Never Perfection...Always Progress

This weekend was better than the last in the way of eating and exercise and I'm damn proud of that.  Last weekend I had 3 restaurant meals out.  This weekend I had 1 lunch out, eating 5 out of 6 meals on Sat and Sun at home.  Last weekend I did one walk on Sat and none on Sun.  This weekend I did 2 walks on Sat and 1 on Sun.  I took a few food pics to show the delicious meals I had.  Last weekend the meal plan was in my head, not solid and written down on paper as it should be.  This weekend I wrote it, edited it, re-wrote it and hung it on my fridge.  I even took into account the fact that Dwayne will be home this week on Thursday and Friday, and scheduled breakfast and lunches for him as well as me.

Saturday's lunch was the most delicious wrap I've ever made.  I mixed up some solid white albacore tuna (1 can) with some mayo, onions and dill pickles.  I put it on a Joseph's flatbread (10 net carbs) with fresh spinach, tomato slices, cucumber slices and sliced orange bell pepper.  Oh my goodness was it delicious.  It had just the right amount of crunch with the peppers, cucumbers and pickles.  I found something at the store I'd never bought before...Pepperidge Farms Pretzel Thins.  I had a handful of those with my wrap instead of the Doritos I served to Dwayne.

About 3pm or so I finally made it to the park to walk.  Dwayne downloaded the Runtastic App to my phone that Biz uses and it's pretty cool.  It measures your time, distance, calories burned, etc.  I've been doing 4 laps around the track (3 laps is 1 mile) and said I would bump it to 5 laps on Monday, but I decided since I was by myself with no dogs and no Dwayne that I'd go ahead and do 5 laps.  It took me 35 mins, was 1.75 miles and said I burned 499 calories.  When I got back home I had a snack plate of turkey slices, a cheese stick, baby carrots and baby tomatoes.  The dogs helped me eat 1/3 of this plate.  They're always willing to help Momma shave some calories of my daily intake.  :)

I decided to make jambalaya for dinner.  The only traditional item I leave out of it is the green bell pepper.  Dwayne will tolerate SOME tomato based dishes once in a while, but anything green is out of the question.  I used andouille sausage and some cajun spice and it had just the right amount of heat.  I also cut up and sauteed 2 boneless chicken breasts and shrimp.  I cook the shrimp separately and then add it to the whole pot when it's totally finished cooking.

You'll just have to forgive my crappy pics...I have zero photography skills.  Just trust me when I tell you this was AMAZING.

After dinner I decided to take Boomer to the park and walk with me.  Boy was that difficult for the first couple of laps.  He finally got the hang of "heel" about 2.5 laps in, and we ended up doing 5 laps altogether.  The app said it took 38 mins and I burned 533 calories, so just a little longer and more difficult than the earlier walk that day.  It was another 1.75 mi for a total of 3.5 miles for the day.  Go me!  Who am I??  I don't even recognize myself!

When I got back home I checked out my meal plan for the week and saw that I had lasagna soup scheduled for Sunday's lunch....time to make the soup!  Now I made this last week for the first time after getting the recipe from Biz and I followed it almost to the "T" last time.  This week I decided to make it my own.  I wanted a chunkier soup.  Last time I cooked the pasta separately and stored it that way in the fridge, only mixing the soup and pasta into an individual bowl when I was ready to heat some up.  This time, I decided to buy a bag of smaller pasta at the store (not the rotini I used last week), and mix it in with the soup.  I measured out 6 oz. of ditalini.  I used petite diced tomatoes instead of the fire roasted tomatoes (smaller pieces) and I used chicken broth instead of chicken stock (cheaper).  I also used about 5 TBSP of tomato paste instead of the 2 TBSP it called for, because I wanted a richer, deeper flavor this time.  Oh, and I used about 3x the amount of oregano it called for.  I only had 2 of the hot Italian sausage links left in the pack from last time, that I had in the freezer.  I knew I needed more meat, so I used 2 of the Andouille sausages I had leftover from the jambalaya.  I sauteed these 2 meats together and it added just enough heat to my pot.

I had a small bowl when it was finished and it turned out just as good as I had hoped.  I believe I'll be making it like this from now on.  I was supposed to have it for lunch today but those plans got trashed.  We went out to buy new shoes...

