Update for everyone!

I made spaghetti last night and didn't burn it.  I made popcorn and didn't drop it.  I have tested my blood sugar lately and not a single bug has flown into my face.  And I bought some shampoo at the store and double-checked it 3 times.  I was even complimented on my hair by a lady at Disney that we know, so maybe the Suave Keratin products are going to do their magic on my frizz, but summer is not here yet.  So we will see.

I will be embarking on a new kind of cooking now.  I am going to be cooking low cholesterol meals to help my husband get his numbers in the normal range.  So any suggestions or recipes will be greatly appreciated.

My granddaughter got her big girl bed last night.  Hope she did really well in it.  Can't believe she is growing so fast.  Can't wait to visit her and my children, but first, I have to take care of my husband.  All prayers will be appreciate for his heart problems to clear up and for him to be healthy!  

Hope everyone has a great weekend.  It is beautiful weather here.

Like Shrimp? Love Pasta? Join The Party! Create A Prize-Winning Shrimp & Pasta Recipe Online

Like Shrimp? Love Pasta? Join The Party! Create A Prize-Winning Shrimp & Pasta Recipe Online

Spring Superfoods

Here is a list of superfoods for Spring from Diabetic Living Online.

American Diabetes Association Alert Day® - American Diabetes Association

American Diabetes Association Alert Day® - American Diabetes Association

Has this ever happened to you?

It's been a weird day.  It's like my mind took a vacation from my body.  I slept well last night, so who knows what is going on - old age?   I was making my home-made spaghetti sauce today and have had no problems cooking it until today.  I always get it all together and cook it on med-high for about 5 minutes to get it boiling, and then I will turn the heat to low to let it simmer.  Today, I let it cook for that 5 minutes, but forgot to turn it down to low.  I am pretty sure I have ruined the bottom of my pot (the spaghetti is burned on pretty thick).  It only took about 10 minutes and I realized it and ran over and poured most of it into another pot (I had only one left because I had used all the others cooking other foods).  I dropped the lid and splattered most of it everywhere on me and my stove, wall, floor, etc.  I managed to have enough for our supper and for my husband to take to work.  The pot is still soaking.

On to my next adventure.  I have really thick thick hair (used to be very curly but over the years, it is now wavy) and I had bought the new Suave Keratin products and couldn't wait to try them.  Got in the shower, wet my hair and poured the shampoo in my hair (I knew it was the shampoo because it was a different color bottle than the conditioner).  Put it on my head and rubbed it in and thought, wow, it's true what they say, it doesn't lather a lot.  Then I realized I had the conditioner.  So I rinsed it out and started over with the other bottle.   Put it in my hair and then realized it, too, was another bottle of conditioner (different kind).  So there I was, no shampoo but plenty of conditioner.  Scrambled out of the shower and found some Pantene shampoo and went from there.  Now I'm not a stylist nor do I know a lot about how to use all these hair products out there, including how to straighten my hair with a straightening iron.  I have this old heated curler-like iron that I use after my hair is dry.  So here I had a leave-in conditioner and a shine-serum and they both say to put them on when hair is damp.  And to apply mid-shaft.  How do you apply something mid-shaft????  So I put the leave-in conditioner in first after my hair had towel-dried about 15 minutes. Don't know if that was the right time or not. Then I left the towel off and 20 minutes later, I put in the shine serum.  My hair was already frizzing.  So I let my hair air dry (because I don't know any other way to do it) and then rolled it and it looks healthy and shiny but is still frizzy.  Probably because I didn't have the right shampoo.  So I can't give you my opinion yet.  So I came out and made sure I ate something with sugar and protein (a couple of pieces of Dove chocolate and some mixed nuts) after my shower because I am prone to sugar drops after I take a shower (that's another reason I like baths).  I keep the water cooler, but tonight there wasn't a lot of hot water, so I was hurrying and then freaking out because I didn't have the right shampoo and running around the house naked like a crazy woman.  So maybe that made my blood sugar drop.

