Opposite Month #1

Well, it's been one month since I wandered out of Long's Drugstore with a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis. Quite the eventful month:

• Threw away the chocolate glazed donut I bought for breakfast that morning.
• Felt anger, disgust, and shame. Why-oh-why had I let it come to this?
  
• Clamped down on my food plan. I had dug out my old gestational diabetes food plan a couple of weeks ago--when I'd decided I'd had enough of being fat--but I wasn't following it precisely. I eliminated all refined sugar products and other forms of junk food; cut white rice, regular breads, and regular pasta; sodas (diet, rarely drank regular). Started eating only whole grain products. One serving of my starches is a combo of wheat germ and milled flax seeds in my plain Greek-style yogurt with a serving of fruit. I am becoming my mother...not a bad thing, in this case!
  
• Celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary! (Splurged on sharing some tempura...oooooo. Bought used books instead of fancy desserts.)
  
• Went to see the doctor on June 19. Yep, it's the big D, alright. We discussed--I told her I wanted to try diet and exercise first, since my previous years had been spent wallowing in sloth and gluttony. She wrote my Rx for a meter and strips, but she said to not fill it right away, because she thought our health group had some sort of contract with someone. (Word to the wiser-than-me: Be sure your doctor specifies the number of strips and lancets. Also, call your insurance company right away regarding how to get a meter! It's the *insurance company*, not the medical group, that determines which brands and models are covered. More on that later...)
• Plodded along with my food plan and started exercising 3 days/week for 30 minutes. Decided to take up walking and--gasp!--jogging. I'd felt inspired by the Zen Habits blog article "How to Go From Sedentary to Running in 5 Steps," which describes how to get started with a running routine. (There's another good article I found on the Cool Running web site, "The Couch-to5K Running Plan, which is similar.) Yes, I guess aliens *have* taken up residence in my body.
• Finally got the referral letter for the diabetes educator appointment. Called and made the appointment. I'm a little surprised that they let 2.5 weeks go by, but oh well.
• July 1: At least I don't have breast cancer! I had my first mammogram today. The breast center at Mills Peninsula is soooo luxe! We had nice robes instead of paper ones, and the interior design was not sterile. Friendly, professional staff, too. I kept wondering when they'd call me for my facial and manicure.
  
• Got overwhelmed by the conflicting info on the web. Low carb vs. low fat, Bernstein vs. ADA...oh my! My gestational diabetes food plan from 2001 seemed a bit high on the carbs, so I went with a modified version, "Low-Carb Diabetes Diet" from the prevention.com web site. I liked its inclusion of a "nut" portion, a *whole* ounce of nuts! Woo hoo! I made a modified version, though, to include 2 portions of milk and 2 portions of fruit and to total 1800 calories. My version has approx 131 grams of carbs, which is more than they recommended (they recommend 125 grams max).
  
• Saw the diabetes educator and nutritionist on July 7. To my dismay, they were unable to issue me a blood glucose monitor, because they do not have the ones my insurance company covered. Got lots of good info: The nutritionist told me that my food plan looked good for now, I could probably eliminate some of the snacks if desired, but that research supported only dropping to 130 grams of carbs. She thought that the Bernstein diet was not practical and a bit extreme. (I had done a more restrictive plan during the end of my 2nd pregnancy, when seeing an endocrinologist, and I hated not being able to have fruit! Just lemme have a couple of apples, damn it!) Got some bad info: I wasn't exercising enough, according to the Rn: 30 minutes, 5 days a week is recommended for someone trying to control with diet and exercise. (And...when am I going to find the time? Oh, well, flight o' the bumblebee, right? Or, "when faced with the impossible, choose the improbable"...I think that's how the Sherlock Holmes quote goes.)
  
• Went through the whole rigmarole of obtaining a meter. I was given the numbers to call to get either a One Touch or an Accucheck meter via the companies' free meter programs. I was unable to determine, even after two calls to the pharmaceutical part of the plan's info line, whether test strips for the Accucheck models they were offering were covered! Grrr...So I decided to geek out and get the One Touch UltraSmart, even though the Rn said she didn't care for the One Touch meters as well. OH well. Probably jacked up my blood glucose just getting the darn thing.
  
• Received the meter on July 10 and started checking. Good news: my post-meal numbers are within range (137-158). Bad news: what IS UP with my fasting blood glucose? It's running between 160-170, even with all my good habits. I have a feeling I might be put on some meds. Ugh.
• Started flossing again. Flossing is almost as irksome a chore as ironing clothes, but it must be done. *sigh*...

So, there you have it: the first one month of Opposite Life. Next time: How do I prevent myself from getting overwhelmed with the idea that this is The.Rest.Of.My.Life!