Medic Facility blog on health

I’m a runner. There. I said it. That only took me two years, a 10 miler, a half, and a full marathon to admit it. Starting this blog as helped me achieve more personal goals then I ever thought imaginable but I think it’s time to branch out a bit.

On May 23, in Boston, I will be running in the Run to Home Base 9k (that’s just over 5.5 miles.) To enter this race I had to commit to raising $1000 for veterans with combat stress disorders and/or traumatic brain injury and their families. From the web site. . .

Your support to the Home Base Program will help to ensure that local veterans who served their country receive the care they need for combat stress disorders and/or traumatic brain injury, and that their families get the support they need. The Home Base Program also seeks to advance innovative treatments that hold the most potential for helping veterans with combat stress disorders and/or traumatic brain injury and their families.

I’m running with my best and oldest friend in the whole wide world. Here we are in second grade, I think, and us at her son’s, my Godson’s, Christening (he’s turning 11 this year! Holy MOLY we are getting old!) . She may kill me for this one. . .

We have never run together (we live about 3 hours apart since I moved to Maryalnd). She actually started running a few years before I did and tried to convince me how great it was but I didn’t listen. I rarely listen.

We will be running through scenic Boston and ending in Fenway Park. I’m not a huge Red Sox fan, heck, I’m not a huge Baseball fan but she is and let me tell you… she’s is FREAKING OUT!

If there are any Bostonians out there that want to or will be running in the event let me know. And if you are able to support us financially, please click here to make a donation. Every little but helps and we only have a few weeks to raise $1000 each.

Oh! and if you are looking for charitable running events check out Charitymile.com, the popular Team In Training, The Komen Race for the Cure, I can go on and on. There really are so many opportunities out there! Fitness and philanthropy is a popular mix. Are there any events you know of and would like to share? Please leave a link in the comments.

I’ve just been doing a heap more research into the Q-Link as this product is our weekly offer in our newsletter (if you’re interested you can sign up here) and I can’t believe I missed this research before!

In April 2001, Dr Robert Young conducted a controlled experiment to assess the effects of wearing a Q-Link pendant on the blood. His results were quite amazing.

Dr Young hypothesised that one of the major contributor to cellular disorganisation (over-acidity in the blood) is exposure to extended periods of low Electro Magnetic Frequencies (the harmful frequencies from mobile phones, wireless internet, microwaves etc – click here to read more). A state of cellular disorganisation, or disease, is reflected as changes in certain aspects of blood composition and blood clotting ability.

Healthy blood should be separated cells (the negative ions mean the cells ‘bounce’ off one-another), whereas the blood of unhealthy individuals who live a more ‘acidic’ life will show disorganised cells, either distorted in shape or size, stuck together or filled with yeast, microforms or crystals. For instance:

Dr Young and other blood microscopists (such as Energise team member Gareth Edwards) can easily measure these changes in the blood through darkfield blood microscopy that shows the blood LIVE under the microscope, exactly as you see in the images above.

Research Methodology

The study was conducted to show the positive effects of wearing a Q-Link and the dangers of low-level EMF:

The study was conducted in two consecutive parts with 12 individual case studies in total. The first part (Part I) consisted of a sample group of four participants. The second part (Part II) consisted of eight participants. All micrographs were taken using the same blood procedure for each condition.

Part I: Micrographs from three conditions were taken: Baseline Micrographs before exposure to EMF, Micrographs after exposure to 8 hours of low EMF, and Micrographs after wearing QLink for 72 hours while exposed to low EMF.

Part II: Micrographs from only two conditions were taken: Baseline Micrographs before wearing the QLink and Micrographs after wearing QLink for 72 hours. No additional exposure to low EMF was conducted. (Micrographs of 3 subjects depicted above)

The Results

After conducting the study, Dr Young concluded:

“In 100% of the test group, the QLink Pendant demonstrated the ability to provide a favorable context for normal organization of blood cells which were visually showing multiple negative conditions. I perceive these negative conditions are attributable to years of stressful lifestyles.

“After wearing the QLink Pendant for only 72 hours, each participant showed a significant improvement in the quality of their blood.

“The blood of the test group wearing the QLink Pendant showed a visual, normal blood profile that I see in only 1 out of every 10,000 people. In my opinion, any person whose blood is improved to this degree will significantly improve their performance and quality of life.”

These results are remarkable. Even after being exposed to EMF for 72 hours the Q-Link after images show a noticable improvement in the blood quality.

