Slight Deviations

As mentioned previously, I often hate this diet. It's more of a love-hate relationship really; I love feeling better, achieving health goals, being off insulin (though I may adjust that this week; I don't love my morning highs - but I'm worried about daytime lows! Damn you faulty pancreas!). When I find a delicious meal that works I'm happy and I love that too. It's the many forays into NON delicious meals and all the work it is taking to build up a usable collection of delicious meals that I hate.  I am also none too happy about cravings. I don't hate that part because I know this is temporary and I'll be able to have many of those things (in moderation) again in the future (or some variation of them if I do end up with gluten or other food allergies). I mostly hate the work and hate the times when I put a ton of work in only to end up with food I really dislike.

So. There have been some rough times and some sad times. There have been some low blood sugar times and some low energy times. Especially when I had my period last week... my energy in the afternoon was REALLY flagging. I was worried I wasn't getting enough carbs and for a few days in a row I was just headachy and exhausted all afternoon / evening. It may have been menstrual cycle related, or it may have been that I just wasn't getting enough of what I needed in my diet. I mentally examined my habits and made a few decisions:

• I will make sure I am eating a salad at lunch and at dinner, to try to get extra vegetables in
• I will make sure I'm eating some berries with my breakfast
• I will, in addition to being allowed 1/2 cup of berries a day, also allow myself one apple or one pack of GoGo squeeZ applesauce (or equivalent) each day

I had considered adding in a grain (like rice) or one starchy vegetable a day, but I'm most likely to eat those at dinnertime, and my low energy and headaches were starting mid-afternoon, so I decided to go with the apple and eat it around lunchtime or as my afternoon snack (with protein - typically peanut butter, or a couple slices of roast beef or ham).

So I have now allowed myself two deviations from the Advanced Plan.

1. I allow myself one Larabar a day - they have dates in them, equivalent to 1/4 cup of fruit. I only eat the Peanut Butter Cookie or Blueberry Muffin varieties for now.
2. I allow myself one apple or equivalent each day.

Finding a snack / meal bar that doesn't have lots of sugar or funky additives is not very easy. I've been pretty happy with these though. Except I'm disappointed in the cashew ones... which is sad because I love cashews. But they taste baaaaad.

It's amazing how much happier I am with just these two small changes. It makes it a little easier for me to be adaptable too. Also I don't have that low-energy, dragging, headachy issue. My period ended on Monday so it's hard to say which one was the problem - needing some carbs in the afternoon or hormones. I suppose I'll find out when my cycle comes back around in a month!

I try very hard to listen to my body and figure out what cues it is giving me. Sometimes there's a lot of trial and error in that, but I think it's important.

I did my journaling even though a certain kitten did NOT want to let me finish (AND wanted to steal my breakfast too!)

Fast, Cheap, And Easy

Except now I'm complicated, expensive, and full of beans.

Yesterday was one of those "run around all afternoon" days. The kids and I all had dental cleanings in the afternoon, and I had some errands to run. I was making soup for lunch in the Crock Pot and it wasn't ready before I had to leave, so I grabbed some baby carrots and a thing of applesauce and ran out the door. It was a sad lunch. (Oh yeah, I've decided to allow myself one apple or thing of applesauce each day. More on that in a future post.)

The kids and I *love* these GoGo squeeZ applesauces. They're all natural, just apples (and occasionally other fruits or spices depending on the flavor), no additives or sugar or anything. The thing I love is that they taste great! I've tried canned or jarred 'natural' applesauce and it always tastes funky or bitter. They aren't paying me to endorse it, I just love this stuff. My favorite is the apple cinnamon!

 Our dentist is on the north side of the city, an hour away. We loooove them and continue to go even though we moved to the suburbs seven years ago. They're great with us, great with the kids, full of pampering goodness... I'm somewhat dental-phobic; I have a lot of anxiety about having ANY sort of dental work done (not cleanings but anything that involves potential pain or injections in my gums FORGET IT). They're very understanding, give me massages and parrafin hand wax, give me lots of Valium AND let me have happy gas. I still have anxiety but part of me looks forward to those happy-hazy-woozy dental times too! So I'm willing to drive an hour to have great service.

Perfect Smile Dental Spa. They aren't paying me to endorse them either, I just love them that much! Ask for Irma, she's the best! (You can name-drop us if you go though, we do get a gift certificate!)

Another bonus of having a dentist on the north side of the city is that some of my friends live up there. My friend Sarah has people over most Tuesday nights so I took advantage of our dental visit and went to hang out at her place. OJ came up after work, hung out a bit, then took the kids home so they could get to bed on time. Me? I stayed at Sarah's until 2AM - COMPLETELY irresponsible! But fun! Hey, it happens rarely for me. I'll enjoy it when I can.

