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I’m a body positive person, & I also happen to be a bit fat. Once upon a time I wasn’t so body positive, and I did everything in my power to NOT be fat, up to & including a stint with Weight Watchers. That turned out to be pretty bad for my mental health (seriously have you ever weighed in front of a room of judgmental people who were trying to act like they weren’t judgmental?), so I quit. I had a revelation when Bryan was RELIEVED that I’d quit, as he also felt it was bad for me mentally & he liked me just fine the way I was. Since that time I’ve been practicing intuitive eating & not giving a fig what size I am. I do my thing.
Well, I’ve done my thing up until about a week ago, when I had to do a “wellness check” for an insurance discount. We’re on Bryan’s insurance for Arkansas state employees, and as part of a wellness initiative they give discounts if you do this yearly. Well, it involved a fasting lipid panel, CBC, & CMP. Well, for the first time in my life I had a high fasting blood sugar!
This is a little suspect because of the way the phlebotomist collected it. It was collected by capillary action and she milked the heck out of my finger, which can cause a falsely high glucose. But just in case, I’ve decided to have a hemoglobin A1C drawn at my primary care provider’s office. That’s a test that tells you how your glucose has been over the last 3 months, and is a better indicator of possible diabetes than a simple, one-time fasting sugar check.
Regardless, in my typical fashion, I have jumped headlong into eating & acting as though I AM diabetic. I have a strong family history (my maternal grandfather died when I was 6 of complications of diabetes, and had been blind since before I was born due to the same; all of my mom’s brothers except one has it, and my dad’s only brother has it). More than that, I see the effects of uncontrolled diabetes on a literal DAILY basis at work. There isn’t a single day I don’t see someone who’s disease is either directly caused by or at least worsened by their high blood sugar. To that, I say “Aw HELL naw.” Therefore, I have changed my diet!
I’m not dieting to intentionally lose weight this time, though the app I’m using to monitor & track my food requires a “goal weight.” I set it for 25 lbs less than I am, and to my surprise and minor delight, it doesn’t expect me to reach that goal for 6 months. That is a VERY slow weight loss, and as a medical provider I know that’s the safest, most reliable kind. I’m pleased with that. I’m going to weigh myself no more than weekly at the gym, but if it starts to trigger my “failure” reflex when I don’t lose, I’ll be weighing less often than that, or just skip weighing altogether until physician appointments.
The app is called My Net Diary Diabetes version. It was $10 but if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it the best I can & this app came very highly recommended. It has a rather incredible database of foods, speaking from an American perspective. You can even scan the barcode on packaged foods. For ease of use, it gives foods a “grade” as well as telling you the technical specifications. For example, the half a Snickers bar I ate yesterday got a D grade, while the roasted veggies & sausage we ate for supper scored an A. It makes it easy to put in what you’ve eaten for each meal. If you work out & use the Apple Watch app, the number of minutes & calories automatically are entered into My Net Diary. If not, you can manually enter a workout.
I don’t drink diet sodas, due to the horrid headaches I get when I eat/drink artificial sweeteners, but I do love me some cold, flavorful drinks in the summer. This has led to some creativity on my part, which has led to some excellent discoveries. I like my hot coffee unsweetened with just milk, but I’ve always drank my iced coffee quite sweet. I’ve discovered I like it just fine with milk & no sugar. I’ve ventured into La Croix flavored seltzer waters with great success; the lime & grapefruits are my fave. They’re also good with a bit of peppermint flavoring added. I’ve started ordering my iced tea unsweetened, and I’ve also found that an Arnold Palmer (half iced tea, half lemonade) is very tasty with unsweetened tea. The foods I eat are hardly ever horrible, but I definitely had a tendency to drink my sugar.
It’s easy to eat well at home, but at work will be a different story. I’m going to have to start planning ahead more than I do now. It’s ironic how limited the healthy food options are at my job, given that I work in a hospital. We’ll see how that goes!
Well, I’ve done my thing up until about a week ago, when I had to do a “wellness check” for an insurance discount. We’re on Bryan’s insurance for Arkansas state employees, and as part of a wellness initiative they give discounts if you do this yearly. Well, it involved a fasting lipid panel, CBC, & CMP. Well, for the first time in my life I had a high fasting blood sugar!
This is a little suspect because of the way the phlebotomist collected it. It was collected by capillary action and she milked the heck out of my finger, which can cause a falsely high glucose. But just in case, I’ve decided to have a hemoglobin A1C drawn at my primary care provider’s office. That’s a test that tells you how your glucose has been over the last 3 months, and is a better indicator of possible diabetes than a simple, one-time fasting sugar check.
Regardless, in my typical fashion, I have jumped headlong into eating & acting as though I AM diabetic. I have a strong family history (my maternal grandfather died when I was 6 of complications of diabetes, and had been blind since before I was born due to the same; all of my mom’s brothers except one has it, and my dad’s only brother has it). More than that, I see the effects of uncontrolled diabetes on a literal DAILY basis at work. There isn’t a single day I don’t see someone who’s disease is either directly caused by or at least worsened by their high blood sugar. To that, I say “Aw HELL naw.” Therefore, I have changed my diet!
I’m not dieting to intentionally lose weight this time, though the app I’m using to monitor & track my food requires a “goal weight.” I set it for 25 lbs less than I am, and to my surprise and minor delight, it doesn’t expect me to reach that goal for 6 months. That is a VERY slow weight loss, and as a medical provider I know that’s the safest, most reliable kind. I’m pleased with that. I’m going to weigh myself no more than weekly at the gym, but if it starts to trigger my “failure” reflex when I don’t lose, I’ll be weighing less often than that, or just skip weighing altogether until physician appointments.
The app is called My Net Diary Diabetes version. It was $10 but if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it the best I can & this app came very highly recommended. It has a rather incredible database of foods, speaking from an American perspective. You can even scan the barcode on packaged foods. For ease of use, it gives foods a “grade” as well as telling you the technical specifications. For example, the half a Snickers bar I ate yesterday got a D grade, while the roasted veggies & sausage we ate for supper scored an A. It makes it easy to put in what you’ve eaten for each meal. If you work out & use the Apple Watch app, the number of minutes & calories automatically are entered into My Net Diary. If not, you can manually enter a workout.
I don’t drink diet sodas, due to the horrid headaches I get when I eat/drink artificial sweeteners, but I do love me some cold, flavorful drinks in the summer. This has led to some creativity on my part, which has led to some excellent discoveries. I like my hot coffee unsweetened with just milk, but I’ve always drank my iced coffee quite sweet. I’ve discovered I like it just fine with milk & no sugar. I’ve ventured into La Croix flavored seltzer waters with great success; the lime & grapefruits are my fave. They’re also good with a bit of peppermint flavoring added. I’ve started ordering my iced tea unsweetened, and I’ve also found that an Arnold Palmer (half iced tea, half lemonade) is very tasty with unsweetened tea. The foods I eat are hardly ever horrible, but I definitely had a tendency to drink my sugar.
It’s easy to eat well at home, but at work will be a different story. I’m going to have to start planning ahead more than I do now. It’s ironic how limited the healthy food options are at my job, given that I work in a hospital. We’ll see how that goes!
