Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Denim Deb]

Sounds yummy to me.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Did you make the pie, and if so, how was it? It sounded really good!

 

[Britesea]

I'm finally back! My back spasmed on me, I think it was a pinched nerve actually. Anyway, I've been flat on my back until now. The first week I was almost blind with pain, but I kept taking maximum doses of Advil and Tylenol and it eventually got better.

DS has been doing the cooking all this time. @frustratedearthmother he made the pie according to my directions and it turned out delicious. We worked out menus that he could make without too much trouble, and he was a real champ- taking care of laundry and everything (although his idea of a clean kitchen doesn't march with mine, but oh well)

So anyway, I'm trying to pick up the reins again, but I'm still not completely fine; I get tired easily and then the back starts hurting again. Hopefully now that I'm up it will go faster.

 

[Denim Deb]

As long as he didn't put dishes in the oven, he probably did better than my hubby would!

 

[Britesea]

LOL! I guess that would be ONE way to dry them?

 

[Britesea]

I decided to get serious about losing weight before the diabetes takes over. My goal weight is 150 pounds; this is gonna take time and a lot of work since I haven't seen that weight in 30 years. Since it takes 10-15 calories per pound just to maintain a body weight, I figure if I start out at 1500 calories a day, I'll keep losing weight until I get to 150 pounds and by the time I get there I'll be used to eating that much without thinking about it. My guess is it will take between 2 and 3 years to get there.
So I started the diet on July 12, with a starting weight of 285 pounds. This morning I was at 280 pounds which means I'm losing about 1 pound every 3 days. According to my doctor that's a good rate of loss.
The only problem is, my blood sugar has been swinging all over the place and I don't know why. I'm trying to keep the carbs down; I've been averaging 150 grams of carbs a day which I think is a good number. Either I am wrong, the meter is going bad, or it's too late and the disease is taking over. Seems kind of unfair since I've been able to keep it under control for the last 6 years since I was diagnosed and now, when I'm finally getting serious about losing the excess weight, everything goes haywire.
I have an appointment with the diabetics nurse at the VA next week; I'll try not to worry too much until then.

Today DH started his vacation; we took off for the Farmer's Market and bought all kinds of delicious vegetables and fruits for the diet. He's decided he wants to lose the 40 pounds he's been carrying for a while also, so at least I have some support. I also bought a SCOBY... yup, gonna try making kombucha.
I've got the tea cooling down right now.

One of the things we are doing during DH's vacation is working on the utility room. I want to put in some more efficient shelving instead of the cheap cabinets we put in 12 years ago-- which are falling apart anyway. It's going to be a huge effort: We have to take all the food and cleaning supplies etc that are stored in there and pack them up in boxes SOMEWHERE... then install the new shelves and then put everything back.
There's a ton of other projects I'd like to do... but if we can get at least this one done it will allow me to clean up the overflow in the dining room (maybe we'll even be able to eat at a table again???)

My lone Swiss Blue duck is feeling broody; she's all puffed up and aggressive toward us and the other ducks. I found one egg amongst the irises, and added another one from the coop when no one was looking... time will tell.

Well, time to eat dinner. Grass-fed short ribs on the BBQ, cole slaw, corn on the cob, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.

 

[Denim Deb]

Dinner sounds yummy as normal.

Hope you're able to lose the weight and find out what's going on w/your blood sugar.

 

[tortoise]

Congrats on the first pounds towards your goal!

I'm in a similar boat with weight loss. I don't feel healthy. My joints hurt, I'm stiff, and I just don't feel well like I did at a smaller size. It's so hard to take the first step!

I must say that I think 1,500 cals per day is very restrictive - unsustainably so. My proudest weight loss was 50# (from overweight to a healthy weight), done at 2,000+ cals per day. I had dieted in the 1,400 - 1,600 range - but I always ended up binging and "cheating" and ending up gaining more weight. My sister talked some sense into me. (That took over a year!). I finally start eating enough - but not too much. Then I lost the 50# without restricting, tracking, or exercising. I'm struggling to find my way back to that happy eating place. I simply ate when hungry, and stopped when I felt satisfied (not full). That's a simple idea, but really hard to learn! I'm struggling to get back to it. I got all messed up during pregnancy because I had to eat when I wasn't hungry.

I hope your blood sugars settle down. I'm hoping the problem is just your meter.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Congrats on the 5 lb loss!

My DH is a very brittle diabetic and when I say EVERYTHING affects his blood sugar I do mean everything! Heat, stress, lack of sleep.... everything. Carb restriction is the one constant in his life. And, yes - making changes results in swings in blood sugar but it's worth it. He has been able to reduce his need for meds if he keeps his diet under control. Exercise is a wild card for him...sometimes it shoots his sugar up...sometimes it drops him like brick. It seems to depend more on what he has or hasn't eaten before exercise. Keeping a food and activity log helps with noticing a trend.

Diabetes is such a frustrating disease, but hang in there - your long term health is so worth the battle!

 

[Britesea]

Looking back on my Food Diary since I started this, I've been averaging more like 1600 calories. This is still very close to what I'll need to maintain my final weight; hopefully the increased activity level I should have once I'm not lugging so much extra weight around will pick up the slack.

@frustratedearthmother , one of the things that is making it harder for me to keep track of my blood sugar is that the VA, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that since I'm not on insulin and my A1C is less than 9 or 10, I must be managing my diabetes-- so they will only pay for 2 blood sugar reading a week
and the strips are over $1 each if I use more. I can't afford that many extras; makes it really hard to know what's actually happening. I've been using them up a bit more lately, and I know that I will run out before my next refill, but my friend L, who is also diabetic and a veteran, just told me this week that if I talk to the VA pharmacist he can overrule that. I hope she's right!