Calories eaten Thursday: 1733
Fat: 91g (49%)
Carbs: 46g (11%) :(
Protein: 77g (18%)
Calories burned in exercise Friday: 404
Calories burned in exercise Saturday: 0
Calories burned in exercise today: 117
Wow. The oral surgery Thursday really messed with my blood sugar. Monday through Thursday my fasting blood sugar was 83-85 - normal readings for me. After the surgery, when I woke up Friday morning, it was 109! The morning reading jumped 24 points over Thursday morning's 85! Wow. My Saturday fasting reading was 101, and this morning's reading was 112. I know it will come down again. It will be interesting to see how long that takes.
I'm still in a small amount of pain. Brad and I went grocery shopping Friday night shortly after I'd taken a Vicodin, which made me tired and a bit loopy. I did buy Vicodin from the dentist Thursday, but it's more for when I need it in the future for painful procedures - other dentist appointments, other doctor appointments - anything that I know will cause a lot of pain. I still have a few pills left from the first half of my oral surgery, and since they make me tired I prefer to take Ibuprofen and Advil during the day.
The dental office called me Friday morning to see how I was doing. Since I was snoozing I was upset at the rude awakening. I told them I was fine.
I've been really hungry lately. I wonder if it had to do with the oral surgery - my body is trying to heal and needs energy, so it's making me hungry. It worked on Friday. I ate my salad before Brad and I went walking and then bought a snack bag of peanuts and gobbled down those before we walked.
After having to leave the park and cut our walk short due to darkness, I asked for more exercise by walking around the lake. That turned out to be a mistake. It was too much exercise too soon after the surgery. I made it, but I knew I'd pushed myself too hard.
By that time I had given up trying to count calories for the day, so we went to the New Zealander restaurant. I like going there because they will allow me to make substitutions for the potato dish that comes with every meal. I had black coffee (I was super tired after all the walking), a glass of Merlot, a cheeseburger (no bun), a side salad, and broccoli and cauliflower instead of potatoes. I put mayonnaise on top of the burger. Yummy!!!
When we got home we had dessert, finishing off the rest of the low-carb ice cream, and we both also ate more. I made pina coladas, using up the rest of the mix in the process (I have more on order). I also had more wine, which proved to be one too many.
I felt horrible Saturday. The combo of the overexertion on Friday and too much wine coupler with the surgery was just too much. I somehow got through church, Sabbath School, lunch (no one wanted my eggplant lasagna), and the business meeting. The BJC material (Word doc) has arrived, so I took the packet home to read it. I was glad to get home.
I mentioned to Brad about my distended stomach. I'm so bloated in that one area that even my fat jeans won't fit. I've gone up more than a full jeans size, but just in my tummy. He wondered if I might have picked up a parasite and recommended Parastroy. I pooh-poohed the idea, but did some research Saturday morning, and when I got home from church with my usually-big brown skirt fitting extremely tight, I got online and decided to buy both Parastroy (3 week program) and Candistroy (2 weeks?). This bloating can't be real fat so I've got to try something. The company I bought these products from is right here in California and promises fast shipping to California addresses, so hopefully I'll have it later this week. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I also have a GNC Complete Body Cleansing Program (7 days) that I bought a while back (I got a good price on two and already used one), and ColonBlow's colon cleanse program (1 day). I'll finish with that one. I'll let you all know if this aggressive program works. I'll start as soon as the Parastroy arrives and I can look over the material that comes with it.
Brad came over Saturday night and I fed him the leftover lasagna, and he brought brie. I ate about 5-6 ounces worth! It's just so good I can't stop. I sent the rest home with him and told him to bring it next Saturday. I can't trust myself with brie in the house. I don't keep cheese or nuts in the house because I can't trust myself. I only had one glass of wine Saturday because of overdoing it on Friday.
I felt so bad Saturday that I decided to skip the gym today. I slept in until 11:30, had a good breakfast of bacon and eggs, and came to work. I walked the last 1.5 miles from the BART station for exercise. My ancient boom box has finally given up the ghost. The cassette decks still work, but the radio is dead. The thing is around 20 years old - I've had it since high school - so I decided to buy a new one. I stopped at WalMart since they have good prices and it's right on the way to work. I found a boom box with a cassette deck, CD player, and AM/FM radio for about $35.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, dentist, surgery, glucose meter, blood sugar
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Dentist Day, take 8
Calories eaten yesterday: 1705
Fat: 98g (53%)
Carbs: 42g (10%) :(
Protein: 113g (27%)
Calories burned in exercise today: 75
Had the second half of my oral surgery this morning. This time it was the whole left side of my mouth, so I can currently only chew on the right side. I took two Vicodin and some Ibuprofen and Advil before going in. Also a couple of my Xanax tablets for anxiety. It helped, plus this guy is really good and knows how to 1) numb yourgums with the gel, and 2) inject the lidocaine so it hurts as little as possible. He gave me several shots to numb me up real good. After that I couldn't feel anything.
My blood sugar was 85 this morning - nice and normal. I had a very low-carb breakfast of bacon and eggs and black coffee. By the time I got the the dentist I was a bit freaked out and my blood sugar was 95. After the lidocaine I took my blood sugar again. It was hard because my hands were shaking so bad from the adrenaline in the shots. I was 101. When I got home from the surgery about 1:30 I was back down to 88. Now we will see if the surgery will elevated my fasting levels.
It was a long appointment. We started between 9:30 and 9:45 and I got out of there about noon. :-p
On the way back from the dentist I stopped at the health food store to pick up the L-Glutamine I ordered. I also bought two cans of sugar-free Hansen's root beer. I'm thinking about making a root beer float on Saturday night, just using chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla. Hey, it can't taste bad. I also bought some chocolate Soy Slender soy milk and some pyruvate (yes, this store had it). Hey, it can't hurt, might help.
Exercise today was walking the last 15 minutes home from the bus to get home on one bus instead of two, and then later I jumped around on my mini trampoline for an hour. Abby doesn't seem to care when I jump on it, but Xena is still freaked out by it.
I heard back from the new editor of the Helping Hand. He said he won't ask me to write until Spring, but may ask me to do an entire quarter at that time, and was I willing? I of course said yes. Not only do I enjoy writing, but that would be a good chunk of change. I hope he doesn't mind if I share his letter with you.
Hi Victoria,
It's so nice to hear from you. I do know you've written some wonderful devotions in the past and it has been my intent to ask you again. It's interesting timing because just this week I have completed assignments flowing in for the 2007-08 curriculum year. I expect later this Spring I'll be making new assignments and I do hope you'll still be willing. I would probably ask you to write a whole quarter's worth (13 weeks of daily meditations). Do you think you'd be willing to take on that much writing? I'd give you AT LEAST a 6 month deadline if you said yes. I don't know what the topics are yet as I'm actually a little over a year ahead of deadline but if I had a tentative yes from you, then that would be great.
Thanks so much,
Eric
So there you go. I'm promised an assignment later. :)
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, dentist, surgery
Fat: 98g (53%)
Carbs: 42g (10%) :(
Protein: 113g (27%)
Calories burned in exercise today: 75
Had the second half of my oral surgery this morning. This time it was the whole left side of my mouth, so I can currently only chew on the right side. I took two Vicodin and some Ibuprofen and Advil before going in. Also a couple of my Xanax tablets for anxiety. It helped, plus this guy is really good and knows how to 1) numb yourgums with the gel, and 2) inject the lidocaine so it hurts as little as possible. He gave me several shots to numb me up real good. After that I couldn't feel anything.
My blood sugar was 85 this morning - nice and normal. I had a very low-carb breakfast of bacon and eggs and black coffee. By the time I got the the dentist I was a bit freaked out and my blood sugar was 95. After the lidocaine I took my blood sugar again. It was hard because my hands were shaking so bad from the adrenaline in the shots. I was 101. When I got home from the surgery about 1:30 I was back down to 88. Now we will see if the surgery will elevated my fasting levels.
It was a long appointment. We started between 9:30 and 9:45 and I got out of there about noon. :-p
On the way back from the dentist I stopped at the health food store to pick up the L-Glutamine I ordered. I also bought two cans of sugar-free Hansen's root beer. I'm thinking about making a root beer float on Saturday night, just using chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla. Hey, it can't taste bad. I also bought some chocolate Soy Slender soy milk and some pyruvate (yes, this store had it). Hey, it can't hurt, might help.
Exercise today was walking the last 15 minutes home from the bus to get home on one bus instead of two, and then later I jumped around on my mini trampoline for an hour. Abby doesn't seem to care when I jump on it, but Xena is still freaked out by it.
I heard back from the new editor of the Helping Hand. He said he won't ask me to write until Spring, but may ask me to do an entire quarter at that time, and was I willing? I of course said yes. Not only do I enjoy writing, but that would be a good chunk of change. I hope he doesn't mind if I share his letter with you.
Hi Victoria,
It's so nice to hear from you. I do know you've written some wonderful devotions in the past and it has been my intent to ask you again. It's interesting timing because just this week I have completed assignments flowing in for the 2007-08 curriculum year. I expect later this Spring I'll be making new assignments and I do hope you'll still be willing. I would probably ask you to write a whole quarter's worth (13 weeks of daily meditations). Do you think you'd be willing to take on that much writing? I'd give you AT LEAST a 6 month deadline if you said yes. I don't know what the topics are yet as I'm actually a little over a year ahead of deadline but if I had a tentative yes from you, then that would be great.
