A Diabetic Christmas

Morning blood sugar: 6.1
Episodes of low blood sugar today: none
C's mood today: Good. No melt downs. I, being home today, thought I would try and stimulate his mind with some crafts instead of TV. I thought we could make some of those snowflake cut outs together; I would cut, and he would color/paint them. Well it turns out, he was more interested in the "let's see how much paint I can load onto my paintbrush and then dunk all of the brushes into the small water container" game (meant for rinsing the brushes). I guess he was experimenting and using his creative side-so still a win in my books. And, no major messes to clean up either-nothing spilled, no faces or clothes ended up with paint on them, so add a W to my record please.
Workout today: 5km outside! Yes, outside! The weather has finally started to warm up here, and it wasn't raining or snowing, so I jumped at the opportunity to drag a Beagle and push a 32lb- 2 1/2 year old in a stroller (I know, call me crazy, but we all had cabin fever). We all got fresh air, dog and I got exercise, and C even got out for a bit to run himself. Another W please. :)
Clean eating today: Breakfast was 1/3 cup oats, scoop of protein powder, 1 tsp natural pb, and a handful of raspberries and blueberries (yes, I buy berries at this time of year. It's a splurge but so worth it. Berries are awesome on blood sugar, and C and I LOVE THEM!). See entry below for what I indulged in as a 'dessert' after my lunch this afternoon (...and on Monday and Tuesday evening!) :)

Eating the right foods on a regular basis can be a challenge at most times. At this time of year, not just for Diabetics, but for everyone, it can be almost impossible. I seriously believe that over the years I have been conditioned to associate December with eating cookies and eating 'not so great food', because I have been craving it lately. Which is weird, considering I thought I had freed myself from the 'white crack' (read: sugar) and the 'yellow crack' (read: grease).

So far, other than making a traditional Icelandic Christmas cake (Vinarterta) with my mom , I have avoided Christmas baking like the plague. Don't get me wrong, I have had moments after dinner in the last two weeks where I have caught myself dreaming of grabbing a handful of shortbread cookies and downing them with a large glass of milk, but I have yet to do so. 1 reason being that I don't have any shortbread in the house (this is a good thing). The second reason being I would likely only feel sick if said dream became reality, and would have to endure 'the guilt' of having sky high blood sugar right before bed. No thank you. A girl can dream though, no?

Another major reason why I have yet to bake and indulge is that I am 11 weeks into a 12 week fitness challenge. This challenge is called 'The Fit to the Core Challenge"and is run by a local husband and wife from Nanaimo. Check out there website here. It has been a fabulous 11 weeks-full of new workouts, nutrition advice, and also some advice on emotional well being, which I feel is so important (ie. staying positive, surrounding yourself with supportive people, etc, etc.). This challenge has kept me on track physically, emotionally, and nutritionally as well; it has provided me with a schedule (I like schedules), and guidelines (I like guidelines) to follow. What more could a Type A girl ask for??

That is not to say I have not had my slip ups in the last 11 weeks. Holiday parties are a tough one. One of my fabulous girlfriends invited me to be her 'plus 1' last Saturday to her staff Christmas party. I use to work with her at the same company, so I knew I would have a good time catching up with old co-workers, enjoying some food and drinks, and getting out of the house on a Saturday night (no offense C, mama needed a night out!)

I had a great time! I did the best I could with eating- my girlfriend had warned me that the party was just appetizers and drinks so I made sure that both of us had some healthy snacks before we left (read: veggies and hummus, nuts, and a small serving each of homemade chili). I indulged in a few appetizers at the party (what do you mean sausage rolls and greasy crab cakes aren't health food?) and a few glasses of wine (read: too many glasses of wine).

I'll sign off with a couple of gems that I have discovered in the last little while. As a (newish) Diabetic I always get excited when I find some treats that feel like indulgences. The two I have listed below have helped me with my cravings in the last few days (read: I have been craving cookies, lots and lots of cookies). They taste delicious, and if you care, they don't raise your blood sugar like other things (read: cookies)-I took a little bit of insulin last night with my treat and went to bed with a 5.8 reading. Nothing to feel guilty about! :)

Unsweetened Almond Milk-my new found love. No carbs in it people, no carbs!

Amy's Almond-Vanilla dream:
1 cup unsweetened Almond milk (I use Earth's Own-the unsweetened part is what makes it extra healthy, as some of the flavored varieties have almost double the sugar that regular milk has)
1/2 tsp. pure Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of the sweetener of your choice (I used Splenda)

Mix all ingredients in a microwave friendly mug-zap it for a minute. Enjoy! It's like a vanilla latte without the espresso...because who can have caffeine after 2 pm? Not me!

A misshaped truffle for your viewing pleasure. I'm a Diabetic, not a food writer :)

 Amy's Chocolate Coconut Truffles
1 cup of Almonds, ground (or any nut of your choice. Pecans are good too)
30 pitted dates (you can buy them in the bulk section of your grocery store)
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 scoop of protein powder (I used Vanilla New Zealand Whey-I think this makes the huge difference with blood sugar, adding protein helps to slow digestion and avoid blood sugar spikes)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut

Soak dates in water for 20 minutes to soften. Drain water but save 1 TBSP. Place dates in a food processor or blender. Add the ground nuts and combine. Add in all other ingredients except coconut. Mix well. With your hands, roll a small amount of mixture to form balls. Place coconut on a plate and roll each ball in coconut to coat the outside. Place each ball on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the fridge to set for 20 minutes. Store in the fridge in a airtight container. My recipe made 7 balls but you could make them smaller to have more of them. If you make 7 they contain approximately 200 calories and 9 grams of Carbs per 1 truffle serving. Delicious!

This is soooooo true! Even more so the older you get.

Children teach you patience, selflessness and how to get up freakin' early!

Morning blood sugar: 4.3 (I indulged in a rum and diet coke last night for a Friday night treat- sometimes when I have alcohol the night before, I end up a bit low in the morning)

Episodes of low blood sugar today : none (it's currently 8:45 am)
C's mood today: Good. He suddenly has a runny nose...again (sigh!)...coughing, snotty, but happy.

Workout this morning: 55 minutes of cardio- 10 minute warm up on our elliptical, 45 minutes run on our treadmill. Yes, we basically have a '24 hour fitness' location in our basement!

Clean eating today: breakfast was a bagel thin (as the name sounds, a super thin bagel with about half the carbohydrate factor of a full bagel) with 1 tsp natural PB, egg whites with a bit of hot sauce, and a Christmas orange. About 40 grams of carbohydrate total. My girlfriend once asked me how I know how much carbs are in different foods. The short answer is I read a lot of labels and memorize a lot of packages. For example off the top of my head I know there is 25 g carbs in a bagel thin, 16 g carbs in 12 rice crackers, 15 g carbs in 1/3 of a cup of old fashioned oats. Fruit is a bit of a guessing game depending on size- I wagered my orange had about 15 g carbs in it this morning- we'll see later if I am right based on my blood sugar reading later this morning. All you needed to know and more about carbohydrates, right? Well when it is truly a matter of being healthy and feeling well it becomes very important! 