And then Dwayne wanted to go see that new Jurassic movie.  Well that was 2.5 hours away from the house I wasn't planning on, so we had lunch out first before we headed to the movie.  The movie was decent.  We headed home afterwards and hung out a bit before grilling pork chops for dinner.  I also had him grill some veggies while I roasted some corn in the oven.  Everything turned out so tasty...grilled is my favorite way of cooking, but Dwayne is way better at it than me.  I really need to learn...Biz is my grilling hero, lol.  I need to ask her for some tips. :)

I was seriously thinking about taking a rest day from the walking...I figured 6 days in a row was enough reason for a break.  Then the guilt set in.  A break from what?  It's not like I did anything strenuous or grueling today.  No reason not to walk.  I love walking at the park, although the scenery is growing a bit boring.  But tonight I decided we'd walk around the neighborhood with my new app.  I wanted to know the distance, but was also curious to know if the GPS in the app would measure elevation and difficulty based on that.  There is a horrible part of the walk that I call the Hill from Hell and I absolutely hate it.  I can walk up it now without stopping but it is the slowest walk you have ever seen.  I am putting one foot in front of the other the whole time I'm trudging up, without stopping, but it's so slow I'm pretty sure a turtle could pass me and leave me in the dust.  It is so hard to breathe and I'm just huffing and puffing the whole way.  Dwayne just walks straight up it w/ no obvious effort or pain (I so hate that) and I fight and claw my way up, many feet behind him.   So we were doing it this evening and about 10-12 steps before I reached the crest of the hill, teetering on the brink of death, the app says out loud "GPS Has Lost Signal".  Without missing a beat I blurted right out loud "F*CK YOU!!!"  I didn't stop...I kept on going just in case it recorded ANY part of the walk, but man was I pissed.  I nearly wanted to cry.  We made it on home and the app said it was .94 of a mile, it took 22 mins and I burned 324 calories.  Well that calorie burn is just about the same as it as walking laps at the park, with no hills, so apparently it does NOT measure difficulty based on elevation.  Therefore I see no need to ever walk that hill again.  EVER. 

When we got inside I fixed a small bowl of cottage cheese with blueberries to take my 5th pill for the day.  I dislike having to take so many meds.  I'm hoping by focusing on eating better, fewer carbs and exercising regularly that some of the meds can be reduced or cut out after my next lab appointment.  At least that's my personal goal as well as the goal I set for Biz's Summer Challenge.  Hope everyone had as nice of a weekend as I did.  It really feels great when you make the right choices MOST of the time.  Never perfection....always progress.

Wednesday Already???

Man this week is flying by!!

Short post tonight...just the facts.  No walk this morning due to early morning errands that ran until 2pm.  No walk at 2pm...I convinced myself if I did, I would surely die of a heat stroke.  Got home and put some chicken in the oven that I'd been marinating in the fridge.  Tuscan and parmesan spice blends with olive oil and fresh lemon juice.  I went ahead and poured the marinade over the chicken and put the lemons in there, too.  I also added some fresh mushrooms and a few leftover stalks of asparagus to make sure they didn't go to waste.  I am really loving marinating with fresh lemon...the fresh taste just can't be beat.  So sunny and delicious.

Biz's Burger Salad post inspired me for tonight's dinner.  I already don't eat my burger on a bun when making them at home, but added a few cucumbers and carrots on top of the normal tomato, onion, lettuce and dill pickle.  Along w/ a swipe of mayo and my all important ketchup.  Totally delish.

So I told Dwayne that we needed to walk more than a mile at the park in the evenings.  3 laps is one mile.  He said he's concerned the dogs wouldn't be able to do 2 miles in this heat and humidity, so we're stepping it up slowly to see how they do.  I think the dogs will be fine, but I'm so tickled that he's still walking with me every day that I'll do whatever it takes to keep him happy.  So slowly it shall be.  Tonight we walked 4 laps instead of 3 and will do so the rest of the week.  Next week we will bump it up to 5 laps, and so on.

Tomorrow morning I have to head back to the tanning salon to do the red light therapy for the NLD on my legs.  They told me it will take 90 days for a full restorative cycle and to see a major difference.  Then they told me if I buy this $99 bottle of "effector" to rub on my legs, that it will cut that time in half.  Hmmmm.  45 days.  Is it worth it?  I don't know yet.  The fact is, I've been living with this crap on my legs for 7 years now.  It's doubtful that I'm spending $99 on a bottle of anything.  But we'll see.  I may get impatient and buy it.  When she saw me waffling, she gave me a $20 tanning pass that she said I could use as a coupon towards the effector, so now it's $80.  Maybe if she can get it down to $50, we'll talk.  :)

Up To 2 Miles

I finally made it on my morning walk today.  It was 11am and about 95 degrees outside, but I managed to eek out a mile.  It took me 25 mins.

Afterwards I dashed home to await the mobile groomer.  She took good care of my babies and we'll be using her again.  I took a couple of pics of them when she finished grooming them:

Scarlette was only 11 lbs to start with and now it looks like she weighs 5 lbs!!  I don't think she's ever had her hair cut that short, but it will be nice and cool for the summer.  Boomer got a bath and his ears and toe nails done.  Thank God because those things were starting to look like talons.  They were like weapons on your bare feet.

