Surviving

I survived the weekend.  It was very difficult though!  At TOPS I was down 3 pounds this week, which is encouraging.  When I see progress on the scale, I have more motivation to keep it up.  I've been trying to push myself to get more motivated and exercise more too.  

And now that I have the motivation to go to the gym, I can't.  They are closed for remodeling until Wednesday :(  And I've also found out that a friend of mine goes to the same gym, and we've been missing each other just by an hour out there.  We're going to try coordinating to go together for accountability and motivational purposes.

I have a confession to make.  I had been down a total of 27 pounds not too long after we had lost Baden.  But because of the stress and depression I've been fighting with, I have gained almost all of it back.  As of last weigh in, I am a total of 5 pounds below my starting weight at TOPS, which is my highest weight ever.  And I'm not happy about it.  I do know that being on the 'diabetic diet' does have significant weight loss effects just from when I was on it when I was pregnant.  However, unlike when I was pregnant, I have been able to incorporate exercise into the mix.

Hitting the gym has also helped to deal with more of my stress too.  All the pent-up energy from being angry or frustrated I redirect to my workout.  Since the weather is a bit cooler now, I'm going to try to get out walking in the neighborhood.  Unfortunately I won't be able to multitask and do my reading while I'm walking, so I'll have to make up for that somehow.

I've been trying to plan out my meals to help with keeping my carbs in check.  Saturday I had class and packed a lunch of stir-fried veggies and a little rice to take with me.  For supper we were invited to the campground to eat with my parents and family.  Unfortunately most of what was being served was not on my menu.  I brought my own pork chops and a summer squash since, in addition to the low carbs, the dietitian said "low salt and low fat."   They were serving ribs, corn, potatoes, and cornbread.  I can have potatoes, but I didn't realize they were being served in a creamy gravy.  I took some anyway and scraped most of the sauce off and also had a half ear of corn.  I did take a little bite off of my husband's cornbread, just so I could have a taste.

I'm very proud of myself for not giving in and breaking down.  I did it again on Sunday for lunch when we went to the family reunion too.  I'm still amazed I was able to peel off and give up my crispy chicken skin (my FAVE!!) to my husband.  A few tablespoons of tater tot hotdish, some applesauce, some musk melon.  Like I said, I'm surviving.  It's amazing how easily I've been saying no to some of the things I really love.

The hard thing to give up is my Coke.  If I don't have any, I end up with a horrid migraine.  So I've allowed a compromise:  I use one meal's carbs toward one can of Coke, usually in the morning because I have that and some eggs for breakfast.  My doc has suggested that giving up caffeine will help with my fluid retention problem.  But fall is coming and I love my coffee. I just can't bring myself to drinking decaf.  I think I should be OK as long as I don't add a bunch of carbs in sweeteners/creamers to it.  I'll have to check my Coffeemate, since I have 2 bottles of it.

I suppose - I need to try to get motivated for the day.  Scrappy has preschool orientation tonight and starts preschool on Thursday.  I need to get some laundry done, maybe throw him in the tub, and I really should get my house cleaned up and catch up on dishes.  I can't wait until we start (and finish!) construction so I have a place to actually PUT things!  And I can't wait to get my new office since our contractor has decided to put another room on the 2nd floor!!  This just isn't moving fast enough for me :(  Oh well, good things come to those who wait, right?  Right?

A whole new life...

is going to be starting tomorrow.  I went to meet with the dietitian today.  Exactly what I thought would happen was confirmed. 

I got a phone call from the doctor's office last night.  When he ordered the blood draw, they measured my A1C, which has to do with blood glucose.  My results came back at 6.1, which they told me is at the top of the normal range. 

Today the dietitian told me that it puts me into the classification of 'pre-diabetic.'  I already knew that my chance of Type 2 is higher because of having gestational diabetes with my last pregnancy.  Now, being pre-diabetic, I'm back on the diabetic diet.

Except it's not a diet.

It's a permanent change.

Goodbye pasta, mac and cheese, and instant mashed potatoes :(  Only a total of 45 g of carbs allowed per meal.  But the carbs add up quick, considering there are carbs in milk.  I need to start looking up recipes that are low carb/no carb.  This is going to be HARD!!!  And giving up most of my soda too!  Just one can a day.... better start stocking up on the Mio and generic brands of it too!!  (Can't have Crystal Light cuz it has aspartame, which gives me migraines.)

Well, gotta get some homework done now.  Did some canning today - 21 quarts of spaghetti sauce!  Lots more tomatoes to do tomorrow after TOPS too!!  Gonna be a BUSY day :)

The End of Summer

Today marks the first day of school here.  I don't know where the summer went, but it seems it went by too fast.  It's also canning season.  We seem to have more tomatoes this year than we did last year, and unfortunately I am low on jars and on freezer space, so freezing isn't an option.  I've put off doing any more applesauce for a while because we have been doing salsa and one batch of spaghetti sauce (so far).  Use up what we raise before we do what we buy, right?

I finally went to the doctor last week - saw a new one since I'm not too happy with my normal one.  He hasn't been listening to me, which is what a doctor is supposed to do.  I explain why I'm there, and he only addresses one concern and sends me on my way.  This one listened and addressed my concerns.  One was about my blood pressure since the last 2 times I was in the ER it was higher than normal.  He recommended I meet with a dietitian, which I already have an appointment scheduled for.  He also recommended I ease up on both caffeine and salt.

I can't believe I just sent Beau off to 4th grade!  She is growing up way too fast.  She decided she was ready for a new style, so last week she had her hair cut SHORT.  I think it looks really cute on her - she looks like a pixie :)

Next week my Scrappyman will be starting preschool.  We have orientation on Monday, then he starts next Thursday.  I can't believe he's already 4!!  Where has the time gone?!?!? (He thinks he's old enough to shave, too, since his uncle bought him a play shaving kit.)

Friday Scrappy had a doctor's appointment.  After his appointment, we went for lunch, then Daddy went to get some ink done and I took the kids to Silver Lake Park to chase the geese for a while.  The geese are pretty aggressive and kinda scary!! 

His 4th rose for Cystic Fibrosis - one for each birthday Scrappy has

Saturday we took the kids to the Minnesota Zoo as our last "hoorah" before school started.  The dolphins are going to be leaving next week, so we got to see them one last time.  They have a new penguin exhibit, which we liked.  Scrappy loved it too because one of the penguins was chasing his shoe laces along the side of the glass.  It was super cute!!  There is a new black bear exhibit that is in the works and not open yet, but we could see the black bear behind one of the other cages.

I'm starting to wonder if Scrappy doesn't get motion sickness.  Most of the time he does pretty good in the car, but when we went to St Cloud, several times when we've gone to Rochester, and on Saturday when we went to the zoo, he got sick in the van.  This time he did have a fever when we got home, which lasted through Monday, but not the other times.  I'm going to ask about that next time I talk to his nurse...  As a result of his fever, we spent the rest of the long weekend just hanging out...