Ok, I'm, hitting a mental roadblock in this running thing.
I'm on strike (literally) at work at the moment, so that threw my pace off a bit. I normally run home from work. So now I'm running to my strike.
And there is a killer, killer hill that I need to get over to get there. Yesterday the outline said, "Run 40 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 20 minutes." Yeah, right. The outline didn't see that hill!
I almost made it up without walking. I tried to be tough. But when your running speed slows to below walking speed...well, it's a little discouraging.
I figure that this hill is mine to conquer. Once I'm back to work (soon, please!), I will make this my weekend run. If I can get up this danged hill, a marathon should be a piece of cake. Right?
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Just a few of my Diabetes Rules!
When I was thinking about my last post, I decided to make a note of some of my personal “diabetes rules.” I stopped when I got to the end of my piece of paper. It got too overwhelming!
Whatever happened to that “eat well, take your insulin, and exercise” myth about diabetes management?
Everyone’s body is so very different. These are my rules for my body, gleaned over two years of diabetes. They include:
Exercise:
If I exercise right before a meal, I set my basal (background) insulin to 25%
If I exercise for up to 3 hours after a meal, I need to eat to bring my blood sugar up to AT LEAST 9, then monitor several times during exercise to make sure I don’t go low.
If I plan to exercise right after a meal, I give myself 2/3 of the insulin for the meal (less if it will be strenuous exercise), and give myself 50% up front and 50% over the next hour.
Meals:
For breakfast, I take my insulin all at once. I can eat eggs, Red River cereal, steel cut oats or buckwheat, tofu, or yogurt and fruit. That’s all. Anything else makes my blood sugar NASTY.
At lunch, my body is a bit slower to digest the food. I take 50% of my insulin up front, and 50% over the next two hours.
For dinner, I take 50% of my insulin up front, and 50% over the next three hours.
If I want to eat fatty foods, I take less up front and more over time.
I eat low-glycemic foods that reduce the “spike” in my blood sugar. If I eat high glycemic foods like corn or potatoes or melons, I take more insulin up front.
Treats:
Because treats aren't really meals, but treats are good for my mental health.
I can eat dark chocolate, the occasional cheesecake, and Breyers light ice cream. Any other sweet treats need to be eaten right before a walk so that I can bring my blood sugar down right away. Cake and cookies and other baked goods like muffins are OUT.
Sleeping:
2 hours after dinner, my blood sugar should be around 7. If it is not 7, I correct by eating. If it is too high, I wait and see.
At bed time, my blood sugar should be 7 or just under. Repeat the process above.
Every night, I wake up 1-2 times a night to make sure that my blood sugar is not too low or too high.
Sites:
I change my pump infusion site (where the insulin goes into my body) every 2.5 days. I change it in the mid-afternoon or before dinner. That way, it doesn’t stop working (or not even start working) overnight, and I don’t have a high blood sugar catastrophe. Theoretically.
I use one sort of pump site on my tummy and another on my – ahem – rear end.
So this is what’s going on in my head during the average day. And more. Oh yeah, and testing my blood sugar 10-12 times a day, correcting it with food or insulin. Woo hoo! Diabetes. It sure ain’t “eat well and exercise” anymore, baby!
Whatever happened to that “eat well, take your insulin, and exercise” myth about diabetes management?
Everyone’s body is so very different. These are my rules for my body, gleaned over two years of diabetes. They include:
Exercise:
If I exercise right before a meal, I set my basal (background) insulin to 25%
If I exercise for up to 3 hours after a meal, I need to eat to bring my blood sugar up to AT LEAST 9, then monitor several times during exercise to make sure I don’t go low.
If I plan to exercise right after a meal, I give myself 2/3 of the insulin for the meal (less if it will be strenuous exercise), and give myself 50% up front and 50% over the next hour.
Meals:
For breakfast, I take my insulin all at once. I can eat eggs, Red River cereal, steel cut oats or buckwheat, tofu, or yogurt and fruit. That’s all. Anything else makes my blood sugar NASTY.
At lunch, my body is a bit slower to digest the food. I take 50% of my insulin up front, and 50% over the next two hours.
For dinner, I take 50% of my insulin up front, and 50% over the next three hours.
If I want to eat fatty foods, I take less up front and more over time.
I eat low-glycemic foods that reduce the “spike” in my blood sugar. If I eat high glycemic foods like corn or potatoes or melons, I take more insulin up front.
Treats:
Because treats aren't really meals, but treats are good for my mental health.
I can eat dark chocolate, the occasional cheesecake, and Breyers light ice cream. Any other sweet treats need to be eaten right before a walk so that I can bring my blood sugar down right away. Cake and cookies and other baked goods like muffins are OUT.
Sleeping:
2 hours after dinner, my blood sugar should be around 7. If it is not 7, I correct by eating. If it is too high, I wait and see.
At bed time, my blood sugar should be 7 or just under. Repeat the process above.
Every night, I wake up 1-2 times a night to make sure that my blood sugar is not too low or too high.