I took pics of us on our walk at the park tonight but apparently my camera ate them.  Tomorrow is another busy day...lots of errands to run.  I will most likely be having lunch out away from home but no idea where yet...that part isn't planned.  The goal is not calorie counting though...not right now.  The only goal right now is low carb until I make it to my next lab appointment.  I'm working very hard on getting used to eating the right amount of carbs so that it eventually becomes second nature.  When I've got that down, I'll go back to focusing on losing the rest of this weight. 

Progress With The NLD

I mentioned before that one of the diabetic related issues I have is something called NLD (Necrobiosis Lipoidica Diabeticorum).  It's a skin condition that is very rare and there's no cure.  It's basically a collagen deterioration that cannot be explained.  It causes bright red marks on the lower half of your legs and can be very painful if you touch it too hard, scratch an itch too hard, your dog sticks a claw in it, etc.  I have been searching and searching for some sort of treatment to lighten it and maybe have it go dormant for a while, which I have read online is possible.

I have an old blog friend from my previous blogging days that has the same condition.  She was telling me that red light therapy or photo facial therapy helped her.  I finally found what I thought was it at a medical spa, and scheduled an appointment for a free consultation this morning.  Turns out, the photo facial is actually a laser treatment called IPL and you have to be licensed to administer it.  It's anywhere from $150-$300 per session/treatment, depending on which spa you choose.

I told her about my friend and the red light therapy she used.  She said that's something totally different.  People use that for wrinkles because it boosts collagen in the skin, and sometimes you can find it at tanning salons like my friend did.  There just happened to be a tanning salon 2 doors down from her office, so we walked down together and spoke to the person there.  They used to have that type of unit, but not any longer.  I told the guy I had called multiple tanning salons and couldn't locate one.  He said he only knew of one salon locally that had what I needed and gave me their name.

I called that salon and they DO have it....they call it the "Beauty Angel Unit"...I have no idea what that's all about.  She said she's running a special right now...$39/month for unlimited use.  She said I could go every day like she does if I wanted to.  I'm not sure about every day because I still don't understand the technology.  My friend said it doesn't burn...it heals.  But I still think I will stick with every other day for now...3-4x per week.  I had too many errands to run today so I will start at the salon tomorrow.  I hope I have finally found the right solution to this problem!

Kim came for dinner tonight and I made BLT's with a bowl of lasagna soup on the side.  Boy was it delicious...both of them!  She had a migraine so she didn't walk with us as previously planned.  After she left, Dwayne and I took the dogs for what is becoming our nightly stroll around the neighborhood.  It only takes about 25-30 mins though so I really need to start doing a morning walk as well.

I will be honest...the walks do hurt.  What used to be so simple back when I was losing weight is just ridiculously tough now.  I feel like I'm 80 years old...pain in my feet, legs, lower back, even my butt!  But I'm trying to keep things in perspective.  I could be in a much worse position like my Dad, who has MS and can't really walk at all and is confined to either his motorized chair or his bed.  I know that he would much rather endure a little pain like I have if he could just have back the freedom of movement.  When I'm midway up the Hill from Hell, everything hurting and feeling like I'm gasping for my last breath, I quickly change my attitude and tell myself, "Shut your trap Tammy & get your ass up this hill...at least you CAN walk...MOVE IT!!"

I was away from home 6-7 hours today and the eating was BAD.  Period.  It sucked.  Getting right back on track tomorrow.  I think the only errand I have away from home is the spa for the NLD treatment so should be out and back within an hour.  All meals will be eaten at home.

Oh and one more thing.  I mentioned yesterday that I finally got to talk to the nurse at my dr's ofc.  She left free samples for me at the front desk that I picked up today of a THIRD diabetic medicine I am now taking.  Between the diabetes, the triglycerides and the hypothyroidism I am now on 5 pills per day.  To put a positive spin on that, I am thankful that the pharmacy gives me the metformin for free, and thankful the doctor gave me 6 weeks of free samples on this latest med.  I am to start taking it today and go back in 6 weeks from now for more bloodwork.

I've been cutting the carbs and taking the pills religiously for 3 weeks now.  I can already tell that my sugar has come down.  I can now sleep 5-6 hours straight w/o having to get up and pee...used to be I couldn't make it longer than an hour or two, so I was up all night and my sleep was horrible and nearly non-existent.  Also, I used to drink 3-4 (32 oz) glasses of water a day, no problem, due to my constant thirst.  Now, I'm having a hard time remembering to drink at least 64 oz because the thirst is gone.  This is encouraging!  I'm headed for bed so ta ta for now. :)

The Doctor Said No - Round 1

A bit of good news.  The downpour last night was fast and furious, but short lived.  We actually made it out the door with the dogs at 8:30pm for a 30 minute jaunt around the neighborhood.  Getting out and walking 2 days in a row made me feel SO much better mentally.