Now, I’m certainly not advocating that you can wear a Q-Link and get healthy without changing your diet – far from it. But this study goes to show just how powerful the Q-Link is!

Read the full research article here

This week Gareth Edwards, our Alkaline Diet Expert and highly qualified nutritionist, writes about candida, its causes and how we can get rid of it by following Gareth’s candida cleansing guide!

Gareth’s Alkaline Guide to the Candida Cleanse

How do you know if you’ve got candida? In some people’s case the symptoms are fairly apparent. Uncomfortable itching, white discharge or coated tongue, can all indicate the overgrowth of the yeast form candida albicans. The truth is that we all have candida. When, however, something about us changes, so that we become more acidic candida albicans can replicate and change into a multi-cellular forms with filaments that can penetrate other tissue.

One of the most common causes of this change is the consumption of anti-biotics or other medications. Diets high in acidic foods, such as fruit juice, vinegar and animal protein, low levels of exercise, high alcohol consumption, emotional distress and fatigue can also be associated with candida overgrowth and “mutation”. This may manifest as an itchy scalp / dandruff, fatigue or a plethora of other unwanted symptoms. It is sometimes possible to see yeast forms in live blood samples too.

If a disruption (or over acidification) of your body occurs the objective needs to be to re-establish a more alkaline balance of your body fluids and tissues. Even if the cause is emotional in nature, this will help put you in the right place to resolve internal or external conflicts. A week’s cleanse can help to accelerate the process and with the vaguest sniff of spring in the air this is a great time to start planning it.

It’s best to see it in three stages: the build up, the cleanse and the after “party”. Get a sense of whether you want to cleanse for three or five days.

The Build Up:

For about a week (or two!) before you plan to start, start cutting out alcohol, black, green and white tea, coffee and refined (white) carbohydrates. Lower your intake of sugar (including fruit juice) and animal protein. At the same time increase your intake of powdered green vegetable and grass drink (such as Dr Young’s Doc Broc Power Plants) with alkaline water and pH drops (such as Young pHorever Puriphy drops) and eat more fresh raw vegetables and low sugar fruits (cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, lemons, limes and grapefruits). For two to three days before you start your cleanse eat fresh raw (or very lightly steamed) vegetables.

The Cleanse:

During the cleanse everything that you “eat” and drink needs to be liquid. Start each day with a scoop of pHour salts in a glass of alkaline water. Then throughout the day consume only the following:

• Green vegetable juice. You can dilute this with alkaline water and add pH drops if desired.
• Green smoothy
• Powdered grass and green vegetable drink in alkaline water with pH drops. Aim for two to three litres a day.
• Water (with lemon or lime juice added – if desired)

There are links here to suggested recipes for green juice and smoothys. Which vegetables you actually put in them is up to you, but you should avoid carrots, apples and fruits (other than those mentioned above) because of their sugar content. Adding garlic to the smoothy should help with re-balancing, but limit your social inter-action if your partner isn’t following the same regime!

Decide before you start whether you want to do 3, 4 or 5 days. You can stop early if you feel very uncomfortable. It’s not a competition!

Handy helpers:

If at any point you feel light-headed or low in energy have some unrefined salt or use a pHlavor spray. You can further increase your body’s alkalising mineral resources with Dr. Young’s depHense, pHion’s silvagen or Jarrow’s mineral balance.

Elimination:

It’s important to help acid and other toxicity get out of your body as well as putting “good” stuff in. There are several ways that you can help this during the cleanse:

• Exercise: 20 mins walking a day minimum. Ideally build up a sweat, but don’t exhaust yourself so that you crave sugar. Re-hydrate with water, greens and pH drops.
• Hot baths with Epsom salts (such as Orgon Alkabath bath salts). This should make you sweat and help to draw out acids.
• You can also add clay (such as Young pHorever Terra pHirma Clay) to your green drinks to help mineralise and draw out acids.
• Using psyllium (such as Ispaghula Husk) or other fibre supplements can help elimination, but these fibres can be “abrasive” if your digestive tract is sensitive.
• Colonic hydro-therapy or self administered enemas can be helpful but should be administered by a trained therapist or clearly understood if self administering.

Sometimes the release of acid from body tissue can actually lead to reduced bowel movement (constipation). If that happens you can try using more pHour salts or Dr. Young’s magnesium oxide based product pHlush.

