Thursday, October 22, 2009

Last night I was watching tv and there was a Dunkin Donuts commercial on. They were advertising all of their pumpkin muffins and donuts. I really wanted to try their pumpkin donuts, so I thought maybe I would before the holidays are over.

This morning Mark and I decide to go by McDonald's on the way in and get our usual. Mine is a bacon and egg biscuit. When I got to work, there were signs up about there being donuts in the library. I was bummed because I already had my egg and bacon biscuit.

Mark called me and I told him I really wanted a donut and he said; go get one. I told him there were donuts for all in the library and he said oh. Donuts don't appeal to Mark all that often. After eating my planned breakfast, the donuts kept creeping up in my mind. So, I went and got one. I picked out the one I thought was pumpkin and made way back to my desk. While I was eating it, I decided to go out on the internet to see if there was nutritional value for Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds. I give Dunkin credit for their easy to find, easy to read chart for nutritional value. The pumpkin donut has 300 calories and 35 total grams of carbs. Go out and take a look. (donuts are below the coffees)

https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/nutrition/nutrition.pdf

Then I went to McDonald's site. Nutrition value was also fairly easy to find, their chart not as easy to read. My planned breakfast has 37 carbs for a regular sized biscuit and 43 for a large one. I didn't know they had different sized biscuits, so since I'm not sure whether mine was a large or regular, I'll split the different and say 40 carbs.

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutritionexchange.do

I had heard that Long John's did not report their nutrition information, but I thought I'd check. If they didn't in the past, they do now. I can eat 3 chicken planks and 1 serving of coleslaw for 42 carbs.

http://www.ljsilvers.com/pdf/LJSnutrition-info2009.pdf

So, I've consumed 75 carbs this morning and don't feel nearly as satisfied as if I'd stayed with my cereal or oatmeal then chosen Long John's for lunch! Krispy Creme glazed pumpkin spice as 2 more grams of carbs, but for me is much tastier than the Dunkin pumpkin donut and worth the extra 2 carbs.

Tip: If there is something you like to eat on a regular basis, go find the nutritional value on the Internet. You may be surprised that something you were turning down is better for you as an occasional treat, than what you would choose without looking at the actual nutrition information.

Wednesday, October 21

I've had weight loss on my mind for the past few days. Shannon suggested I weigh at home. I had a set of scales that never seemed to come close to weighing me so I had pretty much given up on that. I had searched the Internet several months ago looking for a set of high dollar scales to buy so I could begin weighing on a regular basis and not have it be plus or minus 10 pounds every time I weighed.

At my past visit, I asked Shannon what scale she recommended. She recommended "The Biggest Loser" scale at Beds Bath and Beyond. I shared with her my concern of lower dollar scales weighing me differently, so after our appointment we went by the nutritionist office's high dollar scales and guess what? I weighed 2 pounds less on those scales. So, in the scheme of things, it probably doesn't really matter if the scales are off a couple of pounds either way. So, after my visit, Mark and I headed over to BBB and there were literally 100s of Biggest Loser Scales. I have to keep reminding myself that Biggest Loser is in regard to weight and not a character definition.

I am happy with my scale purchase! They have a very modern look and are close to the ground, so they are easy for me to stand on without feeling like I'm going to fall off before I get a weight. I paid 40 dollars for them as opposed to 100s of dollars. That is very different for me and I am satisfied with my scale purchase. I have skipped weighing in the doctor's office for years because I did not think it was necessary and believe it or not, if you tell them you don't want to be weighed, they will not weigh you.

The other thing that is on my mind is GMO - Genetically Manufactured Organisms. I watched a movie a couple of days ago called Food Inc. and realized that I had been living under a rock for many years now. I was not aware that 95% or more of our poultry, beef, and pork products were produced by about 4 major corporations. I was surprised as to how I was fooled by the packaging in the stores; showing Farmers on Tractors and other Farm type scenes so we are all lulled into believing the Farmers are the ones producing our meat products as well as corn and soybeans. If the farmers are in the loop, they have to play by the corporations rules or the corporations will ruin them.

Enough of that. The main horror is the way chickens have been genetically changed so they have big breast so there will be plenty of white meat for us, the customer. Many of them cannot stand, because their legs do not support their heavy upper body. There is not room to walk between them. They are pushed, shoved, and kicked. Same goes with cows and pigs. Anyway, I am going to start purchasing grass fed meats.

Here is a link on GMOs in case you have also been under a rock and want to read about what it is.
http://fanaticcook.blogspot.com/2009/10/genetically-modified-organisms-whats.html

I stand in the mirror and hold my arms up to show my muscle. I have several inches of flab hanging down and if I move my arms back and forth, I can get it to jiggle. I recognize the need to build muscle and have read about the importance of doing do to prevent osteoarthritis. We have a little exercise room in the clubhouse. Mark's not too thrilled about going, so I am thinking about finding a partner to work with me.

I sent pictures and an application to participate in Jorge Cruise's "lose belly fat" by Christmas event. There will be 20 women selected and I hope to be one of them. They are going to contact the winners on October 31st. I have not been contacted and maybe they really are not going to contact anyone until that date. Think of me and visualize me working with Jorge Cruise. Interested in learning more about him? jorgecruise.com I found this in Women First magazine; along with a tip that ingesting 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar on a daily basis will help melt body fat. I asked Shannon what she thought of that and she said there has not been many rigorous studies to support this, but that vinegar has healing properties.

My tip for the day. Be sure to use Apple Cider and not Balsamic Vinegar! You probably don't want to know why I know that.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

I've been wanting to set up my own personal blog ever since I saw Julie and Julia. I was filled with excitement experiencing Julie's journey through the world of Julia and how cooking her way through Julia Child's recipes taught her much more than how to conquer a recipe book. It taught tenacity, strength, wisdom, and courage.