This meant, however, that I had a piss-poor lunch AND we all needed dinner on the go.
Also, it's the end of August, it was an EXPENSIVE month for us (basically we spent 20 days on vacation), and there's still some month left at the end of our money.
Thus far I've managed to go out and eat on this new diet by picking restaurants that have somewhat higher-quality foods and getting entrees like salmon, chicken, or steak with vegetables. Tasty but pricy. Of course if I'm out with the family, they eat where I eat, so then we're buying restaurant entrees for four. The cost adds up pretty quickly and we just couldn't afford to do it this time. I needed something cheap and easy.

I have no idea how to handle 'fast, cheap, on the go' food on this diet plan. Salads are out of the question for dinner (I can manage them for lunch) because they simply don't satisfy me. Perhaps when I've been eating this way for years instead of mere weeks, I will come to look at a salad as a meal and not something to be tolerated as a preface to a meal. Right now, while I'm working on it, I am nowhere NEAR that point. If I got a chicken salad, I'd eat the chicken, pick at a few of the lettuce leaves, and be unhappy and hungry all night long. And I heard rumors that chocolate cake was going to be visiting the gathering later in the evening. If I ate a grumpy, sad salad, I'm not sure if I'd be able to resist delicious cake later.

If you HAVE to do fast food, and you're extremely limited on food choices, what do you do? You can't eat wheat, sugar, dairy, starchy vegetables, fruit, or any other kind of grain. You're also not supposed to be eating processed food. At the same time, this is real life and not every day is going to be a perfect day. What are the best choices when you can't be 'perfect'?

Here's the choice I made. I decided to make sure I was avoiding gluten since I'm fairly certain I had a reaction to it earlier in this plan. We hit Taco Bell. I obviously skipped out on the 'no processed food' rule last night. I also allowed myself a grain (corn, in the tortilla chips) and dairy (cheese). I got Nachos BellGrande and Pintos N Cheese.

It was waaaaay more delicious than Taco Bell has any right to be.

I feel kind of crappy today but it feels more like the general "you stay up too late every night and then LAST night you didn't get home until 3AM and then you had to be up at 7:30 to get the kids to school so your sleep is ALLLL screwed up" crappy, not like the kinds of "you are sooo unhealthy you done gonna die" crappy I've felt earlier this year. Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying Taco Bell is going to make its way back into my diet with any sort of regularity, but I don't think it was the worst occasional choice I could make either.

Yesterday's Blood Sugar Solution journal.

However, I AM curious as to what healthy options you choose at fast food restaurants when you have to go. What's the best choice you make (or would make), and why? What do you recommend? (At any of them, not just Taco Bell! McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, Long John Silver's... what else?)

How Do I REALLY Feel About My Diet?

Even though yesterday was my 'official' day one on the program, I've been pretty much following this diet for a while now. I started the two week prep part on Friday, August 3rd; that was fairly extreme, cutting out sugar, flour, alcohol, and caffeine.

I started following the food rules of the advanced plan on Tuesday August 14th; further cutting out all grains, fruit (except half a cup of berries a day), dairy, and starchy vegetables.

If you didn't know me well in person before this, here are some things you should know about me: For starters, I'm 33 years old, and I was raised on a fairly traditional Midwestern diet. Meat, potatoes, overcooked canned or frozen veggies, lots of breads. We drank pop pretty regularly. Sweets have been prevalent in my home from the time I was a kid, and I have always loved them. If I were to go to my mom's house right now and poke around for food (which all of us DO every time we go over there), I'd find:

• a counter with Twinkies, cookies, coffee cakes, white bread, brownies, fudge, probably some candy
• A freezer with several kinds of ice cream, frozen dinner's (Stouffer's and Hot Pockets), ice cream bars
• A fridge with lunchmeat, pop, milk, butter, cream cheese, American cheese, probably sliced cheese, leftovers (often meat and potatoes and a veggie), refrigerated Bob Evans mashed potatoes, instant puddings and jello desserts. On top of the fridge is a basket filled with potato chips, tortilla chips, cheetos.
• A cabinet next to the fridge with macaroni and cheese and white pasta
• A shelf with several kinds of crackers (Town House, Club Crackers), popcorn, instant microwaveable cakes and brownies, sugary oatmeals and breakfast cereals (Fruity Pebbles, Corn Pops), bags of marshmallows
• And a giant glass jar filled to the brim with chocolate, chocolate, chocolate - Hershey's, Reese's cups, Kit Kats, Baby Ruths

I don't know if it was exactly like that when I was growing up, but that's pretty much the setup it's been for years. Everyone likes visiting mom's house - it's full of goodies! It's hard for me to even go over there right now because it's really hard to resist those things. I was raised on them, and I really believe sugar and flour are very addicting. It's hard to change a habit as it is; it's even harder when your body is having physical reactions to the mere IDEA of putting those things in your mouth.