Sometimes the reverse effect occurs…. Diarrhoea is actually a natural cleansing reaction by the body and shouldn’t be stopped. If it is persistent (rather than passing) you should ease off the cleanse. Drink water with salt in it and use minimal amounts of green powder.

The after party!

Well …. in spite of dreaming of chocolate cake or bacon sandwiches when you start your green feast, you may find that that isn’t actually what you feel like when you are finished. It’s important to listen to your body’s needs. Maybe start with a cooked vegetable soup or a big bowl of fresh vegetables, nuts and sprouted seeds.

Ease yourself gradually back into normal eating and drinking patterns. Aim to keep sweet fruits, sugar, tea, coffee, vinegar, mushrooms and animal protein low, while eating and drinking plenty of fresh (ideally raw) vegetables, sprouts and low sugar fruits including avocados. Try to get more of your protein from vegetarian sources, such as nuts, seeds and tofu. Marmite and peanut butter are best replaced with tahini and almond butter.

N.B. It’s best to do these cleanses with other people around. If you experience any uncomfortable or unwanted symptoms for more than 24 hours you should revert to normal eating and hydration and contact a nutritionally aware physician. If you are taking medication regularly please consult with your physician before carrying out a cleanse.

This dish contains two of my favourite types of vegetables: peppers and tomatoes.

Peppers and tomatoes are packed with nutrients and are a good source of Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Potassium and Manganese, and are a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin B6 and Folate.

Both vegetables make great containers for various vegetable stuffings and this version uses typically Greek ingredients.

Feel free to vary this dish by using small aubergines or large courgettes, which also make good vegetables for stuffing.

Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 green pepper
1 red or yellow pepper
2 large ripe tomatoes
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
50g blanched almonds, chopped
75 g of brown basmati rice, boiled and drained
Handful of mint, roughly chopped
Handful of parsley, roughly chopped
3 tbsp ground almonds
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for sprinkling
Chopped mixed herbs, to garnish
Himalayan crystal salt or celtic sea salt and ground black pepper to season

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5. Cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out the pulp and seeds with a spoon. Be careful not to damage the skin of the tomatoes whilst doing this. Leave the tomatoes to drain on kitchen paper or a chopping board with cut sides down. Roughly chop the pulp and seeds.

Halve the peppers, leaving the cores intact and scoop out the seeds. Brush the peppers with 1 tbsp of olive oil and bake on a baking tray for ca. 15 minutes. Place the peppers and tomatoes in an ovenproof dish and season with salt and pepper. In the meantime boil the rice as per instructions.

Gently fry the onions in the remaining oil for about 5 minutes until they start to soften. Add the chopped almonds and garlic and fry for a further minute.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the boiled rice, chopped tomatoes, parsley and mint. Season well with salt and pepper and fill the tomatoes and peppers with this mixture.

Pour 150ml of boiling water around the peppers and tomatoes and bake, uncovered, for about 20 minutes. Scatter with the ground almonds and sprinkle with a little olive oil. Return to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes until they start to turn golden.

Serve garnished with fresh herbs.

Enjoy your dish or as they say in Greek: Kale orexe!

I am sitting inside of the Kansas City, MO airport; I decided to blog from my iPhone.

-Saturday I traveled to Kansas City, MO. I had the oppurtunity to visit my Aunt; she isn’t doing well. The cancer is eating at her bones. I am still prayerful for her and daughters.
-I met with Scott (TuDiabetes admin) he’s such an awesome guy! He came to my rescue and donated a couple of dexcom sensors to a me.
-Sunday morning, me, my mom and Niya hoped in the car and drove to Indianapolis, IN. We stopped to eat White Castles; my mom is addicted. I wanted to stop at DSW but it didn’t open until 11:00 am. My mom and O decided to start driving again. We arrived in Indianapolis around 4:00, checked in the hotel and went to find the location of my job interviews. The IU campus is amazing and big; it took is 30 minutes to find the place.
-Monday morning at 8:15 am I went to my first interview. I enjoyed the ladies who interviewed me. The staff and job sounds awesome! I could totally see myself working for that dept.
Interview #1 ended at 9:30. I headed across the hospital for Interview #2 10:00. I enjoyed watching the front office do their job and put the patients first; I could see myself working in their dept too. The staff and job amazing. When I was leaving the manager let me know someone else wanted to interview me for a position. i was happy an greatful. Interview #3 I could see myself working for them too! The good thing is I can’t go wrong with any position.