Thanks so much,
Eric
So there you go. I'm promised an assignment later. :)
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, dentist, surgery
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Diet pills and supplements for weight loss
Calories eaten yesterday: 1866 (I was starving!)
Fat: 110g (54%)
Carbs: 38g (8%)
Protein: 133g (29%)
Calories burned in exercise today: 117
I hope you all like the new layout. I got really tired of the parchment paper background and did some investigating and then playing with my template. I swear if I had to look at that brown any longer I was going to scream. I was also really tired of the sidebar being on the left. I did my best to make everything reader-friendly. The best part is that now that I know how to change all the background images I can custom tailor themes with the backgrounds I have.
My carbs will be a bit higher the next several days. 1) I'll be taking Airborne to fight off any colds that might result from my surgery tomorrow, and that stuff is 1 carb per serving, and I need to take three servings a day. 2) I bought more Dexatrim Max 2-0. It really does help curb my appetite (one of the few things I've tried that works), but it's 3 carbs per serving. It's also expensive, so I keep my servings to one per day.
Speaking of diet pills, I also bought more SlimQuick today. The package says to take for one month and I realized that one bottle won't last a whole month. I also stopped at GNC to check on Pyruvate (more further down), and I saw that they had Xenadrine NRG (review). This is something I eyed at my health club. GNC had it on sale so it was cheaper so I bought it. I won't use it until I finish with the SlimQuick regimen, though. I also bought more Slim Mints today. I don't think they help me lose weight, but they are a reasonably good sugar-free mint, so I carry them in my purse.
Now about the Pyruvate I mentioned. I came across the following in the diet book I'm reading right now, Dr. Dan's Super Weight Loss Plan (a review is eventually coming). His anti low-carb bias aside, this may be a good natural metabolism booster for people on low-carb diets.
Pyruvate is a substance that was patented for use in weight loss. The mechanism of its action is somewhat complicated, but basically pyruvate is one of the substances that is formed when the body breaks down sugar. The idea is to force the body to use up energy in order to metabolize the pyruvate. However, this only works in the absence of carbohydrates in the diet. It is really not practical or effective for someone who is eating a reasonable diet and exercising (pg. 228).
When I read this I scurried down to GNC. I eat very few carbohydrates; this could help me! They didn't have it in stock, but said they do carry it, so I may be able to get some in the future. They called around but no other nearby stores had it.
Of course, there's also a flipside to the pyruvate idea.
My oral surgery is tomorrow at 9 a.m. I have a much better chance of a shorter wait by getting in earlier. I'm taking the day off work. The L-Glutamine powder (review) that I ordered from the health food store came in, and I need to pick that up. It's a straight shot down Broadway from the dentist. Then I need to do laundry, and Brad and I are going grocery shopping after he gets off work.
Oh, to answer a comment on yesterday's blog entry, yes I have had my body fat measured. It's hovered right around 24% for probably a year now. My weight training hasn't seemed to effect it. And while I look slim in the picture, I'm a bit above that weight now. I was 142 there, a weight I wasn't able to hold. I usually hover around 145 and right now I'm around 150 due to all the crap I ate on my birthday. Trust me, I only wish I looked like that picture right now.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, diet pills
Fat: 110g (54%)
Carbs: 38g (8%)
Protein: 133g (29%)
Calories burned in exercise today: 117
I hope you all like the new layout. I got really tired of the parchment paper background and did some investigating and then playing with my template. I swear if I had to look at that brown any longer I was going to scream. I was also really tired of the sidebar being on the left. I did my best to make everything reader-friendly. The best part is that now that I know how to change all the background images I can custom tailor themes with the backgrounds I have.
My carbs will be a bit higher the next several days. 1) I'll be taking Airborne to fight off any colds that might result from my surgery tomorrow, and that stuff is 1 carb per serving, and I need to take three servings a day. 2) I bought more Dexatrim Max 2-0. It really does help curb my appetite (one of the few things I've tried that works), but it's 3 carbs per serving. It's also expensive, so I keep my servings to one per day.
Speaking of diet pills, I also bought more SlimQuick today. The package says to take for one month and I realized that one bottle won't last a whole month. I also stopped at GNC to check on Pyruvate (more further down), and I saw that they had Xenadrine NRG (review). This is something I eyed at my health club. GNC had it on sale so it was cheaper so I bought it. I won't use it until I finish with the SlimQuick regimen, though. I also bought more Slim Mints today. I don't think they help me lose weight, but they are a reasonably good sugar-free mint, so I carry them in my purse.
Now about the Pyruvate I mentioned. I came across the following in the diet book I'm reading right now, Dr. Dan's Super Weight Loss Plan (a review is eventually coming). His anti low-carb bias aside, this may be a good natural metabolism booster for people on low-carb diets.
Pyruvate is a substance that was patented for use in weight loss. The mechanism of its action is somewhat complicated, but basically pyruvate is one of the substances that is formed when the body breaks down sugar. The idea is to force the body to use up energy in order to metabolize the pyruvate. However, this only works in the absence of carbohydrates in the diet. It is really not practical or effective for someone who is eating a reasonable diet and exercising (pg. 228).
When I read this I scurried down to GNC. I eat very few carbohydrates; this could help me! They didn't have it in stock, but said they do carry it, so I may be able to get some in the future. They called around but no other nearby stores had it.
Of course, there's also a flipside to the pyruvate idea.
My oral surgery is tomorrow at 9 a.m. I have a much better chance of a shorter wait by getting in earlier. I'm taking the day off work. The L-Glutamine powder (review) that I ordered from the health food store came in, and I need to pick that up. It's a straight shot down Broadway from the dentist. Then I need to do laundry, and Brad and I are going grocery shopping after he gets off work.
Oh, to answer a comment on yesterday's blog entry, yes I have had my body fat measured. It's hovered right around 24% for probably a year now. My weight training hasn't seemed to effect it. And while I look slim in the picture, I'm a bit above that weight now. I was 142 there, a weight I wasn't able to hold. I usually hover around 145 and right now I'm around 150 due to all the crap I ate on my birthday. Trust me, I only wish I looked like that picture right now.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, diet pills
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Changing topics...
Calories eaten yesterday: 1693
Fat: 97g (53%)
Carbs: 35g (9%)
Protein: 123g (30%)
Calories burned in exercise today: 328
Well, Blogger ate my entire long post, so now I have to retype the whole thing. *sigh*
Now a lot going on here. I didn't get to the gym today. I had my monthly meeting at the church and walked up the hill (10 minutes) and then walked to work from the BART station (33 minutes).
I am SO hungry today. On the way to my appointment I stopped at a convenience store to see if they had my favorite Pepsi Jazz flavor (they didn't) and bought a 2 oz. bag of jalapeno and cheddar pork rinds. They were yummy, but added 280 more calories to my menu and did little to kill my hunger. I need to think about adding peanut butter into my menu again. And all this despite have a bigger-than-usual breakfast: 2 thick strips of bacon, 1 fried egg, and since I was still starving, 1/2 a raw cucumber.
I think I've still burning through liver glycogen from my birthday binge. Some people can get into ketosis within a couple days; with me it can take up to five days. I know the liver can supposedly only store two days' worth of glycogen, but it's always taken me five days to show even trace amounts of ketones on the ketone strips. My body just seems to be really good at using the ketones instead of peeing them out. With my carbs as low as they have been, I've been thinking about buying some strips and checking. But it may not do any good, according to this article:
Many people falsely believe they cannot or are not losing weight because the ketones drop to a lower level. The Ketostiks, used to measure the ketones in the urine, are no longer showing the purple color on the test strip. However, weight loss continues with or without the ketones being present. The spillage of excess ketones in the urine disappears on the low-carbohydrate diet after the body becomes accustomed to using dietary fats for energy instead of glucose. This usually occurs within a few weeks on the diet.
Anyone know if that's true?
To change the topic...
I've been mentioned in a Swedish article on low-GI diets. I received this message on this Flickr photo:
Nice that you loost weight!
You look very nice. I added your photo to a small article I wrote about loosing weight since I wanted something about Atkins also, although the article is about GI. The article is in swedish: GI-metoden och GI för nybörjare.
I can also be inspiring to see a beautifull woman who has lost weight.
Thanks for using creative commons!
Best regards
Hans
I don't know Swedish, but go check out my photo in the article!
I wish I looked like that photo right now! I weighed myself last night to get an idea of my weight without having to take an official morning weight, and I am still about 5 pounds heavier from my birthday binge. My fat jeans are still tight, and my WalMart paint splattered jeans, usually fairly easy to slip on, are also tight. Never mind trying to squeeze into any of my Old Navy jeans right now!
And to change topics again...
April is already thinking about getting a new dog. Bogie just died and she already needs to replace him. she has it narrowed down to two dogs at the Humane Society and one Burmese puppy breeder. I am dead set against breeders - they bring more dogs into a world where thousands are killed each year for lack of the good home. Both of my cats are "mutts." Abby is a rescued street cat, and I got Xena at the county shelter when she was just a baby.
And changing again...
My blood sugar readings have been great, back in line just in time for another round of surgery this Thursday. I was 87 last night and 85 this morning. I'm looking forward to seeing how the surgery effects me. I'll let you all know my results.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Fat: 97g (53%)
Carbs: 35g (9%)
Protein: 123g (30%)
Calories burned in exercise today: 328
Well, Blogger ate my entire long post, so now I have to retype the whole thing. *sigh*
Now a lot going on here. I didn't get to the gym today. I had my monthly meeting at the church and walked up the hill (10 minutes) and then walked to work from the BART station (33 minutes).