I mention all this to illustrate the fact that I was raised on lots of white, white, white foods. Processed foods. Flour and sugar. The very things that seem to be worst for my body right now.

So to have been on this incredibly restrictive diet for a good four weeks now, and to have another 6+ weeks staring me in the face - it's HARD. It would be hard for anyone... but it's REALLY hard for someone like me who suddenly can't eat ANY of the things that are habitual foods. I'm attempting to force my body to eat in a COMPLETELY different way from what it has known for all 33 years of its life. I've made small changes over the past decade; mostly adding in foods I knew were good for me, not as much taking out foods that I knew were bad for me. I got rid of pop years ago; I almost never touch the stuff. I've added in more vegetables to my dietary repertoire. I've experimented with whole wheat grains, pastas, and breads. But cutting out all of the things I DO eat? And doing it so suddenly? I've had a lot of unhappiness these past four weeks. I'll be honest - part of me HATES this diet. Part of me is really, desperately bitter about NOT being able to eat those foods. The logical side of me knows this is a much healthier, more sustainable diet. The emotional side of me is mostly placated by the knowledge that I FEEL so much better most of the time. I don't dwell on it most of the time. But I'm unhappy. I have cravings. They're not as bad as they were at first, but the people who said they go away after a few days? Obviously weren't really addicted, and obviously didn't have habits as bad as mine.

Here's my journal from yesterday.

 Breakfast is hard every day. I skipped breakfast for YEARS. When I became diabetic, adding in breakfast was one of the hardest things I had to do.  Forcing myself to eat in the mornings made me nauseous for almost two years, but I did it. I finally found something that worked reasonably well for me - a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and a glass of milk. I had that for breakfast for more than a year. Now I can't eat cereal. I hate oatmeal, but even if I liked it, I couldn't have it right now. My body, still not thrilled with the idea of breakfast in general, finally adjusted itself to the general idea of something sweetened with a dairy in the mornings. I can't have either of those things now. I like eggs, quite a bit, but a) I'm only supposed to eat a max of 8 eggs a week and b) I don't really DO eggs - or anything savory - for breakfast. I'm also not a morning person, which means I HATE cooking in the morning. I want an EASY, quick breakfast. I finally hit on a solution that is working pretty well, but it's still quite an adjustment.

Lunch has always been hard. I could very easily skip it now that I've had breakfast. I'd have the occasional sandwich... cheese quesadillas are big over here... or hot dogs, or franks n beans, or mac and cheese. Can't have any of those. I'm trying to eat soups and salads or leftovers now. I've never been a salad eater - leafy greens don't feel or taste like food to me. I really have to jazz them up with carrots and cukes and seeds and maybe some ham or turkey or a bit of hard boiled egg. I can't even have cheese or dressing. Soups and stews are fine EXCEPT I have to cook them, and sometimes they don't turn out very tasty (I need to build up my 'delicious meals' repertoire for this diet!! I'm working on it!) and then I'm just left feeling really unhappy with my diet again.

Snacks - another hard one. Berries are OK but they've never been my favorite fruit, and to be honest, I've always put sugar on them. I'm trying to eat them but they're much more tart than I'm used to and I'm mostly just unhappy while I'm eating them. Salsa and/or guacamole are delicious - but no chips. Eating it with veggies just isn't the same. I'm working on it. Hummus is good - but no pitas. Again with the veggies. I eat my sad carrot and cry on the inside.

Dinner - I DO like to cook (my problem with doing it for every meal is the sheer amount of TIME it takes up! And also how filthy my kitchen gets every day!). I've been going through my cookbooks and making lists of every recipe that fits this plan and categorizing them (dinner, side dish, lunch, etc). Before I go grocery shopping I put together a meal plan for the next few days from this recipe list. It's... kind of exhausting. SO MUCH PLANNING. There is no real easy 'grab and go' meal idea on this plan. Not unless I cooked it ahead, anyway. Some dinners have been very tasty. Others, not so much. Then I'm unhappy. And so are the kids. Last night's dinner? SUCKED. The chicken was OK. The vegetables - I'm not even sure if OJ liked them. The kids and I barely touched them.

Late night - I allow myself a Larabar, and sometimes a small bit of dark chocolate if I really feel like I need it. I look forward to that fucking Larabar ALL DAY. It's hard not to eat it earlier in the day. But if I don't end the day with something sweet I want to kill someone, and I will be looking for food all night then... and sometimes even after the Larabar I'm still craving something. Nights are hardest for me. I just want to eat and eat. Last night I gave in and made a plate of scrambled eggs. Still on the plan, so that's OK, but I REALLY wanted to sneak out after everyone went to bed and hit a drive through or something. I could TASTE Taco Bell's nacho cheese. I'm not kidding. If Taco Bell had been in my house I would have eaten everything they could give me.