A bit more good news...we just walked in the door from tonight's walk around the neighborhood so hooray for 3 straight days of exercise. :)  Tomorrow we'll be walking at the park again.  My darling friend Kim is coming over for dinner and a walk.  And to see my babies of course.  I think she loves those little turkeys as much as we do, and I love that about her!  She's going to be walking the Peachtree Road Race 10k here in Atlanta on July 4th weekend.  She says she needs to get a little practice in before the race, but the truth is, she's been doing this 10k for several years in a row now and she always finishes just fine.  She's in WAY better shape than I am, that's for sure.  She inspires me.  Love you girl!

On to the crappy doctor news.  I had expressed concern that I thought he may be trying to drop me since he referred me to an endocrinologist.  I was pretty much right.  I called the dr's ofc today and instead of leaving a FIFTH voicemail, I stayed on the phone with the receptionist until she went and got a nurse and put her on the phone.  Finally!

I found out that yes, the dr most certainly did intend for me to follow up with the endocrinologist for further diabetes and thyroid care.  I mentioned before in this blog that my last labs were really bad.  The nurse said the diabetes was starting to affect my kidneys in a negative way, and the doctor, being a primary care, didn't feel well enough equipped to continue treating my diabetes and thought an endo would give me more specific treatment and care.

However, what he did NOT know is that I already talked to the endo's office, found out an initial visit is $350, and with my $4500 deductible, there was no way in hell I was going to be able to pay that much per visit with a specialist.  It's just an impossibility.  So once the nurse found that out, she said she would relay it to the doctor and try to get my meds refilled. 

While I had her on the phone, I mentioned a couple of other things.  One, that the Januvia he prescribed was rejected by my insurance...they refuse to pay for it.  And two, I have serious concerns about my thyroid.  I told her I've been on synthetics like Synthroid for 13 years now and yet I still have a list a mile long of hypothyroid symptoms, as though it's not being treated at all.  I told her to ask the Dr if he would prescribe a natural treatment such as Armour or Nature Thyroid.  She said I can already tell you NO on the Armour.  I asked why.  She said most doctors just won't prescribe Armour.  I said, "But do you know WHY?"  She said they just don't think it works and won't prescribe it. 

Alrighty then.  My first rejection.  I do wonder how many more there will be before I find a doctor who will give me a natural med for this.  From the books I'm reading, I pretty much already knew the answer would be no.  There is absolutely nothing progressive at all about my doctor.  I knew he was traditional, so I was ready for it, but I had to ask to make sure before moving on to someone else.

Here's the really annoying thing about it.  I doubt I'll find any primary care doctor to approve it.  I think it will take a specialist of some sort.  And now we're back to specialist prices that I can't pay.  Not sure how it's going to work out.  Just going to pray that the Lord's will be done and that he'll point me in the right direction and open the doors that I need opened. 

On a brighter note, I made the lasagna soup that Biz makes like every other week, lol.  I keep seeing her pics of it and I finally decided to make it today.  I only made the soup part....I haven't made the pasta yet.  I will do that tomorrow.  She said to make them separately so the pasta doesn't soak up all the liquid by combining them.  She gave me the original recipe and I did not make the cheesy part...I'm just not a huge cheese fan so I'm not one to put it on everything I eat.  And I must say it is absolutely delicious without it.  So spicy and flavorful.  I used hot Italian sausage links...3 of them.  I think it called for 1.5 lbs of sausage.  I didn't bother measuring the links on the food scale...the package had 5 links in it and I just decided to scramble up 3 of them and froze the other 2 for next week's batch. ;)  Oh, and the fresh basil!  Oh my Heavens...that fragrance is divine!  I don't remember the last time I put fresh herbs in something but there is just no substitute!  Ahhh....so good.  I can't wait til lunch tomorrow.  :)

And finally, I dropped 3 lbs.  FINALLY.  When I started eating better and seriously cutting the carbs and axing the Cokes altogether, I just knew I'd drop like 20 lbs in a couple of days.  At least that was my hope.  Well, not only did I NOT lose last week...I GAINED 2 lbs.  Went from 240 to 242.  This morning I stepped on and finally saw 239.  I'll take it.  And hopefully it's just enough inspiration to spur me on to get as far away from the 240's as possible and keep myself focused on reaching the 220's. 

I saw the cool quote Biz posted about this morning.  And I saw where one of the girls in the challenge said she was going to post it on her wall, maybe over her desk or something, I can't remember.  All I can remember thinking is if I did that and my mother came to visit, walked in and saw the "F" word hanging on my wall I'd have to scrape her off the floor...after she was done beating me, LOL.  'Nite all.  :)

Walking Again

This is my 2nd post of the day but only because I forgot to post last night and threw a small one up this morning as my weekend recap.  I want the norm to be posting in the evenings when my day is coming to a close.