I am SO hungry today. On the way to my appointment I stopped at a convenience store to see if they had my favorite Pepsi Jazz flavor (they didn't) and bought a 2 oz. bag of jalapeno and cheddar pork rinds. They were yummy, but added 280 more calories to my menu and did little to kill my hunger. I need to think about adding peanut butter into my menu again. And all this despite have a bigger-than-usual breakfast: 2 thick strips of bacon, 1 fried egg, and since I was still starving, 1/2 a raw cucumber.
I think I've still burning through liver glycogen from my birthday binge. Some people can get into ketosis within a couple days; with me it can take up to five days. I know the liver can supposedly only store two days' worth of glycogen, but it's always taken me five days to show even trace amounts of ketones on the ketone strips. My body just seems to be really good at using the ketones instead of peeing them out. With my carbs as low as they have been, I've been thinking about buying some strips and checking. But it may not do any good, according to this article:
Many people falsely believe they cannot or are not losing weight because the ketones drop to a lower level. The Ketostiks, used to measure the ketones in the urine, are no longer showing the purple color on the test strip. However, weight loss continues with or without the ketones being present. The spillage of excess ketones in the urine disappears on the low-carbohydrate diet after the body becomes accustomed to using dietary fats for energy instead of glucose. This usually occurs within a few weeks on the diet.
Anyone know if that's true?
To change the topic...
I've been mentioned in a Swedish article on low-GI diets. I received this message on this Flickr photo:
Nice that you loost weight!
You look very nice. I added your photo to a small article I wrote about loosing weight since I wanted something about Atkins also, although the article is about GI. The article is in swedish: GI-metoden och GI för nybörjare.
I can also be inspiring to see a beautifull woman who has lost weight.
Thanks for using creative commons!
Best regards
Hans
I don't know Swedish, but go check out my photo in the article!
I wish I looked like that photo right now! I weighed myself last night to get an idea of my weight without having to take an official morning weight, and I am still about 5 pounds heavier from my birthday binge. My fat jeans are still tight, and my WalMart paint splattered jeans, usually fairly easy to slip on, are also tight. Never mind trying to squeeze into any of my Old Navy jeans right now!
And to change topics again...
April is already thinking about getting a new dog. Bogie just died and she already needs to replace him. she has it narrowed down to two dogs at the Humane Society and one Burmese puppy breeder. I am dead set against breeders - they bring more dogs into a world where thousands are killed each year for lack of the good home. Both of my cats are "mutts." Abby is a rescued street cat, and I got Xena at the county shelter when she was just a baby.
And changing again...
My blood sugar readings have been great, back in line just in time for another round of surgery this Thursday. I was 87 last night and 85 this morning. I'm looking forward to seeing how the surgery effects me. I'll let you all know my results.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Monday, January 15, 2007
Monday stuff and more photos
Calories eaten yesterday: 1278
Fat: 66g (48%)
Carbs: 18g (6%) (Woot!)
Protein: 112g (36%)
Calories burned in exercise: 323
I think I finally figured out why my blog hits have gone up so much lately. It's new-years-resolution syndrome - all the people who swear they will lose weight this year. It's the same reason my gym can be almost unlivable at this time of year. The gym will die down by the end of February. I wonder if the jump in blog hits will last even that long.
Lots of people find me while looking for information on the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet. Here's a tip...buy Jonny Bowden's book Living the Low Carb Life. It profiles 17 diet plans including Carbohydrate Addict's and my chosen plan, Atkins. That way you can see the pluses and minuses about each diet and choose the plan that is right for YOU.
I've noticed something as I look around at the new people at the gym - they never venture into the weight room; they stay in the cardio room as if that's going to help them lose weight. It won't, of course. Only time will tell whether they will wise up and realize that weight loss is about more than cardio, or whether they will drop out and go back to their sedentary lifestyle.
Since today is a holiday here in California (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) I couldn't run any errands so I went to the gym again. I started off with a mile of running (12 minutes at 5 mph), then 40 minutes of weights, 30 on the elliptical, and ended with 5 minutes of just walking on the treadmill. I am wiped out! Whew!
Well, I'm desperate again - and please don't post comments to criticize me - but I am once against turning to diet pills. I went to Walmart and got a bottle of SlimQuick ("the female fat burner") (review) and a bottle of Relacore (controls cortisol) (review). I'll give kudos to the SlimQuick at least for the recommendations in the booklet that came with it for advocating a high protein, smart carb diet, and the exercises it gives include weight training with cardio.
I'm not expecting miracles, but my weight loss is at a total stall despite a clean diet and regular exercise. FitDay says I'm burning more calories than I'm eating, and yet my weight remains stable. In fact, cutting back Friday and Sunday made up for my overeating on Thursday and Saturday, or so the chart says.
Brad found an old Christmas card in his car that he forgot to give me. It was from my sister. It had pictures of Bogie in it and said, "You need to come here for Christmas sometime. Bogie misses you. :) Love, April, Renato, Bogie" How sad to think this was mailed before his death! :(
She also wrote, "P.S. You look great - Good work! But don't lose anymore weight." Ah, if only she knew. I am hardly too skinny at 145+ pounds and 24% body fat. Still, I'll take the compliment.
Blood sugar is doing well. It was 92 last night, 83 this morning, and 100 after my workout today. Last week's morning average was 92.
Drank a lot of water yesterday trying to get the carb bloat off. Today my fat jeans are still tight on me. *sigh* I'm continuing with the water today.
I'm adding veggies back into my diet today. I'm having a big salad with cucumber and avocado on it. I'm leaving the tomatoes off to cut back on the carbs.
Here's some random pics of me I haven't shared here yet. From Friday-Sunday there was a lot of picture taking and uploading. Click any photo to enlarge.
Low-carb egg nog, made from scratch
Random picture of celery and cream cheese in front of my TV
Xena licks my face with her sandpaper tongue - ouch!
Me drinking wine
Gazing into my wine
This is what happens when you forget you put the communion bread in the oven
And this is how it should look
A rare sight - Abby cleaning Xena
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Fat: 66g (48%)
Carbs: 18g (6%) (Woot!)
Protein: 112g (36%)
Calories burned in exercise: 323
I think I finally figured out why my blog hits have gone up so much lately. It's new-years-resolution syndrome - all the people who swear they will lose weight this year. It's the same reason my gym can be almost unlivable at this time of year. The gym will die down by the end of February. I wonder if the jump in blog hits will last even that long.
Lots of people find me while looking for information on the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet. Here's a tip...buy Jonny Bowden's book Living the Low Carb Life. It profiles 17 diet plans including Carbohydrate Addict's and my chosen plan, Atkins. That way you can see the pluses and minuses about each diet and choose the plan that is right for YOU.
I've noticed something as I look around at the new people at the gym - they never venture into the weight room; they stay in the cardio room as if that's going to help them lose weight. It won't, of course. Only time will tell whether they will wise up and realize that weight loss is about more than cardio, or whether they will drop out and go back to their sedentary lifestyle.
Since today is a holiday here in California (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) I couldn't run any errands so I went to the gym again. I started off with a mile of running (12 minutes at 5 mph), then 40 minutes of weights, 30 on the elliptical, and ended with 5 minutes of just walking on the treadmill. I am wiped out! Whew!
Well, I'm desperate again - and please don't post comments to criticize me - but I am once against turning to diet pills. I went to Walmart and got a bottle of SlimQuick ("the female fat burner") (review) and a bottle of Relacore (controls cortisol) (review). I'll give kudos to the SlimQuick at least for the recommendations in the booklet that came with it for advocating a high protein, smart carb diet, and the exercises it gives include weight training with cardio.
I'm not expecting miracles, but my weight loss is at a total stall despite a clean diet and regular exercise. FitDay says I'm burning more calories than I'm eating, and yet my weight remains stable. In fact, cutting back Friday and Sunday made up for my overeating on Thursday and Saturday, or so the chart says.
Brad found an old Christmas card in his car that he forgot to give me. It was from my sister. It had pictures of Bogie in it and said, "You need to come here for Christmas sometime. Bogie misses you. :) Love, April, Renato, Bogie" How sad to think this was mailed before his death! :(
She also wrote, "P.S. You look great - Good work! But don't lose anymore weight." Ah, if only she knew. I am hardly too skinny at 145+ pounds and 24% body fat. Still, I'll take the compliment.
Blood sugar is doing well. It was 92 last night, 83 this morning, and 100 after my workout today. Last week's morning average was 92.
Drank a lot of water yesterday trying to get the carb bloat off. Today my fat jeans are still tight on me. *sigh* I'm continuing with the water today.
I'm adding veggies back into my diet today. I'm having a big salad with cucumber and avocado on it. I'm leaving the tomatoes off to cut back on the carbs.
Here's some random pics of me I haven't shared here yet. From Friday-Sunday there was a lot of picture taking and uploading. Click any photo to enlarge.
Random picture of celery and cream cheese in front of my TV
Xena licks my face with her sandpaper tongue - ouch!
Me drinking wine
Gazing into my wine
This is what happens when you forget you put the communion bread in the oven
And this is how it should look
A rare sight - Abby cleaning Xena
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Weekend update & birthday photos
Calories eaten Friday: 1212
Fat: 48g (37%)
Carbs: 14g (5%) (Woot!)
Protein: 109g (37%)
Calories burned in exercise: 556 (Woot!)