This is what I need to manage my newly diagnosed Type II Diabetes; tenacity, strength, wisdom, and courage.

To fill you in on what I want to blog about; life as a Type II diabetic, I am going to catch you up from when I was diagnosed to current. Then I will be blogging daily about my thoughts and feelings as I continue to manage my blood glucose levels and weight.

July 18th, the Saturday our family was heading to Michigan for a Family Reunion, I received a call from my doctor's office telling me my blood work showed a blood glucose level of 400 and that meant I was a Type II diabetic. They wanted me to come in to the office that day to get another reading and set me up for testing my blood sugar, give me medication and information on diabetes. I thought, boy, they are really on the ball calling me in on Saturday like this. I guess I didn't realize all the complications that can occur from being diabetic.

My reading at the doctor's office that day was 463.

Armed with prescriptions for a meter, lancelets, testing strips, and metformin, I went directly to WalGreens and had all my prescriptions filled. I was in a state of shock. I was familiar with checking glucose levels because my father-in-law is diabetic and checks his throughout the day.

After getting my prescriptions we headed toward Michigan. That night we stopped in a hotel and my daughter's boyfriend showed my how to use my meter. His mom and grandmother have both been diagnosed with Diabetes. From now on, when I say Diabetes, I am talking about Type II.

I decided that I was going to limit my breads, muffins, juice, alcohol intake while at the family reunion and then get more educated after the reunion. I wasn't going to tell anyone, except my husband and daughters that I was diabetic because I didn't want people watching what I ate and attempting to help me out with my food choices. I ended up telling most people. I felt uncomfortable continuing to turn down 90% of what I was offered.

I diligently tested my blood sugar counts and saw them drop from the 300s to the 200 range. Since the levels didn't get out of the 200s in the first 4 days, I began taking the metformin as recommended by my doctor's colleague I saw that Saturday morning earlier in the week.

The reunion was fun and I was fairly satisfied with the choices I made for the week. The Monday I returned from the reunion, I went back to work and realized my eye sight was blurry and that I could not even function at my computer as efficiently as I needed to. I immediately made an appointment to see an opthamologist.

To give you a brief summary of my weight, I've thought I was fat since I was in elementary school. Even now, I stand at 5' 9", weighing 252 pounds. My older sister is 5' 2" and currently weighs 128 pounds. While 252 pounds is still in the obese category, I've weighed as much as 302.

Reading up on Type II diabetes, it was now making sense as to why I told Mark, my husband, that I was feeling ragged. I had been feeling "ragged" for about 4-5 months. I had all the symptoms; frequent urination, craving water non-stop and never having enough, fatigue, weight loss. The interesting thing about the weight loss; being from Texas the last 27 years of my life, I thought I was losing weight because I was not consuming enormous portions of Mexican food. I was concerned that I appeared to have lost quite a bit of muscle tone over the past year. While on one level I wasn't surprised that I was diabetic; I knew that the majority of my symptoms were symptoms of diabetes, I did not know that weight loss was one of them.

I love my doctors in Saratoga Springs! My primary care doctor, Dr. Smith, really cares about me as a person and connected me with my current nutritionist. I've been seeing my nutritionist for a little over a month. Shannon is a great nutritionist. So much different than the one I saw many years ago in Austin who was matronly and almost severe. Shannon has curly red hair and energy that is bright, light, and clean. She walks with a bounce in her step and her eyes sparkle and shine. This amazing young bundle of energy has me counting total carbohydrates. I never thought I wanted to count anything; I thought it was too retrictive. However, I am finding the opposite to be true. Counting carbs has honestly given me freedom of choice. My blood sugars are now in the 140 or below range. My fasting glucose counts are still a little high, but have been in the 110 range.

Let me explain something, I have always failed when attempting to make food lifestyle changes because somewhere along the line I have felt deprivation. Counting total carbohydrates as given me a sense of freedom and lack of deprivation, instead of depriving me like I thought it would.

Has my journey so far been easy? Hell no! I told Shannon in my visit last week that I was feeling pouty. I watch people consume large amounts of alcohol, high carbohydrate foods, and all the dessert they want and they seem healthy and in control of their weight. I tell myself that I do not know what is on their inside and they may be sitting on a problem they don't even know they have. I get in victim mode and spend time wondering why I have to be the one who is obese and now a diabetic.

Here is what I know: I do not want to lose my limbs, eyesight, kidney functions, or allow myself to support any other side affect that will diminish my quality of life. I want to be here for my daughters and my grandkids, and my husband Mark. I want to make a difference in the life of others.

If you are interested, walk with me through my journey as a diabetic and as an obese person. I want to live life to its fullest, feeling comfortable in my body, being able to do all types of activities and not feel limited by my body condition. I am going to share food and exercise experiences with you in an attempt to help you identify with me and potentially inspire you to be as Julie was.

Before blogging off, I want to share with you my tips on not feeling deprived because "I cannot drink juice, coca colas, or have a margarita (50-55 total carbs)". There are 2 things I love more than anything; all kinds of juices and cokes of all kinds. I wanted to satisfy my desire to have a fizzy drink; one I can pop a can and pour over ice. While I'm not "popping" cans, I have managed to fill that void with Polar Club Soda with a dash of juice over ice or an occasional diet drink or zevia (Zevia can be purchased at Hannafords). Be careful though, while the zevia is all natural, there are 12 total carbs per can. Another treat is a glass of red wine. I like Pinot Noirs and a wine named Menage a Trois. A 4 oz glass of red wine is 4 total carbs. I can sip a glass of red wine and feel content. Not actually a margarita, but I don't feel deprived and I find that I actually end up feeling more satisfied!