I need to buckle down and start counting carbs.
As a newly-hatched diabetic, I don't yet really comprehend the whole blood sugar thing, but the carb thing seems to be a fairly simple way to keep track. Basically, 15 carbs is a serving. I'm supposed to stay under 60 carbs each meal, and under 30 for snacks - until I can get in to see a dietician and get a personal range. That's actually really hard for me, so I need to start to actively work at it.
Yesterday evening I had a chance to really overdo it, as hubby-Eric made pot roast from a kidney-friendly recipe site. It was excellent, but he gave me way too much, and I had to put some back. I really miss having pot roast, as it was a regular food when I was growing up. And Eric did an excellent job with it - it was really good. This morning he also made me "Power Pancakes" to up my protein levels a bit. A bit bland, but not bad.
As for carbs, I will also have to cut back on my juices. I think I may start watering them down a bit, instead of dropping them altogether. I can't quite stand just having water all the time. And I really miss chocolate milk.
So, basically what I'm saying is that I'm not really managing my diabetes all that well at the moment, and I need to get a bit more serious about it. I think I'm capable - after all, I counted calories successfully for more than two years to lose weight - but it's going to be a bit of a challenge. I found a book on "diabetic exchanges" - basically lists of how many carbs common foods have - that I put on my kidney wish list so I remember to get it sometime, and downloaded a couple of similar lists. So I've got the tools, I just need to put them into action.
In other news, I was able to distract myself from the news a lot yesterday, putting me into a better mental state than I've been in recently. I despair whenever I read the news now, but there's little I can do from here, so I am trying hard to just push it away and concentrate on surviving. Going into my video game to kill a few pixels always helps, and I found myself enjoying the new content, although I haven't tried the group stuff yet.
My skin is still tightening and the sensations are still very odd and uncomfortable. I continue to lose weight, but the pace has slowed considerably. My legs are also getting a little restless, so I'm finding myself needing to get up and move more - which is a good thing. I did manage to get downstairs once yesterday, but was very tired after getting back up. Still need to work on building endurance, keeping in mind I've still got four chemo infusions to go.
My online friends are helping keep me sane. Elayne's Silly Site of the Day helps a lot, as does just about every tweet from Gail Simone (who recently turned into a bear temporarily). I've also spent a good deal of time at Sophie Fatal's Twitch Stream, as Sophie is so upbeat and cheerful that she helps draw me out of my moods. I just thought I'd name drop to thank them all.
Here's a gratuitous photo of Inkwell, just for fun.
2 comments:
Hi Laura! I would say I'm loving your updates (I've followed you on FB too) but given the stuff you're going through, that's probably the wrong word. You're still an awesome writer and I'm glad you're able to communicate through all of this. Pass on my best wishes to my fellow Eric, your hubbie: stay strong, and don't be afraid to reach out to friends (virtually of course) or let them reach out to you.
Just commenting to note that when I went cold turkey off Diet Coke and all sugary drinks, that left me with just water to drink -- I already didn't drink tea, coffee, hot chocolate, Milo or any other hot drinks, and I included all fruit juices in my sugary drinks ban. So I got one of those SodaStream carbonators and started keeping bottles of tap water in the fridge. Now when I'm thirsty, I make a bottle of plain fizzy water. It's just like water but it has texture, which makes it much more pleasant. I know some people don't like it, but if you haven't tried it, or if you've only tried it at room temperature which is undrinkable, try it with cold water. Totally worth it!
It's a good idea for people who like fizzy drinks. I'm the kind of person who lets pop go flat before I drink it. I've never been a big fan of carbonation. My go-to is to put True Lemon in the water, so it has a slight taste. While it's usually enough, I do need something else sometimes.
Eric started watering down the juice he gave me yesterday, and it was fine. Actually, I liked the taste of some of the juice better with 1/3 water to 2/3 juice. I might go 1/2 and 1/2 soon.
My biggest problem is that artificial sweeteners do not taste sweet to me. So people are all, "Oh, this diet soda tastes just the same as regular" and I taste it and gag. Even Stevia seems to not work for me, which is sad because that's one of the few "natural" sweeteners. So I'm kind of stuck as a diabetic. All these recipes call for Splenda, but Splenda is gross to me, so I have to put sugar back in, which raises the carbs.
I guess I just need to slowly adjust my taste buds to lower my expectations on sweetness. It will take awhile. But I think it's doable.
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