Yes, I've posted a photo of my breakfast, and you love it!

 

 

 

Another sweaty Saturday! 55 min workout done before 8am-Thanks C for the wake up call.

It is dark and extremely cold outside (for Vancouver Island anyways). I am tucked snugly into bed with my dog and husband snoring next to me. I hear a door knob rattle, and a little person clicking a door shut down the hall. I roll over and look at the clock. 5:38 am. I can't help it and let out a moderately loud, "UGH!" It's Saturday morning and my son is awake. It is not enough that I spent half the night listening to him cough (side note: kids can hack and cough IN THEIR SLEEP, and will remain asleep even though their parents lie awake down the hall, thinking of ways they could help them feel better. Second note: it is possible to feel physical pain when you listen to someone sound uncomfortable all night-when my son has a cough (which is usually like 4-5 times a year) I get a tightness in my chest, and I feel it is more difficult to breathe. The cause is likely my own anxiety and neuroses-but I like to think it is my "connection" with my own flesh and blood, he was a part of my body for nine months after all!)

Jeff tries the old "C, it is too early. Let's get you back in bed." To which C answers, with his favorite 2 year old term "No." Jeff counters with "Do you want to get into bed with me?" To which C answers "Yes". It goes without saying, Jeff and I are perfectly ok with this under the circumstances. Read "The Books" all you like about what to do, and what not to do; Sometimes 'in the moment' as a parent you do what needs to be done, one reason being for pure survival, the second reason being so that you don't lose your s$%t first thing on a Saturday morning. Not a good way to start your day, ever and best to be avoided.

The co-sleeping thing goes well for all of about 5 minutes.  After the 5th episode of C coughing in Jeff's face, Jeff has had enough and gets up to get ready for his day (ie. workout, shower, etc.) C and I stay in bed for another 10 minutes when C decides he is ready to face the day as well. So I do what any good parent does on a cold December morning at 5:50am (Parenting Police-skip over this part, or you might have a coronary!) -I plunk C in front of the TV with a blanket, a glass of water, and I return to bed for a 20 minute power nap. Once you have been up at 5:30, 6:30am feels like a glorious sleep in!

The bright side here? I am up, dressed, showered, and have completed a workout and it is not even 9:30am. One thing about getting up so early-there is that much more day to enjoy. Here is to hoping my day involves a nice long afternoon nap.....with some ear plugs. Love you C!

Sweaty Saturday

Hello! I have been MIA as of late. Where have I been you ask? My answer: life. Life has taken over. Between working 4-5 days a week, my workouts, motherhood duties, and trying to maintain a non-disgusting house, it has left me little time for writing.

I am enjoying a long weekend and all I can say is yay! For the last few weeks I have been working 5 days a week with Wednesdays and Sundays off. If you work a regular Monday - Friday job don't underestimate how precious those two days off in a row are!THEY ARE PRECIOUS!

I have never minded daylight savings in the past, but this year it has taken on a diabolical image for me. This due to the fact that my son has been totally messed up by this time change. His wake up times this week ranged from 3:30 am -5:50am. This was also totally messed by the cold he ( and I ) have been fighting. Mama is tired- and so is C-bear. Hence why I am back from a 5 km with him and he is sleeping while I write this! Like the good old days when I use to walk miles with him just to get him to have a nap!

Feels good to sweat. And let me tell you pushing a 32 pounder while dragging a beagle ( attached to my waist) is no easy workout! In fact I think I need some carbs pronto- hoping for no low blood sugar today- that battle continues, but I will save that rant for another day! Hope everyone is having a good Sweaty Saturday! I'm off to the spa with my Mom for a facial- my birthday present! Woot, woot. 

Yes, the dog couldn't stop sniffing long enough for me to get a good shot- those darn Beagles and their noses!

Sniff, my baby is growing up.

Morning blood sugar: 6.8 -tried to make a healthy nighttime snack choice last night and chose a homemade no bake banana coconut protein bar. I love them, they have no sugar, but apparently not a great choice for blood sugar. I've noticed if I eat celery with peanut butter at night, my blood sugar in the morning is fantastic. If I'm craving some more carbs at night my blood sugar tends to be a bit high the next morning. Sometimes a girl needs carbs, right? I didn't exactly eat a piece of chocolate cake! Ugh, this disease.

Episodes of low blood sugar today: none. Felt ill at one point but it was a false alarm. :)

C's mood today: no tantrums so far! Remains very argumentative and opinionated... What do I expect, this is MY son!

Clean eating today: Breakfast was PB&J oatmeal- combine 1/3 cup old fashioned oats with 4 egg whites (I know, stay with me, it's good), microwave in increments, stopping to stir every 20-30 seconds until cooked. Add 1tsp PB, 4 chopped strawberries, some milk and a packet of Splenda. Yum! Recipe courtesy of Sarah Gilks of Nanaimo's Core Essentials.

Workout this morning: ' Jump Start' workout with Fit To The Core Fall Challenge. This a fitness challenge I joined, it is run online by a Nanaimo couple, David and Sarah Gilks. They provide workouts  and nutrition advice for 12 weeks. This is week 2- good, tough workouts. Can't believe how much muscle I have lost since my diagnosis- time to gain it back! Also feeling exhausted from the tough workouts though, hoping this will pass.

I have not felt much like writing lately. I have taken on another day of work per week, it has been raining and cold, and having a two year old can be exhausting. Trying to write has felt like another thing on my " I have to do" list- so it has not been appealing to me. Feeling the need to write currently so I thought I would run with it.

The rain has arrived early on the West Coast-so much for a long summer. :(

Over the weekend we went out to visit my parents. They live 40 minutes away, so we packed up mid morning and stayed out there for dinner. A great day of watching football, visiting, and relaxing. C typically naps at my parents. For the first time he managed to climb out of the Playyard we keep at my parents. It was one of those moments that I found super cute as a parent-but had to keep my stern face on. C looked so guilty opening the door to the spare room-I was relieved to see he knew he wasn't suppose to be out of bed. He was good about it-we put him back in the Playyard and I lay down on the spare bed next to him, and within 15 minutes he was asleep (ok, we were both asleep. Did I mention I have been tired?).

The escape artist struck again yesterday afternoon. C was playing his new favorite game of 'testing', this specifically involved whipping me across the face with his favorite teddy (did I mention toddlers are not only exhausting, but at times mean as well? Exhibit A) and it was time for a time out. Initially I asked for an apology, which was not happening. So I took him and put him in his crib. Great 'time out' spot when your child will stay there. Not much of a lesson learned when they simply climb out after two minutes and come back to the living room, where the bad behavior went down in the first place.

Long story short, we converted his crib to a toddler bed today. This was exciting but surprising for me. Surprising because for the first time I had this strong pang of sadness go through me. I was sad because C is getting big. I don't consider myself like other mothers in the sense that I have not had a lot of these pangs along the way. Some women talk about how hard it was to give up breastfeeding-truthfully I was relieved to have my body to myself again, and C and I never looked back. Other women were a little sad when their babies started solids-I was counting the days until it was 'allowed'-my kid was 18 lbs at 2 months-he was starving all the time. I can remember thinking-'how fast can he eat all solid food?' For me, it wasn't happening fast enough.