Well, I am about to board the plan. I’ll try to blog again soon. Tomorrow the movers will be at my house bright and early. Oh! my numbers have been out of wack but I’m not worried about it.

Be Blessed
Cherise

I am now a real Diabetes Daily family member and am absolutely thrilled to be here. I am off to a great start with all of the wonderful friends I have already made and all the new ones I am looking forward to meeting.

Many of you already know me as the chef who posts delicious diabetic recipes on the forum just about every day. I thought I would take a little of your time and tell you more about myself for my first blog entry.

I was diagnosed a type 2 diabetic about 10 years ago. I fit all the criteria; over weight, eating all the wrong foods and had a sedentary lifestyle. I was even lucky enough to hit the trifecta, as my doctor had referred to it; type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Lucky me. Well, it really was lucky for me. It saved my life and started me on the path I think I have been working towards my whole life, what I am destined to do.

I have been standing at the stove and cooking ever since I can remember. My fondest memories as a young child are beside my paternal grandmother while she made the most wonderful lasagna you could sink your teeth into. That was my inspiration for one of my most well received recipes on the forum. My maternal grandfather was a baker. He came to this country not long after the turn of the century with not much more than his young wife. He opened a bakery in the Bronx, New York. He was very successful by many standards. He baked everything himself, made sure the poorest in the neighborhood had bread to eat and never let the great depression of 1929 touch his family. I think I have inherited a combination of his love of baking and my grandmother’s love of cooking and it couldn’t be more perfect.

Though I’ve never had formal culinary training, I have learned from the best cooks and chefs in the world. My passion for cooking began early and I grew up watching and learning from Julia Child, Martin Yan, Jacques Pepin and Graham Kerr.  I absorbed every word, practiced every skill and learned every technique faithfully. I did it all the old fashioned way. I did everything by hand. I never used any electrical appliances like food processors or stand mixers so that I could learn the feel, sight, smell and touch of what I was trying to accomplish. I have always recommended this method to all new cooks and even those in culinary school. Over the years, I became quite accomplished as a cook.

In 2001, not long after being diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic I wrote a diabetic cookbook “Gourmets, Gourmands and Other Foodies ~ Unrestricted Tastes on Restriced Diets” and even demonstrated a few of my recipes for a local morning television news show. My cookbook was reviewed by the esteemed diabetic cookbook author and James Beard Award winner, Bonnie Sanders Polin, PhD., author of “The Joslin Diabetes Gourmet Cookbook.” You can read the interview here:

http://www.diabetic-lifestyle.com/articles/may01_cooki_1.html

I had also begun my own personal chef business. Though exciting as it was, 2001 turned out to be a bad time to begin any new ventures.  I had to put my ideas and my business on the back burner and as a single parent, let life take over. We all remember the sadness and heartbreak that 2001 brought us. My timing was off and I briefly took a job with an internationally known food services corporation instead. I quickly found I was not cut out for the corporate world of cooking. I needed to let my creativity flow. I continued cooking privately for close friends and family or by special request and took a day job.

My diabetes had been under control for a long time. I had been able to get off of all medications and just control it by diet. Unfortunately, be it age or falling back into old patterns or both, my diabetes caught up with me once more about 3 years or so ago. It was shocking and it was very bad. I began to come around again and bring my focus in on taking care of myself. Last year, about the end of July, I began my own blog. I approached it as a purely selfish outlet. I was going to cook myself back to health and share it with everyone, whether they read about it or not. I was very blessed. Many people started to read about my journey and they in turn, inspired me to push forward and hurdle over anything blocking my way.

My philosophy is simple. I do not believe that a diabetic should feel guilty about the foods they eat, deprive themselves of anything or feel different. I believe that by making simple ingredient substitutions, using old cooking techniques in new ways and portion control, we can eat like anyone else. My goal is to always try and create recipes that are family friendly and ones that the husband and kids will enjoy, perfect for company and guilt-free for the diabetic in the family.

One of my goals this year to update and reprint my cookbook and make it available to you all online here at Diabetes Daily. I am also working on a second cookbook and possibly have many more exciting things to come this year.

 It is time to begin anew and the best way is to share my gourmet diabetic recipes, experiences and expertise here for everyone to read about and hopefully enjoy. I will also share my frustrations with type 2 and how I try to over come them as we all face so many of the same challenges.

Thank you again to my new family here at Diabetes Daily. I can’t wait to get started and share all of my experiences, trials, successes and failures with everyone.