Ok, weekend update time. Friday blood sugar was high. Even though it was only 92 when I went to bed, it had risen to 109 by the morning. I'm sure this was related to eating high-carb Thursday. Saturday and Sunday it was 98 and 95 respectively - higher than normal but at least under 100. Hopefully I can get things stabilized because I have more surgery Thursday and I want to see how that will effect my blood sugar. I suspect it will go up for several days until I get all healed.
I baked the communion bread for church Friday. I burned it the first time (photo) and had to do it over (photo). Then Brad came over and we went hiking along some trails in Oakland. It would have been more fun if I hadn't been so cold. We've been having a cold spell here lately, with lows often below freezing. If it rained we'd have snow, but so far it's clear and cold. I actually had to pull out my warmest winter coat.
Anyway, we hiked for about 2 hours and left because darkness was closing in (actually it overtook us and we got out after dark). Well, I still had energy - remember the tons of carbs I ate on my birthday! - so I asked Brad if we could walk around Lake Merritt, which is lit. So we did that. All together just over 3 hours of walking. I made a new high step count - 24,584 (11.25 miles)! :)
After we got home we had something to eat and he helped me take down my Christmas tree. The apartment seems much less crowded now.
I ate very little - no breakfast, 5 1/2 oz. of ham for lunch, and 16 oz. of ground chicken for dinner. No veggies.
Saturday was communion at church and then Brad came over and we hung out. I ate way too much and I need to stop buying the Carb Smart ice cream. It's just too good.
For the purposes of my FitDay journal I posted 3500 calories for my birthday on Thursday, and the usual 3000 for Saturday.
Today (Sunday) I went to the gym in the morning. I ran for 1 mile on the treadmill (12 minutes), then did 45 minutes of weights and 30 minutes on the elliptical (the kind with the moving arms). Tested my blood sugar when I got to work and it was 111. Heavy exercise always raises my blood sugar.
Now even my "fat jeans" are tight. I had to check and make sure they were my fat jeans because it was a real struggle to get them over my fat ass. I don't need a scale to tell me I've gained from too many carbs on Thursday and too much food on Saturday. So today I'm drinking lots of water (I've drunk very little liquids the past two days), and cutting the carbs way back to get the carb bloat off. I'm also cutting calories to make up for the excess Thursday and Saturday.
Since I pigged out Thursday and Saturday (though to a lesser extent), I'm doing another mostly meat day with no veggies. I'll add some veggies back in tomorrow. I need to get back on track, and a day of mostly meat is the fastest way to do that. I took a couple magnesium tablets this morning to make up for the lack of fiber and of course I take a multi-vitamin/multi-mineral tablet every day in my vitamin packet.
Tomorrow is a holiday so I can't check my mail like I planned to, so I'll go to the gym again. Tuesday I have an appointment, Wednesday I'll do mail, and then Thursday is grocery shopping and laundry and I have the day off work because I have round two of oral surgery that morning. Thursday will be a busy day!
Here's some pictures from my birthday. Click them to see the full-size version.
Eating a low-fat cinnamon chip mini loaf from Starbucks
Eating a cheeseburger WITH the bun
Eating a cheeseburger WITH the bun
Me with birthday cake
Eating birthday cake
Drinking Diet Cherry Coke
Did I eat all those fries?
Eating birthday cake
High-carb blues
The birthday card Brad gave me. The inside reads, "As we get older, we should limit ourselves to just a couple glasses of wine on our birthday."
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Fat: 48g (37%)
Carbs: 14g (5%) (Woot!)
Protein: 109g (37%)
Calories burned in exercise: 556 (Woot!)
Ok, weekend update time. Friday blood sugar was high. Even though it was only 92 when I went to bed, it had risen to 109 by the morning. I'm sure this was related to eating high-carb Thursday. Saturday and Sunday it was 98 and 95 respectively - higher than normal but at least under 100. Hopefully I can get things stabilized because I have more surgery Thursday and I want to see how that will effect my blood sugar. I suspect it will go up for several days until I get all healed.
I baked the communion bread for church Friday. I burned it the first time (photo) and had to do it over (photo). Then Brad came over and we went hiking along some trails in Oakland. It would have been more fun if I hadn't been so cold. We've been having a cold spell here lately, with lows often below freezing. If it rained we'd have snow, but so far it's clear and cold. I actually had to pull out my warmest winter coat.
Anyway, we hiked for about 2 hours and left because darkness was closing in (actually it overtook us and we got out after dark). Well, I still had energy - remember the tons of carbs I ate on my birthday! - so I asked Brad if we could walk around Lake Merritt, which is lit. So we did that. All together just over 3 hours of walking. I made a new high step count - 24,584 (11.25 miles)! :)
After we got home we had something to eat and he helped me take down my Christmas tree. The apartment seems much less crowded now.
I ate very little - no breakfast, 5 1/2 oz. of ham for lunch, and 16 oz. of ground chicken for dinner. No veggies.
Saturday was communion at church and then Brad came over and we hung out. I ate way too much and I need to stop buying the Carb Smart ice cream. It's just too good.
For the purposes of my FitDay journal I posted 3500 calories for my birthday on Thursday, and the usual 3000 for Saturday.
Today (Sunday) I went to the gym in the morning. I ran for 1 mile on the treadmill (12 minutes), then did 45 minutes of weights and 30 minutes on the elliptical (the kind with the moving arms). Tested my blood sugar when I got to work and it was 111. Heavy exercise always raises my blood sugar.
Now even my "fat jeans" are tight. I had to check and make sure they were my fat jeans because it was a real struggle to get them over my fat ass. I don't need a scale to tell me I've gained from too many carbs on Thursday and too much food on Saturday. So today I'm drinking lots of water (I've drunk very little liquids the past two days), and cutting the carbs way back to get the carb bloat off. I'm also cutting calories to make up for the excess Thursday and Saturday.
Since I pigged out Thursday and Saturday (though to a lesser extent), I'm doing another mostly meat day with no veggies. I'll add some veggies back in tomorrow. I need to get back on track, and a day of mostly meat is the fastest way to do that. I took a couple magnesium tablets this morning to make up for the lack of fiber and of course I take a multi-vitamin/multi-mineral tablet every day in my vitamin packet.
Tomorrow is a holiday so I can't check my mail like I planned to, so I'll go to the gym again. Tuesday I have an appointment, Wednesday I'll do mail, and then Thursday is grocery shopping and laundry and I have the day off work because I have round two of oral surgery that morning. Thursday will be a busy day!
Here's some pictures from my birthday. Click them to see the full-size version.
Eating a cheeseburger WITH the bun
Eating a cheeseburger WITH the bun
Me with birthday cake
Eating birthday cake
Drinking Diet Cherry Coke
Did I eat all those fries?
Eating birthday cake
High-carb blues
The birthday card Brad gave me. The inside reads, "As we get older, we should limit ourselves to just a couple glasses of wine on our birthday."
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Losing Bogie, take 3
It is with a heavy heart I inform you that my sister April called me Saturday night to tell me that Bogie had passed away. She last checked on him sometime after midnight, and when she got up the next morning he was already in rigor mortis. He was 11 years old and died of cancer. In October of 2005 he was given 2-4 months to live. He outlived that prediction by a year.
It doubly worse because April told me that Monday is the seventh anniversary of Bacall's death. Bacall was Bogie's sister and died when she got out of the house and was hit by a car.
Bogie was named after Humphrey Bogart and Bacall was named after Lauren Bacall. My sister is a fan of old movies.
I found some pictures of Bogie on my computer and uploaded them to Flickr. Click to see the full-size version.
Me & Bogie (when I had my natural brown hair)
Bogie sitting
Bogie in his dog bed
My sister loved that dog more than anything else in life. He was the ring bearer at her wedding, with the pillow and ring tied to his harness.
Bogie
August 10, 1995 - January 13, 2007
Rest in peace, Bogie. I hope you are playing with Bacall at the Rainbow Bridge. Your Mommy will never forget you.
Just this side of heaven is a place called the Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to the Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together...
~ Author Unknown
Technorati tagged: dog, cancer, Bogie, pet loss, Rainbow Bridge, loss
It doubly worse because April told me that Monday is the seventh anniversary of Bacall's death. Bacall was Bogie's sister and died when she got out of the house and was hit by a car.
Bogie was named after Humphrey Bogart and Bacall was named after Lauren Bacall. My sister is a fan of old movies.
I found some pictures of Bogie on my computer and uploaded them to Flickr. Click to see the full-size version.
Bogie sitting
Bogie in his dog bed
My sister loved that dog more than anything else in life. He was the ring bearer at her wedding, with the pillow and ring tied to his harness.
Bogie
August 10, 1995 - January 13, 2007
Rest in peace, Bogie. I hope you are playing with Bacall at the Rainbow Bridge. Your Mommy will never forget you.
Just this side of heaven is a place called the Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to the Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together...
~ Author Unknown
Technorati tagged: dog, cancer, Bogie, pet loss, Rainbow Bridge, loss
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Why low-fat diets don't work
Quite simply, they don't work because
1) You feel deprived; fat tastes good and our bodies crave it because it is necessary to life.
2) You feel hungry. Protein and fat satiate - they keep you full longer than carbohydrates ever could, no matter how "complex" they may be. Any diet that restricts fat is likely going to make up those calories with carbs, which leave you with swinging blood sugars and constant hunger.
3) Low-fat diets don't address the carb addiction most people have, and therefore don't take away the cravings. Yes, carbohydrates are addictive. Grains trigger the pleasure center in the brain the same way drugs do.