I look at C these days-opening and closing doors, doing stairs all by himself and a part of me is absolutely amazed and relieved that those days of carrying him everywhere are over. He climbed a 10 foot ladder by himself at the park last week to go down the slide on the other side, and didn't even miss a beat. Long gone are the days when my arms were aching, and I was wishing he knew how to walk.

We are still in a learning curve though. This toddler bed is going to be a new transition. You will see from the picture below-the first nap time with the new bed did no exactly go 'textbook style' as my Type A self had hoped. Oh well, I still had a nap. Which was needed. Here is to growing up, and 'trying' not to look back.

The empty toddler bed-3:00pm

My nap buddies-listening to them snore and the rain outside was extremely comforting! So much for not sharing the bed.

Recounting Race Day-Motherhood makes you tougher, I swear!

Alone in my hotel room after the race-time for a selfie! :)

Morning blood sugar: 6.6 (up again, not bad though. What the heck? Yesterday was 4.9-nothing different in my routine)
Episodes of low blood sugar today: None- I think. Suddenly got very grouchy and impatient while running errands with C. A Starbucks' cappuccino did the trick. If in doubt, get Starbucks. I am not talkin' a Frappuccino though (might as well be called Junkoccino)-I'm talkin' a Tall non-fat variety.
'C's' mood today: Good. Much better than previous in the week I have to say. We have been under some stress in the Taylor household this week, one of the stressors being our son. C has moved at daycare over to the big kids side (3-5 year olds). He is 2 1/2 but the caring workers at the facility felt C was ready to transition. I think with everything that has been going on lately-returning from a fab trip, moving further into the year of being a 2 year old, etc. he is struggling with this transition. Here is a visual: Jeff drops him off at daycare, C is already crying as they are driving to daycare and proceeds to scream when Jeff attempts to leave. Poor Jeff. All parents know that when your kid is suffering, you are suffering times a million. Having your heart ripped out and stomped on almost everyday for a week makes one want to drink quite heavily (don't worry, we haven't gone that route). It has been rough let's just say. Onward and upward, right?
Workout today: Sprints on the Treadmill this morning. Jeff was off to work early so it was me and C. Tried to have a quick, efficient workout. 10 minute warm up, 30 sec, 1min, 90 sec, 2 min sprints with 30 seconds slow pace in between and an 8 minute cool down. Sweaty fun (and hard work!). I think my 2 year old is on to me though-everytime I slowed down he would look over and smile and say "all done?" He was getting impatient apparently. Hoping our peaceful days of working out together are not quickly coming to an end.
Clean Eating Menu: It is my mom's birthday today (Happy Birthday Mom!) and my mom and dad had invited C and I out for lunch with them. As I know that eating out can sometimes lead to not eating the best, I made sure to have a light and healthy breakfast of a French Vanilla Isagenix 
shake.  For lunch I ordered a thin crust individual Tuscan pizza at Boston Pizza (chosen for a C friendly location) which I ate half of-portion control is so important when eating out, Diabetic or not!

So I wanted to make sure and recount my race day. One, because people have been asking about it, and two, I would like to write an entry about it before my 'mom brain' memory makes it fade into oblivion. Newborns permanently fry your brain. I'm serious. True even 2 1/2 years later. Sad but true.

Lookin' fresh at kilometer 6

The night before my race I was fortunate enough to stay at the Team Diabetes hotel. I actually had access to the hotel for 4 nights but only used it for one, as I wanted to be with my family the rest of the time, and not a roommate whom I barely new. Staying there the night before my race was a really good idea for a few reasons-it allowed me to meet other Team D members at the Carbo Load Dinner, it helped me focus on getting a good night sleep (and not worry about my 2 year old), and my stranger of a roommate was kind of a God send, who helped me relax and realize I should have fun and stop worrying.

Shelby, my roommate, was 18 years old, a student of Scandinavian history and was signed up to do the full marathon (!). I don't mean to get all hippy dippy on you but her aura was calm and gentle. She was perfect for my nervous, anxious, Type A self. A few gems from Shelby: "oh, are we suppose to be down in the lobby for a photo? I didn't know. Good thing you are paying attention." "I love Icelandic music. I've downloaded a bunch of songs onto my ipod for the run" (Icelandic music, what? Other than Bjork, I have to say I was out of the loop). And finally, "Oh, you run with a belt? I don't have one of those. When I was training I would just loop back to my house every time I needed water". After training with a bunch who would die without their "high performance gear" this last comment almost killed me, and also struck me as the cutest thing ever! Shelby, a God send.

Team Diabetes-together we raised over $ 420,000.00!

The morning of the race I woke up with this refreshing sense of calm. After days of being a nervous ball of stress, it was like a choppy ocean turning into a smooth piece of glass. I wasn't even worried about the weather-I couldn't control it, so I had to just go with it. This is Icelandic weather for you-before we left they were calling for 5km/h winds, part sun and 12 degree temperatures. When we arrived in Reykjavik 4 days before the race the owner of our rented apartment told us, "they changed the forecast, it is suppose to rain on Saturday", 2 days before the race it was raining with winds gusting up to 45 km/h (I was almost crying thinking about having to run 21.1kms in that). That is what the Gulf Stream does to Reykjavik-makes its' weather highly transient. Thankfully we woke up to cloudy skies, light rain, and light winds. I could live with that.

Another thing that was stressing me was the race start time. 8:30am. Most of you are likely thinking what's wrong with 8:30am? Well if you are a Diabetic and you usually get up at 6:30 am to run, it screws things up for sure. Too late not to eat, to early not to change your insulin delivery. Usually before a long run at home I just have a glass of chocolate milk, set a reduced rate on my pump and go. When you are Diabetic and need to eat something before you exercise you have to lower how much insulin you give yourself. If you test before you run, having not covered all the carbohydrate as usual, you typically end up with a high reading. Which is exactly what happened.  I decided I would have oatmeal, cover half with insulin, and test before we left the hotel room just to make sure everything was ok. 11.7 is what it read. Again, this sense of calm stepped in. 'Nothing you can do Amy, you are about to run over 20 km at a fast race pace, you feel fine. Don't worry about it'. So I left it and went down to meet up with my Teammates.

The hotel was only 2 blocks from the start line. We walked around the corner in misty rain to meet a sea of people standing in front of City Hall. If you have never been to the start line of a race you need to do so. The positive energy was flowing, and you could feel the excitement through the misty rain. Fabulous!