Eat, live and enjoy life,

Chef Barrae

 http://www.chefbarrae.blogspot.com

http://www.twitter.com/chefbarrae

Do you have a diabetes role model yet? Role models are a key ingredient in helpings us to reach greater achievements in life. Although many people associate role models with their career or personal aspirations, I believe that role models have just as much place in inspiring us to live a life in which diabetes doesn’t hold us back. One definition of a role model that I like is “someone worthy of imitation” - which person with diabetes springs to your mind when you read this definition?

Having role models who inspire you can really help to capture the essence of the direction you want your life to go in and the results you want to achieve - and diabetes-related role models are no different. Finding inspiring examples of people who have flourished despite and indeed, because of, their diabetes can provide a real sense of hope when we are finding the demands of life with diabetes difficult.

When we witness the achievements of these inspiring examples it demonstrates to us in a highly tangible way, just what we can achieve. As the famous motivational speaker Anthony Robbins states: “Experts Leave Clues”. If we pay attention to the clues left by the experts we want to emulate, we too can model them and their ‘success’ in whatever domain we want to do better at.

So where might you find a diabetes role model? It may be someone on a forum such as DiabetesDaily, a contact you have met though a Diabetes Support Group or Education Programme, or perhaps someone in the public eye such as a celebrity or athlete with diabetes. If we can learn from about what keeps these people positive and how they cope when things inevitably get difficult we can start to think about how WE might begin to do things differently…..and maybe become a diabetes role model ourselves one day!

Dr. Jen Nash is a Clinical Psychologist and
has had type
1 diabetes for 22 years. You can learn more about her and her approach
at positivediabetes.com.

The exercises below have been adapted from a ProBlogger post. Most of the names have been modeled after popular social media services such as Twitter, RSS, Blogger, etc,

1. Cyber Squats. Set your chair aside for a few minutes and instead move to a semi-squat position with thighs parallel to the floor. Hold for 1 minute.

2. RSS Raises. As you’re sitting at your desk, straighten your knees and lift your legs out in front of you.

3. Ten Minute “Move it!” Break. Alternate jogging in place with jumping jacks – do a minute of each and repeat 5 times.

4. Twitter Tummy Tone. Tighten your abdominal muscles for 30 seconds and then release.

5. Social Squeezes. Tighten your gluteal muscles for 30 seconds and then release.

6. Ten Minute “Move it!” Break. Grab a step stool and climb up and down.

7. Inbox Incline. While you’re sitting with your feet on the floor, raise your heels so you are on the balls of your feet and lower them.

8. Ten Minute “Move it!” Break. Do walking lunges around the house. You can add some weights and do bicep curls at the same time.

9. Blogger Breather. Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Count to 10 as you slowly inhale through your nose, thinking positive thoughts. Exhale through your mouth, again counting to 10. Release all the tension and stress out of your body.

10. Sign Off Stretches. Shoulder shrugs – with your head at your chest, shrug your shoulders up and down. Neck Rolls – relax your shoulders and let your head roll forward. Slowly rotate your head in a circle. Repeat five times.

P ushups
S itups
L unges
S quats

Exercises that can be done with just body weight: PLSS.

domain.

I never imagined I would be cooking lamb burgers at six o’clock in the morning. 

Always one to complain about food being too salty, that effect was intensified following my recent hospitalization.  When I returned home, everything from precooked breakfast sausage to a favorite frozen entree tasted like salt.  Even after three months, it is clear that I cannot tolerate the sodium in processed food.  I decided enough was enough when I saw the choices of frozen entrees dwindle as a result of my repulsed taste buds.  Besides, I do not need the extra carbohydrates most of these meals also provide. 

This week is an experiment on whether cooking fresh, less processed food is doable given my schedule.  This morning, I combined ground lamb with spices, then made four patties.  In the center of two of the patties, I placed a couple tablespoons of feta, covered each one with one of the remaining patties, and pan fried both patties for about fifteen minutes to produce my lunch for today and tomorrow.  Later in the week, I plan on cooking up a couple of chicken breasts. 

As long as it goes as smoothly as this morning did, I could see continuing this trend.  While I don’t want to take away from the minutes in the morning (which are precious and few), I also don’t want to cut into the time in the evenings when I could be exercising or writing or just plain relaxing with my husband and the cats.   Some dinners produce their own leftovers, of course, but if I can cook the next day’s lunch alongside dinner, that would save time as well. 