Next, I was cutting a few coupons and started feeling a little dizzy, so I got up to pop some popcorn and felt as if I was going to pass out.  So I ran for the fridge and grabbed the oj (the one my husband had left in there with one sip that was old and didn't taste good) and spit it everywhere.  I grabbed the other oj and drank it.  After about 5 minutes, I started feeling better.   By then, my dog and cat were asking to be fed, so I grabbed their food and fed them and started to feel faint again.  I grabbed the orange juice (the right one) and drank more.  After I sat down, I took my blood sugar and it was down in the 80's.  So I made sure I drank enough juice, ate an egg and took it about 30 minutes later and it had climbed to 134.  I finally fixed my popcorn and dropped the whole bowl.  I had the fan on because it has been hot in our house down here in the Sunshine State and all my coupons blew in the floor.  I cleaned up the popcorn and the coupons, decided to post all of this on Facebook and text my husband and daughter to tell them.   My daughter told me to go to bed.  Sleep makes everything better.  You think she was trying to get rid of me?  Never heard from my husband.

Now I'm sitting in my recliner typing this and was trying to retest my blood sugar to make sure it is doing ok and a bug flew in from the back porch (I have our sliding door open) and into my face and I stuck myself at the exact same spot I stuck myself earlier and screamed at the same time.  The cat and dog went running to hide.  My blood sugar is doing good but my finger hurts really bad.

So here's a little funny story that has nothing to do with anything but my hair.  My dad raised me (long story, my mom left) and always sent me to the neighborhood salon (we lived out in the middle of nowhere).  It was called Miss May's Salon.  I had to get off the school bus once a week and walk down the long dirt road to her house (we were safe to walk anywhere by ourselves back then) and around to her basement, where her 2 chair salon was located.  She had a son a year older than me that always had to come down there when I was there to stare at me (he was a nice boy but you know how it is back then - I didn't like to be stared at by a boy that I really didn't want staring at me while I was getting my hair fixed).  After Miss May fixed my hair, I looked like I was in my 60's (I was around 9 or 10) and always had to put on a scarf and walk home.  I cried all the way home and for at least 2 hours after I got home.  My dad always wanted to see my hair and told me how pretty it was. See, back then, straight hair was in and my hair was curly.  And she always always rolled my hair.  So I told my daughter when I'm really old and not sure who I am or where I'm at (which probably isn't too far away) to just drop me off at Miss May's Salon to get my hair fixed.  It should look pretty good now that I'm almost 60.

Hope you all had a great weekend and that your week goes well.  Tomorrow has to be better!

7 Foods that should never cross our lips

This article upsets me.  I eat these foods most everyday.  I was raised on these foods.  The salmon I buy at the grocery store says "farm-raised".  There isn't a store near me that has the other kinds of foods that I'm supposed to eat.  And they are so expensive.  If these foods are so bad for us, why are they out there and why are they being sold to us?????

Bad Habits

Does anyone else not exercise regularly with your diabetes while self-managing?  I was a dedicated exerciser for my diabetes and then I lost about 30 pounds.  Then Thanksgiving and Christmas came along... and that did it.  I was "too" busy to exercise.  I was sick about 3 times along the way (probably because I didn't exercise).  And have experienced some personal problems.  Now here it is "Spring" and I'm still not back in the habit.  I do exercise at least 3 times a week, but to lose the rest of my weight, I have to do it every single day. 

I guess it's true what they say about losing 10% of your weight.  It does help to control your blood sugar.  And that's where I'm at.  I lost enough to control my blood sugar and now I'm stuck.  And I found out I can cheat on my diet and eat "sweets" once in a while.  And now I cheat all the time, which doesn't help me lose weight either.

Guess I need to start back.  I will be going to visit my children and granddaughter in about a week and I'm mad at myself because I was supposed to be in better shape when I went back to visit them so I would not be so tired and have enough energy to keep up with them.  But I have to forgive myself for this.  Some things weren't preventable.  Tell me if anyone else has this problem?  And here's a good article that made me start thinking about all of this. 

30 Ways

This article is pretty good for everyone in general - some of it diabetics can't do because of the sugar/carbs, but it is a good read.  I was just having a piece of Dove Promises Dark Chocolate when I read it!  They are delicious.

Ree Drummond

I love Ree Drummond, aka Pioneer Woman.  Not only is she a great cook, but she is a normal person just like the rest of us.  For a good laugh, please read her post here.  It will make you realize that she has bad days just like us!

Ways to not kill your husband on St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!    When my daughter was in kindergarten, her teacher told the class that if they did not wear something green on St. Patrick's Day, they would get pinched.  My poor daughter came home crying hysterically because she was so afraid of getting pinched.  She didn't have anything green to wear except some undies, so I think we went to Woolworth's to get her a green t-shirt so she wouldn't get pinched.  Back then, it was traumatic, but now she and I can look back at it and laugh.  Ahhh, memories.