I don't speak Icelandic and this was kind of a blessing at the start line. I typically start to get a bit nervous when you are standing around listening to a race organizer blather on about course rules, and number of participants, and record times. At this race I could not understand a word that was being said! Sweet ignorance!  I stood there in my throw away warm up clothes (these are clothes you wear to stay warm at the start line, with every intention of taking them off and never seeing them again, as you leave them by the side of the road before the gun goes off) shaking my legs out, and simply getting into the zone. And then before I knew it, we had started!(don't worry I understood enough to take my warm up clothes off). :)

The first 6 kms were a blur of people cheering, banging pots and pans on the side of the road and me being herded along with some pretty fast runners. There were some slight downhills in there too, which made everyone go even a bit faster, with all that adrenaline pumping. My race pace was suppose to be 5:40/km- at one point I did a 4:54, oops! A little speedy. Slow down. Robert from Team D came to see me around 4 kms in-he is in phenomenal shape and completes Team D events by running up and down the course path to see how all of us participants are doing. I know! That man is in shape!  He came to see me at the right time, we discussed my time goal and he settled me down a bit.

Before I know it, after some beautiful waterfront running "by the sea" (as Icelanders like to say-they don't often say 'ocean') we are downtown running between some highrise buildings, and I am running over the 10km mat-I check my watch 54:56 (!) holy s#$t, that's the fastest 10 km I have ever run, Diabetic or not. I'm killing this! :) I spend the next 5 kms getting mentally ready for the hill that I know is coming at kilometer 16. I am counting my carbs, and making sure to eat as planned every 20 minutes. 2 Stinger gummies, every 20 minutes or 8 grams of Carbs (with a 50% reduced rate on my pump). By 15 kms my stomach is getting full and I don't want to eat, but know I have to. I've packed an Eshot by Isagenix for this exact moment, before that hill. An Eshot is all natural, has caffeine and some herbs in it with apple and other fruit juice (think 5 hour energy shot but better for you) and definitely gives you some pep when you need it and it packs 8 grams of carbs, just like my other snacks. I choke it down.

Here is the hill. I was worried about it but shouldn't have been as I am up and over it before I know. At the top a woman says something to me in Icelandic. Maybe that helped distract me. I must look Icelandic! She switches to english when I sheepishly tell her I don't understand-she wants to know how far we have gone. I tell her 16km. Now we are in the "second half" of the race. This is when I always start to fade. They say there are 2 parts to a full Marathon-the first 32km and the last 10km because at 32 km is when things start to get 'really hard' (let's face it 42km is a flippin' long way, the whole thing is hard!)-I get what they are saying though because for some reason at 16km things change. Your legs start to feel like concrete, your stomach a bit queasy, and let's face it, you're hurting! And that's when the wind kicks up. Of course, this is Reykjavik.

I turn back onto the road to head back to the finish line. 17km, 18km, now I really want to stop. And guess what, I've got to eat again (dammit stomach, just fit in a few more chews!). The rain is pelting me in the face, the wind is whipping a bit-it's only about 10km/h but it feels like 30km/h. I hate to write this but to eat my last 2 chews I walk for 30 seconds. It's either that or cramp up-so I do it, reluctantly. I tell myself "keep going! There is no tomorrow!" "Pick me up Dennis! I know you're here!" (Dennis is my mom's cousin-we lost him to Cancer a few years ago. He was the life of the party. A man who loved life, loved family, and L-O-V-E-D being an Icelander. Some of his ashes were spread by his brothers in Tjornin Pond in the center of Reykjavik-a pond I ran passed during the first km of the race- I knew part of him was there with me!). I start running-for Dennis, and for myself. 

I pass a water station, pick up a glass of water, drink two sips and splash the rest in my face. I'm wet already from the rain, but I need to wake up! It's time to tough this one out. Let's go. The road is straight and (thank goodness) flat. I start to hear a few cheers from up ahead. 19km. It's Jeff, I can hear my husband cheering! I can see them, Jeff crouched with C, pointing me out on the road. And there is my Mom in her red raincoat-all bundled up. Thank goodness they're here!!! I fight the tears welling up in my eyes. They yell, take pictures and I have never been so happy to see them. A smile creeps onto my face. C doesn't see me, he is still looking down the road. He is so cute! Look at that face! I yell with all I can muster"I love you C!"  He turns to see me, finally. He is so handsome. I keep running. For Jeff, for C, for my Mom and for me. 2 kms left-that's like 10 minutes, I can do 10 minutes.

I take my earbuds out as I turn the corner, the fences are set up along the street now, towards the finish line. There is a band playing on a stage set up on my right, and I actually listen to them for a few minutes as I run. I can see the clock-damn it has a 2 in front of it, I really wanted it to say 1. 1 hour and blah blah minutes......shoot. I'm just a little too late.  I sprint to the finish, see a photographer and give him the best 'I just ran the best race of my life smile'. In the race program it said "make sure to look up and smile for the photographer at the finish line", so I do just that. My mom later says to me "I can't believe you were smiling after all that". I told her "how could I not smile?! I just ran the best race I have ever run after 8 months of hard training and 13 months after being diagnosed with an incurable disease." That is a hell of a lot to smile about! Oh, and did I mention the $6, 530.00 raised for the Canadian Diabetes Association? Right, still smiling here.

Official time 2:02:07. Fastest pre-motherhood time- 2:07, first half as a Diabetic-2:15. Moms and Diabetics do it faster, apparently. Yep, still smiling!

The Hot Dog gene

The most famous Icelandic hot dog stand down by the waterfront in Reykjavik

Morning blood sugar: 6.9-higher than it should be, I don't know why? My body still adjusting to the time change maybe?
Episodes of low blood sugar today: 1, almost 2 (a 3.5 at around 11am and tested a 4.2 before lunch, grumble, grumble). Jeff made this amazing egg casserole for breakfast and I obviously miscounted the carb content-he usually uses pre-made mini hashbrowns as the base, today he used shredded potatoes. Again showing that it is way better to use fresh ingredients over packaged, for blood sugar for sure anyways.
C's mood today: It's official-he is acting two today (as he should really, he is almost 2 1/2). I felt as though we had dodged the bullet thus far with tantrums and unruly behavior...well it's here today, that's for sure. Doesn't want to be told what to do, asks for something, you bring it, he doesn't want it, crying uncontrollably because Jeff told him it isn't safe to play in the street.(!) Sigh. Deep breath. :)
Workout today: 40 minutes kickboxing DVD completed with Jeff first thing this morning-C is back to his 6:30am wake up. Goodbye 8 am it was nice while it lasted. Great to be up, finished a workout, and showered by 9am though, I have to say. :)
Clean eating menu: Amazing egg casserole for breakfast (thank you Jeff)-it includes egg whites, shredded potatoes, a little bit of bacon, mushrooms, a little bit of cheese, green onions-all baked to golden deliciousness. Yummy! Another great recipe from Bill Phillips' Eating for Life


I'm outing my mother today. I know, terrible. But it's kinda funny so I thought I would share. And it involves our trip to Iceland, so I thought it was fitting.