Do you cook your own lunches to bring into work?  Any ideas for a quick and easy meal that transports well?     

Today, science has landed a solid blow against whole wheat’s status as Best for Blood Sugars.

Researchers at Lund University have discovered that bread made from rye flour provides better control than whole wheat bread and rye bran. And it keeps mice skinnier.

The great difference between white rye and white wheat surprises the
researchers.

“Precisely what it is that makes rye lead to a stable blood sugar
curve is as yet unknown. But we are getting closer and closer to an
answer. There are several different types of rye, and all not all types
have the same effect, which means that some of them can be omitted from
future studies. The rye flour that is sold in stores is often a mixture
of different types,” says Liza Rosén, a doctoral candidate in Applied
Nutrition and Food Chemistry at the Lund University Faculty of
Engineering, who has led the study. The research is part of the EU
project “Healthgrain,” in which researchers study how wholemeal products
can be used to prevent diseases including type 2 diabetes and heart and
vascular diseases.

According to Liza Rosén, if you want to optimize the health benefits,
you should eat porridge or bread made from whole grain, where all the
parts of the grain are included.

“This gives you all the benefits of rye. The bran includes many
healthful fibers, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. This also helps
give a feeling of satiety and helps lower blood sugar responses over the
long term. On the other hand, we did not see such good results
regarding blood sugar and insulin directly after the meal,” she says.

So far, so good.

The researchers also found that mice fed a diet of whole-grained wheat ate more and gained significantly more weight than mice that were fed whole-grained rye. Asked why, Rosén theorized:

“A possible explanation would be that wheat prompts a higher insulin
response than rye, which means that the cells in the body can store more
fat. The fact that rye contains more soluble fibers than wheat also
plays a role, since they probably prevent the uptake of fat and other
nutritional substances in the intestine.”

Next steps:

• Find the best grains for blood sugar control. (And why haven’t we done this already?!)
• Watch clever entrepreneurs bake, test, and distribute new breads.
• Celebrate the reuben as good for our health. (Okay - maybe I’m dreaming on this one.)

Photo by mhaithaca

18-year-old London teenager talks about life with the “silent killer” Hepatitis C and shares the dramatic story of how she came to be infected.

References:
Life with Hepatitis C for London’s teenage ‘It Girl’. CNN.

Last weekend I went out to Denver to celebrate my friend Candice’s 30th birthday and visit some friends from college.  I was a little apprehensive about leaving Leah at home for a couple days, but I knew that she was in good hands and that I’d have a good time. 

When I got to Denver, we went out to dinner at a Moroccan restaurant to celebrate Candice’s birthday.  We had an early night, as we had to get up at 6:30 am to go snowboarding.  I was very excited about snowboarding since I hadn’t been in a few years.  I was especially excited about wearing my Dexcom sensor while snowboarding. 

I’ve had some really bad lows from snowboarding, the worst of which I passed out from.  I was very lucky that my brother was with me and knew what to do.  With the Dexcom on, I felt a lot more confident about going snowboarding this time.  Hopefully I could be more proactive and catch them before they got bad.

When I woke up that morning, I was extremely disappointed to find that I got a “Sensor Failed” message on my Dexcom and no extra sensors to replace it.  I’d be going snowboarding all on my own.  I’d done it before, but I was nervous.  My friends all had pockets full of skittles and I had some granola bars that I could snack on.  I’d be okay.

The first couple of hours I had a bit of a rough go of it.  The first run I had was great, aside from the rusty start.  It had been 3 years!  Once I got my form back, I was having a great time.  The next couple runs, I started to feel a little icky.  My basal rates were turned down, but I guess that wasn’t enough.  I ate a granola bar and a handful of skittles and started to feel better.

As the day went on, my blood sugar levels kept dropping and dropping.  My skittles supply was dwindling and I was getting tired.  We decided to have some lunch.  I ate a cheeseburger and fries and bolused for half of my meal.  We did a couple more runs after lunch, and I was still low by the time we got back to the car.

I really wish that I had my Dexcom to help me throughout the day.  While I had a blast snowboarding with my friends, I really felt that diabetes got the best of me.  It took a lot of the fun out of my day and I was really bummed that I couldn’t get the most out of it. 

Any tips for skiiers or snowboarders?  How do you manage to stay on top of your blood sugar levels? 

I would like to introduce to some and re introduce to others, Karen of Bitter-Sweet Diabetes Blog.  I met Karen via Twitter (Karen_mst) a year ago; she had me at her first tweet.  Trust me when you read below, you’ll know why.  Thank you, Karen–Hugs. 

