Weekly Update 4/14/10 + Review of Pilates Class

Hello to you all!   Well, Thing 2 is thoroughly enjoying her 6th birthday...although "day" implies one day.  It's been more like a "season!" 

What better way to kick off the birthday season?

We had a just-the-family party on the actual day (Friday), her aunt and uncle came over on Saturday for more family celebrating, dual celebrations in Kindergarten class and in after school care Monday, and the big kids' party this Sunday at the gymnastics place.

Whew!

And wow. My "baby" is 6 years old already.  How the heck did that happen?!?


I also spent Sunday afternoon catching up IN PERSON with my best girlfriend!  *squeeeeee!!*  We've known each other since jr. high school, but sadly, she lives out of state now.  We talk on the phone regularly, but it sure doesn't beat just hanging out.  It's been a couple of years since we got to do that.  I dragged her to my favorite coffee house and to a yummy Indian food buffet place.

Girls' day out!

Pilates Class Review

First of all, thanks so much for the feedback!  Lori was right about it being harder than it looks.  SeaBreeze was right about the core work.  Core is my weak spot, so I was glad the instructor had some suggested modifications on some of the moves.  Some parts are definitely harder than yoga, but not all; some of the yoga poses are really challenging and need a lot of upper body strength.  The pilates class I took focused on abdominal and leg-lift exercises, with pretty much no upper body strength work.

Some parts of the class really tickled my funny bone.  (And no, not just the part when I farted.  Yes, out loud, but apparently not loud enough to make other people laugh.)  As I wrote on Daily Mile:

Survived my first pilates class. Whew! It was hard. We did some of the moves laying on a foam roller, and there was a ton of ab work. The move in which we sat up, pressing a ring between our knees, pulsing our arms up and down and breathing in and out in puffs made me want to shriek, "It's a BOY!" afterward. I can also see how pilates is effective functional fitness, wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

It's more like childbirth class, I guess, rather than actual childbirth...certainly less painful on certain parts of the anatomy (unlike spin class...to which I'm dreading going back just a little bit).

What I ended up loving was that my obliques were mildly sore for days afterward; they are obviously not getting worked.  And there was a lot of inner thigh work; it's an area on me that doesn't get toned from the exercise I do now, so it sure wouldn't hurt to exercise it and see what happens.  (Although I realize it may be like my chest, in that all of the chest work in the world is just not going to bring back the former glory of that region...the right bra, however, can still do wonders.)  I've read that spot reduction doesn't work; has anyone ever had experience to the contrary?

In conclusion, I'm weird.  I know, I really ought to save this space to tell you something you *don't* know. I spent much of pilates class watching the clock, wondering if my abs could hold out until the end.  I walked out feeling like, "Meh, I'm not sure I would do this again."  And then after letting it sink in, I started wishing I could work it into my schedule, envisioning a "Summer of Core" (Peace! Love! Leg lifts!) since I could make this one and the other 7-8 a.m. pilates class when the kids are out of school, and it would still give me time to fit in some triathlon training for August.

Changing Doctors...Again?!?

Well, our doctor is in a different medical group now, so we changed back to a doctor we liked from the medical clinic we used to go to.  (Long story--the clinic ran out of money and closed all of a sudden...even the doctors didn't find out until they tried to show up for work that day!)  I really liked the doctor we were seeing, but I like this one, too, so a win-win situation.  I went to check out the tail end of my cold (which we suspect is being aggravated by allergies), and it was fun to see her reaction to how I'd done since I'd last seen her.  (She was the doctor I'd started seeing when I was first diagnosed; her standards for my numbers are very much in line with the control I like to see, so we're good there.)  She said I could try scaling back on my metformin dosage if I wanted to do so, and so I might give that a try after I'm in the clear with my other stuff.  It's worth a try, anyway; I can always go back on it if the numbers get out of range.  Given that my largest meal of the day is at night and that my morning numbers have always been the hardest to control, we decided to keep the night time dose and try eliminating the morning dose.  I'll of course be posting how this experiment goes.  A1C testing is still every 3 months; she'd like me to stop in every 6 months for check ups, since I've been doing really well for the past year.