So. In conclusion, I kind of hate this diet. I like the results I'm getting, and that's really the only thing that keeps me going. If I hadn't gotten so sick for so long, and didn't have that to compare my currently much healthier self to - I wouldn't be sticking to this diet. It's REALLY difficult. It's very extreme for someone coming from a food background like mine. I think the idea behind a lot of it is sound and the principles for eating for life are good but I think I might take a gentler approach if you're not as sick as me (though the Basic Plan isn't nearly as tough as this one is. I'd be MUCH happier if I could have rice, the occasional potato, or an apple, or banana). 

I'm not giving up. I'm just... trudging through with a sort of grim determination, is all. I think it's important to be honest and examine feelings. I'm laying this out there in case anyone else is trying this, or something like this, and hating it too and getting down on themselves about it. It's OK to feel your feelings. It's hard to make changes, especially when they're this extreme. Do the best you can. It's OK. Don't beat yourself up. I'm not. This is a long term change, over the course of your life, and a few negative feelings for a time aren't going to make or break your life. A few deviations from the plan won't either. Perserverance is the key to success. Even if it's done grimly. :)

Week One FOR REAL THIS TIME

As I mentioned, we went scrapbooking all day Saturday... yesterday proved busier than I'd expected so here we are, Monday morning, finally 'officially' starting week one of the six week program! Week One is called "Eat Your Medicine: Nutrition Basics". I've pretty much been doing this already but here's a breakdown for everyone playing along at home:

Avoid:

• Sugars in any form whatsoever (including agave, maple syrup, stevia, and artificial sweeteners)
• All flour products (even gluten-free)
• All processed food
• All gluten and dairy

That's for anyone on the plan. For those on the advanced plan, like me, also avoid:

• All grains, starchy vegetables, and fruit. (winter squashes, peas, potatoes, corn, and root vegetables)
• You CAN have one-half cup of berries a day.

After the six weeks, we will start reintroducing (slowly) these foods to see how they affect blood sugar, energy, and weight.

Focus on food QUALITY. 

• 500 calories of cookies is not the same as 500 calories of broccoli
• Food is information and it controls your gene expression, hormones, and metabolism
• Portion size matters

There's a lot of talk about mastering glycemic load - he says it is more important than mastering calories; low GI diets don't spike blood sugar and insulin. The basic idea is that you need to combine protein, fats and whole-food, fiber-full, low starch carbs (preferably from vegetables, nuts, and seeds, with limited amounts of whole grains and fruits). Also, never eat carbs alone - always combine them with protein and fat. 

• Eat real food (IE fresh, not processed)
• Clean up your diet (avoid additives, pesticides, antibiotic-and-hromone-fed animal products, etc)
• Go organic
• Stay local and sustainable

When eating carbs:

• Eat "green" carbs freely - largely green and/or leafy vegetables and seaweed
• Eat in moderation: whole grains, legumes, dark berries, stone fruit, apples and pears, and fiber
• Eat limited amounts: starch vegetables and high-sugar fruits (such as melons, grapes, and pineapple)
• Avoid completely: processed carbs, gluten-containing whole grains, dried fruit, and resistant starch ("resistant starch" could even be sawdust! He says some breadmakers use it to 'lower the net carbs')

He also talks about eating phytonutrients, largely from the fruits and vegetables you choose. We all know they're good for us, and each one has different nutrients that affect our bodies in different ways. Check out the book if you want more info about specifics. but basically just eat a lot of them and eat a variety. Other good things to include:

• miso and other whole soy foods (none of that processed soy stuff)
• ground flaxseeds
• herbs
• garlic and onions
• green tea
• dark chocolate

Oh yeah, GOOD NEWS! You can have a little chocolate. It has to be dark, at least 70 percent cocoa, and you should eat no more than 2 ounces a day. Try to save this for after the first six weeks but you don't HAVE to. 

Fats are essential to our bodies! They do not make you fat. Eat the right kinds. Omega-3's are what you want. The best fats and oils come from:

• Wild or sustainably-raised cold-water fish
• avocados and olives
• extra virgin olive oil, walnut oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil and butter
• grass-fed and range-fed animals

Be careful with protein! It's important to our bodies too but every body is different. Some people do great on animal products, some do great as vegans, some need a mix of both. Pick high-quality animal products if you eat them. Make sure you get some source of protein at each meal or snack. Try:

• beans or legumes
• whole soy products (tempeh, tofu, miso, and natto)
• nuts
• seeds
• omega-3 or free-range eggs
• mercury-free fish, shrimp, and scallops
• organic, grass-fed, and hormone-, antibiotic-, and pesticide-free poultry, lamb, and beef (more poultry than lamb and beef).