I snapped a few food pics today.  First, some fruit for snacking and meals.

Then some carrots and yogurt:

And finally, some egg cups that I made from Biz's blog post a few days ago about Green Eggs and Ham.  Now I don't have to cook breakfast every single morning and I LOVE that!!  Just 30 seconds in the microwave and voila!  I used ham, egg beaters, mushrooms, onions, a sprinkle of cheese on top with some salt and pepper.  I baked mine at 375 for 20 minutes and they came out perfectly cooked.

I finally started walking again this evening.  I asked Dwayne to go with me and he said yes so we loaded up the dogs and went to a park that's about 1/2 mile down the street from our subdivision.  I need some new shoes but don't have the money to buy them quite yet...I will on the 15th.  Thanks to diabetes AND hypothyroidism my feet hurt immensely every day.  They hurt when I'm on them, and they hurt when I'm sitting or lying in bed.  I have neuropathy where there is numbness but also pains that feel like electrical shocks or bee stings that come and go constantly.  I really don't think new shoes will do a whole lot to ease the pain, but I haven't bought new shoes in about 3 years, so I'm hoping it at least helps a little.  Something will be better than nothing because I certainly need to get moving again!  I took my camera with me to snap a couple of pics with my babies:

We got back home and I watered my flower bed in the front yard and my little garden box in the back yard.  It's after 9p now and I'm winding down for the night.  I think the only thing I have left to do is put some boneless chicken breasts in some marinade.  I'm going to use some Jerk seasoning with some pineapple juice.  That sounds like a good combo to me and will grill the chicken on the Foreman probably tomorrow, along with some shrimp I bought to cook for lunches.  Nite nite.  :)

Summer Challenge With Biz

Yesterday was another insanely busy day so I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend where I don't do much other than grocery shop and a few chores around the house.

I joined a Summer Challenge on Biz's blog.  My main goal is to eat well enough that I achieve better numbers on my lab work when I have it done again in 6 weeks.  The last lab numbers were absolutely hideous and I've got to get the diabetes in check.  My hypothyroidism is also out of whack, even though I've been taking meds for nearly 13 years.  I'm learning and reading about something called natural dessicated thyroid, which I believe is a hormone treatment.  Hoping to try a new approach to treating the thyroid very soon. 

I am getting ready to do my meal planning for the upcoming week.  This week's mini goal, in hopes of reaching my main goal, is to eat every single meal at home this week.  No eating out, not one single time, for any reason.  I do so poorly when I'm out for several hours and away from home and that has to change.  I'll be scheduling any necessary errands to only last an hour or two so that I'm back at home for each scheduled meal.  This really must become a priority and I'm going to make it one. 

I snapped a pic of breakfast yesterday.  I had made 1/2 a pork loin earlier in the week and it came out really tough.  I didn't want to serve it to Dwayne for dinner, so I decided to use it in my breakfast scrambles the next few days.  I diced it up along with some fresh mushrooms and onions and sauteed for a few mins.  Then mixed it with some egg beaters and a sprinkle of lowfat cheese.  Added some diced tomatoes on top with salt, pepper and hot sauce.  Totally delish. 

I just realized that looks like a large dinner plate.  I assure you it is much smaller than that, lol.  So I'm off to do the meal planning and make my grocery list.  Have a fabulous weekend! :)

Weekend Re-Cap

Good news on the last post about flaxseed oil tasting like poo.  I added 4 drops of liquid Stevia to the next bowl and it tasted just fine.  Yay!

So...the weekend was pretty busy.  Our spare truck that we bought from my mom about a month ago had been in the shop for a couple of weeks.  The a/c needed to be fixed, finally was, and I took Dwayne to pick that up.  After dropping him at the garage on Saturday, I headed to mom's to pick her and my niece and nephew up to go get the rental car.  They were headed to Florida Sunday morning to meet up with one of my sisters, bro-in-law and their 3 kids for a little vacay. 

When I finally made it back home I wrote up a grocery list and went back out to get that chore done.  Back home to do the regular household chores and then cook dinner.  I made shrimp lo mein that I found on Biz's blog and it turned out ok.  I have to leave certain things out so Dwayne won't freak...like anything green (goodbye cilantro), so it wasn't as good as it could have been, but he was happy and cleaned his plate. 

Sunday I did the grocery errand for an elderly lady that I've been doing for a couple of years.  I have a side business called The Errand Fairy and she is currently my only monthly customer that I work for on a recurring basis.  Every Wed. and Sun. morning is spent buying her groceries.  After that I met up with a friend who has a membership to BJ's Wholesale Club so I could get a few other things.  Dog treats, meats, etc.  With Mom and my sister being out of town together, that left me to take care of Dad.  I'm staying with him from late afternoon, spending the night, and then headed back home each morning to take care of my dogs, do my Ebay listings, etc. 

