Bringing it Back to Food

This past weekend was tough.  My mom went back home to Connecticut on Saturday and I’m not going to be able to see her again until September, and even then it will only be for a few days.  I feel like I didn’t have enough time with her.  I work so much and have the weirdest hours so even though I’d go visit work almost everyday, it just wasn’t enough.  She felt it necessary to visit with her siblings and my grandfather and clearly didn’t realize that the only reason she was in California in the first place was to hang out with me! And to make matters worse, now that I don’t have my mom’s amazing food and wonderful recipes, I have actually plan and cook for myself!

A few months ago I forced myself to experiment with a lot of great new ‘diabetic’ recipes when I tracked my food on my blog, so I decided that it’s time to break out the camera and document my blood sugars, and my meals again.  This time around I’m going to be more organized.  I’ve spent the past couple days researching different recipes and picking a mix of meals that I’m excited to learn how to make and curious to try.  The only thing I’ll miss is having my mom try everything, although I’d probably never willingly pick my prepared food over hers, nor would I expect her to pick it either.

I also started slacking slightly with exercise and in the past 3 weeks have gone to a few ballet classes and got for maybe 2 runs.  In 21 days I’ve worked out maybe 5 or 6 times total.  I’m excited to keep taking ballet classes though.  The first one was great and I felt like everything I had learned 15 years ago was slowly coming back.  But the next class I took was very overwhelming.  Instead of just 2 or 3 students, there were at least 10 and everyone knew what they were doing.  Well that’s not completely true, but I felt like I was the only person staring at my feet the whole time.  And I couldn’t for the life of me remember where to hold my arms.  It was not graceful.  So when I went last week I felt confident that I could really pick it up again, but I completely overestimated my dancing skills.  I was still in over my head.  Luckily the other women taking the classes with me are very nice and the instructors are so so patient.

This next week is going to be really busy, but not because I’m working 3 golf tournaments in a row and planning trunk shows and vendor meetings, but because I’m going to try to step outside the box and find delicious, healthy, diabetic-friendly (god I hate that phrase) meals that help me stay on track.  I have my new transmitter, new sensors, test strips, glucose tablets and insulin so I have no excuse.

My marathon

OK.  It’s been over a week since I’ve even logged into my blog.  I have literally been moving non-stop.  While my days off are usually days for running errands, cleaning my apartment, DIY projects and relaxing on my comfy white couch, that’s not the case right now.  Since I hardly ever get to see my mom and she’s only here for about a month, I’ve been trying to squeeze in as much mother-daughter time as I can. It’s going to be really sad when I’m back to sleeping in late, lounging around in my pajamas all morning  and the most exciting thing about my day off is going to Trader Joes AND the post office.  I’m officially an adult and I gotta say, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

I’m still working really hard to make the right food choices.  Someone brought in a bag of Marshmallows at work (no idea why) but I am avoiding that thing like the plague.  I know I can’t only eat one.  I’m the kind of person who will eat one and then another and another and before I know it half the bag is empty and my blood sugar is HI and my stomach hurts.  I think that in order to really stay on track with the food I eat, I’m going to record what I eat next week like I did a couple months ago.  I haven’t really tried new recipes and I need to give myself a reason to do that. 

In the past few months I’ve been trying out some food tricks.  I tricked my brain into thinking I still eat candy.  Every once in a while I would buy a huge bag of sweet tarts or Swedish fish and eat the whole thing in one or two sittings.  So instead, I bought a few flavors of sugar free gum and now when I get a craving for something sweet, I chew on that instead.  My sweet craving is gone and I  don’t have to give myself any insulin for it!  I’ve also been eating a scoop of whipped cream with a handful of blueberries or chopped strawberries for dessert while my husband eat dulce de leche pie or brownies.  It’s still about 20 grams of carbs, but now I don’t feel like I have to skip dessert!

Even with my mom visiting, I’m still trying to carve out some tome to exercise. Ballet has been fun.  My first class was just me, the instructor and another beginner.  She was way better than I was, really focused the whole time and really helpful.  They both said that I’m picking it up pretty quickly and they can tell I’ve danced before (even if it was 14 years before!).  The good thing is that I’m already pretty athletic, since I love to run, so I was able to keep up.  I felt pretty good about what I learned and even practiced at home. Friday was my second lesson.  This time there were about 12 people.  I was completely out of my league.  All of these women have been going to the Friday class for a while and they all knew the combinations.  I couldn’t remember where to put my arms and felt like an idiot when I looked at myself in the mirror (right now I tend to just stare at my feet) and saw them just hanging halfway between first and second position.  Even though I paid close attention to the instructor, I had to watch the girl in front of me to actually do everything almost correctly.  I’m also not even nearly as flexible as the rest of the beginner students- everyone can touch their palms to the floor, my fingertips barely graze it.  I have a long way to go, but I’m having fun!

Still waiting for my transmitter.  It officially died last week and I haven’t been able to use my sensor since.  I have yet to find out when I should be getting a new one.  So until then, I’m back to checking my blood before every meal and if I remember, an hour afterwards.  It’s not fun, but it definitely helps me to appreciate all of the technology I have at my fingertips.  I’m anxious to use my Dexcom again.  I know it makes my appointments with Dr. Peters much easier.

In the meantime, I’m planning my first wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband.  It’s really exciting and I cant believe we’ve already been married 10 months.  This past year has gone by so quickly. I’d love to take a romantic getaway to an exotic island or Paris or Ireland, but right now we can only take time off for a few days together and Paris really isn’t within our budget.  I’d love to visit Catalina Island or Monterey Bay or Ensenada, Mexico for a few days.  Any of those places sounds fabulous!