He says red meat is a treat. He also says pork is the worst, but doesn't give any explanation for that or back it up in any way. We love our pork over here so I'm sitting stubbornly against that one. I need an actual REASON. For all I know, maybe he just hates pigs. 

When you are setting up your pantry for cooking, it's really hard to find certain things that don't have wheat, or funky additives, or sugar. He recommends:

• Tamari (which is wheat-free soy sauce)
• chili pastes and hot sauces
• Tahini
• salt and fresh pepper
• spices (beware of spice blends, some of them have sugar and additives!)
• fresh herbs (grow your own or check the salad section at the grocery store)
• broth or stock (make your own if you can; read labels carefully. I couldn't find ANY that didn't have additives at first, even the organic ones. Then I found some good ones hiding in a separate tiny 'health food' section at my local Jewel-Osco).
• canned or boxed tomatoes, beans, artichokes, fish - check your labels, make the best choices you can
• fresh lemon and lime juice

Personally, I'm having a hard time giving up ketchup (I don't use a lot of it but I do use it in certain foods) and I can't find ketchup without sugar. The organic ketchup at my grocery store at least doesn't contain any additives and it doesn't have high fructose corn syrup. For now I'm not beating myself up over this choice... I don't think a little ketchup will make or break me. I may look into making my own but haven't yet.

I also miss barbecue sauce. Mostly because I was on vacation in the South and oh my was there some tasty-sounding barbecue! :( I didn't eat any of it. I know that barbecue sauce is usually FULL of sugar. I will be able to eat barbecue again one day, so I passed for now.

Country roads, take me home... to the place... I belong... (this has been in my head for days. You're welcome.)

Laying out your plate: basically it should be 1/2 low-starch veggies, 1/4 protein, and 1/4 whole grains or starch vegetables. Unless you're on the advanced plan, like me, in which case it should be 3/4 low-starch veggies and 1/4 protein for 6-12 weeks.

Also be sure to eat on time. Don't skip meals. Eat 3 meals and 2-3 snacks each day. This keeps your metabolism going strong all day. Try to schedule meals for the same time each day. This will also keep your blood sugar balanced.

He also talks a lot about food allergies and why we are cutting out certain foods, especially the gluten and dairy. He talks a bit about the cost of foods and gives some advice on how to eat well for less money. Let's face it, eating healthy costs a lot more. There are ways to save money but it's still been a bit of a hit on the pocketbook. I'm still working on this too. I'll talk more about my experiences with the costs of food and how I've saved money as I get better at that part!

Develop a plan for surviving restaurants. We're all going to eat out. Try to choose restaurants in advance that you know have foods you can eat. Ask lots of questions. Plan ahead. Things like that. 

Bring an emergency food pack with you whenever you leave home. Pretend it's medicine - if you were insulin-dependent (like me!) you wouldn't leave home without your insulin pen, needles, and blood test kit. Bring yourself some food every day too. Things like

• nuts
• veggies (like carrots or cukes)
• a healthy whole-food protein bar (check these ingredients too! A lot of these health-food bars aren't all that healthy. I like Larabars myself. This is another one of my small 'cheats'. I'm allowing myself one Larabar a day. They have dates in them and while dates aren't berries, I don't think the diet gods will strike me down. I eat the peanut butter cookie one (just dates, peanuts, and salt) or the blueberry muffin one (just dates, blueberries, peanuts, and salt). They're pretty good!
• a bottle of water

And of course we're supposed to journal throughout the day... write down what we are, how we feel before the meal, how we feel after, how the FOOD made us feel, what our symptoms are and if they've increased or decreased. Write every evening about our experience with food that day and how it impacted our day. 

The checklist in the book.

That's a lot of stuff! Wooo. Basically, getting healthy is a full-time job. It's crazy. He's got downloadable printable cheat sheets on his website (click here to get them), which is GREAT because there's a lot of stuff to remember. These are just the HIGHLIGHTS from the chapter on the first week of the plan. 

OK scratch that. I thought the book said they were printable but apparently they're not. They are just online checklists. BOO to that. I'm not at my computer all day; that's one of the reasons that online communities often fail for me. He has the same checklist available in the book so you can either join his online community to get it or buy the book to get it. I'll write mine out in the paper journal I made and carry it with me; that's easiest for me. I'll be journaling there too. If I have any amazing food insights I'll be sure to share them here.

Health Progress - Numbers And Such

As of 9/23, from this post:

Weight - 219
Waist Size - 46.25"
Blood Pressure - haven't tested since last time
BMI - my BMI is 35.3. I'm still obese!
Waist To Height Ratio - .69 (This website says "Take Action!")
Hemoglobin A1C - haven't tested since last time
Cholesterol - haven't tested since last time


Insulin- my sugars were creeping a little higher than I liked; fine during the day but getting too high for my fasting. I have added in one shot, my Levemir (slow acting insulin). I am currently taking 25 units each night. My fasting is better - some days ok, some days too high. Daytime blood sugars have still been fine. I continue to monitor regularly.