Now to explain the title of this post.  Does your husband/boyfriend/significant other, etc. ever drive you completely crazy?  Sometimes mine does and today was one of those days.  I, on the other hand, could not possibly get on his nerves since I'm perfect!  Hahahaha.  Anyway, he would not listen to any advice I have been trying to give him over the past few weeks and today about his health, so I had to restrain myself from not punching his lights out (just kidding).  I love him to death, but he needs to quit trying to take his health into his own hands. 

Don't get me wrong.  We have a great marriage, but husbands and wives do get on each other's nerves.  He is at work now where there are no women or wives to nag at him and I'm sure he is much happier.

So ways to not kill your husband on St. Patrick's Day consist of cooking him his favorite pork chops, only make them healthy so he will never know, which is what I did.  Here is the recipe (with the less fattening, low carb ingrediets).

Smothered pork chops

6 to 8 pork chops
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flour
Olive Oil
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 can fat free condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
1/3 cup skim milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Season pork chops with garlic powder and seasoned salt (mixed together).

Put beaten eggs in a small bowl.  Lightly dip the pork chops in the flour, then the eggs and then coat with the Italian breadcrumbs. 

Pour some olive oil into a skillet or frying pan and heat it up.  Add the pork chops just to brown on each side - about 2 or 3 minutes each side.  Then place the pork chops in a 9x13 pan, cover with foil and bake for an hour.

After the pork chops have baked an hour, mix the soup and milk together and pour over pork chops, cover with the foil and bake 30 additional minutes.  Pork chops will come out so tender and tasty.

And here is what they looked like (I say looked because they are all gone).  I did not put the breading on mine and they came out tasty and seasoned just right with just a little bit of gravy.  This really is a low-fat, low carb recipe if you don't add the breaded coating to the pork chops.

Then you boil some eggs so they won't go bad to make deviled eggs for snacks, which are good for low carb diets, as shown here.

I just add some mayo, a little regular mustard and a little Colman's dry mustard, which I love.  Yum!

Last but not least, you load up the dishwasher if you still have any tension left over in you so that you can sit down and eat a nice calm dinner with your husband that you really do love very much and want him to live a long time and take care of himself.  And he finally understands.  This post is all in fun.

And you top the meal off with some steamed carrots, broccoli and asparagus (and rice and some green beans for your husband), and things are once again ok. 

My blood sugars have been running in the upper 80's to low 90's lately when I get up, which I am happy with.  So keep up the low-carb and exercise and eat lots of veggies and your body will thank you for it.  Oh and drink lots of water.

Organic foods

So as I grew up, I ate the foods my family fed me, which was grown on their own land and harvested and cooked by them.  As I grew older and married, I moved to the big city and bought my food in a grocery store, just as most others did.  And now I see that all those foods in the grocery stores have been chemically altered, sprayed with pesticides and herbicides and the animals given growth hormones. 

I have never been so confused about food as I am now.  After getting diabetes last year, I have researched food non-stop and now I want to buy as much organic as I can (or home-grown as I call it), but it is so expensive.  I don't live near a farmer's market and don't have a back yard, so I'm looking into maybe ordering organic online or traveling 30 miles a week to pick up homegrown foods.  But then I look at the cost and I go, is it worth it?  My health is worth it, definitely.

Here is an article from the Mayo Clinic about organic foods.  Let me know your opinions and where you shop.

Paula Deen's Lighter Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

I signed up to receive Paula Deen's lighter versions of her recipes since discovering she had diabetes and here is the lighter version of her Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake. Not too bad on carbs. Will have to try it.

Sitting around

So this article from the ADA shows a study where sitting around in women is a direct link to diabetes, but not for men. Now why is that?

Sweet Snacks for Diabetics

This is a great list of snacks for diabetics from DiabeticLivingOnline.com. I might have to try those Oreo bars! Yum!

And here's another great article with snack suggestions from Diabeteslivingonline.com.

Type 2 Diabetes Risk Test from the ADA

Here is a risk test for Diabetes Type 2 from the American Diabetes Association. It's a pretty good one.

Dr. Mark Hyman

I follow Dr. Mark Hyman.  He helped Bill Clinton back on the road to good health and has a good view on "Diabesity". Here is a clip of him on CBS This Morning talking about how to control obesity and diabetes.

