Weekly Weigh-in: - 34 pounds!

Yippee! Down another 3 pounds this week.

"Hello, my name is Pubsgal, and I'm a scale addict..."
How often to weigh is a topic of much debate among those pursuing weight loss. From my Weight Watchers days, I remember their strict admonition to weigh only once a week, so as to avoid angst over the daily ups and downs. However, I've also read that daily weighing can be helpful for some people ("Does the Scale Promote Weight Loss?").

I weigh daily each morning, but I track on a weekly basis and measure monthly. I find that a daily check, and watching the number over the week helps me calibrate things. This week, for example, I was a little worried about whether there'd be a loss, as the scale didn't seem to be budging much. So I made some lower-fat choices and stuck to my food plan a bit more closely. I probably would have been really discouraged if there'd been no progress, and I've gotten spoiled by the quick progress. Tune in a couple of months from now to see the hand-wringing and hair-pulling!

In some ways, blood glucose monitoring is even more crazy. I've seen a downward trend in general, but I thought there'd be a more dramatic impact from the medication as well as following my food & exercise plan. We'll see what the diabetes educator has to say about it after my appointment today; she'll probably chuckle when she sees how many times I checked my blood glucose after starting metformin: "Oh my gahd!!!! I'm going hypo!!!! I just know it!!!!...Oh. 124. (90-130 being a normal pre-meal or fasting range.) Okay, so things aren't exactly plummeting, here." (Disclaimer: it's always a good thing to test when you think hypoglycemia is happening, not to make light of my reaction; however, my blood sugars have been so high for so long that "normal" feels like a low to me.)

"Habits are at first cobwebs, then cables." -Spanish proverb

Thoughts on Sugar

To sugar, or not to sugar? See Myth #2 on the ADA web site. Diabetes-wise, sugar is sugar, whether it's in a starch food or an overtly sweet dessert food, and it must be accounted for like any other carbs.

So the big question for many is, "to carb, or not to carb?" From what I've read, many people who manage diabetes choose a strict low-carb diet, ala Bernstein. (As you can see from the comments on the link to this article, this subject is a passionate one for many.) Perhaps going totally low carb would bring my numbers lower. But while I could take or leave most starches, I do love my fruits and dairy. So my approach (discussed with my diabetes CNE and nutritionist) is to keep daily carbs less than 130, targeting 30-45g/meal (except breakfast, because my fasting numbers run high). I also generally choose higher fiber choices and low Glycemic Index foods. Since I don't feel carb-deprived, I don't only count the "net carbs" (that is, I don't exclude sugar alcohols or fiber). Some days I go a little lower, some days I go a little higher, but I generally keep it around that.

But back to sugar. I personally am going for about 97% "overt" sugar free. There will be some "hidden sugars," and for those I'll try to make least sugar choices. And last night, I did have a small bit (2 not tiny, but not huge bites) of (*gasp*) a full-sugar chocolate ice cream at a friend's birthday party. Several folks thought it looked rather pitiful on my plate, next to 4 bite-sized sugar-free chocolate chip cookies, but that's because I hadn't bothered scrounging up a smaller plate. It's weird, I felt more deprived in the red wine vs. margarita situation than I did now, even though pre-diabetes I was a total chocoholic and would have felt sad about not having the cake and heaping scoops of ice cream. (Would I have felt less deprived had I taken a sip of margarita? Hard to say...) I enjoyed those couple of bites, knowing (1) I'd skipped some dinner carbs in order to have it and (2) this would not be a regular thing. Yep, chocolate ice cream still tasted the same as it ever did...I have not missed anything during the past couple of months. When I tested my blood glucose later, it was looking good, although my morning numbers were above range, as usual. We'll see how it affected my weight loss at Weekly Weigh-in tomorrow...

Found my Christmas gifts this year

I know, August is a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but I ran across something interesting today.

For parents and selected relatives, we usually send consumable items. In years past, we've sent Kona coffee (yum!) and other sweet, edible things I ought not be thinking about so close to lunchtime. Recently, we've tried to be more cost-effective by baking cookies and sending them, but this year...I think we'll be scaling WAY back on the cookies.

Enter "3 Coffeys, No Sugar." While looking at the "Recent Headlines" on the Diabetes OC Website (oh...which is actually showing the Headlines page of "Diabetes Daily"), I found a diabetes blog today titled "Six Until Me." The most recent post features a heartbreaking yet inspiring interview with the family behind "3 Coffeys, No Sugar": three young siblings with Type 1 and their family, dealing with diabetes AND doing lots of great things to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

One of those things was partnering with Leaves & Beans Roasting Company on a special blend of their StoryTeller's Blends Coffees: "3 Coffeys, No Sugar." According to the interview on "Six Until Me," $7 of every pound is donated to the JDRF. Now, I'll drink (coffee) to that!

Weekly Weigh-in: -31 pounds!

Wow, this is getting good! I'm a little over 25% of my way to my goal weight of 143. I still have 91 pounds to go, though, so it's going to be a long haul. On the other hand, I guess it's a milestone in some ways, because I now have less than 100 pounds to lose!

Good stuff I've noticed so far:

• My largest size pants (26W) are really, really baggy.

• Pants I haven't worn since I started working again fit nicely, and are even a little baggy in the thighs. How weird, though, how differently clothes are sized!
  

• No more worries about blouse buttons popping!

• Feeling really good on all levels! Physically, I'm feeling terrific and have much more energy than I used to. Mentally, I feel really positive. Sticking with exercise especially makes me feel happy, even when it's not progressing quickly and when I experience setbacks (tweaking a muscle, going on vacation), because it's a miracle to me that I'm doing it at all.

• Compliments from friends and family.
  