Current clothing sizes - shirts extra large. Pants size 18. 

Picture from 09/22/12.

 As of 8/24/12, from this post, here are some numbers:

Weight - Right now it is 222. A month ago it was 229. At the beginning of this year it was 236.4; the most I've ever weighed.
 Height - 5'6"
Waist Size - Right now it's 47.5". At the beginning of the year it was 50.5".
Blood Pressure - I used a machine to test it while we were on vacation. It was 105/70 and my pulse rate was 78. In June it was 126/7- with a pulse rate of 80. In May it was 122/80.
BMI - my BMI is 35.8. I'm obese!
Waist To Height Ratio - .70 (This website says "Take Action!") Dr. Hyman says "this number is a better predictor of diabesity, heart disease, and risk of death than almost any other number."

• my last Hemoglobin A1C ( a few months ago now) was over TEN. Abnormal is greater than 5.5. Ten is REALLY out of control.
• My total cholesterol, last time we tested (a few months ago), was 257 (ideal is less than 180). My HDL cholesterol was 44 (ideal is higher than 60). My triglycerides were 460 (ideal is less than 100).
• I've got fatty liver disease.
• We tested my thyroid last spring and it came back normal.

Also I'm not currently taking ANY of my insulin (I also stopped my Victoza) and my blood sugar has been good. I'm testing multiple times throughout the day and the numbers are always between 100 - 120. My fasting blood sugar is too high; it was 154 today, and 160 yesterday.

08/25/12; my friend Leslie on the left (she's lost 102 pounds this year!), me on the right.

As of 07/19/12 I'm 7 pounds down and my blood sugar is under control. I still have a long way to go, and it's slow going so far, but I'm seeing bits of progress and that's encouraging.

At my friend Tina's wedding, June 2012.

I Found My Book!

There was great rejoicing in the land! It appeared mysteriously on my family room floor this morning. I went down to clean / search for it for another half hour and... there it was. So let's play some catch-up here:

I left for vacation while still in the midst of prep week one. I continued to follow the food rules but didn't finish any of the other prep week tasks or tackle anything new. Here's what I didn't finish:

Prepare Your Community

He wants you to join his online site, prepare a support group for yourself with friends, family, and co workers (and try to get them to do the program with you), set boundaries if you have food pushers in your life, and get involved socially and politically at www.takebackourhealth.org .

I am not joining his website. Not because it's bad or anything, just because... it's another step I don't have time for. I've done sparkpeople.com (an excellent site) and teambeachbody.com and others in the past too and have learned that, while I love blogging and I HAVE made lasting online friendships with people this way... I just don't have the time to devote to building lasting relationships with online weight loss friends. I'm more of an introvert so unless an online friendship grows organically over several avenues and time, I'm just not that motivated by strangers and to me it's just another obligation. Support is VITAL, so if this works for you don't skip it, but for me I'll get my support in other areas.

Friends and family... no one is doing the program with me but I have lots of friends and family who are working their own ways to get / stay healthy, and even those that aren't are very supportive. Blogging is great... it seems quite a few of my folks are following along too because I get lots of comments and support in real life as I run into people. Talking about it with everyone is a HUGE source of support and it keeps me on track too!
I also use some tools on my iPhone that have a social structure as well. My two favorite health apps right now are My Fitness Pal and Nexercise.

My Fitness Pal is a food and exercise tracker with a social vibe. I've tried others in the past but keep coming back to this one for two main reasons:

1) Their database of foods (caloric and nutritional values) is HUGE. I've only had to add recipes I make from scratch (I use sparkrecipes.com to calculate the nutritional value of the recipe).

that's the 'cereal' I made up for breakfast. It's actually pretty good.

2) I love the social side. I have a few friends who use it and every time I log in I am treated to their recent accomplishments. You can comment and encourage each other, too!

Leslie is SMOKIN' it!!

 If you use My Fitness Pal and would like to be friends, I'm MillionDreamMom there.

Nexercise is an app that lets you turn exercise into a fun game, and possibly even a competition with your friends. Every time you exercise you start the app, select the workout you are about to do, and hit 'start'.

They have loooootttts of exercises to choose from in their database.

 You earn points for exercising, with bonus points and titles for things like consistency, motion (the app will track motion if you tell it to), time, etc. If you add your friends then you can check the leaderboards to see who is accruing the most points, or give them a nudge if they haven't nexercised in a while! It's a fun and easy way to track my exercise time and I like competing with people so I enjoy that part.

Virtual medals don't really DO anything and yet they make me feel so accomplished!

