Falling Off the Wagon... and Getting Back On It

I really fell off the wagon for the last few days.  

Its the cereal.   It's the fact that I'm not eating at regular times so my hunger is hitting me and I'm going for the fast and easy instead of the healthy.   I still had my smoothie in the mornings, so that's good, but it's time to get back on track.

Tomorrow, I'll be sure to get things back on track.

I think the real problem is laziness.   I really dislike cooking.    I'm good at it..... really good at it.   But I don't enjoy it at all, and that makes me lazy.

I just can't really afford to be lazy anymore.

The What I Ate Today Food Diary

Today was a better day although I was right about my blood sugar.    It was the highest it's been in over a week this morning.   Not as high as when I was diagnosed, but high enough.

My husband had the day off today, and he really wants chicken Florentine lasagna for supper, so I'm not going to be entirely good today, but I'm doing my best.

For breakfast, I had a bowl of Raisin Bran with skim milk.  For some reason, I go through phases where I really like Raisin Bran then a time when I hate it.   I'm in one of those times when I like it though which is good.

For lunch, we were on the run so I had two pieces of turkey and four slices of cheddar.   I can't say it was very satisfying, but it at least kept my hunger in check.

For supper was chicken florentine lasagna and garlic bread and a big glass of skim milk.   I also had one mini Butterfinger for dessert as well.

Diabetes and Walking for Fitness

I lead a pretty sedentary life and until recently this has never been much of a big deal. 

With diabetes, though, it's important to get a certain amount of exerecise.   It helps with your circulation which is a huge issue for diabetics.

I don't think I need to go into the validity of how good exercise is for you.  It's pretty well known.

My problem was, I have a really hard time doing things I don't enjoy.   In fact, my life is pretty much ruled by the fact that I very rarely need to do anything I really don't want to. (I'm pretty darned lucky.)

And I have never, ever enjoyed exercise.  That said? I do like walking and hiking.  I always have.  The prerequisite is nature.  It needs to be somewhere filled with nature.  With trees and bushes and leaves and beautiful things of nature.   I need that and I know myself well enough to know I need that.   Walking in a city sucks for me.  I find it entirely uninspiring and darned close to torturous.

Today, my husband and I went to a beautiful park about a half hour from here and took a long walk around a lake.   It was beautiful.   Gorgeous.   But unfortunately, a little much for me for so soon.   Walking is one of the best types of exercise you can do though, and I feel a bit a pride that I made it all the way around the lake on my own steam, even if I was aching and exhausted by the time we made it back to the car.

The What I Ate Today Food Diary

Ugghhh!!   Well, so much for being good today.

I started off good.   I had the second half of yesterday's green smoothie today and was off to the races with running my errands.

The problem came around lunch time.   Maybe I just waited too long to eat and was too hungry.   Maybe I had a moment of weak will power and fell off the wagon.

Whatever it was, I started off with a bowl of last night's leftover stir-fry.   And then..... moved on to two bowls of Cookie Crisp cereal with skim milk. 

And, from there to three mini Butterfinger candies.

I can honestly say, an hour later I feel like crap and not just emotionally either.   I feel blah and sluggish and I've quickly developed a headache as well.   All around, the splurge was clearly a bad move.

I had a big bowl of leftover stir fry for dinner, which was good but not really satisfying.   I then had three more mini Reese's cups between supper and bed time.

The What I Ate Today Food Diary

Surprisingly, my blood sugar levels were normal this morning.   I read in at 6.3 mg/dl (115 mmol/L) when I tested this morning.

Does this mean I can eat 18 peanut butter cups a day and not worry?   Well, no.   But it -does- tell me that a little splurge and/or slip-up now and then isn't going to be the end of the world.

Today's breakfast smoothie was another success!  (Although, for some reason I'm still making the sour face when I drink it. It's a mystery but I plan on figuring it out eventually.)   It was made with two kiwis, a banana, a papaya, a small pear and the last of the romaine in the fridge (mostly romaine heart) as well as a squeeze of lemon.    It turned out a pea green color but it has really good flavor.