Sites:
I change my pump infusion site (where the insulin goes into my body) every 2.5 days. I change it in the mid-afternoon or before dinner. That way, it doesn’t stop working (or not even start working) overnight, and I don’t have a high blood sugar catastrophe. Theoretically.
I use one sort of pump site on my tummy and another on my – ahem – rear end.
So this is what’s going on in my head during the average day. And more. Oh yeah, and testing my blood sugar 10-12 times a day, correcting it with food or insulin. Woo hoo! Diabetes. It sure ain’t “eat well and exercise” anymore, baby!
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
The diabetes rules
What are the diabetes rules?
A friend at work was discussing her recent first aid training. The firemen who were teaching the course actually talked about the symptoms of low and high blood sugar. A first, in my books. I've never gone through that in level one first aid before.
This got me to thinking about the general public's knowledge about diabetes "rules". Well, that and the fact that my great-aunt's chocolate cake recipe is heading to the newspapers tomorrow. You see, I do a bit of work with the media through my job as an education coordinator. Today I was asked to submit my favourite recipe to the local newspaper. I thought. I pondered. I decided that my great-aunt's chocolate cake was a sure winner.
Now, I am involved in a local project to connect those who can't afford fruits and veggies with yummy, locally-grown produce. I am a member of a local organic farm and eat truckloads of organic greens every week in the summer. My fridge is full of them as I write. Am I shaming myself as a person with diabetes and a greens lover? Am I setting a bad example?
There is a prevailing myth that people with diabetes can't eat refined sugar. But it's not that simple. You see, I use insulin to eat. To eat ANYTHING. Heck, even soy burgers and my bean sprouts have carbohydrates in them. Insulin turns soy burgers and sprouts and yes, even chocolate cake into useful energy for my body.
It's a fine balance, and it's a lot more complicated than "don't eat sugar." All sugars are not equal. Corn spikes my blood sugar, because it's a fast-acting carbohydrate. An equal amount of pasta will raise my blood sugar slowly, over a number of hours. A meal with fat slows the food in my tummy down, reducing spikes in my blood sugar. It doesn't matter whether that fat comes from ice cream or avocado. It has the same impact on my blood sugar. Ok, maybe not on my arteries, but my arteries are currently VERRRRY happy, thank you very much. Oh yeah, and I can eat very few sorts of food on an empty stomach, since everything I eat seems to barrel right on into my bloodstream.
So, diabetes rules are complex. They're personal, to a degree. And although chocolate cake isn't really on my list of favoured foods for everyday eating, dang it - it's an important part of a happy lifestyle. Isn't it?I'm not going to outlaw chocolate cake. The world would be a more dire and dismal place.
By the way, I compromised. I added the option to substitute whole wheat flour and grated zucchini in the chocolate cake.
Now where's my halo????
A friend at work was discussing her recent first aid training. The firemen who were teaching the course actually talked about the symptoms of low and high blood sugar. A first, in my books. I've never gone through that in level one first aid before.
This got me to thinking about the general public's knowledge about diabetes "rules". Well, that and the fact that my great-aunt's chocolate cake recipe is heading to the newspapers tomorrow. You see, I do a bit of work with the media through my job as an education coordinator. Today I was asked to submit my favourite recipe to the local newspaper. I thought. I pondered. I decided that my great-aunt's chocolate cake was a sure winner.
Now, I am involved in a local project to connect those who can't afford fruits and veggies with yummy, locally-grown produce. I am a member of a local organic farm and eat truckloads of organic greens every week in the summer. My fridge is full of them as I write. Am I shaming myself as a person with diabetes and a greens lover? Am I setting a bad example?
There is a prevailing myth that people with diabetes can't eat refined sugar. But it's not that simple. You see, I use insulin to eat. To eat ANYTHING. Heck, even soy burgers and my bean sprouts have carbohydrates in them. Insulin turns soy burgers and sprouts and yes, even chocolate cake into useful energy for my body.
It's a fine balance, and it's a lot more complicated than "don't eat sugar." All sugars are not equal. Corn spikes my blood sugar, because it's a fast-acting carbohydrate. An equal amount of pasta will raise my blood sugar slowly, over a number of hours. A meal with fat slows the food in my tummy down, reducing spikes in my blood sugar. It doesn't matter whether that fat comes from ice cream or avocado. It has the same impact on my blood sugar. Ok, maybe not on my arteries, but my arteries are currently VERRRRY happy, thank you very much. Oh yeah, and I can eat very few sorts of food on an empty stomach, since everything I eat seems to barrel right on into my bloodstream.
So, diabetes rules are complex. They're personal, to a degree. And although chocolate cake isn't really on my list of favoured foods for everyday eating, dang it - it's an important part of a happy lifestyle. Isn't it?I'm not going to outlaw chocolate cake. The world would be a more dire and dismal place.
By the way, I compromised. I added the option to substitute whole wheat flour and grated zucchini in the chocolate cake.
Now where's my halo????
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