It also looks like, in the most recent update, they're adding a new point system that might actually get you rewards in the real world, like amazon gift cards and such. I just saw this for the first time yesterday so it's new to me but I am intrigued! That's even MORE motivating!

I'm connected to Nexercise via Facebook so you'll either have to be my friend there or send me an email to connect with Nexercise if you use it. I'd love to have more people to compete with so please do!

As far as becoming socially and politically active... it's on my dream list. I do what I can but right now taking charge of my health and taking care of my family is pretty much a full time job. I dream of being a social and political crusader sometimes but I don't beat myself up for the things I don't do right now. Time is finite; we all do what we can.

Take Measure of Yourself - Track Your Numbers

You're supposed to start out by taking a bunch of measurements. I just ran out of time before vacation so I don't have all of them from the start, but I've taken a lot of these over the past year so I know most of them. Weight, Height, Waist Size, Blood Pressure, BMI, Waist To Height Ratio.
You're also supposed to complete the diabesity quiz(zes) to see if you are on the Basic or Advanced plan.
There's a set of diabesity tests he recommends as well, plus additional tests if you are Advanced.

In the spirit of full disclosure, and probably some oversharing, I'll share my starting numbers with the world. Why not, we're all human, right? It's not where I want to be but it's nothing to be ashamed of either.

Weight - Right now it is 222. A month ago it was 229. At the beginning of this year it was 236.4; the most I've ever weighed.
 Height - 5'6"
Waist Size - Right now it's 47.5". At the beginning of the year it was 50.5".
Blood Pressure - I used a machine to test it while we were on vacation. It was 105/70 and my pulse rate was 78. In June it was 126/7- with a pulse rate of 80. In May it was 122/80.
BMI - my BMI is 35.8. I'm obese!
Waist To Height Ratio - .70 (This website says "Take Action!") Dr. Hyman says "this number is a better predictor of diabesity, heart disease, and risk of death than almost any other number."

In case I didn't mention it, I'm on the Advanced plan. Advanced in this case is NOT a good thing. It means I'm extra sickly. It also means I'm more severely restricted on the foods I am allowed to eat for at least six weeks.

The blood and urine tests he recommends are:
Insulin response test, Hemoglobin A1C, NMR lipid profile, Lipid panel, Triglycerides / HDL ratio, Total cholesterol / HDL ratio, High sensitivity C-reactive protein, Fibrinogen, Lipoprotein, Uric acid, Liver function test, Kidney function test, microalbumin, 25 OH vitamin D, Homocysteine, Ferritin, Thyroid Hormones, and sex hormones. He has a free online guide - How To Work With Your Doctor To Get What You Need - with additional tips and info.
I'm already sort of in the middle of the plan and I already KNOW some of those things are WAY abnormal for me... I'm going to put it on my to-do list to get a physical and talk to my doctor about these tests in the near future.
I can tell you:

• my last Hemoglobin A1C ( a few months ago now) was over TEN. Abnormal is greater than 5.5. Ten is REALLY out of control.
• My total cholesterol, last time we tested (a few months ago), was 257 (ideal is less than 180). My HDL cholesterol was 44 (ideal is higher than 60). My triglycerides were 460 (ideal is less than 100).
• I've got fatty liver disease.
• We tested my thyroid last spring and it came back normal.

So. Now I've caught up with the last of the 'prep' stuff I was supposed to do before officially starting the six weeks. Which I kind of haven't really started counting anyway since I couldn't find the book! I'll write about week one... probably Sunday, because tomorrow I'm going to a Scrapbook Expo with my mom and some friends!

Life Just Keeps Getting In The Way

This morning, the kids started school (two hours, but hey, it's a start! First FULL day tomorrow!) and Zach flew home to Texas. I used that little bit of peace and quiet to sort of write out my personal goal list for the rest of this year and come up with a rough daily outline that will help me achieve it. It's chock full of stuff like get healthy, finish organizing the house and keep it clean, spend more time with the kids after school, have a better routine in place for the kids, get back on track with finances... fun things like that. I also decided that tomorrow, to coincide with my first full day of 'mom work' all by myself, I would begin counting the official six weeks of The Blood Sugar Solution advanced plan!

So naturally, I can't find my book ANYWHERE.

Last place I saw it was downstairs after vacation. I had it with me ON vacation and I know I took it down to look over before bed after we got back. I looked it over, decided it was going to be too chaotic to try to have anything resembling a schedule in place, and put it aside.

Then I had three kids running pell mell through the house for the next ten days. Also, my husband rearranged the furniture downstairs during that time. It's no wonder the book has disappeared!

I just spent half an hour cleaning down here while simultaneously looking for the book. No go. I'll keep looking for it because there are some general guidelines I know I need to follow during the official six weeks... and there were some other questions and things I wanted to blog about as well.