Here's what prompted my post, an example I came across on the blog of a low-fat dieter. (All spelling mistakes are in the original.)
The picture of the fried chicken sandwich on the billboard screamed, "Look at me, FB...I'm DELICIOUS!!! come on...you want me...you KNOW you want me..."
"Oooh" said my Eyes. "You DO look delicious. I didn't have much to eat for breakfast today, so..."
"WAIT!!" yelled my Brain, "You are on a diet!!!!! you'll be sorry if you eat it - keep looking at the road! isn't that a cute little baby over there in the carriage?"
By this time I had passed the humungous picture tempting me and things began to quiet down when my Mouth chimed in with, "I'm beginning to salivate. I want to feel that juicy, crunchy chicken tantilizing my tongue and I want to feel it NOW, do you hear me, Ears?"
"NO!!!" said my Brain, "Don't listen to Mouth!!!!" Aren't you happy that you lost the weight that you did?! you may gain if you have it!!! You're doing better these days!!!! Don't you WANT to be thin?!!!!!"
"Oh God, I want that sandwich," said my unrelenting Mouth that was salivating even more than before.
At the red light my Eyes gazed down at my Stomach and said, "Your clothes will get tighter and you'll feel depressed if you give in."
"I don't CARE!!!!!!!!!!!!" growled my Stomach, and the light then turned to green. "Neither do I," said my Eyes as if this whole thing weren't their fault in the first place.
I began to steer the car in the direction of the restaurant, much to the immense relief of Touch and Taste as they cheered the others on.
See what I mean? Who wants to live with cravings like that?
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, Weight Watchers, low fat
1) You feel deprived; fat tastes good and our bodies crave it because it is necessary to life.
2) You feel hungry. Protein and fat satiate - they keep you full longer than carbohydrates ever could, no matter how "complex" they may be. Any diet that restricts fat is likely going to make up those calories with carbs, which leave you with swinging blood sugars and constant hunger.
3) Low-fat diets don't address the carb addiction most people have, and therefore don't take away the cravings. Yes, carbohydrates are addictive. Grains trigger the pleasure center in the brain the same way drugs do.
Here's what prompted my post, an example I came across on the blog of a low-fat dieter. (All spelling mistakes are in the original.)
The picture of the fried chicken sandwich on the billboard screamed, "Look at me, FB...I'm DELICIOUS!!! come on...you want me...you KNOW you want me..."
"Oooh" said my Eyes. "You DO look delicious. I didn't have much to eat for breakfast today, so..."
"WAIT!!" yelled my Brain, "You are on a diet!!!!! you'll be sorry if you eat it - keep looking at the road! isn't that a cute little baby over there in the carriage?"
By this time I had passed the humungous picture tempting me and things began to quiet down when my Mouth chimed in with, "I'm beginning to salivate. I want to feel that juicy, crunchy chicken tantilizing my tongue and I want to feel it NOW, do you hear me, Ears?"
"NO!!!" said my Brain, "Don't listen to Mouth!!!!" Aren't you happy that you lost the weight that you did?! you may gain if you have it!!! You're doing better these days!!!! Don't you WANT to be thin?!!!!!"
"Oh God, I want that sandwich," said my unrelenting Mouth that was salivating even more than before.
At the red light my Eyes gazed down at my Stomach and said, "Your clothes will get tighter and you'll feel depressed if you give in."
"I don't CARE!!!!!!!!!!!!" growled my Stomach, and the light then turned to green. "Neither do I," said my Eyes as if this whole thing weren't their fault in the first place.
I began to steer the car in the direction of the restaurant, much to the immense relief of Touch and Taste as they cheered the others on.
See what I mean? Who wants to live with cravings like that?
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, Weight Watchers, low fat
Thursday, January 11, 2007
It's my birthday!
Weight this morning: 145Calories 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
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday, happy birthday,
Happy birthday to me!
Technorati tagged: birthday
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday, happy birthday,
Happy birthday to me!
Technorati tagged: birthday
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Wednesday
Weight this morning: 144.8
Calories eaten yesterday: 1592
Fat: 86g (51%)
Carbs: 42g (11%)
Protein: 108g (28%)
Calories burned in exercise: 105
My Dad's check finally arrived. It seems he forget December also, so he sent me $400 instead of the customary $200. Whew! I really need that money. Now I can buy the stuff I need from Netrition and pay my bills, as well as afford the groceries I bought today.
I check about the $240 check and he said it was a vacation advance. The actual amount would be calculated and reflected up or down (probably up he said) in my next paycheck. I don't remember asking to cash in 24 hours vacation, but oh well. Unfortunately this only leaves me with 36 hours - not even a whole week - and I want to go to conference this summer. Bleh.
Some interesting blood sugar numbers today. I was 83 when I got up at 9:30 - a very good reading. I had black coffee (2 carbs) and two strips of bacon (0 carbs), and then went grocery shopping. I came home, put everything away, and then cooked up the meat I bought. I rinsed and cut up the strawberries, and prepared to leave for work. (Whew! Busy morning!) I tested my blood sugar and it was up to 106! Yike. I left for work and walked the last 1.5 miles from the train station, then tested again when I got to work. This time I was 99. Interesting. I guess I am not eating enough for breakfast.
Spell check sometimes works on this blog and sometimes doesn't for some unknown reason, so I apologize for any misspelled words. Stupid blogger. I tried three browsers (IE, Netscape, Firefox) and got the same result on all three. :-p
No exercise today due to the grocery shopping, but, as mentioned above, I walked to work from the train station. Hopefully I'll be back to full strength next week. Unfortunately, I also have a lot to do and will only make it to the gym twice. :-p
I may work out tomorrow, not sure. If I do it will be light because Brad and I hope to do some serious walking Friday night. Tomorrow is also my birthday so I need to leave early so I can stop at Starbucks and get something horribly sinful. ;)
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Calories eaten yesterday: 1592
Fat: 86g (51%)
Carbs: 42g (11%)
Protein: 108g (28%)
Calories burned in exercise: 105
My Dad's check finally arrived. It seems he forget December also, so he sent me $400 instead of the customary $200. Whew! I really need that money. Now I can buy the stuff I need from Netrition and pay my bills, as well as afford the groceries I bought today.
I check about the $240 check and he said it was a vacation advance. The actual amount would be calculated and reflected up or down (probably up he said) in my next paycheck. I don't remember asking to cash in 24 hours vacation, but oh well. Unfortunately this only leaves me with 36 hours - not even a whole week - and I want to go to conference this summer. Bleh.
Some interesting blood sugar numbers today. I was 83 when I got up at 9:30 - a very good reading. I had black coffee (2 carbs) and two strips of bacon (0 carbs), and then went grocery shopping. I came home, put everything away, and then cooked up the meat I bought. I rinsed and cut up the strawberries, and prepared to leave for work. (Whew! Busy morning!) I tested my blood sugar and it was up to 106! Yike. I left for work and walked the last 1.5 miles from the train station, then tested again when I got to work. This time I was 99. Interesting. I guess I am not eating enough for breakfast.
Spell check sometimes works on this blog and sometimes doesn't for some unknown reason, so I apologize for any misspelled words. Stupid blogger. I tried three browsers (IE, Netscape, Firefox) and got the same result on all three. :-p
No exercise today due to the grocery shopping, but, as mentioned above, I walked to work from the train station. Hopefully I'll be back to full strength next week. Unfortunately, I also have a lot to do and will only make it to the gym twice. :-p
I may work out tomorrow, not sure. If I do it will be light because Brad and I hope to do some serious walking Friday night. Tomorrow is also my birthday so I need to leave early so I can stop at Starbucks and get something horribly sinful. ;)
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Blood sugar, my birthday, & blog hits
Weight this morning: 144.8
Calories eaten yesterday: 1761
Fat: 96g (51%)
Carbs: 43g (10%)
Protein: 122g (29%)
Calories burned in exercise: 228
I was going to do a light workout at home today but I woke up with a coughing fit, so I went back to sleep. Don't want to push myself too hard too fast, and I need to be ready for a looong walk on Friday. I'm still sore from my workouts the last two days anyway. I did walk the last 1.5 miles to work from the BART station though, so that's something. I stopped at WalMart on the way (adding a few more steps across the big parking lot) and picked up more diet soda and pork rinds.
Blood sugar was 90 this morning. I'm so glad it came back down. I'm curious if it will go up again after my oral surgery next Thursday.
Only two days until my birthday and my day to eat whatever my heart desires! I asked Brad to stop at McDonald's on his way to work and pick me up a McGriddle sandwich. By the time I pass a McDonald's the breakfast menu is over. McGriddles are one of my favorite "bad" foods. I plan to test fequently with my meter that day and log everything here. This will be my first carb binge since getting my meter and I want to see what happens. I'm insatiably curious about foods and their effect on my blood sugar.
My hits here have really gone up recently - from an average of just under 50 a day to just over 60 a day. I don't know why this happened, but I like it and wonder how long it will last. I see some hits from Flickr's diabetes group and Dr. Bernstein's diabetes forum, so that's part of the increase, but not all of it. Commenting on posts at Jimmy's blog also seems to net me some hits.
