Alright, time to get back on track! Last week I finished reading Rick Gallop's The G.I. Diet. I'm super glad that I read the book. I feel like I've now got a really good understanding of how the diet works. Also, I don't want to be referring to it as a diet because it's really more of a lifestyle (as my dietitian said yesterday, it's really eating the way we all should be eating). An interesting tidbit from the book is that you should aim to eat the green light way 90% of the time. I worked it out mathematically, and if you're supposed to be eating three meals and three snacks a day, if you slip up on 4 meals/snacks a week you're still pretty much on track. My dietitian recommended aiming more for 80% of the time because that's more realistic. So with that thought in mind, I'm going to aim for 100% for now, but not beat myself up if I slip up.
Honestly, I know I'll never make 100%. I have Type 1 diabetes after all, which means low blood sugars happen sometimes because I'm on insulin. But still, better to aim high, right?
I know I said I wanted to start eating only green light foods earlier in the month, but as I said last time, the year's been off to a rough start. I basically started over the weekend; I went shopping on Sunday and stocked my fridge full of fruits and vegetables for snacks. I had a few days last week where I was eating off some of the red light stuff I had kicking around my house, so a lot of it is gone now. There's still a bit that I either need to eat or throw out still. I don't really want to be throwing food out, so at this point I'll say I'm trying to eat mostly green light, but not 100% yet because I still have some food I need to use up.
I was planning on weighing myself yesterday but forgot. So here are today's numbers:
weight: 209.0 lbs
fat percentage: 45.1%
hydration: 37.7%
muscle: 27.0%
bone: 10.7%
cal: 2339
This is the lowest I've recorded myself weighing for awhile (but it's nothing to brag about - Dec 17th 210.8, Jan 1st was 209.2, and Jan 4th was 209.8). So I've got a downward trend going on, but it's nothing really big at the moment. It'll be interesting to see how I'm doing next week after a week of mostly eating green light foods.
In other news, I went to see my diabetes nurse and dietitian yesterday. I was hoping to get in to see them in December, but had to wait until now. We didn't make any changes (I didn't want to change things based off of the last few weeks), but I agreed to fit in some more basal tests. As I lose weight, this is going to be super important because my insulin needs are going to change (my dietitian said that losing even a few pounds can make a huge difference!) So I'll have to be extra vigilant going forward.
Finally, let's talk exercise. Last week my dad and I went swimming for the first time since before Christmas. It felt good, but wow did I lose lung capacity! We'll be going again this afternoon.
Also on Sunday, my family and I went cross country skiing for the first time this winter season! I ran a little higher than I would have liked, but my glucose stayed high enough to successfully ski 40 minutes without having to eat. I used my insulin strategy for skiing, but honestly guessed at the amount of carbohydrates I ate during supper, which I think is where I went wrong (I could have used a bit more insulin so I didn't go as high).
Oh yeah, and my mom and I did pilates last Thursday night. I worked until 9pm, so I went to my mom's right after work. We're going to do that again this week, too.
So that's what's been happening in my life for the last little while. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough to keep skiing on Sundays!
Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Sunday, 17 January 2016
Rough Start
Well 2016 has been off to a bit of a rough start. I had a family member pass away a week and a half ago. That meant life was derailed for a bit, and is only getting back on track now.
I'll be back to posting weekly updates soon.
I'll be back to posting weekly updates soon.
Monday, 4 January 2016
Weekly Update January 4 2016
I haven't been feeling well for the last while so I wanted to see what
was going on with my weight and whatnot. Basically I ran myself down to
exhaustion, and while recovering from that I ended up getting a cold.
As a result I've basically been staying home and taking it easy as much as possible. I'm still not feeling 100%, but today's the first day where I honestly
do feel a bit better. So here's what's happening.
weight: 209.8 lbs
fat percentage: 45.0%
hydration: 37.8%
muscle: 27.1%
bone: 10.7%
cal: 2344
Oh, I should also add that I did 40 minutes of yoga yesterday afternoon with my mom. That's really all to report right now. Hopefully I'm feeling back to normal soon!
weight: 209.8 lbs
fat percentage: 45.0%
hydration: 37.8%
muscle: 27.1%
bone: 10.7%
cal: 2344
Oh, I should also add that I did 40 minutes of yoga yesterday afternoon with my mom. That's really all to report right now. Hopefully I'm feeling back to normal soon!
Friday, 1 January 2016
Happy New Year!