While in BJ's yesterday I got a call from Dad who was having a mini emergency and needed me to drive up right then.  I had Dwayne meet me at the store to get the groceries and take them home and put them in the fridge while I went to help Dad.  Then back home to do a few things, cook dinner for Dad, etc. and then back up to his house to feed him dinner and spend the night.

I got home this morning to find out the a/c in the house was out of order.  Frozen up.  Running constantly.  So I called someone to come out and fix it and thank God in Heaven it was only a $210 repair.  I just knew they were going to say it was dead for good and time to replace it....$3-4000.  We've been waiting on that to happen.  But not today.  The part that went bad has been replaced but the a/c is still turned off so the lines can thaw completely.  It's a bit uncomfortable but Dwayne will be able to turn it back on when he gets in from work this evening, so tomorrow it should be much more comfortable when I get home in the morning.  Today I have to leave at 4pm to stop by the store and pick up sandwich fixin's and then head back to Dad's.  Was going to cook him a ham, potato salad, veggies, etc. but there's no way I'm turning on the oven today.  Maybe tomorrow.

Mom bought and left me 3 books at her house to read about hypothyroidism.  I told her that I think there's another medicine I'd like to try instead of the synthroid I've been on for 13 years.  I've been reading a lot on FB on this page called Stop The Thyroid Madness and it talks about a natural treatment called Naturally Dessicated Thyroid?  I still don't fully know what that means, but I started reading one of the books she bought last night.  After I get through all 3 of them, I should be better informed on what I need to do to fix my thyroid.  It just doesn't make any sense to be on meds for 13 years, be told you're in the "normal" range, and still have all the symptoms of hypothyroidism, like you're doing nothing at all to treat it. 

I've also found out through my reading that many of my symptoms/issues/pains that I deal with on a daily basis are symptoms for both diabetes AND hypothyroidism.  I never knew a messed up thyroid could make your feet hurt.  I also didn't know that constipation was a problem caused by both diseases.  TMI??  Get used to it, lol.  If I'm going to journal about my health and my goal to fix myself, there's bound to be a ton of TMI in this blog.  :)

I'm off to finish a few more things before heading to Dad's.  Oh, and I joined a challenge on Biz's blog.  101 Days of Summer or something like that.  You had to choose a goal of something you want to accomplish this summer.  My one and only goal is to improve my diabetes enough with my food that I have better lab work numbers in 6 weeks when I have my blood drawn again.  That's where 90% of my focus is going to be.  The other 10% will be keeping the bills paid around here.  :)

Fabulous Flaxseed Oil

Mom has been hounding me for what seems like forever to eat flaxseed oil and cottage cheese mixed together.  ???  She says a lot of cancer patients eat this to fight cancer.  Apparently it carries oxygen to the cells, cancer can't live where oxyen is, etc.  I do not have cancer, thank God, but she SWEARS that flaxseed oil will help cure many ailments.  I have a rash on my legs as part of my diabetes called NLD.  I believe it's spelled Necrobiosis Lipoidica Diabetacorum...or something close to that.  It has been on my lower legs for about 7 years.

At first, it started out as one or two little red spots and I kept thinking it would go away.  It slowly spread and I eventually went to a dermatologist who looked at it, consulted with other colleagues, and then told me she had never seen that before in her life and had no idea what it was.  I had no insurance at the time and wasn't willing to fork out $800 for a biopsy so that was the end of that for a few more years.

My sister, who is a nurse, suggested I go to her dermatologist, that he could probably look at it and tell me exactly what it was w/o a biopsy.  So I made an appointment and went a couple of weeks ago.  Turns out she was right.  He knew exactly what it was, but he did tell me that it was really rare.  He also said that it was treated with steroid cream and light sessions, but that insurance no longer covered the cost of the light sessions.  He then told me he would give me the cream, and as much as he hated to suggest this due to skin cancer risk, that I could go to a tanning bed and get the same results.

So as of a couple of weeks ago, I now go to the tanning bed 3x/week to try and lighten the rash....there's no actual cure.  To tell you the truth, I don't see a difference yet but I know it takes some time.  To speed things up, I finally decided to try the magical flaxseed oil that mom has been pushing on me to see if it helps.  I certainly don't see how it could hurt.

Today was the first time trying this mini meal.  I was supposed to add 2 TBSP of ground flax seeds to the bowl as well, but for the life of me, cannot get my coffee grinder to work.  Apparently you are supposed to grind up your flax seeds to get the full value...otherwise they pass right through your system and don't do much good other than to act as a source of fiber.

There is a video on You Tube that shows how to do this.  It's 6 TBSP of cottage cheese to 3 TBSP of flaxseed oil.  You use the cottage cheese as a binding agent to mix with the oil.  Don't ask me...I don't really understand the science behind it.  But you use an immersion blender to fully mix these two ingredients until it's a pudding texture....about 60 seconds.  Then you can add fruit, nuts, etc.  I added a few raspberries, blueberries and walnuts.

