Moving...

I have moved my blog to http://notfinishedjustyet.wordpress.com/

The Plan

After reading Brooke's blog http://bitebybite.wordpress.com/ and getting all inspired I went to Kenz's old posts http://kenzicle.blogspot.com/2006/10/week-24-day-1.html and got even more inspired to set a goal and set some firm plans to achieve that goal.

So the first goal is 7kgs down by the time we go to Mapleton which is 29th December - 7 weeks away. I have lost around 9kgs in the last 2 1/2 years and I am so pleased about that but I really want to lose some more.

Since I have Type 2 diabetes, the plan is to improve my blood sugars and the Hba1c result and to lose weight.

1. Take my medications 3 times per day.
2. Exercise on the treadmill building up to 60mins per day including grade requirements of star jumps, sit ups, squats and push ups and 5 mins skipping and each karta and routine. Martial arts classes 1hr 45mins twice a week.
3. Testing blood sugar levels fasting and then one hour and two hours after each meal and snack. Aiming for these levels: Fasting: under 6, 1hour after eating: under 7.7 and 2hours after eating: under 6.
4. Regular eating times - smaller meals and snacks six times per day. Eat fruit, vegetables and wholegrain carbs, lean proteins and cut way back on refined carbs. Treats are for being out with family and friends and in small serves.
5. Drink 2 litres of water each day.
6. Listen to hypnosis cd regularly.

On the weekend I am going to print out the steps and scrapbook a poster for my kitchen cupboard as a constant reminder. I will also save them as my desktop on my laptop too.

Just to clarify some of the finer details:

1. I don't know why but I do find it hard to remember to take my meds, I have been very much improved with this over the last few weeks
2. I plan to start with just 30mins and build up the time over several weeks, I love doing the karate so much that it is not really like exercise to me but just fun. I realized about two weeks ago that what I love the very most about the karate is that while I am doing it I forget about any worries or problems and just sort of go "ïnto the zone" and I love that!
3. I have learnt so much recently about the levels I should be achieving and how my body responds to certain foods (it reacts very badly to refined carbs - sets off cravings and makes me lose all energy and enthusiasm) and testing so often is the best way to monitor this at this stage and to keep me motivated. Aiming for these levels: Fasting: under 6, 1hour after eating: under 7.7 and two hours after eating: under 6.
4. I have found that eating smaller meals six times a day is so much easier for my body to cope with and it also keeps cravings at bay. The meal I have the most trouble with is breakfast because I find it hard to eat a cooked breakfast and I love to have a protein shake but the milk doesn't really agree with me. However I have found that for me breakfast is the most important meal of the day because if I eat a good breakfast I eliminate cravings for the whole day.
5. I always drink 2 litres of water per day without fail because I have had had lots of kidney stones and by drinking the water I seem to still make the stones but they are much smaller and much easier to cope with.
6. I highly recommend the Paul McKenna hynposis cd and book "I can make you thin". I started listening to this 2 1/2 years ago and it is only since then that I have lost and kept off any weight my whole life. I have learnt not to overeat and that used to be a big problem for me. I can now stop when I am full.

Progress...

Feeling so much better, it is quite incredible. After only three days my blood sugars are so much more stable and I am regularly achieving the goals of:


1hr after eating: Under 8
2hr after eating: Under 6.5

However the fasting goal is a long way from where it should be and is currently hovering between 7.5 and 7.8. I am aiming for Under 6 which at this point feels really hard, but after getting better after meals readings, feeling a lot more energetic, finding the plan really easy (a lot easier than feeling so rotten and just lying on the couch) I am sure it will eventually happen. Plus my meds have been increased to 3 x 500 a day (Metformin). I am trying to incorporate foods that I love but find lower spike ways to have them eg yesterday I had a caramel decaf frappe at Gloria Jeans with the guilt free caramel syrup (worked like a charm). I also had a Subway wrap for lunch which was delicious and once again perfect sugars. Oh, and I have lost a kg.

In other news:

Grading for Blue belt at karate in three weeks and then Green belt blue tag four weeks after that woohoo

Starting weapons (like a broomstick lol) on Thursdays and I am really loving that, I especially love the karta.

Go Matt Corby on Idol - he is fabulous and I can't wait to see what they all sing this week.

Back to school Monday - I will miss the boys but it will be so good to get back into an ironing routine.

Great find re diabetes info and support

I have been doing some research online about diabetes and the dawn phenomenon and came across http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/index.php and http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/ lots of info about achieving a low spike diet and a 5% a1c.

My latest results are

hba1c: 6.7
fasting blood sugar: 8.8

so based on the theory that what we eat each day matters the next day blood sugar wise I am going to continue testing and increasing the testing to 1hr and 2hr tests after meals and see how the carbs I am eating are affecting the results.

Loving you is easy cause you're beautiful

Really working on all of this right now

So.... Since last Friday I have been religious about checking my blood sugar levels (fasting and 2hrs after each meal) and whew what a shocker! My fastings are all high (over 9.0) and the breakfast ones are all high (over 9.0) and the lunch and dinner ones are great (5 and 6). I also have been religious about diet and exercise and the only day I had a good breakfast reading was the day I had a protein shake with strawberries and fibre mix. I am going to experiment with trying different things to get the fasting and breakfast readings way down.

1. Treadmill every night for 30 mins followed by grade requirements of star jumps, sit ups, squats and push ups and 5 mins skipping and running through each karta and routine.
2. Breakfast will be the banana berry protein shake with psyllium husk and LSA.
3. Tracking bsls and food/exercise diary on this blog.

I am also seeing my dr on Monday for a complete review.

25 grams of fibre

or what I learnt from Dr Oz on Oprah.

I have actually learnt a lot since I started watching a few months ago. About things like how to have 25grams of fibre a day. So I have started back on my porridge/psyllium husks/lsa regime and already feel so much better. Morning tea is a banana blueberry protein smoothie and I am still working on lunch (thinking a multi-grain salad and cheese sandwich). Afternoon tea is an orange and a yoghurt. We always have vegies or salad at night. It is really hard to fit in all that fibre...

Karate is going fantastically - really - I did 50 star jumps without stopping last week! I am going much better with sit ups and skipping and learning how to improve my stances in my kick routine.

Did a few layouts on Tues night (have about 10 to journal still) then I am going to post some. Still having the eternal dilemna of 12x12 vs 8.5x11 lol.