First, here are those numbers from Tuesday (I forgot to post them):
weight: 209.2 lbs
fat percentage: 45.8%
hydration: 37.2%
muscle: 26.7%
bone: 10.7%
cal: 2341
Yes, my weight went a little bit down after Christmas. But I'm not celebrating. I wasn't feeling good over the weekend and was careful with what I was eating (so most likely the slight loss is from that). But I don't feel like I ate *too* much during Christmas, so that was good.
So now, onto 2016!
I have three main goals for the year:
1. Eat healthier.
My original plan was to use the GI Diet again as of today. But after being sick this week, and having a bunch of goodies from Christmas that need to be eaten, that's not realistic. So maybe I will plan to start next week instead.
From there, I'm going to eat green light for at least a month. Realistically though, I'm going to need to eat green light for longer than that. If I lose 2 lbs a week, starting next week, it will take me until the end of May to get down 40lbs (which is my current goal). If I remember correctly, you want to be losing only one to two lbs a week. More than that is unhealthy weight loss.
I'm also going to need to come up with some strategies for times in there like Easter. But I will worry about that later.
So my first plan of action is going to be to read through Rick Gallop's GI Diet book. Then I will start formulating strategies for the rest of life. In the meantime, I'm going to try to use up leftovers from Christmas (which includes some delicious baking from my parents and random other treats), and get through this week as best as I can; Saturday is my grandmother's birthday, so I'm going to aim to start eating green light foods only as of Monday, January 11th.
2. Be more active.
I keep thinking this is going to be the easier goal of the two. I like being active, so no big deal. Of course, the problems right now are two-fold: first, it's winter, which means it's much harder to motivate myself to go outside and walk. And second, I am so busy that it's hard to fit everything in.
Well, let's start with seeing how much exercise I should be fitting into my life. According to the CDA (in particular this PDF):
Ok, I thought 150 minutes sounded right. But I wasn't even factoring in the strength training/resistance exercises. So yikes!
So that breaks down to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five days a week. I know I'm nowhere near that.
But I could be. If I walked to work, that's approximately 15 minutes one way. I only usually have 3-4 shifts a week. But that would mean that me walking to and from work three times a week would equal 90 minutes of aerobic exercise. A fourth day equals 120 minutes. So realistically, if I walk to work I would only need to fit in one more day (or two at most) of aerobic exercise a week. And what fits that perfectly? Swimming with my dad! And don't forget, soon I'll hopefully be skiing as well (at least for the next few months). So realistically, if I can get myself walking to and from work, I've got this part covered.
Okay, sounds easy. But what about when it's legitimately too cold to go walking outside? I'm thinking that I'll have to go walk inside somewhere, like in the mall. It's not ideal, but it will get me moving. I wonder how many steps it is from one end of the mall to the next? That's something I'll have to check out with my fitbit.
Alright, so what about the strength training? Fitting things in three times during the week is going to be tough. I'm also not quite sure how long/how much/what I should be doing. So for the immediate future, I'm going to stick with yoga once a week while I look into it. For January I'm going to focus on meeting that aerobic goal, then go from there.
I have some issues that are going to come up, too. My current job is just a temporary job, possibly finished in February. So I may have to readjust what I'm doing come February. We'll have to see!
I am going to keep track of the exercise I'm doing though, just to see if I'm succeeding (and if there's any times that I'm having troubles).
3. Take better care of my diabetes.
Lately, I've felt like my glucose is fluctuating too much. I've been too high lately, but I've also been going too low. So what am I going to do about this?
For one thing, I have an appointment at the end of January with Diabetes Health. So I'll be able to get some help from them. Of course, I already know what I need to do. I need to tighten up on my carbohydrate counting, eat better, and actually do some of the tests I despise doing (I'm looking at you, basal tests). I don't want to overwhelm myself with everything I want to do, so for the month of January, I'm going to fit in those tests. They may get in my way of being active, but I will try to balance them. Hopefully then I'll be able to bring some good information with me to Diabetes Health at the end of the month.
Depending on how things are going, I'll also try to carbohydrate count better. I just don't want to overwhelm myself with everything I'm trying to do. So we'll see how that goes (but I'm not going to be upset if I fail at that this month).
___
So there we have it. This year I vow to take better care of myself. And I have some concrete steps to take this January. Wish me luck! I will keep track of things as best as I can on here, and will see how things are going/come up with some new steps for February. :)
weight: 209.2 lbs
fat percentage: 45.8%
hydration: 37.2%
muscle: 26.7%
bone: 10.7%
cal: 2341
Yes, my weight went a little bit down after Christmas. But I'm not celebrating. I wasn't feeling good over the weekend and was careful with what I was eating (so most likely the slight loss is from that). But I don't feel like I ate *too* much during Christmas, so that was good.