Oddball Thought for the Week

Did you ever notice that the French word for "yes," oui, sounds just like the English word "wheee!"?  Of course, it sort of loses that nuance if you say "oui" in a bored, detached way.

Progress This Week

7-day blood glucose average: 106 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 104 (met goal of less than 120)
Going back down; yeay!  I've also noticed that fasting blood glucose is affected by my cycle; I've found that it shifts up during PMS-time and drops as soon as menstruation starts. 

Weight goals: Whoops, forgot to weigh this morning, but I'm sure it's up.  For the record, fully clothed and breakfasted but shoeless at the doctor's office appears to run about 4 pounds over the home scale.  Oddly, my height appears to have increased by about a quarter inch; I'm assuming that's due to better posture.

Food goals: Started out the week okay and tracked for 3.5 days; stopped for a few days, and picked it back up today. As for the hunger thing, I'm laughing ruefully at what I wrote last week.  Hunger came roaring back when Mr. Handsome-and-Handy made ribs last Wednesday. 
Fiber: Averaged 22 grams/day.  Need to do better there.

Exercise goals: Feeling much better this week.  It's funny, because I was sitting here today feeling like I'd totally blown it, having done zippity-do-dah on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but then once I looked at Daily Mile, I realized that I didn't do too badly this week with my goals.  Only one missed day, and I got strength into two of my workouts this week. 
Total mileage for the week was 16.73 miles.
Wednesday - 40 minutes (7 mi.) - 15 minute walk at lunchtime (.75 mi.) and 25 minutes on stationary bike at home (6.25 mi)
Thursday - 90 minutes - 60 minutes pilates class and 30 minutes on recumbent bike (5 miles)
Friday - 75 minutes (4.73 mi.) - 40 minutes walk at lunchtime (2 mi.)  and 35 minutes run/walk at night (2.73 mi.)
Saturday - Nothing
Sunday - Nothing
Monday - Nothing (Ack!  Shouldn't have had that double cappuccino late on Sunday afternoon; I didn't get to sleep until after midnight and was dragging today.)
Tuesday - 35 minutes - DVD extravaganza!  "Dance Off the Inches: 15 Minutes Express" + two segments of "10 Minute Solutions: Kickboxing Bootcamp," basic (I added some hand weights) and the abs segment.

Sleep: Ahhh...kids on vacation=more sleep for me in the morning!  That came to a rude halt on Monday.

Goals for Next Week

7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or make progress toward goal.

Food goals:
* Track food intake.
* Track fiber, aiming for at least 30 grams/day average.

Exercise goals:
* 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week.
* Get back to spin class!!! (groan...)
* 2 strength sessions (BodyPump + something on my own)

Misc. goals:
7 or more hours sleep/night.
It's Stanley Cup season - get home in time for Mr. Handsome-and-Handy to watch the Detroit Red Wings playoff games.  (Go Wings!)

"Quest for"...if not "Greatness" then "Motivation"

As I've blathered on about before, training for an event makes a huge difference in my motivation. So I'm really excited about Christie O.'s latest challenge on her Baby Tea Leaves web site: The Baby Tea Leaves Quest for Greatness! Her last challenge was a weight-loss challenge called "Hot for the Holidays"...which was fun and popular, but I was really amped by the new challenge's focus on fitness. However, the newly-converted fitness zealot in me is wondering: where the heck did all the HFH participants go? Christie left it very open-ended: choose an athletic event (or fitness goal) to train for, then do the training and enjoy the byproduct of better health and fitness. Not like people had to commit to running marathons or doing an Ironman...although, admittedly, it's easier to find events and to train in places like her Florida and my Northern California than in the more winter-bound places. But the "no rules" rider certainly leaves it open to looking for something in the spring....

Anyway, I've committed: I just registered for a 5K run on President's Day (2/16/09). I had decided, after running the Pumpkin Run, that I wanted to race at least once per quarter. This challenge was a nice kick in the posterior for getting me to find a race and to register. And I found one really close to home! I also registered for a race I'd found awhile ago, the "See Jane Run Half-Marathon and 5K". (Just the 5K...not quite at half-marathon level yet.) I'll freely admit that I chose it only for the slogan: "I run for chocolate and champagne." I can't wait to get that t-shirt! It's a bit of a drive away, so it sure wasn't for the location. Not sure what I'm doing for the July/August/September time frame, but definitely rounding out Q4 with the Pumpkin Run again. Maybe I'll be up for a 10K by then...we'll see!