On the blood glucose front, well, I'm perplexed about my fasting numbers. I don't know what it was that I ate at dinner last night--we ate out at "Whole Paycheck" (what we at work call "Whole Foods," since it's our unofficial company cafeteria), and was it the cioppino? The pickled ginger with the sashimi? The tabouli salad? The two slender, crunchy bread sticks? The two bites of pineapple and one bite of honeydew? All of the above? Anyhow, post-meal was 152--not great, but in range for a post-meal. However, my fasting this morning was also 152 (it had been dropping into the high 130s after starting metformin), as was my post-breakfast. And it's so weird, because we did a lot of walking around last night, and I started doing some weight exercises. I started taking metformin on Saturday, so you'd think by Tuesday it would be showing something. This is so frustrating, to be doing everything nearly perfectly, and to be having great progress with weight loss, and yet to NOT have the fasting numbers I want. Maybe I ought to try some middle-of-the-night testing to see if the numbers are dropping too low....

So yes, last Thursday my doctor prescribed metformin, 500 mg. in the morning for starters. I had a headache over the weekend, but it's hard to say that was whether I was stressed about starting it or something else. I did not have the unfortunate gastrointestinal symptoms people tend to have, but on the other hand, we're starting with a low dose. I don't think it's the extended release type. I've also felt a bit more tired than I had been feeling, getting out there and exercising has been a little more challenging, but I know those are other side effects, so I'm just pushing through it.

Blogroll

Here are some of the blogs I've found recently to inspire myself, to show that others have been on this path and have sustainable success. I'd really love to find some more blogs that have inspiring weight loss success stories from those who have also been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Fitness:

Zen Habits (Not a fitness blog per-se, but general topics for improving one's habits. Several topics regarding fitness and way of eating. The Beginner's Guide provides links to the most popular topics. )
http://zenhabits.net/

Cool Running (Their "The Couch-to-5K Running Plan," while I don't follow it to the letter, helped inspire me to train for our local 5K this fall.)
http://www.coolrunning.com/

Weight Loss:

Refuse to Regain (a site for maintenance...why not look ahead?)
http://www.refusetoregain.typepad.com/

Finding Radiance (a gal named Lori who lost 100 lbs)
http://findingradiance.blogspot.com/

Lynn's Weigh (Read after I saw an article about her on CNN.com; she lost 168 lbs!)
http://www.lynnsweigh.blogspot.com/

Roni's Weigh (Her height identical to mine, and our goals are similar, but her highest weight is what I was after my second pregnancy and wish I had at least maintained!)
http://ronisweigh.com/index.php

And the journey begins... (Just found this one today, 8/15/08! Success story-in-progress of "...to lose 80 pounds", who at last post had lost over 60 pounds!)
http://martinigal.blogspot.com/

"A Woman's Right to Lose | Lesley's Weigh to Healthy Living" (Another inspiring success story, plus great info and tips!)
http://www.freewebs.com/wwlaricha/myblog.htm

(*new*, 8/21/08) "Diet Coke And Zingers" (Gotta love a title like that! And whatever you do, don't read this while drinking your Diet Coke, unless you LIKE serious nasal pain.)
http://dietcokeandzingers.blogspot.com/

Diabetes:

Blood Sugar 101 (A site I found to be tremendously useful when I first found out that I had Type 2 diabetes)
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/index.php

alt.support.diabetes article, "Newly Diagnosed"
http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/NewlyDiagnosed.htm

(*new*, 8/21/08) "Type 2 Diabetes - A Personal Journey" (The "Painless Pricks" entry alone is worth reading for less blood glucose testing angst. And there I was thinking, "No pain, no wasted test strip." Silly me!)
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/

Quote of the Day

I was contemplating my rate of weight loss, and looking ahead..."Let's see, by the end of the year, I should be 194...by my birthday, 184...." (Although I'll just be happy to break 200 by the end of the year and to be in the simply "overweight" range vs. the "obese" range by my birthday...I know that plateaus happen.)

After lunch, I ripped open a packet of Good Earth tea, and read the quote:

"He that can have patience
can have what he will." --Benjamin Franklin

Perhaps that title should be "Answer of the Day?"

Weekly Weigh-in: -28 pounds!

Yeay!!! I've lost over 10% of my starting weight!!!

And, hurrah! I survived the family Michigan trip! I lost 3 pounds and I had as good of control as possible over the numbers. I didn't keep up with my exercise routine, but I was generally active. I didn't eat to plan, but I did skip the obvious offenders and kept my choices low-carb in general. I probably ought to have had more veggies. My splurges: lots of sugar-free popsicles, one double White Castle with middle bun removed, half of a Villa Bakery pizza roll. My only regret is not having stopped in at Uncle Ray's in Fenton for a memorial scoop: the founder, Uncle Ray himself, passed away last month. Especially since I was good and did not drink what I really wanted: a margarita. I stuck to one and a half servings of wine. I felt a little bitter about that (grumble, grumble, how come everyone ELSE gets to drink and eat what they damn well please, grumble grumble), but my sister-in-law's mom was there, and she's diabetic, and she was a poignant reminder of the trouble I'll have if I don't do my best now to get things under control.

Said sister-in-law lent me a fleece jacket (Eddie Bauer, XXL) that she said she doesn't fit anymore (it's too big) and that she also said she had lent to her pregnant sister (who isn't exactly petite either). I like the jacket, but it was a little discouraging to think that I was receiving someone else's "too big" hand-me-downs. It reminded me of how far I have to go, and it seemed to lessen how far I've come already. I know that totally was not her intention, though; she just wanted a good home to a favorite jacket. On the other hand, I know the cost of her struggle with weight & health issues, so I'd better live up to my intention and do the opposite: I now hereby choose to look at it as an inspiration: "she did it; so can I!"