Friday, September 30, 2016

How Day 1 Really Looks

This was not how I planned the day. I was up at 8:30 and my am blood sugar was 83. You may all happy dance, I know I was.

I got eggs delivered from a friend and we chatted for a bit. I made breakfast. I had 1/2 cup strawberries, 2 poached eggs, one slice of rye toast, 1 cup of cinnamon tea, and about 4 oz of water.

The plan  was to go to the bank, make a deposit, and cash a check. This was all accomplished. When I returned home I worked for a bit on a baby layette I am making. Baby due Nov. 8th so I have some time. Turned on the idiot box (TV) for some reruns...background noise mostly. Had thought I'd watch something I had recorded so I could get it off the DVR. Best laid plans, found me asleep before I knew what hit me. Came to life around 2pm angry because nothing else I had planned was getting done.

I have come to the conclusion, when my body is adjusting to healthy foods, it sometimes needs to regroup. Hence, the naps.

Decided it was too late to have lunch, but took my blood sugars 129. I can live with that number. Not quite a happy dance, but close.

Loaded dishwasher and assessed what my menu options were. Did not make Cream of Celery soup as I still have veggie soup I will use up.  Will make peppered steak for dinner and have a spinach salad. I will get my 600 calories without much effort.

Currently have a ton of energy. So, will look to moving some more of my office into the office and out of the living room. There is hope of recapturing the living room by the end of the day tomorrow. I'm excited.

Just made a second cup of cinnamon tea and will be drinking water with dinner. Won't get as much today, but some days that is how it works.

Off to do house stuff.
TTFN

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Official Day 1 Starts Tomorrow



Guess what I did today??? Yep, I went grocery shopping. I can really start following my diet plan. So, here's what tomorrow looks like:

Breakfast: Strawberries 1 cup, one scrambled egg, cinnamon tea and 16.9 oz of water.

Lunch: Cream of Celery Soup* (homemade) and tuna with spinach in it. 16.9 oz water (The diet plan wrapped the tuna in lettuce).

Dinner: Peppered steak** and onions, spinach salad with a drizzle of dressing (Italian)
1 cup cinnamon tea
I am looking forward to this.

* Recipe for Cream of Celery Soup.
Ingredients
6 oz of celery washed and diced
5 oz leeks, trimmed and sliced (I have green onions)
1 clove garlic
1T soy sauce
10 oz vegetable stock (or use bullion)
1/2 tsp. celery seed
5 oz skim milk (I have 2% so will make allowances for it in the calorie count)

Combine all ingredients but the milk in a large sauce pan or small stock pot. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 min, until the vegetables are soft. Remove from heat. Add  milk and run through a blender until smooth. Serve hot or cold.

**Recipe for Peppered Steak
4.25 oz lean ribeye steak with all fat trimmed
1/4 tsp crushed or cracked peppercorns
1 small yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 small tomatoes halved
3.5 oz frozen spinach
1 tsp olive oil

Coat the bottom of a skillet with the olive oil, then add the tomatoes and onions and cook over low heat turning as needed. Until browned and soft. (If they begin to stick add a couple tablespoons of water). While they're cooking rub steak well with the cracked peppercorns.
When the veggies are nearly done, add the steak and cook to your desired doneness (about 7 min for medium well) Turn midway so it browns evenly.

Place spinach in a small microwave-safe container, add 1T water, and microwave for 4-6 min. Serve steak topped with onions and accompanied by the tomatoes and spinach.


Hope you enjoy.
TTFN





The New Journey

I haven't posted much on this as I have been unable to shop for the foods I need. Payday has arrived and my list is long.

Let me start with what I have done. Since last Saturday (Sept 24, 2016) I have been trying to use the foods I have on hand to eat close to 600 calories. I have run from 580 calories to 642 calories. Yesterday was one of the best days so far. Am fasting blood sugar was 127, a little high, but more in range than out. I ate lunch exactly two hours later because I was heading to back to back meetings. Before lunch sugars were 207. I was not thrilled. However, bedtime sugars ran 123. I decided to cut  my bedtime insulin to 10units from 15units. It was a wise move. My am fasting blood sugar was 99. That is within the normal range.

I have all the supplements needed. I have not added any of them. I had an allergic reaction to a prescription med....broke out in a rash and looked like the bride of Frankenstein. The rash is slowly going away. To be on the safe side, I will only add one supplement at a time and will take it for two weeks before adding another. (I did up my vitamin doses to match those in the book).

The book for those who didn't get the memo is Done with Diabetes put out by Constitutional Health. It runs $37. It's a quick read and makes a ton of sense.

Have I lost any weight? I won't know until next Thurs. morning when I go in for my annual physical. I only get weighed at the doctors. I do not own a scale.
Although the goal weight I am shooting for is 120. I am not a number on a scale. I am a person and will not let my life be controlled by a number. No scales in my house.

I am feeling better. I have some more energy, I've been productive the past five days. If this is what the diet can do for me in five days, I can hardly imagine how I will feel in eight weeks.

I'll update more, with menus and recipes as we go on. This week's big recipe was vegetable soup.

My version:
1 large bottle V8 juice
1 large package frozen broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots
Toss in crockpot on low.
I let mine go overnight.
1 cup of the soup is about 80 calories.

Most of my meals are 200-220 calories.