That said, speaking of "fitness" and "motivation," I have to confess something shameful. Thing 2 wanted to do an exercise video with me on Sunday, and I flaked. My reason? Oh, this is so lame, I'm cringing as I type it: I'd showered late, and I didn't want to get all sweaty again. Yes, I told you it was lame. Not simply lame, but a horrible example for Thing 2, who proceeded to geek out playing multiplayer "Midtown Madness" with Thing 1 while I graded papers for Thing 1's teacher. I resolve to NOT flake on offspring-initiated fitness again!

The Near Occasion of Pistachios

It used to be sugar that drove me wild with desire, but now...

...they're in my desk drawer...

...naked...

...salty...

...green...

...pistachios!


A 16 oz. bag of them...well, 14 oz now, I've ate a couple of ounces so far (not in one sitting, thank goodness!). Shelled, roasted, salted...no, I did NOT have the good sense to get the ones in the shell, so I'd have to remove them one-by-one.

I got a really bad craving for them yesterday. What to do? I'd already had some with lunch, and I knew I needed to choose my usual yogurt/flax+wheat germ/fruit snack. I thought, "Try the scent-tasting trick." So I dug out the bag and inhaled deeply three times. Mmmm, salty goodness! Then I got myself a cup of tea. So far it seems to have worked, but there are still 14 beguiling ounces in there....



In other news, I found it really difficult to drag myself out running today. "Thing 1" had a rough night last night and woke us up after having a bad dream. ("Thing 1" refers to our 6-year-old son; "Thing 2" is our 4-year-old daughter; both affectionately dubbed from The Cat in the Hat's mischief-makers.) I think he's anxious about starting school next week. It's been thickly foggy all week long in the morning, and it was like jogging through an Impressionist painting, except I'm sure Monet's garden didn't have drought-stricken lawns and gopher mounds. I did stick with it and did my 2 miles (in 40 minutes...I'm going to get so lapped by the 5K walkers at the Pumpkin Run, but my goal is to simply finish before they pack up everything and leave). I'm not sure whether the inside or outside of my jacket was more wet. (Ew, too much info, I know!) But I felt very good afterward.

Moving my Metformin dose to the morning seems to be making a difference in my fasting blood glucose. Today it was 134, which is the lowest it's been since I started tracking (about 10-15 less than usual). Unfortunately, I got more of a spike from my workout (145) than breakfast (131). I wonder if any studies have been done to figure out how much weight loss affects blood glucose numbers. The current thinking is that losing 5-10% of your body weight (if overweight) and 30 minutes of exercise daily can make a difference for preventing diabetes among those with a predisposition for it (58% less likely, per the Diabetes Prevention Program study), but I was unable to find numbers for how much your blood glucose would go down as you reduce your BMI. Maybe it's not something that's possible to track, especially among newly diagnosed people who are doing everything at once: exercise, sensible eating, and (in some cases) medication.

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!

"Someday" is "Now"

Or, "About this blog":

I've always loved eating good food and (to quote the Sweet Potato Queens) "doing jack shit." My ideal life would be somewhere like this; getting served excellent, plentiful meals and tasty cocktails; snorkeling a little; laying around in the balmy air and reading books. It's a good thing I never won a Lotto jackpot.

I turned 40 this year. Foooooooooorty. Ooo. And I thought maybe I should get my act together. I am overweight, sedentary, married with two small kids. I had also had gestational diabetes during both pregnancies (you can see where this is going) and was therefore more likely to develop it someday. (Family history, too.) Ironically, I had started to make some changes for better health, and I went and got some screening done at Long's. Just to see where things were at.

"Someday" turned out to be "now": my fasting blood glucose was 202, a1c 9.5. Damn!

So now I'm living the "Opposite Life": opposite day, every day, when it comes to food and fitness. This blog records my journey, and maybe it will help others on the same path.