Tuesday, June 17, 2008

It Just Goes To Show You, "It's Always Something!"



TO Quote the Comedy Goddess and wonderful Writer Gilda Radner:
"It's Always Something."
She was right on target, but she kept on going. She found the funny, embraced the laughter, stayed positive and always made lemonade out of lemons.


First, I was able to turn a potential negative into a Positive: To make a long story, somewhat shorter - I had a meeting with myself a few months ago, and me, my Ego, and my Id (feel free to call me Cybil) decided that I needed to incorporate more whole foods into my diet. I've commented on this before.
I (we?) came to this conclusion for many reasons.
1. For the first time ever, I had a slightly high cholesterol reading - it freaked me out big time!
2. I wanted to continue loosing weight. Whole foods (fruit, veggies, whole grains, legumes, etc) are high in fiber and as you know dear Diabetesaliciousness reader, fiber is our friend. Especially if your a diabetic. Because when diabetics eat foods that contain fiber, we get to subtract the fiber grams from our carb count. Which equals less insulin intake, less calories, and of course, a healthy colon! Fiber also makes us feel fuller quicker.
3. Eating whole foods make me feel better - plain and simple. When I eat more WF's, I feel better in general.

Less "chemically" then processed foods, I feel more alert and less sluggish.

How did I do this? Really easy. First, I literally ate an apple a day. Sounds cliche and really silly, but it's true. Apples are high in fiber, Fuji apples are really tasty and are the perfect size and would put a smile on most any Diabetes Educator's face. I also found that 1 apple a day, could easily turn into two. I'd eat one mid morning with some cheese (carb/ protein combo) and then have the same thing around 3:30 in the afternoon.

I also discovered Greek yogurt with flaxseed, honey and frozen wild blueberries was a delicious and "fiberlicious" way to start the day! It also tasted really good with pineapples and cinnamon. Won't even go into the whole cinnamon blood sugar connection, we've all heard about it.

For dinner, I made sure that I had a serving of broccoli( calcium content is the most of any veggie besides seaweed and is great for your bones) and legumes (yes, it's true...beans really are good for your heart. The reduce inflammation in your arteries) regardless of what the main course was. Sometimes, broccoli and beans are the main course.

I've also become quite the fan of cooking with turmeric, which is supposed to be good for all sorts of ailments including; blood sugar and inflammation issues.

Dark chocolate and I have become even better friends then I ever imagined we could be.
We hang out daily and I can't say that I miss milk chocolate.


The results.

At my next Dr's appointment , I had lost 4 lbs and my cholesterol went down by 20 points.


To date, those 4 lbs have turned into 9 and my cholesterol is still normal.

Now, for the "I still got issues OR It's Always Something Part".

My #*&%ing feet are killing me! If I could just get this
Metatarsalgia (which is not diabetes related, but pretty damn painful regardless) taken care of, I'd be good to go for another 100,000 miles. Any suggestions? Surgery is just not something I want to do and I start Acupuncture on Friday. I am a long distance walker (I used walk up to 20 miles a week) and I haven't been able to do high impact aerobic exercise since Metatarsalgia came into my life.

I miss my long walks! Swimming laps in the pool is just so boring. Has anyone ever suffered from Metatarsalgia? How did you deal with it?? Any advice?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Kelly. Can't give you any help with the Metatarsalgia, but hat's off to your successes in the old menu, cholesterol, and weight loss departments. That's very inspiring.

George said...

My foot problems are from the old "D" so I can't help with that but I can give bust out a cyber high five for your kick ass work on the weight and cholesterol.

YOU GO GURL!!!

k2 said...

Jeff -
Thanks for the kind words. I had never had high cholesterol b4, and I didn't wait to take meds. So far so good. I will keep my eye on it.
As far as the feet - I'll keep u posted on Acupuncture - I'm going to be positive and expect really good results.

George -
Thanks for the big Cyber High 5!
It means a lot coming from such a stealth D-Ninja such as yourself!

We both will figure out our feet - Patience is a virtue, RIGHT?
k2

Anonymous said...

Hi, can't help you with the foot thing but try your apple with some peanut butter. I love bananas with peanut butter but we are boaters and I found out that bananas don't travel well so I started taking apples with me and just spread peanut butter on the slices it is great. Congrat on you success and don't give up on the excerise you will find a remedy. Best of luck to you!!!

Shannon said...

WOW!! 9 pounds and normal cholesterol are incredible results. Yay for you!

Boo for your feet, though. I have no idea how to help. I hope you find relief soon.

k2 said...

Denise -
I love apples with peanut butter!
I drizzle honey on the apple and PB.
I also love peanut butter and banana.Your right, banana's are not a good "travel" fruit, neither are pears.
Still, both are pretty tasty.
THANKS for stopping by and thanks for your kind words!

Shannon -
THANKS for the encouragement!
I really want to keep my cholesterol at bay. It had never been even remotely high b4, so the test was really a shocker. Once was enough! WHEW!
Working on muscle tone and continued weight loss, not as easy when your high impact portion is sidelined. I know acupuncture will help and will keep u posted!
k2

Karen said...

Go you!!!!! The weight-loss and cholesterol lowering rocks!! It's so easy to fall into the habit of eating processed foods because we fool ourselves into thinking they are easier to "grab and go". But it's just as easy to grab an apple (okay, it needs to be washed first, but really that only takes minute!)

Wish I had some advice on the Metatarsalgia, but that's new to me. (Best of luck with the acupuncture - I hope it works great.) Also new to me - deducting fiber grams from carb grams. Thanks for making me realize I could use a brush-up class on carb counting!

Anonymous said...

Kelly, WAY TO GO!!! That's awesome that you have been so diligent with the diet changes and are seeing big-time benefits! :) P.S. Pears are also a good source of fiber, in case you get tired of apples...
As for the metatarsalgia, do you think physical therapy would help? Maybe they could give you some exercises or stretches to do that would help? Or maybe you just need to rest it. Ugh, that's such a bummer. I really hope the acupuncture helps.

k2 said...

Karen -
Glad that I could fill u in on the whole deducting grams of fiber from carbs thing!
I was never a huge fan of processed food, but I have vices like everyone else. Namely peanut butter and & Jelly sammies and chips.

Thanks for the best wishes regarding my feet - Will keep u posted!

Katie -
I LOVE PEARS! SO TASTY & they have even more fiber than prunes!
I've tried PT on the feet - not much help. I'm really going to stay positive and hope that Acupuncture does the trick.

This low impact exercise is really difficult - as in it's so boring it makes me want to just not exercise at all! Trying not to fall into that trap!
k2