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

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

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

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

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

When the Government is Out of Control

I am angry. My anger is directed at Mylan Pharmaceuticals. Let me explain what has happened.
Last year about this time AviQ an alternative to the Epi-Pen was pulled from the market. It happened because there was a flaw in the dispensing system, preventing the correct amount of medication from being dispensed when needed. This left Mylan's Epi-Pen the sole provider for allergy emergencies.

I carry a dual Epi-Pen, because my reactions are so severe I could need two shots before I can get to an ER. Most of the time, mine out date and are never used. Knowing they are in my purse takes a bit of stress out of my life.

Recently Mylan has raised the price of a single Epi-Pen by 400%. Since it only takes $1.75 to make a pen, I have a hard time swallowing the fact they now want to charge between $400 and $600 per pen. I know children who have come close to dying because of bee stings and no Epi-Pen was available. Should one of my many food allergens end up in my food by mistake, I could be at risk of death. I will not pay that kind of money for two reasons: 1) I don't have the kind of money they are asking. Because the price quoted is after the insurance pays. 2) I don't have the kind of money to spend on something which will out date and never get used.

I feel for families who are struggling in the current economy, this is going to devastate them. The last time I had an allergic reaction to something the PA who was my primary care almost killed me. I can't risk that happening. My allergies are severe and life threatening. We don't even know what caused the last reaction. Which to me is even scarier.

If that weren't bad enough, the CEO of Mylan Pharmaceuticals announced yesterday she was getting an $18million dollar raise. Well, not from me. I will boycott her company. I am leaving orders for my pharmacist that if the only place I can get meds is from Mylan, I will go without. She is a greedy bitch.

I hope she is IRS audited. It is my understanding Congress is looking into this, however at the rate Congress actually does anything productive, I will be dead and gone before it is resolved. This is nothing more than greed and is allowed by a corrupt government. Not getting into politics. No one in the last 8 years has done anything to improve my life. But they sure have managed to tax me to death. I will not stand for this kind of blatant greed.

TTFN

Just in Case You Missed it.

In case you missed my take over of Shelley Wilson-Author's blog here's the link.

https://blueharvestcreative.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/guest-post-writing-and-creativity-by-author-rebecka-vigus-writerslife/

It's Coming!!!!!

Don't miss The Big Blue Blog Takeover featured on Shelley Wilson's award-winning blog now through September 1st!

Link to blog: https://shelleywilsonauthor.com/

#Books #GuestPosts #AuthorInterviews #FridayBookShare

On the Dawn of Our Nation's Birth

I've pondered a few things today...I know scary thought. The world I grew up in is gone. The world my daughter grew up in is gone. Our entire world changed with the attacks on the World Trade Center.

At the time we pulled together as a Nation, believing in United we stand. I don't feel real united at the moment. I feel our government is out of control. Congress--House and Senate are living high on the hog at our expense. We have no one truly worthy running for President. And Obama Care or as I call it Obama Doesn't Care has not helped anyone but those who were not working to begin with. We now have more people on welfare than we ever have.

Welfare is NOT a career choice, however our government is using it to control the people it governs. I'm not saying there are no people who need help. There are more than you know. We need to find our roots. Every family should have a garden for fresh vegetables not infected by Monsanto. We should share our bounty with family and friends. If everyone grew something different, we could trade off.

I'm all for planting my lawn with fruit, vegetables, and flowers. I'm also willing to share. I know there are people who need it. I'm one person, I could make a difference to someone. Just think if we all did this...we could change lives.

We need to give teachers the respect they deserve. They spent four years learning how to be the best they could be. They spend summers and evenings during the year taking classes to stay abreast of new things to teach your children. Think about it, if it weren't for teachers, there would be no doctors, lawyers, bankers, Wall Street brokers, Congress, Senate, President, Justices...no one would have a job. Teachers think out of the box. They spend hours trying to reach the unreachable child so he/she gets the education they need to be a productive adult. Test scores don't give you a full picture of any child. I know children who were awesome artists who did not do well on standardized tests. But the tests where one week out of their lives and they measured ability...NOT.

I have a friend on Facebook who is posting the number of deaths in Chicago this weekend. I have lost count, but the last post I read said two officers were injured when someone threw a firecracker at a patrol car. What have we come to? Instead of trying to improve things, we are killing each other and those who serve and protect us. Yes, I know there are bad police officers. They are thankfully in the minority. But, we have bad teachers, bad doctors, seriously bad politicians. When did we stop seeing each other as people with potential?

Deep pondering for someone who is not adulting today or tomorrow. It makes me wonder how we can change things? How can we become a "kinder, gentler nation." I spend Mondays from 9-1 reaching out to help those who want help. What about those who don't know how to ask for help? I work with a marvelous group of people with deep Christian roots, who believe no one gets ahead if you don't reach out. We have many success. We have those who give up on themselves or cannot overcome the obstacles in their lives.

We need to educate ourselves so we don't repeat the mistakes of the past. We need to demand our Congress and President uphold the Constitution our forefathers fought so bravely for. We need to start looking out for each other. We need to be vigilant--not vigilanties. Lawlessness is uncalled for. We need to support those who protect us, police, fire fighters, service personnel. We need to report suspicious activities. It's time to get involved. We can't sit back and do nothing.

Now, I think I've done enough pondering for one day. I'm going to turn in. Tomorrow I tackle some personal things I've been neglecting. I can return to adulting on Tuesday.

Happy 4th of July!!! May God Bless America.

Friday Night in the Hood

For those who don't know, I was not told when I bought my house it was a  habitat house. I would not have purchased it if I had known. While they started this neighborhood in 1997, my house was not built until 2003. It's not a bad house if you like neighborhoods, I don't. So, tonight I see police lights flashing in my front yard. I decide to see what is going on. The following are the photos I took from the front porch.

This is looking down Yost  Lane from my house. In the first photo there were at least twenty police cars and I watched the fire truck pull in. Then I grabbed my phone. The second one is across from my house and someone was trying to find out what was going on. One woman had parked her car across the road and walked to her house with her groceries as they were not letting people drive down the road. The third one is also in front of my house, by this time the ambulance and four police cars have made and exit. The fire truck was making its way toward leaving.

Someone on the street said they thought it was a hostage situation. It was not. We were the  Breaking News at 11pm. Three boys were walking down Yost Lane at about 9pm when a car slowed down and fired two shots before speeding away. One sixteen year old boy was taken to the hospital with a non-life threatening injury.  Yes, folks, he was shot.

I am feeling safer with the new alarm system, however this is not the way I want to live. Am seriously rethinking where I want to live. 

A police car just drove through the neighborhood. I believe it is going to be a very long summer.

TTFN