency guys feel like they needed to go out of their way to accommodate me. I just kept my mouth shut and tried my best to take care of myself.

What would you have done in my shoes? How would you have felt? Has this ever happened to you?

Ugh, it’s happening again!

My sugars are jumping up to ridiculous levels. In the past 12 hours, I’ve seen a 180, a 212 and a 208. And I have no answer as to why. The 180 was at bedtime, three hours after eating what I thought was a reasonable meal. It was leftovers of the meal I’d had the night before when I got a 90. Then this morning my fasting was in the 140s, which it hasn’t been in a few weeks. And after eating breakfast I got the 200 readings. I’m keeping a close eye on it right now because my vision is getting a little wonky, as it usually does when I pass 200.

So, what could be causing it? My #1 suspect is once again my birth control pill. I’ve been on the new pill (Sprintec) for a week now, so it’s possible the hormone has taken control of my system. I think this may be the end of birth control for me. Not to mention the weight gain that’s been creeping up despite an increase in activity level last week and this week.

I’m going to be super careful with what I eat today, plus I have a workout tonight, so hopefully with both of these factors combined, my levels will be back under control by the time I go to bed tonight.

Weekly Check-In: Week of 11/18/12

Weight: 143.5 (-4)

Blood Sugar Average Past 7 Days: 137 (+3)

High: 188

Low: 102

Notes:

I’ve been doing some serious working out, so I attribute my weight loss to that. I did a pretty intense body sculpting class, also did a “Disco” workout video with some co-workers in our exercise room and have another one planned for today. So, I’m doing well on that front.

What’s weird is I had the exact same high and low number as I did last week. And what’s even weirder is that I got that high and low number within an hour of each other, after breakfast on Monday. I’m usually high after breakfast (blood sugar wise, heh) and the 188 was a 1 1/2 hour reading. The 102 was an hour later, so it was a 2 1/2 hour reading. Anywho.

Then, after my primary told me to stop the Onglyza, I noticed a sharp uptick in my numbers. Back on the Onglyza I went. I also tried to take just one Metformin at night (I usually take two) and the numbers jumped up again. I decided to wait to see what my endocrinologist had to say before I messed around with meds anymore. I did see her yesterday so I’ll discuss that in an upcoming post.

I expect some high numbers tomorrow. What are some good coping methods to get through Thanksgiving? Typically this is my favorite meal of the year, and I’m going to want to have a little bit of everything. I guess just anticipate this, and just have small portions instead of an all-out gorge fest?

ACHOO!!!!!

It’s Thanksgiving week, and that can only mean one thing: no, not that turkey and stuffing will be consumed in mass quantities, although I’m sure that’s true. Nope, the thing I can guarantee is that I will be coming down …

Weekly Check-in: week of 11/11/12

Weight: 147.5 (+3)

Blood Sugar Average Past 7 Days: 134 (+13)

High: 188

Low: 102

Notes:

I didn’t just fall off the wagon this week, I went to the end of the wagon, jumped, did a flip in the air, clicked my heels together and yelled “YEE HAW!” Then I ran as far from the wagon as I possibly could, stopping twice at a Burger King.

When the doctor told me “your numbers look good,” I heard: “YOU’RE CURED! GO EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH RECKLESS ABANDON!”

Oops. Guess I should get my ears checked next.

I had some good numbers in there – some low 100s and some post-meal readings that were where they needed to be. But I know that I was a bad girl this week. We started a “Biggest Loser” type competition at work on Thursday, and I went to lunch with my co-workers to the Mexican restaurant prior to our first weigh-in to “pad the numbers” a bit. I think I ate just as much as the non-diabetic people at the table as far as the chips, salsa and oh-so-yummy queso. I chose a fairly healthy (as healthy as you can get in a Mexcian restaurant) entree – a steak burrito with no refried beans or rice, and some extra veggies – and no sour cream or anything like that. I tried not to eat that much of the tortilla since I had already eaten my weight in chips.

Then, yesterday, I noticed we had two very ripe bananas in the house, so I decided to make banana bread. I substituted the sugar with Splenda and I used whole-wheat flour instead of white flour. But still – the recipe called for a whole stick of butter, two eggs, etc. Oh, and I added some chocolate chips to see if my kids would eat it. The banana bread turned out pretty yummy, if you ask me, but the kids weren’t so convinced. I had a “test” piece and I liked it so much that an hour later, I had another one! Then I realized that I had all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, so, the banana bread turned out so good – why not make cookies, too?

And when I make cookies, it’s all about the dough. So once I had scooped out all the spoonfuls of dough onto the baking sheet, I made sure there was a little bit extra in there for me. It tasted gritty because of the whole wheat flour, but I did splurge and use real brown sugar along with the Splenda. Brown sugar is like the nectar of the gods to me. I could seriously sit down and eat a whole bag of brown sugar with a spoon, I love it that much. Anyway, I didn’t. I wanted to, but I didn’t. Once the cookies came out of the oven, I had to taste one to make sure they were ok! Quality control, don’t ya know. Again, I thought they were great, but my 3-year-old tasted one and said, “Yecccccch!” and threw the cookie in the trash.

Not surprisingly, when I did my finger poke before bed last night, my sugar was 188. I felt ashamed of myself because I knew I had brought this on myself with the choices I made. This week, it’s back on the wagon – no acrobatic moves to jump off. Besides, now that there is the Biggest Loser competition at stake, I can’t let my team down. I’ll be walking, working out and avoiding the bad stuff. At least, that’s the plan, anyway …

Good News/Bad News

I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?

Let’s do the bad news:

I’m only confessing this to you because you are my blog peeps and you hopefully won’t judge.

I didn’t brush my teeth this morning. I wanted to, but I had a doctor’s appointment and my hubby was in the bathroom with no signs of coming out anytime soon. I was running late (as usual) so I said “screw it” and left the house with unbrushed, gross teeth  and morning breath. Yuck! I’ve felt gross about it all day.

That was the bad news.

Are you ready for the good news?

At my doctor, I didn’t realize they were doing the HA1C test on me. I thought this was just a check-in kind of appointment where I told my doctor about my numbers and whatnot. So, got the fingerpoke, and a few minutes later the nurse came in with my “Report Card” – which, if this were a school report card, would have all A’s and A+’s on it. My A1C is … wait for it … wait for it …

(For all you non-diabetics out there, they want a normal person to be below 7).

So basically, this is GREAT NEWS for me … it means I’ve been doing better than I’d even thought. She said this means that I’ve been below 90 on my BG, which according to my meter is bogus. I told her about my doubts with the meter and she gave me a new one – same brand, same kind. I did a side-by-side test – two drops of blood from the same poke – and the new one came in a few points higher than my current one. So now I think that entire line of meters are bogus.

She wants me to stop the Onglyza and see how I do. If my numbers drastically increase, then I’ll start it again. I also see my endo on the 20th, so I’m sure she will weigh in on this.

However, my A1C isn’t going to change much between now and then, I’d imagine! And all I did was eat healthier, try to get exercise daily (even though I don’t always do) and put myself first more than I was doing. Yes, this is a lifelong battle and this is just one victory on a long road, but it gives me hope that I can do this. I can beat this. And so can you.