1.Tips to Cut 100 Calories or More Every Day
2. Great Breakfast Recipes from Diabetic Living
Monday, January 31, 2011
Too Much Stress
I don't know about all of you, but I have way too many stressful days. It's a part of life. But, too much stress can be extremely harmful to a person with diabetes. Not only can it cause our blood pressure to rise and raise our glucose levels, it can also cause us not to take care of ourselves. For the last month or so, I have been stressed out and upset over certain things that were happening in my life. There were days I hardly ate at all and days I just ate anything that was easy and convenient; healthy or not. More than once, I forgot to take one or both of my medications. I also wasn't sleeping well. There were nights I didn't sleep at all and would get up and go to work some days for eleven hours. I might still be new to this disease, but I know better than that. I finally told myself it was time to take charge of my health and wellbeing once again; just like I did when I was first diagnosed. Nothing is worth making ourselves feel worse than how we already feel with this disease. So, now, I am getting myself back on track. When I start to feel myself getting stressed out or upset about something, I try to take some deep breaths and calm myself down. I tell myself that I can't do this to myself and try to remember how far I've come with this disease in such a short time. I am sleeping much better and eating much better too. Hopefully, it will soon be warm enough again to go out and walk. I'm sure that will help with the stress also. I pray for strength and courage and I try to have faith that any stressful situation will work out somehow. How do you deal with your stress every day? Please submit any comments or tips. This is a good discussion. 9 Simple Stress Busters from Diabetic Living
Sunday, January 30, 2011
I Had All The Symptoms
Millions of Americans have type 2 diabetes. Many more have it and don't know it. I knew it but was in denial for quite a while. I had all the symptoms: greater need to urinate, excessive hunger and thirst, unexplained weight loss, blurred vision, very dry skin, and tingling/numbness in hands and feet. All of these are caused by high blood sugar. In time, they can lead to much more serious health problems. I don't know why I was in denial; not only did I have the symptoms, but I had been overweight for most of my life. The family history was definitely there: my maternal great-grandmother and grandmother, paternal grandmother and aunts and uncles on both sides of my family all had or have Type 2 Diabetes. My great-grandmother showed me how to give her her insulin shots when I was a young girl, and I was present for more than one diabetic-shock incident with her. I am also over 40 years of age. Finally, after repeated requests from family members and a seriously high reading from my brother-in-law's meter; I finally went and was tested. Sure enough, my A1C number at the time was 10.2 and not only was I diabetic, my triglycerides were extremely high also. I was prescribed two medications: Metformin, which I take twice a day at 500mg per dose and Simvastatin for the triglycerides, which I take once a day. I was given a 1800 calorie-per-day, low-fat diet to follow also. I was diagnosed in August, 2010 and was tested again in October. The second test showed much better results and the doctor and I were both very pleased. My A1C number from the second test was 7 and my triglycerides had dropped significantly from 1595 to 320 and I had lost a good bit of weight too. Overall, my weight loss to date has been about 60 pounds. It is possible I have lost more since I am not sure exactly how much I weighed when I began to lose weight. In this blog, I hope to share with you any information I can collect to help us all through this journey. I will share recipes that I have collected along with personal trials I encounter with Type 2 Diabetes and any tips I feel are useful. Just remember; with proper diet, sleep, exercise, education, proper use of prescribed medication, and plenty of prayer too; this is a reversible disease. We can beat this! Please feel free to post any comments or personal experiences with this disease and any tips you can offer. Please share this blog with any friends or family members who you feel would benefit from it. Here's to our health!!
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