I'm going to be honest.  As appetizing as the end product looks, it tastes like ass.  The oil taste is really gross.  If I would have used 3x more fruit it might have masked the flavor better, but this was just nasty and that's all there is to it.  Now, if you're fighting cancer or some other major ailment, then I can see happily eating bowl after bowl.  But for a leg rash...not so much.  I paid $13 for that stupid bottle of oil so I am going to use it.  If I actually see some improvement in my legs by the time the bottle is gone, then I will probably buy another and continue to use it.  I'm just being up front about the taste.  I definitely need to add more fruit!

 And here is the link to the video on how to make it in case you would like to try ass pudding :)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSoddptWL0s&noredirect=1

I got my Ebay listings put up for today and a few scheduled for tomorrow.  I need to do some meal planning this evening after dinner and do the grocery shopping tomorrow.  As I said in my first post, I'm getting my cooking inspiration from Biz's blog.  In fact, I'm making some chicken tonight that I saw on her blog a few posts back.  I sliced my chicken breasts in half long ways and put them in a marinade of Greek seasonings, olive oil and fresh lemon juice  I'm going to grill them on the Foreman grill and then serve them atop Caesar salad.  I bought a mini loaf of bread from the bakery that I will heat, slice and serve on the side and that will be my carbs.  I'm not going to make it anywhere near 150g of carbs today.  Turns out it's going to take some real effort to change my mindset that 150g is just way too many for a diabetic.  I know it's not (see yesterday's blog post), but I'm just not ready, lol.

Major Carb Adjustment

Well, here's the deal.  I was diagnosed with diabetes & also hypothyroidism when I was 30 years old.  I am now 42, will be 43 in July.  I have been on and off of pills for the diabetes all these years but I've never taken very good care of it.  There was a time when I lost the first 100 lbs. that I had the sugar under control and my numbers were stable and under 120.  That was a very short time period though, just a few months if I remember correctly.

Due to my ignorance and stupidity I now have all sorts of issues that I believe are caused by the diabetes.  I am hoping with reigning my numbers back in and keeping them under control once and for all, that maybe some of my "issues" are reversible.  Some may be, some may not.  Shame on me if they're not.  If you are reading this, have diabetes, and are not taking care of it because nothing hurts (yet), please, PLEASE heed my advice.  Don't be a moron.  That's my new motto now...with everything.  Don't be a moron.

My labs that came back a little over a week ago were bad enough to scare me into getting serious about my health.  I believe most of our health problems can be tied to what we eat and drink.  No, I am not a health nut (obviously!), lol.  I am not a homeopathic wannabe.  I just think it's common sense.  I am not anti-pharmaceutical but I probably could be if I did enough research, like my mother.  Speaking of mom, she has been riding me for what feels like years to jump on the flaxseed wagon.  She finally wore me down the other day and I went and bought a bottle of flaxseed oil and a bag of whole flaxseeds.  But I will save the rest of that conversation for tomorrow's post.  Today is about the evil carbs!

When I got my labs back, I knew I had to make changes but realized I had no idea where to start.  Cut the carbs, yes.  But what number?  How many?  How badly was this newly reformed carb lover going to have to suffer?  Yes, I know it is ridiculous to have this illness for this long and not even know the basics of how to deal with it, but I've already admitted to my stupidity.  I went to the American Diabetes Assoc.'s website to look up how many carbs to eat.  Recommended amount was 45-60 per meal.  So if you ate the absolute most allowed, you're eating 180g a day???  I thought surely they got that wrong, must be a major typo, and set my own limit at 50g/day about a week ago.  I stuck to that as my limit and most days have been way under.

Then I had a conversation with a fellow blogger and diabetic today and told her about the numbers I found on the ADA website and didn't she think that was ridiculous???  Um...no.  I learned that "normal" people eat 250-300g of carbs per day, so 150-180g is considered lower carb and perfectly fine for a diabetic.  In fact, she said she has a friend who is a diabetes RN and they strongly recommend not eating any less than 125g as a bare minimum. 

Woot!!  Momma's having her tuna salad on PITA BREAD today!!!  Let's just understand that I am a sandwich FREAK.  Have always loved them...mostly for the bread, partly for the convenience.  Let's face it....rolling up your low sodium ham or low sodium turkey and putting it on a Dixie plate to eat next to your carrot sticks is just not the same as having a sandwich.

So anyhoo, I had some Joseph's pitas and the net carbs are 4g each.  I got really crazy and split my tuna salad between TWO pitas, just because I could, for a grand total of 8g of carbs today.  I had an egg white scramble w/ ham and veggies for breakfast, so no carbs there.  So at 2pm today I realize I still had 142g of carbs to go, if my new goal was going to be 150g.  How did I make that happen?  I made chicken and dumplings for dinner.

