It's my birthday!

Weight this morning: 145
Calories eaten yesterday: 1627
Fat: 88g (51%)
Carbs: 44g (11%)
Protein: 104g (27%)
Calories burned in exercise: 84

Settle in. This is a bit of a long post.

I'm testing my blood sugar frequently today since this is my first carb binge since getting my meter, so today's post will include what I ate and times and results of blood sugar testing.

9:00 - Get up.

I woke up really hungry this morning. When I tested my blood sugar I discovered why. My blood sugar was only 79, about 10 points lower than normal. As you can see from my numbers, I was on plan yesterday.

Breakfast was coffee with heavy cream and sugar-free sweetener, and a peanut butter sandwich on low-carb bread. Worked out for 1/2 an hour on the mini trampoline.

Then I got ready to leave. Tested my blood sugar before I left (about 11:40 am) and got 93. I missed the bus so I walked down to the 11 bus. After checking the schedule I realized I could get in some more steps by walking to a bus stop further down. Eventually I caught the 11, got off at Fruitvale, went to the bank to deposit Dad's check, and ran to Safeway and bought four jalapeno poppers and two "shrimp purses" (some kind of shrimp filling in a won ton wrapper and fried). I stopped at McDonald's hoping for a McFlurry, but their machine was broken. I ate the jalapeno poppers and shrimp purses while waiting for the bus.

Caught the bus and got off at Taco Bell and had a Crunchwrap Supreme. Another favorite bad food. Yummy. Then I walked down to the Mom and Pop Mexican place (authentic Mexican food; I used to eat there all the time) and got a chicken quesadilla. It was huge (really two quesadillas) so I ate only half and gave the other half to Brad when I got to work. I had a diet Coke to drink.

Got back on the bus and transferred at Eastmont Mall. Even though I was then on the correct bus to get to work, I got off at the BART station so I could walk. Stopped at the snack stand at the station and bought a package of Twinkies (yum); I ate one and gave the other to Brad at work.

Made a couple stops on the way to work, first at McDonald's to get that McFlurry I wanted. I ate it as I continued on my way. (I ate the whole thing - yikes!) Then I stopped Starbucks and got a small sugar-free Cinnamon Dulce Latte (the milk has lactose, but they used sugar-free syrup). I also got a low-fat cinnamon chip mini loaf. I split it half and half with Brad at work.

At work we had a little party and I had one piece of cake. It was a wonderful chocolate cake that Lynn had melted marshmallows over for topping (!). What was she thinking?!? The marshmallow would not adhere to the cake, so it kinda sucked. At least the cake itself was good.

By the time I punched in at 3 pm I already had over 13,000 steps (about 6 miles)!

The burger joint next door closed at 5 pm so I went over there about 4:30 and got a cheeseburger and fries and a chocolate shake. I ate the fries (oh my gosh they gave me a LOT!) and sipped the shake and saved the cheeseburger for later. I'm totally stuffed. Brad did bring me the McGriddle I asked for. I'm also saving that for later. I have laundry tonight so I'll be up late.

I also have to bake the communion bread tonight (this Sabbath is communion), and Pastor Brent asked me to serve the grape juice. I said that we usually had one person serve both and he said that he was just going to have people come forward to take the bread, but have someone serve the juice. I happily assented to serving the juice.

Blood sugar results during all this were interesting. I couldn't test between leaving home and getting to work, of course. After I got to work I started testing. At 3:24 I was 126, at 4:24 I was 156, and at 4:55 I got my highest reading of the day: 160 (!). By 5:29 I guess second stage insulin had kicked in and I was down to 131. At 7, after sucking on a chocolate milkshake for a while, I was back up to 150, and at 7:45 back to 131. Oh well, it will come down to normal when I quit the carbs again. Thank God I'm not diabetic so that my body can handle these occational carb assaults.

At about 8:20 I ate the cheeseburger I had set aside, and a half hour later I was only 94. The protein and fat are probably helping to keep my blood sugar from rising too fast and I guess my insulin is finally doing it's job. That's my first normal reading since I started eating high carb today.

About 9 pm I pigged out on like three pieces of birthday cake since I only get to do this once a year and I'm darn well going to enjoy it! :) I don't have more than a bite or two of cake when other people have birthdays. This really is a once a year affair. I left one piece of cake for Lisa. I didn't get a chance to test until 10:20 and I was up to 128.

I'm thinking of doing a very low-carb day tomorrow - basically meat and eggs and perhaps a protein shake for the walk Brad and I will do. Supplement with magnesium to make up for the fiber. Saturday I can't count of course, and Sunday I can maybe do meat/eggs/protein shake again. That should get me back on track and back to my normal healthy lifestyle.

I have pictures that I hope to get up on Flickr by tomorrow, but putting them here may take a bit longer since the weekend is almost here.

Brad gave me a blue shirt and a pair of blue fuzzy socks for a present. He also said he's going to drive me home tonight as a present. I'm not totally happy because I depend on getting my step count even higher by pacing while waiting for the bus. Oh well. I've done well with my steps today and hope to do even better tomorrow.

My sister gave me two presents. I opened one. It's a low cut brown shirt. It's medium and fits perfectly, but far too immodest for me. It's the kind of thing April would wear, but not me. My family sucks with gift-giving.

I got a check today from my employer - reimbursement for my chiropractic appointment. Every little bit helps! I talked to Lupe and they do indeed cover the massage I have after my adjustment as "physical therapy." So that's good because I couldn't afford it out of pocket and I feel it works in conjunction with the adjustment to keep my shoulders from flaring up.

As you'll notice, I'm learning the value of labeling my posts, though I'll still continue to tag them for technorati also. Labels are just an easy way for you or me to find posts with related topics. I don't have a lot of low-carb labels and such because I write about those every day (so not every post is or will be labeled), but I will be labeling posts that cover events such as birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays, as well as posts relating to faith. I went a little ways back in time, but I'm not going to label any further back. I'll just go forward from here.

Now that my birthday's over I need to take my Christmas tree down. Hopefully Brad and I can do that tomorrow night after our walk.

Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter