So I was too exhausted to post last night.  I was going non-stop from 4:30 in the morning until about 11 at night.  I’m finally off today and I couldn’t be happier!

Earlier this week I knew that I would have a really early morning and I would have time or even want to make anything for breakfast, so Thursday, when I made my pancakes, I also made breakfast muffins for Friday.  They were really quick and delicious.  I brought them into work (didn’t tell any of my co-workers that I used a diabetic recipe) and they disappeared immediately.

Breakfast: Banana Blueberry muffins

Pre-meal BS reading: 277

Post-meal BS reading: 237

Ingredients:

-Banana

-Blueberries

-Whole Wheat Flour

-Cinnamon

-Baking Power

-Baking Soda

-Vanilla extract

This is the perfect grab and go breakfast.  It has 22 carbs and I feel really good about eating it.  Since I had made the muffins the day before so they had already been cool by the time I ate one.  I nuked it for about 30 seconds once I got to work, and it was really good warm.  I’m sure they would have been even better fresh out of the oven.  I think these muffins are something I’ll try to keep in the fridge, ready to go for early mornings just like this.  My only problem with this breakfast is that it didn’t keep me full as long as I would have liked.  I ate at around 7:30 and by 11:30, my stomach was growling.

Lunch: Beef tacos (2)

Pre-meal BS reading: 234

Post-meal BS reading: 247

Ingredients:

-2 corn tortillas

-1 large scoop shredded beef with onions and spices

Usually at work Friday’s are Fish Fridays, so I was really happy to see that we had something different, because to be honest, the fish is never good.  I calculated about 10 grams of carbs per tortilla and had a small side of steamed veggies, so my total estimation was 25 grams of carbs.  My sugar was pretty steady afterwards so I think it was a good estimation, I probably should have given myself a little more to bring my BS down to below 200.  I felt full, but not stuffed and wasn’t hungry until dinner time.

After work I went to the Third St. Promenade to shop for a few things for my anniversary trip with Sean.  We’re going to Monterey, and I’m really excited.  It’s going to be hot in July so I needed some new tanks and shorts.  I kept an eye on my BS and had glucose tablets and an apple in my bag.  Trying on clothes seemed to make my BS drop and when it got down to 104 I ate my apple and started heading home.  Of course once I got home I changed into running clothes and decided to go for a quick 3 mile run.  At that point my sugar was just below 200, but I ran with glucose and my sensor anyway.  Just as I was wrapping up I checked my sensor and saw that I was just below 100.  Not too bad.

Poor Sean was working until about 9:30 so I had plenty of time to get dinner started.  In my rush this morning I forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer so I had to wait a bit for everything to thaw.

Dinner: Apply Thyme Chicken with Onion and Red Bell Pepper

Pre-meal BS reading: 257

Post-meal BS reading: 213

Ingredients:

-Chicken breast

-Apple slices

-Thyme

-Balsamic Vinegar

-Red Bell Pepper

-Onion

This was a quick and delicious dinner.  I wanted to make something extra because the chicken only had about 7 grams of carbs.  I know a cup of cooked veggies has about 15 grams so I decided to use some of the bell pepper I had chilling in my fridge.  It probably took about 30 minutes to make everything, and I calculated about 22 grams of carbs total.

After my busy, early day on Friday, Saturday couldn’t have come soon enough!

Today was a crazy day at work.  I was literally moving non-stop. Although, even with all of that activity, I was able to keep my BS pretty steady.  I have to keep this post quick because I have an early day tomorrow.

Breakfast: Onion and Corn Pancakes

Pre-meal BS reading: 229

Post-meal BS reading: 290

Ingredients:

-Whole wheat flour ((I didn’t have white flour)

-Baking Soda

-Salt

-Corn

-Green Onions

-Eggs

-Milk

-Butter

-Chili Powder

I really liked this breakfast. I usually don’t like spice foods, but the chili powder gave it a really great kick.  I almost skipped the chili powder all together and that would have been a huge mistake.  I think that the carb nutrition info was pretty right on.  My sugar went up a little bit, but that’s because I had a second cup of coffee that I hadn’t calculated insulin for.  My breakfast kept me full and gave me ton of energy.  I definitely needed it, I spent a majority of the day cleaning out the backroom and moving around large, heavy, boxes full of shoes.

Lunch: Cucumber salad with baked beans and a cheeseburger (no bun)

Pre-meal BS reading: 121

Post-meal BS reading: 190

I wasn’t able to take a picture of this because cell phones are not allowed at the club (except for employee break areas).  I ate very close to what I had yesterday, except today I have about 2 tablespoons of bakes beans.  I figured they would have a lot of carbs so I didn’t want to have too many.  After lunch my sugar started climbing.  I kept an eye on it and gave myself a correction when I saw that it had reached 290, but I didn’t want it to go too low since I was running around so much, so I kept my sensor in my pocket and glanced at it every time I remembered to.

Dinner: Grilled Sole with Corn and Asparagus Salad (I changed the recipe slightly, the grocery store didn’t have Halibut…)

Pre-meal BS reading: 131

Post-meal BS reading: 174

Dinner was a disaster.  I completely forgot to get half of the ingredients for the dressing and when I grilled the sole it stuck to the grill and fell to the bottom.  I was really upset because II had been working hard all day, lost my apartment key and all I wanted to do was eat and go to bed since I had to be up so early.  It just felt like everything part of the recipe (except for boiling the corn and asparagus) was wrong.  So Sean had to make himself Nachos and I had like half the sole I should have had (the recipe was supposed to make 4 servings, and I barely got one).  Looking back I should have used tin foil, especially since I changed the recipe and cooked a different kind of fish.  Not everything cooks the same and that was my first mistake.  Well my first mistake was not reading my ingredients list as carefully as I should have.

Going to sleep now.  Hopefully tomorrow is better!

I’m trying really hard to keep my BS’s steady.  Dr. Peters said she’s fine with my sugars being slightly higher (150-200) as long as they’re steady because then all she needs to do is bring it down.  So this morning I saw that my BS stayed around 200 all night and into the morning and I was happy.  I woke up early and ran a few miles before it started to get hot and surprisingly, my knees and ankles didn’t kill me.

Breakfast: Veggie Cheddar Frittata

Pre-meal BS reading: 257

Post-meal BS reading: 368

Ingredients:

-Zucchini

-Broccoli

-Red Bell pepper

-Mushrooms

-Onion

-Eggs

-Milk

-Salt and pepper

I really enjoyed my breakfast.  I’ve never made frittata before and in the recipe it said to put a plate on top of the pan and flip it over then slide it back into the pan.  Well I did that step way too early and ended up losing some egg.  But after I cleaned up my mess and put the runny frittata back on the stove, it came out great.  I was a little skeptical of the carb count on the recipe.  I got this from dlife.com and figured they would be right on in terms of nutritional facts, but it said that one slice was about 4.5 grams of carbs.  Meg has told me that 1 cup of cooked vegetable is about 15 grams of carbs and I know that I was definitely eating close to that.  I was also drinking coffee which raises my blood sugar.  So I listened to the nutritional facts on the recipe and gave myself insulin for 19 grams of carbs.  About an hour later I discovered that I way underestimated.  My sugar was over 300 and trending up fast.  So I gave myself a correction and hoped that it wouldn’t ruin my day.

Lunch: Hamburger patty with tabouleh and cauliflower

Pre-meal BS reading: 138

Post-meal BS reading: 164

Ingredients:

-Grilled hamburger patty

-Slice of cheddar cheese

-1/2 cup tabouleh salad

-3 large cooked cauliflower

It was a strange mixture for lunch today but I was excited to see Tabouleh.  I looked up the carb count on my phone and saw that 1/2 cup equals roughly 11 carbs.  The patty is 0 and the veggies are about 15 so I gave myself insulin for 26 carbs.  I felt full, but not stuffed.  I also drank a diet coke.  My sugars stayed pretty level, they started going up a little during the day but didn’t really go that much over 200.  I did give myself a correction when it reached 206.