Our first week in Iceland is kind of a blur. Between jet lag and getting ready for my race, I was one tired and stressed individual. Add to this that I am the mother of a two year old who, of course because of the time change, would wake up in the middle of the night and want to hang out...in other words I was a bit of a mess (Jeff can confirm this). We arrived early Tuesday morning (after taking an over night flight from Seattle-by over night I mean that we left Seattle at 4:30pm, and with the time change and a 7 hour flight, arrived in Reykjavik at 6:45am-more on this in another post, I promise).
By Thursday I was ready to get out and explore a bit. My Mom's cousin, Frida (her and my Mom have the same great grandmother-so cousins? I guess, don't ask me the exact relationship, bottom line we're related) who lives in Reykjavik had offered to take me out to see the race route. So my Mom, Frida, Frida's wife Sjofn (pronounced Shep...don't ask. And yes, Icelanders have marriage equality :)) and I went on a drive to check out the race route, while Jeff took C to one of the local geothermal pools.

The tour of the race course lasted about an hour. It was great to see the race course to help my mental focus, and it was kind of like a little sightseeing tour as we got to see some of the great landmarks around Reykjavik. It's funny when I have been in other races and I would read in the race program that there were race course tours available, I would laugh and think "how boring! why would anyone waste their time with that?" Hmm, apparently me. No really, it was great to know that there was a pretty major hill at kilometer 15, and definitely great to know where the finish line is when you are dying around kilometer 19.

Ok, so back to my mother. Carol has been a Type 1 Diabetic for 40+ years. She was diagnosed at 22. I have always marveled at her will power. She often says no to cake (I know, cake!?!), has one slice of toast with her eggs, and often will not even taste something if she knows it will be sugary. In her defense, she grew up with this disease at a time when they basically told you to deprive yourself. No sweets, no treats, period. Well the rules have changed lately. At least that is what my health care team tells me. They say "it is perfectly ok to have a small piece of cake if you are at a birthday party, just cover it with insulin". The take home message-you can treat yourself once in a while, just not all the time. Sound familiar? Yes, because that is basically what they tell anyone who is following a healthy eating plan-Diabetic or not. (I'm smirking, if you can't tell).

Carol is not perfect. Who is really? From my experience with her in the last 31.5 years, I know that she has two vices. One is wine. The other is, wait for it, hot dogs. I know, right? Of all the things you could love-cookies, cake, chips.....my mother loves hot dogs. I can remember her telling me on her day off when we were kids, she would go to the mall, do some shopping, and she would sheepishly tell me that she stopped at A&W for a 'whistle dog' for lunch. I could feel the guilt oozing from her pores, but could also tell that she had loved every bite.

So how can a woman with the will power of a God love something as 'kinda gross' as hot dogs? Well the mystery was solved in Iceland. Two words 'Islendingar Pylsur', or Icelandic hot dog (I guess that's three words). It's in her genes. Apparently they are world famous ( I know, this was news to me), and even Bill Clinton stopped for one when he visited the land of fire and ice. When Frida and Sjofn dropped us off downtown after our tour they told us "you have to try a hotdog" and proceeded to tell us the most famous hot dog stand was just around the corner. Well how could we not? I was carbo-loading after all.

Don't get me wrong, part of me wants to like hot dogs. They are kind of a staple-who doesn't have them at a baseball game or while camping? Well, usually me. The real reason is I usually feel sick after. Which is exactly what happened in Iceland. Our relatives that had been to Iceland before us told us you should 'order a hot dog with everything'. It tasted quite good, but I didn't realize it came with this mystery sauce. It was the color of caramel and tasted really sweet. Turns out it was some weird blended combo of relish, ketchup, and mustard. Which guess what (?), all have sugar in them. So I think I likely felt sick because of high blood sugar, which I got because I mis-calculated the carb content. Can you blame me, I have like 1 hot dog a year?

Anyways, like I say, I can't fault my mother. Nobody is perfect. It simply brings her down to the same level as us mortals. She is an Icelander, not a Norse God. And apparently she was blessed with the hot dog gene. :)

 

Look at her! She's beaming! ;)

That's Jeff in the tuque-we brought him back after my race. I opted for Icelandic pastry over another hot dog

.

Bill and I have a few things in common-running and Icelandic hot dogs (hopefully not heart attacks!)

Check out this link to Hot Dog by LMFAO I had it on my music mix while running the half in honor of my Mom. Jeff and my Mom had never heard this gem-maybe you haven't either. ;)

Back to life, back to reality

What a great trip we had! We arrived back in Canada Monday, had my first day of work today. I'm coming around but still have moments of feeling like I need to run to bed, now! I want to write more but feel like I am back to the grind already with an ever expanding 'to do' list. It was so nice to get away, get out of my routine, and above all finish off 9 months of hardwork by completing that half marathon I have been training for.

A quick post tonight just to post a few pictures...

Taking off from Seattle with Icelandair- C loved the plane, especially the window seat 

My boys out for one of our amazing dinners- Icelanders (as the rest of Europeans) know good food!

Amma (that is Icelandic for Grandmother) on a funky shopping street down from our rented apartment. That is the church Hallgrímskirkja- don't ask me to pronounce it!

Jeff and I at The Blue Lagoon. Had a beer in the hot springs. This was the day after my race-my legs loved the geothermal waters which are suppose to have healing effects ( I would hope so at 40!euros per person for entry- oh well, it's worth it!)

Promise to write more extensively later but for now time for bed-it's 9:30pm. In my defense that is 4:30 am in Iceland. 

August- I'm beginning to think you don't like me.

Morning blood sugar: don't know yet. I am trying to stay in bed as we have a long day of travel ahead of us, but I can't sleep in. It's 6:37 am and I'm writing this while lying down in bed.

Episodes of low blood sugar today: see above.

C's mood today: still asleep thank goodness- a few sleep noises here and there.

Clean eating menu: we will be flying all day so this should be interesting. I've done my best to pack healthy snacks- as best you can without packing fruits and veggies. We are flying through Seattle and you know how the US can be- I remember I went camping one year in Minnesota and they confiscated my veggie burgers ( veggie burgers, really!?There were 2 of them and they were just for me!).

Workout: planning on a light 5 km on the treadmill to stretch my legs before I am stuck in a tube for the rest of the day- did I mention this will be with a 2 year old? Wish me luck.

Oh what a couple of weeks it has been. It is enough to be flying overseas to run a race- let alone to pack a family. Needless to say the last two weeks have been busy with organizing, tying up loose ends at work, and far too many trips to the pharmacy ( I must write another post soon titled " flying as a Diabetic" just to fill you in on all the ins and outs).

Previous to last year, August has aways been a pretty good month. Nice weather, that bit of chill in the air at night makes you sleep better, my sister and dad have birthdays in the month so there is usually a celebration or two. Well, the love affair ended last year when 5 days before the month began I was diagnosed with an incurable disease, on the first day of the month I took my first insulin injection, and the vacation time I had booked for that first week of the month was spent learning to look after my new Diabetic self.