Endocrinologist Appointment (from February 28, 2012)

Today was my 3 month checkup with my endocrinologist and it went very well. My A1C was down from 6.4 to 6.1. I was glad to hear that! After being sick for 3 months our of 4, I was afraid it may have creeped back up since I've not been exercising as much. My doctor told me that if I was just coming in to see her for the first time today, she would tell me I don't have diabetes. She says many of her other patients ask her if they have to be on medication for the rest of the lives and she tells them that they don't have to be on medication at all. She also said she uses me as an example. That made me happy.  That's why I'm trying to tell others about how I am handling all of this.

She said my cholesterol was great, my weight was down a few pounds and my blood pressure was also great. She said keep up the good work. She asked if I had been tired lately and I said yes. In fact, my husband butted in and said, yes yes yes! He said that I have complained of being tired but can't sleep. She said my thyroid was a bit out of what, so she adjusted my medication up a little, but it takes over 6 weeks for it to show any effects. At least I know why I've been so tired.

So once again, my suggestion is if anyone is diagnosed with diabetes, start exercising slowly and build up, eat a low-carb, low-sugar diet with lots of fresh veggies and you should see some results. It has worked for me. It takes work to make sure you eat the right foods and not get too many lows, but you can do it. Have a support system. My family helps with my eating and exercising. They encourage me all the time, as you can read by my daughter's posts. They also make sure when I visit that I have the right foods in their houses for me. My husband has even stopped eating bad foods and is used to my new way of life now. I love them all and thank them everyday!

Hope you all have a good Wednesday. Disney is open 24 hours tomorrow night, so we are going over late in the night to make some history and have some fun. Everyone come on down and go with us!

Stonyfield Organic Yogurt

I don't know if any of you ever eat Stonyfield yogurt, milk, eggs, etc., but I love their products. And they have farm cams on their website. If any of you know me, I was raised out in the country and used to have chickens. I love the video from one Stonyfield's farm cam where he is collecting eggs. I also used to milk cows with my Great Aunt Lizzie, and they have lots of those videos, too. They show what it's like to live on an organic farm. They have several videos on organic food, which has taught me a lot. I know if I had eaten better early in my life, I would not have this blog on managing your diabetes. Enjoy and visit their site at www.stonyfield.com (the farm cam is on the bottom right)! And their yogurt is yummy!

12 Ways to Never Get Diabetes

This article from Prevention Magazine shows 12 ways not to set yourself up for Diabetes. I think they are all pretty much true.

Since I'm on immunosuppressant medicines, my cold has lasted longer than my husband's. I was supposed to go to see my children and granddaughter in North Carolina this past weekend and I was going to stay a few weeks, but here I am, still hacking and blowing my nose. I am convinced if I would have taken good care of my health, mind and body long ago, I would not have needed a kidney from my daughter and I certainly wouldn't have diabetes. But I'm lucky that I'm taking care of myself now and that I have family and friends that love me. Hope everyone has a nice Wednesday.

New Potato for Diabetics????

Apparently, they are trying to come up with a special kind of potato just for diabetics. It should be interesting to see how it tastes. Read the article here.

Stress

I would like to know how others handle extreme stress? I am not good at it and it affects my blood sugar. I am going through an extremely stressful time at this exact moment and I am sick and do not know how to handle my anger and blood sugar. So any advice from others would be greatly appreciated. Stress, as many of you know, can make your blood sugar drop, especially after you calm down. So right now, I'm measuring my blood sugar as I try to breathe deeply and type this blog.

Dark Chocolate for Valentine's Day and Every Day

This article from diabeticlivingonline.com shows that you can have chocolate in moderation when you have diabetes and which kind is best. I eat a couple of Dove Dark Chocolate Promises everyday. They actually are very good for you. Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Great Article on Managing Your Diabetes

This article posted at "The Atlantic" is what I'm trying to do with this site and my life, and this article finally discusses it. I did not know that if you control your blood sugars for a year, your diabetes is considered "in remission", as state in this article.  How interesting.

Super Bowl Time (from this past January)

So what's everyone cooking for the big day tomorrow? My husband has to work, so I'm cooking a big pot of chili for him to take for all the guys. They are also having hot dogs and all the trimmings.
I'm just going to have some pinto beans, a salad, veggies and dip, chips and salsa and maybe a low-fat Fudgsicle (not all at once). That will be my supper and some snacks.

My blood sugar was 92 this morning. I'm pretty happy with that.

Tonight I Skyped with my granddaughter. We usually have a dance party and talk a lot, but she was a little shy tonight. She is 2 years old and my first grandchild. I love her very much. I had no idea what it would be like to be a nana, but I love it. I visit her about every 6 weeks in NC. We have a lot of fun. I usually don't have too much trouble with my blood sugars when I'm with her because we are always active.

