Oct 29, 2010

Making A Plan


I wish I'd tracked my food more closely this week because I'd like to see if there is a pattern. In several days I had two great morning numbers along with two of the highest BG numbers I've seen since diagnosis.
  
Looking back, I ate most meals at home  and they were solidly low carb, low in fat, and healthy.  Two or three times I had salmon.  Twice when I ate out I had slight indiscretions over dinner rolls with my meal. I don't like the guilt I feel when I eat a roll at dinner, but I do feel guilty.   Last night I nearly wrestled a 3rd little roll out of my friend's hand when she offered to put it aside for me.
  
I could hear my inner rebel cry out in defense, "Did I say it was a small roll? How many carbs could possibly be in that little thing?  I'm having it with protein.  I'm eating spinach with the meal for cryin' out loud."

The near wrestling match was a clear message to me that my behavior about a roll is getting out of hand.  Ironically, this morning the BG number was lower than normal, at 113 I do a happy dance.  I was disappointed I did not have a record of the meals and exercise for past 7 days. 
  
I 'm starting to play head games now.  Starting?  Who am I kidding?  This is a solid pattern I know well.  The orange, red, brown, yellow and black colors signaling Halloween triggered me weeks ago. 

For me autumn is the just the beginning of  a long and colorful season ahead.  I respond to color - to come to the other side of the holiday season with a decent A1C, and to promote healthy living, I need to have a plan. 

It is time for another Diabetes Date.  What is a Diabetes Date? It is a date I make with myself to nurture my soul. I spend a specified segment of time doing something good for my diabetes.

Each day I will take time out of my life to enhance a few moments.  Today, I made up a simple mantra that will ground me each day and center me in times of stress or celebration.  
" I will focus on the things that I enjoy (in the season). It is not about the food."

This will be the mantra I recite for the next several weeks.  Autumn in New England is gorgeous.  For me it triggers a frenzied reaction.  I do not have to respond to the trigger.  I will take time to exercise, I will learn something new about diabetes, I will share what I learn.  I will focus on the things I enjoy in the season.  It is not about the food. "  

Oct 26, 2010

This Too Shall Pass

I cannot believe 10 days have passed since my last post.  I've been trying to read and having trouble concentrating.  Distractions are all around me.  For one thing, I have not been feeling very well.  I had some tests for dizziness that proved fruitless.  Don't get me wrong, I am grateful nothing out of sorts was found however,  I am a bit cranky from all the time & effort it has taken.

I'm tracking my blood pressure now and trying to incorporate recording it along with my daily blood glucose levels and food history.  Alas, I have a rebel side to my personality that I lovingly refer to as 'Addiction Annie'  (I identified and named her a couple of years ago when I was taking Martha Beck Life Coach Training.  I created a clip art of her.  However, the file was lost when the computer it was on crashed.  I may have it backed up on a disk somewhere but Annie's photo is not the point of today's blog).

Annie is running around here making a fuss about all the record keeping I am working on.  I get distracted, and unfocused and have even forgotten to take a dose of medication here or there.  Taking the medication later in the day throws everything off.  I get frustrated, and that raises my sugar levels causing more exhasperation. So I bought one of those pill boxes my mother used to have to keep track of her medication doses.  Please!  Have we come to that?  The first day I started to use it, I took my morning doses directly from the prescription bottles but also put a morning dose in the box marked Friday a.m.  By noontime, I could not remember if I'd taken the morning dose or not.  Fortunately, my husband Vin witnessed me taking the pills with my breakfast.  My question is, if I'm having trouble keeping track of a few pills a day now what will come of me when I get even older? 

My little friend "Annie" runs around me, worrying and exclaiming the whole thing is useless, useless here me?  You will never get this right!  Let's just go back the way things were last year when we didn't pay attention to anything.  It was so much easier then." 
Over the weekend that just passed, I realized Annie needed my attention. Like a toddler who is having a tantrum needs firm guidance and a nap, Annie needed to be picked up, calmed, rocked and put to bed. Annie has calmed down. Thankfully, I am calmer too.
I’m hoping a little more R & R will help me feel like I am getting things back under control. A feeling of serenity peeked over my shoulder this evening and I found a few neat things on the web. I came across a site owned by Health Coach and Natural Foods Personal Chef, Mindy Kannon - Chew Your Rope