The love (hate) affair continues this year. My mother called me last Thursday as I was getting ready for my run clinic. A conversation that begins with "Amy, your Dad and I are at the hospital" is never a good one. It turns out my Dad won the "get a Staph infection that attacks your knee and requires emergency orthopaedic surgery" lottery last Thursday. Needless to say he will not be able to come to Iceland as planned. :( he is now on IV antibiotics daily which he has to go the health centre to get. Thankfully he is doing much better in the last week and is starting to sound like his old self. He is a strong enough man to have encouraged us to still travel- even his primary care giver ( my mom) is still going. Thank goodness for great family friends who have offered to help him while we Are gone ( thank you Court and Betty and Don and Claudette- you have made a very stressful situation a little easier on all of us!).

Well, better go. A crazy day ahead. I am feeling a mix of excitement, nerves, guilt ( love you Dad!), and pure " let's do this!" Attitude. After all this trip is 10 months in the making. Wish me luck! It's still August after all, I'm going to need it!

Last night's fortification- Brenivin. Only three glasses, sigh.

Think Icelandic Schnapps- also known as 'black death'  :) I'm fortified, are you?

I don't miss five injections a day

Morning blood sugar: 6.7- don't ask why it's up a little, but still reasonable
Episodes of low blood sugar today: none thankfully, yesterday I had 2 :( Busy day, forgot to bring snacks, was super tired and apparently didn't eat a proper lunch. I am fortunate days like this don't happen too often lately, thanks to the pump.
'C's' mood today: pretty good, having some 'moments' but really overall fairly pleasant. It helps that Grandma and Grandpa are out for a visit-when there are visitors C tends to be on his 'better' behavior. Obviously he was excited to spend as much time with them as possible-he went to bed late and was up early. Currently napping from all the excitement, thank goodness. :)
Donations today: no new ones but found out today that back in May I got an anonymous $250.00 donation to help me hit the minimum of $6,100.00-it turns out this was a donation from my in-laws and brother-in-law. Apparently my bro-in-law couldn't figure out how to attach his name to the donation-that sneaky devil didn't let me know it was him! Mystery solved. :)
Clean eating today:  Isagenix chocolate shake immediately post-workout, a black coffee and a slice of fruit-chia seed bread from Cobs bread mid morning. I am obsessed with this bread and apparently Chia seeds are great for blood sugar, which is obviously why I am able to eat this bread with dried fruit in it and maintain good numbers. Thanks Sunghee for the article you sent me about Chia seeds-awesome!
Workout today: 9 km hill workout with Jeff. Since the grandparents are here and my son is extremely comfortable with other people, Jeff and I were able to sneak out for a workout. We ran on the trail not far from our house. It is paved but really hilly-about 4 km out we stopped to do 4 hill repeats and then came home. Feeling less tired today but I can tell my body needs to pull back on the workouts as I enter the last 3 weeks of training. I crashed yesterday and took a rest day-feeling a bit more re-charged today.

Insulin pens and the miracle drug that is insulin

Yesterday, August 1st, marked one year of being on insulin injections. I remember taking my first injection; in the afternoon I had gone to the Diabetic Education Center at the Nanaimo Regional General. Margaret, the nurse and Diabetic Educator bombarded me with a ton of information, including how to set up my insulin pen, put a needle tip on, load the insulin cartridge, and finally how to inject myself. As you can imagine the whole idea of everything was absolutely terrifying. I went home to a house full of people-my sister and her family had just arrived for a week long visit, which had been planned months ago, and in light of everything that had been happening to me I encouraged them to come regardless. I wanted to see them, and if anything maybe their presence would help me through the challenging week ahead.  My Mom made dinner- a crab manicotti (so delicious!). When she told us it was ready, I was the first at the table. I was starving (having lost 10 lbs from being sick, I was always ready to eat), anxious, and ready to get this scary first needle over with.

That first night was even more terrifying-was I going to go low in the night? What was I going to feel like on insulin? The nurse had assured me that the doses they were giving me were very conservative, which helped to reassure me, but let's face it I was still a nervous wreck. Thank goodness for a snugly dog and husband-they helped me fall asleep.

The truth is, insulin made me feel better almost immediately. When you are averaging blood sugars of 14-18 you are thirsty all the time, you are hungry all the time, and you are spending a lot of your time peeing out the glucose you have consumed. Glucose is found in carbohydrate and is the fuel for your cells. Insulin lets you absorb the fuel for your cells- a healthy pancreas produces this, mine wasn't. All I have to say is if it weren't for the brilliance of  Dr. Banting, I would likely be wasting away on a starvation diet right now (this is how they use to treat Diabetics before the discovery of insulin!).

I remember my sister said to me during her visit that she was sorry to be there 'during the worst week of my life'. I am sure I will look back on it someday and remember it as such, but at the time I really looked at it differently. Yes, it was a rough week, but I can also remember thinking 'this is the week we figured out what was wrong, and now I am doing something about it to make me feel better'. And thank goodness there was a way to fix it! I didn't have a tumor, or cancer, etc, etc. That thought was refreshing in itself. At the time, I was placed on 5 injections a day-2 that would give me long acting insulin to maintain a steady state blood sugar, and 3 fast acting injections with meals. Thanks to the pump I now only have to take 1 injection every three days, when I put on a new pod. A small catheter (looks like a string) is sitting in my skin at all times, and now instead of a needle every time I eat I tell my pod to increase the 'drip' as necessary to cover my carbohydrate intake.

A year ago, I was thankful for my background with practicing acupuncture; needles weren't that scary to me-they still hurt sometimes (sometimes you really couldn't feel them) but it was more the insulin I was afraid of. Even with my background though, let's face it stabbing yourself 5 times a day, for days on end, is fun for no one. According to my husband I am much happier on the pump-can you blame me?  I certainly don't miss five injections a day. 

The Terrible Tuesday-not really :)

Morning blood sugar: 5.9
Episodes of low blood sugar today: kind of feel a bit low at the moment, hang on, going to go and check.....yup 3.3mmol/l, oops! Took too much insulin with lunch apparently. Is it that I took too much insulin or is this a delayed low from my workout this morning? Delayed lows can happen up to 16 hours after an exercise session..... I also think that I likely didn't have enough breakfast.... As you can see there is no 'perfect management' of Diabetes-anyone who tells you there is, is a big liar (no offense). Oh well, moving on, hello glass of Ruby Red Grapefruit juice! Thank you for the fast acting carbohydrates you pack.
C's mood today: C is, what I like to call, "being 2" today. This involves running between the extremes of being extremely happy and extremely unhappy within the span of a few minutes. We had a great morning visiting the neighbors for a play date (we have awesome neighbors :). C was overall very pleasant, except for a few instances where he didn't want to share (he is 2, that is normal!). Came home for lunch only to have him cry through 80% of the meal-I think he was hot, tired and hungry- the perfect trifecta for a meltdown.  He is napping now, so hopefully he can recharge for the afternoon. :)
Workout this morning: 7km Tempo run on the treadmill (2 km warm up, 4 km 80% max effort, 1 km cool down)-it was sweaty and hot, but oh so satisfying to finish.
Eat clean menu today: Lunch was 3 protein pancakes with diet syrup and berries. Yum! I have posted the recipe below for all to enjoy. It is courtesy of Bill Phillips' Eating for Life cookbook. Bill appears to have had a bit too much plastic surgery recently (if you google him, you will know what I mean), but there are some great recipes in this book. I have been using it now for over 6 years-the pancakes are a great go to recipe for breakfast, lunch or dinner! They also don't leave you hungry or give you that crash an hour after you have eaten them like some other pancakes.