I’m Karen and I’m many things. A Type 1 diabetic for 30 years and counting.  A wife.  The owner of the cutest cat in the world (and a biased owner at that).  A blogger with two blogs.  A figure skating fanatic.  And a knitter.  In fact, Knitter might be the first thing that comes to mind when someone thinks of me.  Recently another blogger gave me a blog award and described me as someone who “can knit a mean, well, anything from what I can tell”.

That statement was high praise to me, and I thought of it long after I read it.  Me?  Able to knit “a mean anything”?  Well, I suppose that’s true.  I knit easy stuff like cotton dishcloths and simple scarves.  But I also knit pairs of cabled socks, Fair Isle projects with intricate color patterns, and lace shawls using yarn so thin it looks like sewing thread.  In my knitting, I am fearless.  After all, it’s just yarn and yarn isn’t scary.  What can really go wrong?  If the project gets all wonky, you simply unravel it and start again. 

Then I started thinking about life, and diabetes, and how they ARE scary at times.  Wouldn’t it be nice if life and diabetes worked the same way as knitting and yarn?  Simply unravel your mistakes and start again.  The more I thought about it, the more sense it made.  Why not make diabetes just like knitting?  If things are going wonky, why not “rip back” and start again?  How hard could it really be?

Step One: Pull the knitting off the needles and unravel the yarn.   I’ll admit, this step hurts a little bit.  It involves admitting to yourself that your diabetes “project” is just not coming out the way you want it to – despite all of the hard work you’ve put into it. 

Step Two: Rewind the yarn and, if necessary, switch to different knitting needles.  In this step, take a look at what isn’t working and why.  Carb counting getting sloppy?  Too much unhealthy take-out?  Been way too long since you’ve seen the inside of the gym?  Gather the tools you need to fix these twisted stitches – a nutritional scale, a fun cookbook, or perhaps some shiny new workout shoes.  Set yourself up to knit a winner this time around!

Step Three: Cast on and restart the project, one stitch at a time.  This might be the most important thing to keep in mind.  Every knitting project, from the tiniest baby booties to the largest afghan, was knit one small stitch at a time.  The same goes for diabetes management.  One small step at a time – one fingerstick, one bolus, one healthy food choice, one workout - will bring you to your goal.  When you drop a stitch in knitting, you pick it up, put it back on the needle and proceed.  It works the same with diabetes - if you skip a day at the gym, pick yourself back up and get there tomorrow.

Before you know it, stitch by stitch and day by day, you’ll have turned out something you are very proud of.  You just have to be smart enough to acknowledge when your “project” isn’t working.  And be brave enough to pull everything out and start all over.  It’s no small task to unravel your work and begin again from scratch. But in the end, when you see how much better things go the second time around, I know you’ll be glad you ripped and restarted!

Today started a little slow. I was a bit unmotivated to hit the pavement for my 5 mile training run. Sometimes getting on my shoes is the hardest part but as many runners will tell you.. you never regret a run that you have done; only the one’s you haven’t. So I complained on twitter and then got my butt up off the couch and got ready.

The first 2 miles were great and then it got hard. Real hard. I was crampy, tired and my legs felt SO heavy. BUT it was BEAUTIFUL out. I’m so glad I got out there to enjoy it.

Chart taken from the Nike+

After the run the little guy and I BLASTED the radio and danced around while cleaning up. We made a new dance around the house mix. When I have a bit more time I’ll post it. It’s super fun.

After the house was sufficiently straightened up (because let’s be honest, it’s never really clean) I put the little guy to work on FitBloggin‘.

Call me a slave driver.. go ahead. It’s better then plopping him in front of cartoon network, no? Plus in our house everything’s a learning opportunity. He counted bags and asked lots of questions, it was great Mother/Son time.

We actually got a lot accomplished. Each one of these bags represents a person coming to FitBloggin’10.

How cool is that! Notice the 4 year old in the middle.

We worked up a big appetite from our productive morning so it was time for lunch. I whipped up something new for me, Quick Bulgur Chili and sandwiches for the boys.

Afterwards we decided to take advantage the beautiful day and hit the Driving Range.

Look at how stinkin’ cute a 4 year old is with a set of golf clubs is.

And look at those pants on him! We just bought them, he’s growing like a weed! A really "cool" weed but a weed all the same…

Here’s the hubz and I. I usually go makeup-less on Sunday’s so no wise cracks.