I wish I could have added some yummy veggies to this like diced carrots, celery, onion, even zucchini but alas, the hubs does not eat veggies.  Only lettuce, as in Caesar salad.  So when I make a dish to feed both of us, it has to be sans vegetables or he won't eat.  There are many nights that I make us 2 separate things if I want a one pot meal that includes veggies and I'm sure you'll see pics of that in the future.

That's about it for today...it was pretty quiet around the house.  Just me and my babies on a rainy day.  I'll leave you with a pic of my precious Scarlette....being nosy and spying on the neighbors.  :)

A New Chapter

I had a blog a few years ago that was strictly for weight loss.  I lost 100 lbs.,  albeit not all I needed to lose.  I got burned out on calorie counting, writing and all that went with it and stepped away for a few years.

A friend mentioned to me yesterday that she was considering blogging again and I spent the rest of the day contemplating the idea for myself.  I decided that I did kind of miss that hobby and the virtual relationships that are tied to it, but this time I didn't want it to be solely about weight loss.  I wanted it to just be a simple blog about life.  My life....and everything in it.  That will include what was my boyfriend in my previous blog, Dwayne, who is now my husband.  My two fur babies, Boomer, our Labradane and Scarlette, our Peekapoo.  It won't take long to figure out that these 2 little turkeys are just as important to us as human children are to most others.

I also have a myriad of health issues I'm working on and thought this would be a good place to journal about it.  I am learning through groups on Facebook that I am not alone in my health struggles and shouldn't act like I am.  It's perfectly okay and actually quite important to advocate for yourself.  After all, if not you, then who?

First and foremost, the diabetes is a real issue.  I am on 2 meds for that, along with another med for Triglycerides and a med for my Hypothyroidism.  I am really trying hard to get the diabetes under control with what I eat.  So low carb is the name of the game for me, and I just recently re-discovered a blog that I absolutely adore, My Bizzy Kitchen.  I believe her blog is also known as The Biggest Diabetic Loser.  Her name is Beth, her nickname is Biz, she blogs about her daily life, much of it being food-related and keeping her diabetes in control, and unfortunately, the loss of her husband back in December.  I've been catching up on her blog the last couple of days and am looking forward to basing a lot of what I'm eating on what she cooks.  It always looks so tasty and she often provides the breakdown for carbs/protein/fat, etc.

For work, I sell new and used items on Ebay and have an online store called TJ's Timeless Treasures.  I think I'm going on 4 years now.  This is probably the biggest source of my stress...isn't it always about money?  This is the outlet I use to keep my part of the bills paid around here and let's just say it's a roller coaster.  But I will say that the thrifting (or junkin') and the garage sales can be fun, and will enjoy posting pics of some of my finds along the way.

Also, my most favorite hobby....gardening.  I can't say I'm extremely good at it, but I try.  My husband likes to call my patio Death Row when some flowers don't make it, but whatever....I keep trying.  :)  We built a raised bed/garden box this year...just one....to try my hand at growing a few veggies.  I've got tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, yellow squash and okra.  At the moment, it's looking like the cukes and okra might not make it...but we'll see.  I will enjoy taking pics of the vegetables that actually make it to the table for eating.

And food pics.  Yes, I'm one of THOSE people.  Well, not the one that posts a pic of Every. Single. Bite. they put in their mouths.  But I do like to post pics of things that I found especially tasty and think they're worth sharing.

I'm not planning on making the main focus of this blog about weight loss, but for the record, I weighed 240 lbs. on Monday.  I used to weigh 340 lbs. several years ago, started the weight loss blog, lost 110 lbs. through calorie counting and walking, got burned out and hung up my hat.  So over the last 3-4 years, I've put 10 lbs. back on.  I have to say, I'm not mad at myself, lol.  Many, many people in the weight loss community pack back on every single pound and then some.  I didn't.  Thank you God for that.  I learned some valuable lessons while losing that are still with me today and probably have a lot to do with why I've basically maintained my weight.

With that said, I know 240 lbs. is not a healthy weight.  It is considered obese on every chart out there.  If I had to pick a specific goal, it would probably be around 170 lbs. with me being 5'10.  I know my middle sister, who is a nurse, is 6' tall, 150 lbs, and looks like a beanpole.  I have no desire to look like a bean, nor do I think you HAVE to in order to be healthy.  On the flip side, my focus right now is getting the sugar/carbs under control...not counting calories.  I have a set # of carbs that I do not want to go over in a day's eating and that's where my focus is.  I have to assume w/ limiting the sugar/carbs, some weight will naturally fall off in the process.

And so it begins....the next chapter.  Let's see where it leads, shall we? :)