The past few weeks I have been putting in some heavy mileage in preparation for my race in 4 weeks. This past Sunday I ran 18km, the Sunday before 20km, and the Sunday before that 18km. Along with my workouts throughout the week my calculations tell me that in the last 3 weeks I have averaged about 34km per week. Nothing to scoff at (unless you are a full Marathoner, then you are likely laughing at me right now). A few of my friends and acquaintances have said to me recently "I don't know how you do it"-or at times if I tell them how much I have been running lately they look at me blankly and I can tell they are thinking 'why would anyone want to do that'. I do it for many reasons-it's empowering, it gives you wickedly good fitness, etc.  But these comments in particular made me think of the adjustments I have had to make since becoming a mother, and of course a Diabetic. Yes, it isn't easy to run that much, whether you are single, married, a mother or not. Here are the top 5 things (I came up with) that Diabetic Half-Marathoning Mothers have to do that perhaps other runners don't:

1-You watch Sesame Street and Curious George while completing a treadmill workout
2-You have to hide your gummy 'Stingers' that you use during your workouts to maintain blood sugar because you may have (once or twice) used them to bribe your son into a-leaving the park, b-putting down a toy in the store, c-stopping a tantrum in its' tracks
3-You have to arrange childcare for 2 hours every Sunday morning so that you can complete your runs (Thank you Jeff-best babysitter ever!).
4-You methodically calculate how long you will be running before every workout, count how many grams of carbs you will need to replace, and pack extra gummies just in case your calculations are off so that you can here the word "Mummy!" when you open the door back at home
5-You wake up in the middle of a Saturday night to watch "The Secret World of Benjamin Bear" because your toddler can't sleep in the heat, and wonder if you are going to be able to get out of bed at 6am as planned for your long run

It's all worth it! That's all I can say. I am addicted to running, that's for sure. Here are a couple of recipes:

Protein Pancakes-By Bill Phillips
serves 4,  approximately 5g carbs per pancake 

2 cups uncooked old fashioned oats
1 cup egg whites (I use the ones in a carton)
2 cups fat free cottage cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Serve with berries and syrup ( I use diet syrup, of course)
Lightly coat a non-stick skillet/griddle with cooking spray. In a food processor (or blender), combine all ingredients, and blend until smooth. Pour batter 1/4 cup at a time onto a hot skillet. Cook pancake until bubbly on top and dry around edges, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook other side, about 2 minutes or until golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

An actual photo of my lunch :)

Another good Diabetic friendly recipe I made recently is Chia seed jam. Super easy and delicious. I love the idea of homemade jam, but just the idea of buying something called 'pectin' makes my palms sweat. A neighbor brought over a ton of plums last week and they were so delicious! I didn't want them to go to waste and couldn't eat them fast enough; luckily I saw this posted on Facebook.

Homemade Chia Seed Jam
2 cups fresh fruit (I'm sure you could use frozen, I used fresh plums)
2 Tbsps. Chia seeds (I used black Chia seeds)
2 Tbsps. Honey (you could also use Splenda or Stevia, or something like that if you wanted)

Place all ingredients in a food processor, blend as you like -don't over mix (less if you like chunky jam, more if you like smooth jam). Place in a container and put in the fridge overnight-the Chia seeds make the fruit kind of gel-up overnight. Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks 1 year since my diagnosis. You would think it would be a dark day of remembering when my entire life changed forever, reliving what initially felt like a death sentence (and truthfully sometimes still does- not a death sentence, but certainly a life sentence). I remember that day fairly clearly- it was a day when I raced down to the walk-in clinic because I couldn't get in to see my family doctor. A day that I just couldn't wait another minute to find out why, for the last 4 days, I had blurred vision and couldn't see the kitchen clock from the dining room table like I always could. A day that I was seen by a doctor I had never met before, who opened my file and looked at my blood work results and said " so you're Diabetic?". My stunned response was " well, no". From what I can recall there was a pregnant pause of silence followed by a technical explanation of what my blood results said, followed by me melting into an emotional wreck ( ie. there were tears and what I like to call " cry talking" where you cry and try to talk at the same time- pretty sure this doctor had no idea what I was saying and likely was wishing it was professional to run from the room as fast as possible).
No, it was not a happy day in my life. No indeed. This was made worse by the fact that this walkin doctor had no idea what to do with the anomaly that sat in front of her. This 30 year old, Type 1 Diabetic- when 85-90% of Type ones are diagnosed before 20 years of age- so she sent me away to contact my family doctor, on a Friday morning in July. My blood sugar was 26.2.
Thankfully today is not a day to stay in bed and mourn the day my life changed forever,  today I am thankful for how strong this year has made me and for the blessings that surround me. Today I am thankful for:
1- My son: I am bias here, but Jeff and  I have created a beautiful human being. A son who has manners at 2 years old ("thank you mummy!" and " you're welcome"), who's smile can light up a room, and is growing bigger and stronger everyday. I love you C!
2- my husband Jeff-the other half of my team. I married a man whose work ethic never quits, who often misses dinners or goes to work early so that he can support me in staying home part time with my son. Jeff, I know what you do for us and I can't say enough how much I appreciate you and your drive. I love you Jeff!

My handsome guys!

3-my Dad- thank you Dad for being the take charge man that you are. I can remember when I phoned and had blurred vision and needed help your answer was " we are leaving right away". From helping with C, to driving me to the doctor, you were there to help and I barely had to ask. I love you Dad!

My Dad and Mom

4- my Mom- of course I wish you weren't Mom, but thank goodness you are a Type 1 like me. From helping me through those first horrible few weeks, to ingraining in me that things will never be perfect no matter what you do, to being the Robin to my Batman in fundraising, I never would have made it through this year without you! I love you Mom, you Insulin-dependent woman, I love you!

Mom and I after Victoria half 2012

5-The 62 contributors (+plus their hard working families)  to my fundraising campaign- I can't thank you enough. When I felt like I was drowning and I received a donation it would push my head above the waves. When I was feeling strong and received a donation it made me feel like anything was possible! I love you contributors! I received two more donations this week taking me to $6,400.00!

Look what arrived this week-my contributors made this happen!

6-My body- if you can believe this one, yes, I still love my body! I was so mad at you at first for letting me down. How could you after 30 years? But you've made up for it- yes, we still have our  highs and lows, but on Thursday night I finished a speed workout in 28 degree heat which I started and finished with normal blood sugar- I feel stronger now than before I was pregnant, and most certainly stronger than that skinny, sick girl I was a year ago. I love you body- together with my knowledge, insulin, and the pump, we truly are a working team!