Dinner: ‘Fried’ chicken with veggie kabobs 

Pre-meal BS reading: 228

Post-meal BS reading: 231

Ingredients:

-Chicken

-Breadcrumbs

-Plain greek yogurt

-Broccoli

-Zucchini (I added some of the zucchini left over from breakfast this morning)

-Mushrooms

-Onion

Dinner came out pretty good.  The chicken came out perfect, but I probably could have cooked the kabobs a little bit longer.  I was starving though and didn’t want to eat too late.  I liked this meal because it kept my BS pretty consistent and I’m not about to go to bed feeling too full.  I’ve had a pretty good food day today.  I love that besides this morning my BS didn’t spike too much and I was able to bring it back down fairly quickly when it did.  I’m using the alarm on my pump to check my sensor and see if I need a correction, otherwise I’d probably never remember.  Not looking forward to tomorrow.  It’s going to be a really late night.  We have a pretty big tournament at the club and I know that meant that I’m going to have to stay pretty late.  At least Sean and I are both off Saturday though!

I got to sleep in this morning!  And by sleep in that means I woke up at 8:40.  But since I had been waking up between 4:30 and 5 every morning last week those extra 4 hours felt amazing.

Breakfast: Hawaiian Bread French Toast

Pre-meal BS reading: 228

Post-meal BS reading: 247

Ingredients:

-2 small (thin) slices of Hawaiian bread (I changed the recipe slightly)

-2 eggs beaten

-1 cup sliced strawberries

-cinnamon

-2 tbsp.’s whipped cream

I loved this breakfast! While it might not be low on the glycemic index, it is delicious and has less than 30 grams of carbs.  I added a couple tablespoons of whipped cream which has 2 grams of carbs so instead of giving myself insulin for 26.5 carbs (which was what was written in the recipe), I gave myself insulin for 29.  Hubby loved it too.  I have a feeling I’m going to be making this breakfast a lot.

Lunch: Ground Turkey taco

Pre-meal BS reading: 338

Post-meal BS reading: 347

Ingredients:

-one corn tortilla

-one tbsp. refried beans

-1/4 cup ground turkey and whole wheat rice

-1/4 cup bell pepper and onions

-1 tbsp. sour cream

-1/2 avocado

Not sure why my BS spiked so high.  I changed my insulin pump right before I ate breakfast, so that might have something to do with it.  For lunch I decided to use the extra ground turkey and rice in tacos.  I heated up some refried beans my grandfather made for me and sautéed some bell pepper and onion.  I used one corn tortilla which only has 8 carbs and added a tablespoon of sour cream and half an avocado.  It was very filling and delicious.  Sean had 2 tacos, I only had one.  I calculated about 25 carbs for the whole thing.

Dinner: Grilled Salmon and Brussels Sprouts

Pre-meal BS reading: 212

Post-meal BS reading: 240

Ingredients:

-Salmon fillet

-Brussels Sprouts

-Lemon (I generally don’t like orange that much so I swapped it for lemon)

-Black pepper

-Olive oil

I really enjoyed my dinner.  I changed the recipes slightly and used a grill my parents got me a few months ago.  I brushed the lemon and pepper marinade on the salmon before grilling and put the Brussels Sprouts in a think aluminum foil packet with pepper, lemon and olive oil and cooked both the salmon and the Brussels sprouts for 10 minutes. Everything was cooked perfectly and I don’t think I’ll every cook Brussels sprouts any other way.  I calculated about 25 grams of carbs for everything.  Meg told me that 1 cup of cooked veggies is about 15 grams of carbs.  The Salmon recipe says it has 12 grams of carbs, but I’m thinking it’s because it uses orange and orange juice.  I switched it to lemon and ate about 3/4 cup of Brussels sprouts.  If I’m wrong I’ll be able to tell before I go to bed. ** Note, I did not eat the lemon**

All in all I’ve had a pretty great day.  I met with Dr. Peters to go over my progress and she says I’m doing better.  She knows that I’m really trying hard to bring my a1c down and knows how tired I am of feeling sick.  The main thing I took away from our meeting today is that I need to check my blood about 1 to 2 hours after giving myself a correction or eating to bring my blood sugar up.  I also need to monitor what my sensor says more than just at meal times and give myself small corrections throughout the day when I see that my blood sugar is running high.