After the driving range we hit the grocery store and I’m happy to say that the husband WAS affected by Food, Inc.. He was ACTUALLY reading nutritional labels and he limited his processed snack purchases. I was shocked! Seriously.

Once we got home the groceries went away and we enjoyed the crock-pot meal I put on earlier knowing I would have desire to cook after our busy day. I made top sirloin similar to this paired with my creamy mashed potatoes and a salad with lite dressing.

Post dinner we played a bit in the basement, watched a Scooby movie and put the little guy to bed. Lunches are made, the kitchen is cleaned and the last thing I need to do is pack my gym bag for tomorrow morning. I have to sleep in my workout clothes or I’ll never get my butt out the door.

So I’m off. I’ll probably fall asleep in the couch with the husband watching the Oscars. That’s my favorite way to end a Sensational Sunday. The falling asleep on the husband part, not the Oscar part.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Oh! and here’s my food journal

~*~*~*~making Sunday sensational!~*~*~*~
hard boiled egg with some salt and pepper.. so simple.. yet so tasty.
5 miles run/walk!
glass of choc soy milk and split an orange with the little guy.
made some quick bulgur chili and some fresh pineapple for dessert!
top sirloin similar to this paired with my creamy mashed potatoes and a salad with lite dressing
Total:	N/A

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

You know you ate too much when 7 hours after a meal you still feel like there’s a rock in your stomach. That’s exactly what I’m going through right now. You’d think that would stop me from eating more junk but noooo instead it has the opposite affect and I want to eat everything in sight. Why is that?

Don’t answer… just a rhetorical. Let me tell you about my great day…

Today I attended Bloggy Bootcamp in Baltimore. I thought it would be good opportunity to meet some local bloggers while getting pumped for FitBloggin’. Call it conference research. I really wanted to attend an event so it was fresh in my mind when hosting my own in two weeks… TWO WEEKS (omg, omg omg I’m not freaking out. Nope. Not me. It’ll be fine. FINE, I’m sure. right? RIGHT??)

Before heading out to the conference little guy and I had a great morning making waffles out of our Quick Whole Grain Banana Pancake batter.

Afterwards we pulled out the old dominos and had some fun.

Then I was off to the city. I’m 20 minutes outside of Baltimore since moving and I love it. In no time I was at the Pier 6 Hotel, right across the water from the Marriott where FitBloggin’10 will be. SO cool!

Anyway, the conference was good. I felt it was mostly geared towards "Mommy bloggers." I’m not using that term derogatorily. Mommy bloggers are cool chicks but I just don’t understand why we don’t categorize ourselves as just "bloggers." Women who happen to have kids are so much more then just "mommies." Maybe I’m splitting semantic hairs here but if you are a mom and a blogger you are still just a blogger. I don’t know any other field that prefixes itself with the word mommy. Mommy Lawyers? Mommy Chefs? Mommy Doctors? No no no you are just Lawyers, Chefs, or Doctors, right?

Ok, stepping off my blogger soapbox. I realize this doesn’t apply to most of you reading. Just something that’s been bugging me lately. If I have more time to post about the conference details I’ll do it over on SkinnyMinnyMedia. There was some cool tips passed around.

So lunch there was INSANE. Did I really need to eat the entire salad (which had WONDERFUL mozzarella cheese and balsamic vinaigrette,) a roll, the whole chicken breast with veggies and potatoes, AND the BIGGEST PIECE OF CHOCOLATE CAKE I’VE EVERY SEEN?!? Seriously this thing was insane. I wish I took a picture.

No. No I didn’t. But it was so darn tasty!

Am I regretting it now? Yes. But not because I feel guilty or ashamed or any nonsense like that but because my stomach feels yucky now. Sorry, there’s no other word I can use that describes it better then that. Yucky.

When I eat a meal like this I’m reminded how I used to feel ALL the time. I’d go from one meal to the next eating way too much thinking that this is what it meant to be full. Now I know better. Stuffed is in a whole other category then full and I don’t think I like it very much.

Again, no sense in beating myself up. I’m already moving on. Tomorrow I have my first longer training run for the half. 5 miles. I think that will be my longest run this year so far! I’ll tell you how it goes tomorrow. I’m off to watch Food, Inc. with hubby. I hope it scares him into eating a little better. Then again, Super Size Me didn’t, so my hopes aren’t that high.