So now, onto 2016!
I have three main goals for the year:
- Eat healthier.
- Be more active.
- Take better care of my diabetes.
1. Eat healthier.
My original plan was to use the GI Diet again as of today. But after being sick this week, and having a bunch of goodies from Christmas that need to be eaten, that's not realistic. So maybe I will plan to start next week instead.
From there, I'm going to eat green light for at least a month. Realistically though, I'm going to need to eat green light for longer than that. If I lose 2 lbs a week, starting next week, it will take me until the end of May to get down 40lbs (which is my current goal). If I remember correctly, you want to be losing only one to two lbs a week. More than that is unhealthy weight loss.
I'm also going to need to come up with some strategies for times in there like Easter. But I will worry about that later.
So my first plan of action is going to be to read through Rick Gallop's GI Diet book. Then I will start formulating strategies for the rest of life. In the meantime, I'm going to try to use up leftovers from Christmas (which includes some delicious baking from my parents and random other treats), and get through this week as best as I can; Saturday is my grandmother's birthday, so I'm going to aim to start eating green light foods only as of Monday, January 11th.
2. Be more active.
I keep thinking this is going to be the easier goal of the two. I like being active, so no big deal. Of course, the problems right now are two-fold: first, it's winter, which means it's much harder to motivate myself to go outside and walk. And second, I am so busy that it's hard to fit everything in.
Well, let's start with seeing how much exercise I should be fitting into my life. According to the CDA (in particular this PDF):
The Canadian Diabetes Association CPGs recommend 150 minutes of aerobic exercise and 3 sessions of resistance exercise per week.Note: CPGs=Clinical Practice Guidelines
Ok, I thought 150 minutes sounded right. But I wasn't even factoring in the strength training/resistance exercises. So yikes!
So that breaks down to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five days a week. I know I'm nowhere near that.
But I could be. If I walked to work, that's approximately 15 minutes one way. I only usually have 3-4 shifts a week. But that would mean that me walking to and from work three times a week would equal 90 minutes of aerobic exercise. A fourth day equals 120 minutes. So realistically, if I walk to work I would only need to fit in one more day (or two at most) of aerobic exercise a week. And what fits that perfectly? Swimming with my dad! And don't forget, soon I'll hopefully be skiing as well (at least for the next few months). So realistically, if I can get myself walking to and from work, I've got this part covered.
Okay, sounds easy. But what about when it's legitimately too cold to go walking outside? I'm thinking that I'll have to go walk inside somewhere, like in the mall. It's not ideal, but it will get me moving. I wonder how many steps it is from one end of the mall to the next? That's something I'll have to check out with my fitbit.
Alright, so what about the strength training? Fitting things in three times during the week is going to be tough. I'm also not quite sure how long/how much/what I should be doing. So for the immediate future, I'm going to stick with yoga once a week while I look into it. For January I'm going to focus on meeting that aerobic goal, then go from there.
I have some issues that are going to come up, too. My current job is just a temporary job, possibly finished in February. So I may have to readjust what I'm doing come February. We'll have to see!
I am going to keep track of the exercise I'm doing though, just to see if I'm succeeding (and if there's any times that I'm having troubles).
3. Take better care of my diabetes.
Lately, I've felt like my glucose is fluctuating too much. I've been too high lately, but I've also been going too low. So what am I going to do about this?
For one thing, I have an appointment at the end of January with Diabetes Health. So I'll be able to get some help from them. Of course, I already know what I need to do. I need to tighten up on my carbohydrate counting, eat better, and actually do some of the tests I despise doing (I'm looking at you, basal tests). I don't want to overwhelm myself with everything I want to do, so for the month of January, I'm going to fit in those tests. They may get in my way of being active, but I will try to balance them. Hopefully then I'll be able to bring some good information with me to Diabetes Health at the end of the month.
Depending on how things are going, I'll also try to carbohydrate count better. I just don't want to overwhelm myself with everything I'm trying to do. So we'll see how that goes (but I'm not going to be upset if I fail at that this month).
___
So there we have it. This year I vow to take better care of myself. And I have some concrete steps to take this January. Wish me luck! I will keep track of things as best as I can on here, and will see how things are going/come up with some new steps for February. :)
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