I've been trying to finish up Dr. Dan's Super Weight Loss Plan and get my Amazon review posted. I'll post the review here first, and it's going to be looong. Reading is slow going because I have to keep pulling out my highlighter and pencil and stay calm with his carbohydrate recommendations and his continual swipes at a low-carb approach. It seems to have been written when Atkins was very popular and he does his best to dissuade people from that approach.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Calories eaten yesterday: 1761
Fat: 96g (51%)
Carbs: 43g (10%)
Protein: 122g (29%)
Calories burned in exercise: 228
I was going to do a light workout at home today but I woke up with a coughing fit, so I went back to sleep. Don't want to push myself too hard too fast, and I need to be ready for a looong walk on Friday. I'm still sore from my workouts the last two days anyway. I did walk the last 1.5 miles to work from the BART station though, so that's something. I stopped at WalMart on the way (adding a few more steps across the big parking lot) and picked up more diet soda and pork rinds.
Blood sugar was 90 this morning. I'm so glad it came back down. I'm curious if it will go up again after my oral surgery next Thursday.
Only two days until my birthday and my day to eat whatever my heart desires! I asked Brad to stop at McDonald's on his way to work and pick me up a McGriddle sandwich. By the time I pass a McDonald's the breakfast menu is over. McGriddles are one of my favorite "bad" foods. I plan to test fequently with my meter that day and log everything here. This will be my first carb binge since getting my meter and I want to see what happens. I'm insatiably curious about foods and their effect on my blood sugar.
My hits here have really gone up recently - from an average of just under 50 a day to just over 60 a day. I don't know why this happened, but I like it and wonder how long it will last. I see some hits from Flickr's diabetes group and Dr. Bernstein's diabetes forum, so that's part of the increase, but not all of it. Commenting on posts at Jimmy's blog also seems to net me some hits.
I've been trying to finish up Dr. Dan's Super Weight Loss Plan and get my Amazon review posted. I'll post the review here first, and it's going to be looong. Reading is slow going because I have to keep pulling out my highlighter and pencil and stay calm with his carbohydrate recommendations and his continual swipes at a low-carb approach. It seems to have been written when Atkins was very popular and he does his best to dissuade people from that approach.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Monday, January 08, 2007
First gym workout of the new year!
Calories eaten yesterday: 1387
Fat: 69g (46%)
Carbs: 28g (8%)
Protein: 114g (34%)
Calories burned in exercise: 208
Back to the gym today. My first gym workout of the new year! When I walked in I swear every treadmill was being used. Yep, the New Year's Resolutioners turn out every January to get into shape and lose weight.
I did weight training first, and thankfully it seemed the New Year's Resolutioners were only interested in cardio, so I didn't have to fight for machines and weights any more than usual. I even found some change in the leg press machine. It must have fallen out of someone's pocket. There was 80 cents, but I managed to lose a nickel at some point and ended up with 75 cents. Oh well. It was three quarters and I can always use quarters for laundry. :) I only did 40 minutes of weights since I did some weight training at home yesterday.
By the time I was ready for cardio there were plenty of treadmills open. I hopped on one and walked between 3.5 and 3.8 mph for 45 minutes. I know - a lighter workout than usual, but I wanted to start off slow. But between yesterday's workout and today I am so SORE!
Here's a thought about why I might have so much trouble building muscle. Insulin is a growth hormone. It doesn't just store fat, but also helps build muscle. As you may remember, I had a glucose tolerance test last year, and at the two hour mark they also tested my insulin level. When I got the result back they said my insulin was out of range - on the low side. The lowest "normal" level is 6 and I was a 3. This won't adversely effect my health since my blood sugar is in range, but could it be the reason I can't build muscle?
Came to work and found a check for $240 in my box. I'm not sure what it's for. Vacation maybe? It says "24 hours" on the worksheet, but that would only be $10 an hour and I make more than that, so I'm really not sure. Still, I'm grateful because I need the money. Dad hasn't sent me any money this month and this check will cover that.
I think I can finally say my blood sugar is back to normal after my surgery - a very good sign! The last two days I've gotten up at my regular time (9:30) and I was 89 yesterday and 91 today. Those are totally normal numbers for me. Yay! :)
The toe still doesn't look very good, but it's stopped draining. Hopefully the skin there will turn white over time instead of the ugly red it is now.
Brad and I are planning on walking on Friday. Because of the planned cheat on my birthday, I'll need all the exercise I can get! He doesn't want to walk around the lake, though, so I don't know where we're going. He said it has trees and is paved, but won't say more.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Fat: 69g (46%)
Carbs: 28g (8%)
Protein: 114g (34%)
Calories burned in exercise: 208
Back to the gym today. My first gym workout of the new year! When I walked in I swear every treadmill was being used. Yep, the New Year's Resolutioners turn out every January to get into shape and lose weight.
I did weight training first, and thankfully it seemed the New Year's Resolutioners were only interested in cardio, so I didn't have to fight for machines and weights any more than usual. I even found some change in the leg press machine. It must have fallen out of someone's pocket. There was 80 cents, but I managed to lose a nickel at some point and ended up with 75 cents. Oh well. It was three quarters and I can always use quarters for laundry. :) I only did 40 minutes of weights since I did some weight training at home yesterday.
By the time I was ready for cardio there were plenty of treadmills open. I hopped on one and walked between 3.5 and 3.8 mph for 45 minutes. I know - a lighter workout than usual, but I wanted to start off slow. But between yesterday's workout and today I am so SORE!
Here's a thought about why I might have so much trouble building muscle. Insulin is a growth hormone. It doesn't just store fat, but also helps build muscle. As you may remember, I had a glucose tolerance test last year, and at the two hour mark they also tested my insulin level. When I got the result back they said my insulin was out of range - on the low side. The lowest "normal" level is 6 and I was a 3. This won't adversely effect my health since my blood sugar is in range, but could it be the reason I can't build muscle?
Came to work and found a check for $240 in my box. I'm not sure what it's for. Vacation maybe? It says "24 hours" on the worksheet, but that would only be $10 an hour and I make more than that, so I'm really not sure. Still, I'm grateful because I need the money. Dad hasn't sent me any money this month and this check will cover that.
I think I can finally say my blood sugar is back to normal after my surgery - a very good sign! The last two days I've gotten up at my regular time (9:30) and I was 89 yesterday and 91 today. Those are totally normal numbers for me. Yay! :)
The toe still doesn't look very good, but it's stopped draining. Hopefully the skin there will turn white over time instead of the ugly red it is now.
Brad and I are planning on walking on Friday. Because of the planned cheat on my birthday, I'll need all the exercise I can get! He doesn't want to walk around the lake, though, so I don't know where we're going. He said it has trees and is paved, but won't say more.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Diet, diabetes (sort of), devotionals, and digital photos
Calories eaten Friday: 1810
Fat: 95g (49%)
Carbs: 24g (6%)
Protein: 98g (22%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
I'm not totally sure of the calorie count because the bottle of salad dressing exploded over the salad, so I had to guess at the amount of dressing. It certainly did add quite a few extra calories than I planned on.
I had some weird blood sugar results over the weekend. I tested the strips twice with the test solution and it came up in the middle of the acceptable range both times. I was 69 on the TrueTrack Friday night. That seemed awfully low so I tested again and got 60 (!). I pulled out the Aviva and it gave me 93 (!). My blood sugar could have been in the 60s because I ate very low carb and drank a bit and I know alcohol prevents the liver from performing gluconeogenesis, so there's no mechanism to keep blood sugar from dropping.
Then the TrueTrack registered me as only 75 Saturday morning - long after my liver had processed the alcohol. When I got home from church (after eating more carbs than usual) I got 103 (whew - my blood sugar did come up!) and the Aviva had me at 123.
I was 89 this morning, and that's normal. Overall my fasting blood sugar is coming down so my toe must be healing. :) My average fasting reading for the last week is 87.
Got a compliment from Anita at church that I was looking skinny (or thin or something)! Woohoo! I love those compliments.
Started back exercising. I decided not to go to the gym because I am still coughing a bit, so I did some weight work at home and also got on my stationary bike for 30 minutes. I finished off by walking the last 1.5 miles to work from the BART station. I sure felt a ton better than when I tried it last week!
I came across something in my devotional last night that I wanted to share. I find lots of cool stuff to share, but I usually never get around to doing it. Right now I am using a publication put out by my church for the annual Seventh Day Baptist Week of Prayer (.pdf).
The introduction asks the question, "Who owns your church?" What is your answer? Who owns your church, wherever you happen to go?
The answer? "It in not my Church, not your Church, not even the Apostles' church. It is Jesus' Church...it belongs to him. He bought and paid for it with his blood and life."
And to change the topic again, here's some pictures I've taken recently. Click them to see the full-size version.
One drink for each hand - scotch and a martini
I caught Brad trying to sneak one more drink
Abby sleeps with her legs sticking out of the cat tree
The shoebox I keep my blood testing supplies in
My backup blood glucose meter
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Fat: 95g (49%)
Carbs: 24g (6%)
Protein: 98g (22%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
I'm not totally sure of the calorie count because the bottle of salad dressing exploded over the salad, so I had to guess at the amount of dressing. It certainly did add quite a few extra calories than I planned on.
I had some weird blood sugar results over the weekend. I tested the strips twice with the test solution and it came up in the middle of the acceptable range both times. I was 69 on the TrueTrack Friday night. That seemed awfully low so I tested again and got 60 (!). I pulled out the Aviva and it gave me 93 (!). My blood sugar could have been in the 60s because I ate very low carb and drank a bit and I know alcohol prevents the liver from performing gluconeogenesis, so there's no mechanism to keep blood sugar from dropping.