Christmas 2011

I'm also cooking my first ever batch of homemade beef broth, but I don't know how it will turn out. I roasted the veggies in with my meat bones, but they burned. Is that normal?

Well I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow. Don't eat too much, but eat something good and sweet for me!

Here is the recipe for the Super Bowl Chili. I got the recipe from Onceamonthmom.com. She has the greatest and healthiest recipes, and she teaches you all about cooking ahead and how to freeze your foods. I love her site.

Finding out you have diabetes

It was in the Spring of last year 2011, when I found a new internal medicine doctor in Celebration. I haven't had great luck with finding really good doctors down here, so here I was going to another new doctor. And I was so nervous. I was 100 pounds overweight, had let myself go, told myself it was because I was taking immunosuppressive medications that I gained weight. And convinced myself that I ate pretty good. I had no idea how bad my health was at that time. But I was going to find out.

I had tried to find a good endocrinologist to see if my thyroid was the problem with all my weight gain, tiredness, dry skin and no energy, but even though I had an insurance plan that didn't need a referral, all the ones I tried to see wanted a referral. At that time, I was seeing a nephrologist in another city that was one of the worst doctors I have ever met. I tried to discuss with him that I needed counseling for the depression I seemed to be in. He said, oh, just up your medication and you'll be ok. I can take care of you. So I then asked him if he could refer me to a dietician to help me with my eating problems. He said, just cut back on your eating and you will be fine. I will take care of you. So the last request was to be referred to an endocrinologist to check my thyroid which had just quit working a few years back and a doctor had prescribed medication that I had been on and wanted to get it checked. And he said, I'll check your thyroid, you don't need to see a specialist. I'll take care of you. He never took care of me.

So finally, my husband found an endocrinologist close to our house that did not need a referral and I immediately made an appointment. I'm still not sure I like him, but there are not many around here. So he took some blood work to check my thyroid, did a sonogram on it and found nothing and said if he found anything wrong with my blood work, he would give me a call to come back in. Either way, he said his office would let me know the results of my blood work.

Weeks and a couple of months went by. I heard nothing. I called his office several times, but was told they didn't have the blood work back yet. Now his office is in a hospital and I knew he had that blood work back by then. So now, I'm finally seeing my new internal medicine doctor and his office is located in the same hospital as the endocrinologist's. And amazingly, he found my blood work in the computer and told me everything I needed to know and some things that I didn't want to know. He told me my cholesterol was high, my lipids were too high and that I had diabetes. That last part went right by me. And then I said, what!!!!!!

My A1C was 7.3. No one took my blood glucose that day, so I didn't know how high it was or how long I had been diabetic, but I know that I had felt bad for over a few months. And I had a couple of low blood sugars during those months that I didn't feel well. I had taken a long hot shower one night (something you are not supposed to do with diabetes) and did all the usual things after a shower - brush teeth, style hair, put on lotion, etc. - and all of a sudden, I started shaking and was dizzy and felt as if I were going to faint. My husband gave me some Coke (Coca-Cola) and I started feeling better. I had had to go to the bathroom a lot and my husband heard me say I was so thirsty everyday. Little did I know what I had.

So I finally got to see my endocrinologist and he immediately wanted to put me on medication, but told me that with my transplanted kidney, there was a good chance that the medicine would damage it. So I asked if I could try to manage my diabetes by diet and exercise and he agreed. So here I am, learning as I go. I did have an appointment with a dietician, but that appointment was 3 months away. I could have been dead by then. So I used the internet as my resource. As we go along, I will share with you some tricks and tips I've learned. But I am sure there is much more to know and hope all of you can share your health tips and experiences with diabetes or just with healthy eating and living.

Dreamfield's Pasta tastes just like regular pasta, but will not spike your glucose levels. It has a low glycemic index of 13! I use it and love it!

Dreamfields Pasta Tastes Great, Low Carb Pasta, Diabetic Pasta, Healthy Pasta Recipes.

I love this recipe. So easy to make and healthier than regular chicken pot pie. And so good on a cold night. 

Healthified Chicken Pot Pie Recipe - Special Occasions - Eat Better America.

Well, this is kinda scary, starting to write things that other people will read. Hope you will follow along with me and help me through this. It will be fun and exciting. It's middle of the night, so I'm not going to say a lot now. Just building my blog as I go. Have a great day!