What's New
Day 6 in Adventures with Mary Lou: Okay, so today I brought along my kids' mini video recorder, so that I could record Mary Lou's message for today verbatim. I had already weighed in on the digital scale and knew I was up .4 lb from last week. Still, to my astonishment, applause and cheering! Huh? "You are at your original starting weight." Well, okay....Different factors today: lighter weight but still long-sleeved shirt and no breakfast yet. Breakfast yesterday was was a 12-oz shake and a glass of water...so it's likely a water weight difference. Mary Lou continued: "The best thing about the hard work you're doing is that it pays off with the most precious gift of all: better health!" I can titter at the emphatic delivery, but I really can't argue with her message.
"Graduation" from Diabetes Education: Yesterday I had my last meeting with my diabetes educators, since I had great numbers on my lab results from January. They still would like to see my HDL/LDL numbers improve. The nurse educator mentioned statins...and I told her NO way...Mr. Handsome-and-Handy had problems with those last year, and I'd much rather try something else. My nutritionist recommended further limiting my saturated fat consumption and getting more fiber in my diet, so I need to do some calculations and make some adjustments there...dinner time seems to be the main culprit these days, so perhaps having more of my no-meat meals at dinner would be a good idea. (Breakfast *has* been rather a "gimme" for making my current weekly goal there.) We also talked about setting a realistic goal weight. Right now, I'm still going to shoot for 143 (the center of the BMI "healthy weight" range for my height), but I am a realist: if it's too crazy-making to obtain or maintain, I'll revise it. No point in worrying about it until I'm closer. Another topic we touched on was exercise, and the nurse educator mentioned that interval training can be effective when things start to slow down. I've already started doing that in my runs, to try and improve my speed.
Year of the Ox: I mentioned last week that we had a Chinese New Year celebration here at work last week, with dim sum. I was the only woman to enter the ping-pong tournament...not something I would have done before, as I've always been a piss-poor ping pong player, but "opposite life" forces were at work and I decided to go for it. Yes, I was eliminated in the first round, but I faced a fear of flubbing in front of my coworkers. Unexpected reward? I was also invited to join (as a tourney participant) the newly-formed ping pong club!
That aside, one of our coworkers talked a bit about Chinese New Year to the assembled group. When she talked about the significance of an Ox year in the Chinese zodiac, it felt uncanny, both on a personal and a broader note: "We will feel the yoke of responsibility coming down on us this year. No success can be achieved without conscientious efforts." (Not sure if that's where she got the quote, but I do remember the "yoke of responsibility" part.) Among other things, I guess it's a good year to work on that back-hand, too.
Progress last week
7-day blood glucose average: 112 (met goal of <120)
7-day fasting: 106 average, all days <120 (met goal of <120 every day)
Weight goal: +.4 (gained, so did not meet goal of maintain or lose)
Food goals: Consumed 5 meatless, low-fat meals and 1 fish meals. (met first, missed second by 1 meal)
Exercise goals: 5x30 min. cardio, including 3 runs. Attended BodyPump class and worked out with weights at the gym. (Met exercise goals.)
Misc. goals: Got adequate sleep all nights. Am documenting my adventures with Mary Lou's Platform. I add a goal mid-week, after reading on MizFit and elsewhere, to try ch-ch-ch-CHIA! The seeds, not the pets. I liked it in green tea (pond scum style) and in yogurt, not so much in soup.
Goals for this week
7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or lose.
Food goals: 4 or more meatless, low-fat meals and 2 or more fish meals.
Exercise goals: At least 30 minutes of cardio 5 days, plus 2 days of arms & abs strength training workouts. For cardio, do at least 3 runs, weather permitting (Weather-permitting=not raining and temperature over 40 degrees).
Misc. goals:
7 or more hours sleep/night.
Continue Adventures with Mary Lou.
Try the Hatha Yoga class at the gym this week.
Refine my nutritional goals regarding fiber and fats, to improve HDL/LDL numbers.
5 comments:
Congrats on winning on Mizfit's Site.
http://mizfitonline.com/2009/02/09/last-weeks-winners/
I think it's great that your willing to change your diet rather then "take drugs" to manage your HDL/LDL levles.
Less saturate fat and more fiber sounds a lot like a vegan diet. My grandpa is diabetic and shared an study with me recently in regards to a vegan diets and diabetes. He's the exact opposite of a vegetarian and is not willing to try it, but I am, or at least something similar. I already get migraines from sugar highs/lows. Good luck, I'm interested to see how it works.
That 's so interesting to hear you talk about working with a diabetes educator. My dad was at the end of his rope, and I suggested he go to a 'C.D.E.' and it literally changed his life. He got his diabetes under control, and was even able to reduce the amount of insulin he consumed.
You sure are doing good with all your goal setting and changes in your diet and exercise. It is inspirational to read about how you are doing.
SeaBreeze: Thanks for the heads-up!
Fitness Surfer: I'm not even sure I'm willing to try and go totally vegan or even ovo-lacto vegetarian! :-) I do love my bacon, for example. But I know I also don't need to be eating 6 oz. of pork and beef every day, so I'll be working in a few *dinner* meals (which tend to be my higher protein ones) that are either vegan or fish-based. Your current way of eating and exercising strike me as good ways of preventing diabetes and heart disease...maybe your grandpa can start with some gradual changes? Even eating chicken, fish, or low/non-fat dairy instead of beef or pork for some of his meals can help reduce saturated fat in his diet.
Also, I don't think all drugs are bad, and everyone's reactions to various ones are different. I just have the anecdotal evidence of my husband's negative experience with statins...he has family members on them, and they don't have the same issues.
debby: I'm happy to hear that your dad went to a C.D.E. and is getting his diabetes under control. That's great! C.D.E.'s are a terrific resource; mine wasn't my only one, but it was nice to have someone to talk with and get ideas from. My goal at the beginning was to get off of the medications and manage through diet and exercise alone. Now, I'm more concerned about maintaining a good a1c, and if it means taking metformin a little longer and losing more weight before I reduce or eliminate it, well, I'm in this for the long haul. We'll see how it goes.
Pubsgal - you are rocking and rolling! So great to see all your hard work paying off. And I know that neighbor comment must have made your day. :)
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