In the meantime, I'll just keep following the food plan. No flour, no sugar, no caffeine, no alcohol, no grains of ANY kind, no starchy vegetables, no fruit (except half a cup of berries a day). Hopefully I'll find the book tonight so I can work on AND blog in more detail about the rest of the process.

In total I've lost 14.4 pounds this year. Half of that is since I started this plan. I also feel a ton better. It's a bit rough overall but those things keep me going.

A Holding Pattern

Diet update, for those playing along at home:

We got home from vacation late Sunday night / Monday morning (a bit after midnight). The entire time I was on vacation, I stuck to the preliminary week instructions of "no sugar, no flour, no caffeine, no alcohol". I was going to start the official six weeks while on vacation, but the rest was so difficult to stick to while out of my element (and while in the South where everything is battered and deep fried and delicious OMG) that I decided to just stick to those rules until after I got home, was back in my own kitchen, and had a chance to grocery shop and stock up for the 'official' plan. I didn't count calories or anything, just stuck to the rules, and it turns out I lost four pounds in the ten days we were on vacation. I ate whenever I was hungry and stopped when I wasn't. Four pounds in ten days... VS seven pounds in FOUR MONTHS when I was counting calories and exercising. I felt a lot better too (with the exception of some cravings at first and some occasional bitterness over not being able to eat delicious vacation foods... but not TOO much bitterness because I know how those foods make me feel!).

I didn't really drink that bottle of SoCo, I just *wanted* to.

So I grocery shopped yesterday and came up with a rough outline of things I can eat for each meal and snacks. Now, in addition to no sugar, no flour, no caffeine and no alcohol, I'm also on no dairy, no fruits (except 1/2 cup of berries a day), no grains of ANY kind, and no starchy vegetables. It's not a perfect system... there are some questions the book leaves kind of ambigious (for example, no sugars of ANY KIND, but then raw honey is in quite a bit of the recipes? So I guess it is OK?) and I'm just trying to use common sense and pay attention to my body. Started today, and already had low blood sugar this afternoon. I'm hardly taking any daytime insulin. Likely going to have to adjust down soon. This is a good thing, but it's a scary process overall.

Another complication: our nephew is staying with us for ten days. He was on vacation with us in North Carolina, drove back home with us, and will be flying to his home in Texas next week. So it's kind of like having another ten days of vacation on my hands. I have some advantages - I'm home, we're not eating out as much, I can cook more and control many of my food choices. Some of the vacation 'disadvantages' are still present though - I'm entertaining another person most of the day, we're going out a lot and trying to make it a fun visit for HIM, my entire schedule is completely thrown off.

Finally, I feel guilty making all these 'weird' dietary changes and dragging the kids along. Especially my ten year old nephew who doesn't know us terribly well (he lives in Texas; we live in Illinois; we don't get to see him very often) and who just wants, say, a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I'm trying to strike a balance between having healthy but still kid-friendly things in the house (cereal and milk for breakfast, bread for lunch sandwiches, etc) and steering them towards the new diet I'm on. Aside from feeling a bit guilty for just springing it on them, I'm also left wondering how healthy it is to restrict foods so much from young kids. I will have to read up on that some more. The severe restrictions won't be for terribly long so it's probably OK in the short term, and as I just noted I AM keeping some things in the house for them that I am not eating, but it's definitely a challenge to be the main food and meal provider for an entire family when we're not all quite on the same plan.

I haven't even had time to revisit the book itself and see what other things I'm supposed to be doing. I've got the food rules down pretty well because I planned that out before leaving for vacation. I know there are things like exercising, meditation / relaxation, and supplements I'm supposed to be integrating at certain points... that's all going to be difficult with my schedule being so extremely thrown off the next week. Hell, we haven't even finished unpacking from vacation! My husband went back to work right away, and he hurt his back really badly a few days ago (not sure how; he thinks it might be a pinched nerve), so the poor man just wants to Ben Gay and lay down when he gets home. I've been trying to entertain the kids AND make new meal plans AND grocery shop for a whole new food lifestyle (I spent a lot more time grocery shopping yesterday than usual!) AND get the kids registered for school AND get all the school shopping done today AND cook a bunch of new, healthy meals with ingredients I'm not familiar with. I trashed my kitchen, it's still recovering, and while I got caught up on all the vacation laundry, I have at least half the bags left to unpack. We'll be out and about the next few days exploring the city with my nephew; I just don't feel like I'm going to catch up anytime soon!

Next Wednesday he flies home AND my kids start school. So while I'm going to continue following the food rules, as far as the rest of it goes, I think next week is really going to be when I am back on a mostly-sane schedule and will start 'officially' counting the six weeks and doing all the other things he says to do.

Right now it's all I can do to stick to the food rules!