A couple weekends back, as I finished the last (uphill) kilometre of a 16 km run, Christina Aguilera's song 'Stronger' came on my Songza app. Maybe it was the'crazy' that sets in when you've run more than 12 km, but the lyrics really spoke to me about what my disease has done for me in the last year-(obviously this song is about someone that wronged someone else but the chorus really rings true):

"Fighter" by Christina Aguilera and Scott Storch

"After all that you put me through,
You think I'd despise you,
But in the end I wanna thank you,
'Cause you've made me that much stronger....

...Makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
It makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
Makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RBOJpIwF47Y

Thank you Diabetes- you truly have made me stronger. Happy Anniversary! Here is to counting my blessings, and turning what could have been the crappiest year of my life into a year I will never forget!

A Diabetic's night out

This was basically the view from our table-I forgot to take a photo but filched one from online

Morning blood sugar: 5.8 -better! I adjusted my pump and am now taking more insulin-my poor pancreas is on it's last legs :(
Episodes of low blood sugar today: I took C to the park to meet some friends and started to feel a little funny-I then realized I forgot an emergency source of glucose. To be safe I ate C's fruit to go.
Cutting it close on the way home-before I drove I tested a 4.3-so I ate C's leftover crackers from lunch. Thank goodness for a 2 year old that never finishes his meals these days-I guess.
Workout today: 50 minutes of a Jillian Micheals Kickboxing DVD www.jillianmichaels.com with my husband-was going to do a tempo run on the treadmill but Jeff needed a workout buddy this morning so we sweated it out together.:) I have said it before but I will say it again-serious quality time working out with your man!
Clean Eating today: Isagenix Shakes for breakfast and lunch-I do a half vanilla, half chocolate shake that reminds me of a Wendy's Frosty (ie. A diabetic's dream with only 16 g carbs per serving) :)
Donations this week: A super sweet co-worker who is also a runner found 20 bucks on her 19km run this weekend and offered to donate it to my campaign-what a sweetheart!

I had the opportunity to go out last Friday night with two of my girlfriends. For anyone else who is a mother to small children, I don't have to tell you that this is a mighty big deal! I belly laughed a few weeks ago when another girlfriend of mine told a pregnant (for the first time) friend of ours that one of the things you should do before you have the baby is "go out after 6 pm!" This cannot be more true! I typically eat dinner with my toddler at 5:30 pm and am in bed before 10pm-so if the idea of going out for a late dinner (8pm!) with some wine and two great friends wasn't enough to blow my mind-I don't know what is!

The two ladies I had the pleasure to go out with are also physiotherapists. They are beautiful, strong, health conscious people like myself-what better company could a girl ask for? It was Laura's birthday and she chose The Beach Club Resort in Parksville, BC-www.beachclubbc.com I have been wanting to try this place forever-my parents are always raving about it. But as you can imagine with training, a two year old, and a husband that often gets stuck at work late-I don't get out much.

Eating out is not always the easiest thing, being a Diabetic. At home I can read labels and portion sizes to know exactly how much insulin to take. The carbohydrate I eat must be matched with an injection of insulin to ensure that my blood sugar does not go sky-high. Amazingly in a non-diabetic your pancreas does this for you. I currently don't have that luxury. In other words, often when I eat in a restaurant I am doing a lot of guessing as to how much carbohydrate is on my plate. Sometimes I guess right and sometimes I guess wrong-it's all part of the game.

The food was amazing at the restaurant (as well as the wine-I had a glass of Zinfandel with appetizers and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc with dinner-yes Diabetics can drink, in fact wine tends to lower my blood sugar. But just like you, it really isn't healthy to drink too much). I had the Sea Bass with a mango salsa and what was described as a "quinoa salad". I took my insulin with the appetizers-we ordered some mediterranean dips with pita bread, and guessed at how much quinoa would be with my dinner. Unfortunately when my entree came there was barely any quinoa on the plate. The meal was delicious! But now I was in a bind-I didn't want to end up with low blood sugar (ie. when you take too much insulin for what you have eaten). So I had to order dessert :) Alas!

Angelina and I ordered a fruit sorbet, also delicious. But as I was eating it I was thinking "this tastes really sugary" but again did not want to take too much insulin, so I decided to stick with what I had already taken and not top that up. I didn't want to go low on the way home after all.

I tested when I got home-13.2 (Normal is between 5 and 7, grumble, grumble)  Uggh! I could have smashed my blood glucose monitor.

It was still a fabulous night, with fabulous company, and fabulous food which I enjoyed tremendously. I have been told in books on Diabetic Management to "relax your standards once a month and enjoy yourself" or by some of the health care professionals on my team "don't worry about the odd high" which I feel is valid advice. But it still makes my Type A blood boil when I take all the info and technology I have, and think I am doing everything right, only to get it wrong. Oh well, you live, you learn. I must just be out of practice in the eating out department. If practice makes perfect, I need to go out more! :)

I'm over it!

 

 

 

My workout buddy! What you can't see is I am a sweaty mess-and he still let me hug him. Good kid.

 

 

 

C's downward dog/headstand-he didn't learn that from TV!

 Morning blood sugar: 6.7-still a bit high, thinking I should adjust my pump but truthfully have been feeling lazy about looking in to it.
Episodes of low blood sugar today: none so far, it's 10am
Workout this morning: 2km warm up on Treadmill (walk/run), Les Mills Plyo High Intensity Interval training (30minutes)
Clean eating today: Chocolate/vanilla protein shake for breakfast care of Isagenix and a much needed black coffee :)


It's a week for confessions. My Saturday confession is that I use the tv to babysit my son while I work out. For a long while I had lots of guilt about this- in the world of hyper parenting and 'constant stimulation' using the tv even for one hour a day initially felt like one of the cardinal sins.

My husband has been a huge influence of 'working out even as a parent'. He has done this from the very beginning with my son. Initially when C was a newborn I would marvel at Jeff's ability to 'sweat like a beast' present child and all. Obviously I was amazed at first because I was sleep deprived, recovering from the trauma of a non-complicated labour and delivery ( can't even imagine the recovery from a complicated one!) and I was having the life sucked out of me as a nursing mother. In other words a workout was lower on the priority list compared to my non- lactating husband. I marvelled indeed!

The view from my treadmill-'cheese' says C

Now at 2 years and 3 1/2 months I am so happy with the routine we have created with our son. I watched him today from the treadmill perfectly content eating a snack and watching 'Doc Mcstuffins' on Disney Junior- I thought 'why did I ever feel guilty about this'. I'm keeping my sanity and my confidence by getting exercise, my son is watching less than an hour of tv so that I can do this (in the middle of my workout, he stopped watching tv to copy some of my exercises and at one point opened the sliding door to go outside in the backyard and beautiful sunshine), and I'm being a role model. If that doesn't make me a better parent than what does?

There are people that will read this and say "that just wouldn't work for us" which is fine. If there is one thing I know as a parent, what works for one doesn't always work for another. But for those that are still feeling guilty about taking time for themselves, please don't! I'm certainly not, you could say I'm over it.