Then the TrueTrack registered me as only 75 Saturday morning - long after my liver had processed the alcohol. When I got home from church (after eating more carbs than usual) I got 103 (whew - my blood sugar did come up!) and the Aviva had me at 123.
I was 89 this morning, and that's normal. Overall my fasting blood sugar is coming down so my toe must be healing. :) My average fasting reading for the last week is 87.
Got a compliment from Anita at church that I was looking skinny (or thin or something)! Woohoo! I love those compliments.
Started back exercising. I decided not to go to the gym because I am still coughing a bit, so I did some weight work at home and also got on my stationary bike for 30 minutes. I finished off by walking the last 1.5 miles to work from the BART station. I sure felt a ton better than when I tried it last week!
I came across something in my devotional last night that I wanted to share. I find lots of cool stuff to share, but I usually never get around to doing it. Right now I am using a publication put out by my church for the annual Seventh Day Baptist Week of Prayer (.pdf).
The introduction asks the question, "Who owns your church?" What is your answer? Who owns your church, wherever you happen to go?
The answer? "It in not my Church, not your Church, not even the Apostles' church. It is Jesus' Church...it belongs to him. He bought and paid for it with his blood and life."
And to change the topic again, here's some pictures I've taken recently. Click them to see the full-size version.
I caught Brad trying to sneak one more drink
Abby sleeps with her legs sticking out of the cat tree
The shoebox I keep my blood testing supplies in
My backup blood glucose meter
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Saturday, January 06, 2007
5 little known facts about me
In the words of Jimmy's blog post:
Here's how it works:
1. Come up with 5 little-known facts about yourself
2. Post a blog with those nuggets of truth
3. "Tag" others to join in the fun
No one seems to know where it started. It can only be traced back to Jeff. For anyone keeping track, I was tagged by Jimmy.
Anyway, here I go. In the words of Dr. Michael Eades', since [my younger days], my life has taken a turn for the dull, dull as dishwater in fact. So we now speak of (mostly) the younger me.
1) In my younger, wilder days I was a member of Earth First! (the exclamation mark is part of the name). I hung out with them a couple of summers trying to help save the ancient redwood forests in Northern California. Here's a poem I wrote during that time.
2) During my time with Earth First! I was arrested for locking my next to a bulldozer. Yep, there I was in the middle of nowhere, unable to move because my neck is locked to a bulldozer with a Krypton bicycle lock. Two other people were also locked down, and we each had a support person (who had the key, just in case), so a total of 6 of us were arrested and put in jail. My first time in jail! I was so scared, even though I had chosen to do it. So yes, this means yours truly has a police record.
Anyway, they had to use a dimond toothed saw to cut us off. They had to cover our heads to protect us from the sparks.
3) I was also arrested once in San Francisco. I don't remember for sure what we were protesting, but I think it was because AB 101 was defeated. I did peaceful protesting and was carried off by two policemen - one had my arms and the other my feet. My Mom found out I was arrested while watching evening new coverage of the event! Poor Mom!
I think this was also the protest where somebody started handing out eggs to throw at the police. I got ahold of one, hurled it, and ducked into the crowd so fast that I can't be sure if it hit it's target. I think I saw it do so out of the corner of my eye, though.
Ah, to be young again!
3) In my early 20s I was a Wiccan and belonged to a coven here in the Bay Area. The coven is still active, though I am of course no longer a member. I am still in contact with the leaders of the coven. In fact, we recently talked on the phone (I lost their address and needed to get it).
4) My now working in Christian radio wasn't planned. It happened in such a way that I knew God had to be behind it. I was in college majoring in jounralism, not communications, which was a totally different department. I had an assignment to observe somebody - anybody - and write about it, being as descriptive as possible.
Now I could have just watched a teacher during one of my classes, but for some odd reason I thought this would be a good opportunity to see Craig Roberts, who did the drive-time evening radio program at local Christian radio station KFAX. (I often listened to the program.)
I did write my paper on him and got an okay grade, but while I was there I met with the program's producer, and he offered me an internship. It wasn't much, and didn't pay, but how could I resist working at this radio station that I loved to listen to? I worked one full day a week for six months. The job ended and I thought that was the end of it. I did, however, send a Christmas card to the station.
Unbeknownst to me, the producer (who had been my supervisor there) left the station at the end of the year, and for some reason took the Christmas card with him. The following March I received a letter from him. He has gone back to Family Radio, there was a job opening, and would I like to talk further? He included his e-mail address so I e-mailed him and the rest is history. I'm still here at Family Radio, working one of the many behind the scenes positions.
All that from a simple journalism assignment.
5) I'm the only Republican in a family of Libertarians. In my younger days I was Green Party. In fact, I registered Green before it was an official party in California (to help it become official). I live in an area that is predominantly Democrat. So I'm a black sheep in both my family and community.
I tag Cindy, Meredith, Lisa, Lira, and Brad, who has no blog but can post in the comments section here.
Technorati tagged: diary, life, 5 things, meme
Here's how it works:
1. Come up with 5 little-known facts about yourself
2. Post a blog with those nuggets of truth
3. "Tag" others to join in the fun
No one seems to know where it started. It can only be traced back to Jeff. For anyone keeping track, I was tagged by Jimmy.
Anyway, here I go. In the words of Dr. Michael Eades', since [my younger days], my life has taken a turn for the dull, dull as dishwater in fact. So we now speak of (mostly) the younger me.
1) In my younger, wilder days I was a member of Earth First! (the exclamation mark is part of the name). I hung out with them a couple of summers trying to help save the ancient redwood forests in Northern California. Here's a poem I wrote during that time.
2) During my time with Earth First! I was arrested for locking my next to a bulldozer. Yep, there I was in the middle of nowhere, unable to move because my neck is locked to a bulldozer with a Krypton bicycle lock. Two other people were also locked down, and we each had a support person (who had the key, just in case), so a total of 6 of us were arrested and put in jail. My first time in jail! I was so scared, even though I had chosen to do it. So yes, this means yours truly has a police record.
Anyway, they had to use a dimond toothed saw to cut us off. They had to cover our heads to protect us from the sparks.
3) I was also arrested once in San Francisco. I don't remember for sure what we were protesting, but I think it was because AB 101 was defeated. I did peaceful protesting and was carried off by two policemen - one had my arms and the other my feet. My Mom found out I was arrested while watching evening new coverage of the event! Poor Mom!
I think this was also the protest where somebody started handing out eggs to throw at the police. I got ahold of one, hurled it, and ducked into the crowd so fast that I can't be sure if it hit it's target. I think I saw it do so out of the corner of my eye, though.
Ah, to be young again!
3) In my early 20s I was a Wiccan and belonged to a coven here in the Bay Area. The coven is still active, though I am of course no longer a member. I am still in contact with the leaders of the coven. In fact, we recently talked on the phone (I lost their address and needed to get it).
4) My now working in Christian radio wasn't planned. It happened in such a way that I knew God had to be behind it. I was in college majoring in jounralism, not communications, which was a totally different department. I had an assignment to observe somebody - anybody - and write about it, being as descriptive as possible.
Now I could have just watched a teacher during one of my classes, but for some odd reason I thought this would be a good opportunity to see Craig Roberts, who did the drive-time evening radio program at local Christian radio station KFAX. (I often listened to the program.)
I did write my paper on him and got an okay grade, but while I was there I met with the program's producer, and he offered me an internship. It wasn't much, and didn't pay, but how could I resist working at this radio station that I loved to listen to? I worked one full day a week for six months. The job ended and I thought that was the end of it. I did, however, send a Christmas card to the station.
Unbeknownst to me, the producer (who had been my supervisor there) left the station at the end of the year, and for some reason took the Christmas card with him. The following March I received a letter from him. He has gone back to Family Radio, there was a job opening, and would I like to talk further? He included his e-mail address so I e-mailed him and the rest is history. I'm still here at Family Radio, working one of the many behind the scenes positions.
All that from a simple journalism assignment.
5) I'm the only Republican in a family of Libertarians. In my younger days I was Green Party. In fact, I registered Green before it was an official party in California (to help it become official). I live in an area that is predominantly Democrat. So I'm a black sheep in both my family and community.
I tag Cindy, Meredith, Lisa, Lira, and Brad, who has no blog but can post in the comments section here.
Technorati tagged: diary, life, 5 things, meme
Friday, January 05, 2007
Life Is Good :-)
Weight Friday morning: 142.4
Calories eaten Thursday: 1522
Fat: 74g (45%)
Carbs: 41g (11%)
Protein: 82g (22%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
Did pretty good. 142.4 isn't a new low, but it's a good sign I'm in the right direction again. I know I'll be up on Sunday because Saturday is my semi-cheat day, but it's just water fluctuations. I just gotta keep watching my calories and getting back to the gym will help. Thursday's the first day I felt pretty good, so I think I've turned the corner and rejoined the land of the living. :)
Got to sleep in Friday morning so my blood sugar was lower than if I got up at my normal time. Blood sugar was 83, and I'm quite happy with that.
Speaking of which, I've been blowing through strips pretty quickly, and I had to get a new vial of test strips Thursday night. That's when I noticed that I ordered 200 strips but received 400. There they were - 4 boxes of 100 strips each. I don't know why I didn't notice when I got the shipment. I'll chalk it up to being so sick when they arrived last week.
I contacted the seller to tell him and asked him what he wanted me to do. Friday morning I received this reply:
Thanks for your honesty. I guess that probably means I shorted someone else 200 strips. Getting old is not a good thing. Happy New Year & Happy Birthday, keep them. Or if you are in a generous mood too, send me $3,000 for the extra boxes, your choice.