Between breakfast and lunch, I had four of those mini Reese's peanut butter cups.   Oddly, they tasted overly sweet today.  Still good, but much sweeter than normal.

For lunch today, I went with breakfast for lunch and hand four over easy eggs with two pieces of cheese and six pieces of low-sodium bacon.   There was too much.  My eyes were obviously bigger than my stomach today.  I think I would have been satisfied with three eggs and four pieces of bacon.   I'll have to remember that for next time.

Between lunch and supper I had four Reese's mini cups.   Then, for supper I did a stir-fry of cubed pork with onion, garlic and ginger, broccoli, bok choy and mushrooms with the leftover rice from the other day added in.    I think there's enough left over for three or four more meals.

Between supper and bed time... blah, 6 more Reese's mini peanut butter cups.  I swear, tomorrow I'm not going to touch them.

Microwave Water Kills Nutrients... or Not?

Thank you to Marshall Dudley and his granddaughter Arielle Reynolds of Knoxville, TN.

Okay, as promised, I wanted to go into why I have some discomfort these days with using my microwave to reheat food.    This isn't to say that I don't do it from time to time, but it is something I worry about regularly.

In 2006, a gentleman by the name of Marshall Dudley and his granddaughter Arielle did a very basic experiment using purified water and microwaved water to try and grow baby plants.  Now I agree, being familiar in the scientific method, that it wasn't a very thorough or well-rounded test, but the results -are- a little disturbing regardless.   If you would like to see this test they performed in full, go take a peek at http://www.execonn.com/sf/ and you can judge for yourself.

Since then, Snopes.com has weighed in on this test with their own experiment, which is much more thorough and definitely conflicting results.    Snopes is a very reliable site and they debunk myths and hoaxes on a regular basis using logic, solid research and science.

That said, I still find the microwave a little disturbing.  And I can't outright discount the results of Marshall and Arielle's test.    I do have my reasons for this though (as I'm sure you assumed I would).

There are certain foods, when you microwave them, that are very obviously microwaved.   The act of microwaving literally changes the consistency of these foods to something you cannot achieve in any other heating or cooking method.    Cheese is an excellent example of this.  Whether it's nachos or authentic alfredo sauce, cheese is never the same after a visit to the microwave.

Who is to say that the microwave doesn't do something like that to water and, for that matter, to all foods?   Science is a learning process and although they say all tests show water is the same whether boiled or microwaved, who is to say they just haven't yet found that there is an inconsistency somewhere just waiting to be discovered?

It boil down to deciding for yourself what you think and want to believe.   I'm still on the fence, but for me, the cheese factor is a huge weigh-in.

The What I Ate Today Food Diary

Okay, just sayin'?   Yesterday's excellent green smoothie wasn't at all as good today.  It had turned tart.   Very, very tart.   Oh my gosh, take a sip and pucker up type of tart!

I drank it, but it wasn't easy.  Every time I took a sip my cheeks tried to pucker in.

I can't really say I was very well behaved today either.

Between my breakfast smoothie and lunch I had six  (yes, I said six) mini peanut butter cups.

For lunch, I had four slices of turkey wrapped around four slices of cheese and just a dab of mayo.

But then, between lunch and supper I had another six (yes, that means six more) mini peanut butter cups.   I also visited with my neighbor for a few hours and had some mild salsa and corn chips.

For supper, I had a repeat of yesterday.   Rogan Josh flavored pork over a cup of rice and vegetable medley all warmed up in the microwave.  (I kind of have an issue with the microwave, but I'll go into that in a future post.)

And then.... between supper and bed time?   I had another six mini peanut butter cups.   Ugh!   That's eighteen peanut butter cups!!!

My sugar levels are going to suck tomorrow and I don't even feel guilty.   Okay, yes I do.  I feel guilty for not feeling guiltier though.  It's not quite the same thing.

And now?  I'm goin' to bed.  Tomorrow I'll be better.