Sean came with me to my appointment today and we talked about where I need to be before we start trying to have kids.  Right now kids are far into our future, but Sean and I had been talking about it last week and he was concerned about what would happen to me and our baby once we did get pregnant.  Dr. Peters told us that my a1c would have to be below 6.5 before we could even conceive and it would have to stay below 6 throughout the pregnancy.  Right now my a1c is 10, so I have a long way to go- but I’m fine with that.  She is helping me eek down my a1c slowly so that I don’t feel even more sick than I usually do.  Sean and I are not planning on expanding our family any time soon, and to be honest, I’m really happy with our small family of 2.  Even if I didn’t have diabetes, right now isn’t the time to have kids.  But it was nice to hear Dr. peters say that she believes that I can do it when I’m ready and that she has helped plenty of women have healthy babies.  All I need to do is follow everything she says the entire time, and I’m 100% ok with that.  That’s pretty much what I’m ding now anyway!

So for now, I’m going to watch a movie with Sean, relax for the night and enjoy some me time.

I have a fridge and pantry filled with groceries and 14 new recipes I’m really excited to try.  I hope there are some winners in there! Today is a pretty easy day at work and I finally have the day off tomorrow so I’m ready to get cooking.  What I need to focus on is combining carbs and protein for each meal.  I can’t just eat a banana for breakfast or just a piece of grilled chicken or fish for dinner.  I need to eat the banana with peanut butter or have some fresh veggies or brown rice with the chicken/fish.  I also want to try and stick with foods that are low on the glycemic index.  That’s easier said than done, but I will definitely do what I can.

Breakfast: Yogurt and Almond Apples

Pre-meal BS reading: 186

Post-meal BS reading: 213

Ingredients:

-1 medium sized apple

-Orange zest (thought zest would taste better than rind)

-lemon juice

-cinnamon

-splenda

-greek yogurt

-almond slivers

I was pretty excited about this breakfast, but to be completely honest, I found it to be a total bust.  First of all, I didn’t understand how to stuff the apple with orange zest.  I guess I was supposed to core the apple, but since I don’t have an apple corer and don’t trust myself to carve apples with a knife, I decided to slice the apple in half and take out the core that way.  It still worked, it just wasn’t as pretty as it could have been.  I love cinnamon and figured that would have given it an apple pie taste.  After talking to my mom about the recipe while driving to work, I realized that I should have just baked it in the oven for about 10 minutes instead of microwaving it for 4 and it probably would have tasted better.  I generally don’t like plain yogurt but I didn’t want to add more carbs by going with something flavored and throw off the recipe.  I was very surprised to find that I did like the yogurt- it would have been way too sweet had I picked vanilla or honey flavored.  All in all, it’s probably safe to say that I will never make this breakfast again, which is a shame because I do love apples.  I guess I’ll stick to my homemade applesauce.

Lunch: Scoop of tuna salad and 1/2 grilled cheese

Pre-meal BS reading: 216

Post-meal BS reading: 229

I forgot my phone when I went to lunch today so I wasn’t able to take a picture of my meal, but it wasn’t too exciting.  Monday’s are tough at work.  There is no hot lunch for employees so the options are limited to tuna salad, chicken salad and lunch meat.  I didn’t want to have too much bread so I scooped about 1/2 cup of tuna salad onto a large lettuce leaf and then toasted one slice of wheat bread and added a slice of melted cheese.  I grabbed an apple to much on later and sadly my half hour lunch break went by way too fast.

Dinner: Crockpot Stuffed Tomatoes

Pre-meal BS reading: 208

Post-meal BS reading: 225

Ingredients:

-4 large tomatoes

-cooked whole wheat rice

-ground turkey (I changed the recipe slightly)

-Italian seasoning

-28 oz can crushed tomatoes

-parmesan cheese

I really enjoyed this meal.  It was really nice to come home after an exhausting day and have dinner ready.  It was really filling, but I didn’t feel bad about eating it.  Hubby loved it as well.  Not looking forward to cleaning out my crockpot, but I do love the smell I’m greeted with as soon as I open the door.  Overall today was a pretty good day.  My blood sugar stayed around 200 all day which isn’t great, but at least I wasn’t over 300.  I have to admit that I had absolutely no energy today.  I’m thinking it was because of my breakfast.  I was yawning all day and as soon as I got home I wanted to take a nap.  At least I’m off tomorrow and get to sleep in.  I also have a doctors appointment that I’m excited about.  Looking forward to relaxing, cooking and eating 🙂