A Few Things re my blood sugar levels

Someone asked about the blood sugar lows. Here was my response:
"There wasn't rhyme or reason for them at first. Other than I suspect they were chronic stress-related.

I've noticed the last 6 months or so that I've been able to keep it fairly stable if I don't eat a lot of carbs, unless I go many hours without eating. Once it goes low, I have trouble keeping it up the rest of the day unless I eat a good many carbs. Those are the only patterns I've noticed. Oh, it tends to drop if I get overheated or haven't had much sleep also."

I have noticed that rice affects me more than other carbs - both as far as inflammation and blood sugar levels.

The blood sugar lows were confirmed about 2.5 years ago by a diabetic friend who let me use an old meter she had. They weren't dangerously low, but my symptoms were very noticeable!

I'm Baaack!!!!! :)

So... A lot of changes the last couple years! Here's a brief summary.

1. I divorced

2. A year and a half ago I started working full-time for the first time in over 10 years

3. After the separation, I had to move and lived with family and friends for 16 months

4. I lost down to 137 pounds

And now?

1. I'm recently remarried :D 

2. My husband and I rent a townhouse in the area I grew up in

3. In the last year, I have gained back 25 pounds

The last couple years have been stressful to say the least! Things seem to be calming down now, but my body has suffered :( I know some of the weight gain is muscle. Living somewhere with stairs most of the last year and a half when you haven't before does that to you ;) Most of the weight gain has been in my stomach area though. It's where I always gain...

I have been tweaking my eating habits since I started back to work. I was having issues with my blood sugar dropping, so I increased my carbs. I've been able to bring them back down and am feeling much better since doing so! 

I'm working at a school so am off for the summer. I have a list of things I want to accomplish, but a high priority is getting my health back on track. I seriously doubt I can safely lose back down to 137, but I would like to get a lot of this fat back off my body. The muscle is welcome to stay ;)

Here's what my summer eating looks like most days...

Breakfast: Coffee (w/1 tsp sugar + heavy cream)

                  String cheese

Lunch: Something relatively low carb + about 10 g dessert (chocolate or cookie) eg

            Turkey lunchmeat (no nitrates/nitrites) + cheese + mayo mixed w/cream

            Tuna salad (tuna, mayo, cream, dill relish + about 15 g carb crackers)

            Cheese grits (one packet plain instant + cheese + cream)

Snack: String cheese or

           About 15 g carbs if I didn't many eat carbs at lunch

Supper: Meat (4 oz uncooked) + veggies (8 oz uncoooked) w/lots of olive oil/butter/cream

Most days (snack or nighttime treat): peanut butter + bittersweet chocolate chips

Other than 1 cup of coffee, I drink very dilute iced tea or water. I drink sweet tea/soda/juice a couple times a month, mainly if my blood sugar feels low.

Sometimes I drink a protein shake for breakfast or lunch. Sometimes I have more carbs, especially if my boys are here and have requested something like alfredo (usually I mix a carb into their supper after taking mine out).

My husband eats mostly low carb at home, so that helps! 

No food is off limits to me, unless I react to it. I still look for healthier ways to eat what I want, but I do better overall if I allow myself an occasional splurge.

As far as exercise... Before the summer heat hit (I live in south Louisiana), I did a whopping *one* Couch to 5K workout. I realized I needed to buy new headphones and a few other things to be able to work out effectively. By the time I got what I absolutely needed, it was in the 90s by the time I got home from work in the afternoons. I'm trying to figure out a good time of day to go... I have the boys every other week, and my "bonus daughter" half of every week. Mornings before hubby goes to work are not realistic. I'm not stressing myself out over it right now. I have higher priorities.

Enough for now... I plan on updating about once a week or so.

Let me know you're here! I could use the support! 

Keep Standing By...

I haven't forgotten ;) So much to try to condense into a coherent post... But I'm working on it!

Stay tuned...

New blog post in progress... :)

Vaccine Philosophical Refusal Form

Keep a copy of this form with you, filled out, for each of your children. The glove compartment of your car is a good place to have it.

I saved the form from a website (it was a pdf) but I haven't been able to find the website again. If anyone knows it, please leave the url in the comments so I can add the link!

Day 2

I woke up (after being up for an hour+ during the night) today to a mess! Our upstairs neighbors' dishwasher was leaking (as we found out later) and it was flooding our kitchen! The water was pouring in through the light fixture in the ceiling. It had filled one of the globes of the light, which got heavy and fell on the floor and shattered. So we had water and broken glass all over the kitchen floor! Called emergency maintenance number, and our maintenance guy was at our door in minutes. He went upstairs, figured out what was going on, came back down to let us know what to do, and said he'd be back Monday with a replacement globe.

So on top of being weak etc this morning, I had to clean up that mess :p Jesse couldn't help with his vision (he's legally blind) so it was up to me. I was panting by the time I was done!

Other than being weak and tired and cold, I'm doing okay. Tired of apple juice :p Still hurting a bit.

Looking forward to getting this over with and being able to eat tomorrow!

Another Perfect Storm...

It didn't start with my gallbladder. But whenever I have a major stomach issue, that's where it ends up concentrating :p

Yesterday I started with a stomachache that kept getting worse. I thought it might be my gallbladder acting up. I laid down on the bed and pressed on it, lightly at first, then with a bit more pressure. Nothing! Not even a twinge of soreness! But by last night, the pain had migrated there :(

So... I'm on day 1 of a 2-day flush. When the pain moved to my gallbladder, I made a trip to the grocery store to get what I needed for all of us for the next couple days - easy food for the guys, canned veggies, unfiltered apple juice, and olive oil for me. Doing a flush is the only time I actually prefer canned veggies.

I ate a big, late lunch yesterday. Nothing last night except a little diluted apple juice. So far today (4:45pm) I've had a can of green beans and about 40 oz of apple juice. I ended up getting Simply Apple's apple juice this time. It doesn't taste overly sweet to me so I'm very happy about that!

Things have been NONSTOP for 2 1/2 months now! Lots of busyness, lots of emotional stuff (both good and bad), not enough and not good quality sleep, plus some other things that combined into the perfect storm in my body. And under those conditions, I end up with a "small" gallbladder attack :p

Even a "small" attack is painful, but not nearly as bad as they used to be! It's been 14 months since my last one. The last one wasn't too bad either. I say that relatively speaking... I've had attacks in the past that 1000mg of Lortab didn't touch!

I was technically due for a flush anyway, just was hoping to wait till after the holidays to do it :( But it waited till after Christmas, and I should be fully recovered by New Year's :)

I'm feeling okay all things considered. A bit hungry and weak. The boys have been playing well most of the day. I've been parked on the couch with my laptop. The boys have been up on the couch with me off and on. I've read them some books. Talked to them. Etc.

I have stuff I've been meaning to blog on here about. Maybe between today and tomorrow while I'm pretty much stuck here...