Best of luck
TTFN

Monday, September 12, 2016

It's Been a Long Week

This has been my week. Add to it runny nose and itchy red eyes. I really hate allergies. However I stopped taking my allergy meds on Sept. 6, 2016. Why, you might ask? Because I have an appointment with my allergist tomorrow Sept. 13, 2016 and have to have the allergy meds out of my system.

As a result, I'm not sleeping well. I find myself napping in the middle of the day and exhausted by bedtime. I've gone through a box of Kleenex and most of my hankies.

I will have a water bottle and a Zyrtec in my car to take as soon as I leave the allergist in the morning. At least when I take it, I am not miserable.

To add to this, I had my mouth prepped for a crown this morning. Now the numbness is gone, my mouth just aches. So between the two sleeping should be interesting tonight.

I empathize with anyone having allergies. I would not wish them on anyone. They seem to have gotten worse as I've aged. Aging can stop now.

I know there is an end to this and it is in sight. Twelve hours from now I will be sitting in the allergist's office. Thirteen hours from now I will have taken an allergy med. Within an hour I should be feeling some relief.

TTFN

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Embarking on a New Journey

Most of you know I'm a diabetic. In 2012 I followed the 30 Day Diabetes Cure book. It helped me lose my last twenty-five pounds making a total weight loss of one hundred pounds in five years. It took my blood sugar levels down to within the normal range. I don't know can't tell you why I stopped following the diet.

Recently I find my medications are not working. Adding insulin at night has not changed anything. I've had more normal range blood sugar readings in the past three months than I've had in the past year. However, my A1c has not changed. This only aggravates me. How if I'm doing everything right are things not  changing?

I have come across a new book. Done With Diabetes: 100% Natural System to Rid Yourself of Diabetes and Get Your Life Back. I am still reading the book. I'm about halfway through it. I talked to my endocrinologist today. He says it's okay to try it. According to this book, I should see a dramatic change in seven days. The program is eight to twelve weeks.

While my daughter supports my endeavors to become healthy, she is not thrilled this diet only allows 600 calories/day for the duration of the program. There is a maintenance program to follow. I know I cannot eat more than one thousand calories a day or I will start gaining weight. My goal is to lose the last fifty pounds I need to be rid of. 20% of my body weight would be a loss of 34 pounds. Again, I know my system. I need the extra sixteen pounds to allow for ups and downs in weight.

The one thing which never happened when I was first diagnosed was for my doctor to give me a healthy eating program. And the mess put out by the American Diabetes Association is guaranteed to keep you using Big Pharma. The effectiveness of the med I have been on for seventeen years are lost after about six months, then you have to add other meds, and even more meds, and finally some form of insulin. This is how they continue to allow you to get sicker and sicker.

Well, I'm done. My kidneys are in danger, my liver is also at risk. If I don't take charge the doctors are going to kill me with the help of Big Pharma.

The first thing I intend to give up is this:
My endocrinologist believes I will be able to leave the Levemir behind. That is a savings of $120/year. So, my first step is to lose this.  My hope is today I bought my last box of them. I will keep you posted as I make my way through the book and start the meal plan.

TTFN

Thursday, September 1, 2016

When an Offer is too Good to be True

We are all attracted to money. I find it sad when people try to exploit our greed. I have been working for six months to figure out how to offer an on-line writing course which would be meaningful. I have worked on lesson plans and found the first set of plans would not work in the time frame I had set. So, I went back to the drawing board.

I have bounced the idea off friends on offering a local writing course. There is a possibility I could offer it at the local library, but I don't want to price it out of the realm of allowing people to attend. I have been working on how I would put a workbook together for this class if it ever materializes.

When I am contacted by a gentleman on LinkedIn. He offered me a conference in Las Vegas in Sept. I looked at his introductory video and was extremely interested. I did a conference call with him for fifteen minutes and he sent me tickets to his conference. It all sounded wonderful. I was excited and began making plans to attend.

You know there's a catch right? I looked at his website regarding the conference which is running four days. The second two days would cost me about $2200. Oh wait, I don't think so. In the long run I'd be putting out more money than I have. Even his six months payment plan would break me.

So, I have been sitting here tonight working out lesson plans. I am to lesson thirteen with the option to give away five lessons. I'm going to hire a business coach for a couple of months and we are going to work on getting it fine tuned along with the marketing program. And I won't be spending $2200. I'm looking for someone to video tape for the on-line. I'm tossing around the idea of taping the actual classes, but think that would be a hindrance. So, when my office is completely set up, I'm going to  see about video taping there.

I know I already have three students who would take the on-line class. I'm sure there might be more. Once it is ready I will launch a huge campaign to bring awareness to it.  I am not looking to build a six figure income, just want to pad my retirement and give myself breathing room.

Reaching people who want to write, is something I want to do. It's personal for me. There was no one reaching out to me when I was looking for writing instruction. I even had a college professor tell me I had talent, but she didn't know how to help me develop it. Sad, commentary on college, there. I've read everything on writing and gone to writing workshops and conferences. I've been part of an on-line critique group. I was part of a writing group. I want to create an atmosphere for writers. This to me is the best way to do it.

While the program in Las Vegas is wonderful, it is out of my price range. I know you have to invest money to make money. I do that. I will continue to do that, just not as much money as they think I need to invest.

Know what you are getting into. I learned before I spent too much.

TTFN




October Already

 I'm not sure where the time has flown. June was an exiting month. July was a mess. I had a change of medication which caused me to gain...