Cool beans. I can always use extra strips! :) First I found $20 in the WalMart packing lot and now this. :)
Oh yeah, now that I have an old pay stub I can say that my cost-of-living raise is 80 cents more per hour. I love the money and certainly need it.
Brad and I made mulled wine. It came out okay. We have some more tweaks to do before I'll post the recipe. Stay tuned.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Calories eaten Thursday: 1522
Fat: 74g (45%)
Carbs: 41g (11%)
Protein: 82g (22%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
Did pretty good. 142.4 isn't a new low, but it's a good sign I'm in the right direction again. I know I'll be up on Sunday because Saturday is my semi-cheat day, but it's just water fluctuations. I just gotta keep watching my calories and getting back to the gym will help. Thursday's the first day I felt pretty good, so I think I've turned the corner and rejoined the land of the living. :)
Got to sleep in Friday morning so my blood sugar was lower than if I got up at my normal time. Blood sugar was 83, and I'm quite happy with that.
Speaking of which, I've been blowing through strips pretty quickly, and I had to get a new vial of test strips Thursday night. That's when I noticed that I ordered 200 strips but received 400. There they were - 4 boxes of 100 strips each. I don't know why I didn't notice when I got the shipment. I'll chalk it up to being so sick when they arrived last week.
I contacted the seller to tell him and asked him what he wanted me to do. Friday morning I received this reply:
Thanks for your honesty. I guess that probably means I shorted someone else 200 strips. Getting old is not a good thing. Happy New Year & Happy Birthday, keep them. Or if you are in a generous mood too, send me $3,000 for the extra boxes, your choice.
Cool beans. I can always use extra strips! :) First I found $20 in the WalMart packing lot and now this. :)
Oh yeah, now that I have an old pay stub I can say that my cost-of-living raise is 80 cents more per hour. I love the money and certainly need it.
Brad and I made mulled wine. It came out okay. We have some more tweaks to do before I'll post the recipe. Stay tuned.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Low-Carb for Newbies
This is an old blog post, but I just found it today, and thought it was a great post to feature here as the new year begins.
Low-Carb for Newbies
It is an in-depth post about the three macronutrients of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. This girl has really done her research! Run over there and read it and, if you wish, comment there or here.
Off topic, but I think this is my 1500th post! :)
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, fat, transfats, fat, Protein Power, Eades, diabetes, Bernstein, protein
Low-Carb for Newbies
It is an in-depth post about the three macronutrients of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. This girl has really done her research! Run over there and read it and, if you wish, comment there or here.
Off topic, but I think this is my 1500th post! :)
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, fat, transfats, fat, Protein Power, Eades, diabetes, Bernstein, protein
144.4
144.4 - that's my weight this morning and as close to a starting weight for 2007 as I'm going to get. My ending weight in December (Dec. 29) was 144.2, so pretty close in weight.
Here's yesterday's food stats:
Calories eaten yesterday: 1252
Fat: 66g (50%)
Carbs: 40g (13%)
Protein: 72g (24%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
Still sick today, but as always, better than yesterday. I'm a bit tired because I got up at my normal time this morning. I had to grocery shop so no sleeping in. Because of this I only got my regular 7 1/2 hours of sleep, not the 9+ I need when sick. Oh well, tomorrow's Friday and I can sleep in. I have a chiropractic appointment in the afternoon, and I have to cook something for the church potluck (I'm thinking cauliflower potatoes sounds good), and that's it. :) Brad may come over and we can try making mulled wine.
Since I had to get up early I was able to get a fasting blood sugar reading at my regular time - 92 this morning, and I'm happy with that. That's pretty close to what the lab tests me at. I guess my toe is healing if my blood sugar is coming back down. :)
With the new year comes a small "cost of living" raise. I'm not sure how much the raise is because I don't have an old pay stub with me at the moment, but I know I am getting more. Hence, I had a decent paycheck (though never enough) even though they took $100 out for my Commuter Checks. Now if Dad will send me some money for January I should be able to get by without too much trouble. It's my $700 a month rent that kills me - that's nearly two weeks of pay (take home after taxes). Provided my rent isn't raised, this raise will help a lot.
Communion is coming at church next weekend. I realized I don't have any flour left. I've bugged Jane about it, to no avail. Telling her at church this weekend would be pointless because she couldn't get it to me until the next week. So I e-mailed Pastor Steve. I need the flour this weekend so that I can make the bread by next weekend.
I want to go back to the gym, and wondering if I should maybe do a light workout (weights/walking) on Sunday, or if I should wait longer.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Here's yesterday's food stats:
Calories eaten yesterday: 1252
Fat: 66g (50%)
Carbs: 40g (13%)
Protein: 72g (24%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
Still sick today, but as always, better than yesterday. I'm a bit tired because I got up at my normal time this morning. I had to grocery shop so no sleeping in. Because of this I only got my regular 7 1/2 hours of sleep, not the 9+ I need when sick. Oh well, tomorrow's Friday and I can sleep in. I have a chiropractic appointment in the afternoon, and I have to cook something for the church potluck (I'm thinking cauliflower potatoes sounds good), and that's it. :) Brad may come over and we can try making mulled wine.
Since I had to get up early I was able to get a fasting blood sugar reading at my regular time - 92 this morning, and I'm happy with that. That's pretty close to what the lab tests me at. I guess my toe is healing if my blood sugar is coming back down. :)
With the new year comes a small "cost of living" raise. I'm not sure how much the raise is because I don't have an old pay stub with me at the moment, but I know I am getting more. Hence, I had a decent paycheck (though never enough) even though they took $100 out for my Commuter Checks. Now if Dad will send me some money for January I should be able to get by without too much trouble. It's my $700 a month rent that kills me - that's nearly two weeks of pay (take home after taxes). Provided my rent isn't raised, this raise will help a lot.
Communion is coming at church next weekend. I realized I don't have any flour left. I've bugged Jane about it, to no avail. Telling her at church this weekend would be pointless because she couldn't get it to me until the next week. So I e-mailed Pastor Steve. I need the flour this weekend so that I can make the bread by next weekend.
I want to go back to the gym, and wondering if I should maybe do a light workout (weights/walking) on Sunday, or if I should wait longer.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Calories eaten yesterday: 1261
Fat: 66g (50%)
Carbs: 40g (13%)
Protein: 71g (24%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
I hate looking at my "calories burned in exercise" and seeing 0 each day. I can't wait to get over this cold and get back to the gym again. My fitness level will be shot by the time I make it back to the gym. :(
I feel a teeny bit better today. Fell asleep last night pretty flat without coughing myself to death, and woke up this morning without coughing. It came back just a bit as the day wore on, but it's definitely getting better.
Got my new CDs uploaded to my computer last night and then onto my iPod. Hot dog! No more having to lug around my portable CD player and gripe when it skips.
I had great blood sugar numbers this morning. I suspect it's because I'm testing so late in the morning instead of my usual 9:30. Additionally, any test done after 10 a.m. doesn't count toward the morning average numbers on my meter. Anyway, my number this morning was 81 (taken at noon), but my 14- and 30-day averages are 92 and 93, respectively. Hopefully, those numbers will come down as my toe heals and I get over this cold and can start testing at my regular time.
For the weekend I'm hoping Brad will come over and we can practice making mulled wine. I'll take a couple practices before we find the easiest version that tastes half decent. Then I'll post it in my recipes section. Right now we are leaning toward using orange & spice tea instead of going through the trouble of putting orange rind directly into the wine.
No walking around the lake this weekend. Hopefully we can walk the day after my birthday and burn off all the carbs I ate!
I put my ticker back up because my New Year's Resolution is to make it to 140 and I will do it! I haven't weighed myself in about a week so 145 is an educated guess. I guess I should weigh myself tomorrow and get an official starting weight for the year. Official ending weight for December (Dec. 29) was 144.2.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Fat: 66g (50%)
Carbs: 40g (13%)
Protein: 71g (24%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
I hate looking at my "calories burned in exercise" and seeing 0 each day. I can't wait to get over this cold and get back to the gym again. My fitness level will be shot by the time I make it back to the gym. :(
I feel a teeny bit better today. Fell asleep last night pretty flat without coughing myself to death, and woke up this morning without coughing. It came back just a bit as the day wore on, but it's definitely getting better.
Got my new CDs uploaded to my computer last night and then onto my iPod. Hot dog! No more having to lug around my portable CD player and gripe when it skips.
I had great blood sugar numbers this morning. I suspect it's because I'm testing so late in the morning instead of my usual 9:30. Additionally, any test done after 10 a.m. doesn't count toward the morning average numbers on my meter. Anyway, my number this morning was 81 (taken at noon), but my 14- and 30-day averages are 92 and 93, respectively. Hopefully, those numbers will come down as my toe heals and I get over this cold and can start testing at my regular time.
For the weekend I'm hoping Brad will come over and we can practice making mulled wine. I'll take a couple practices before we find the easiest version that tastes half decent. Then I'll post it in my recipes section. Right now we are leaning toward using orange & spice tea instead of going through the trouble of putting orange rind directly into the wine.
No walking around the lake this weekend. Hopefully we can walk the day after my birthday and burn off all the carbs I ate!
I put my ticker back up because my New Year's Resolution is to make it to 140 and I will do it! I haven't weighed myself in about a week so 145 is an educated guess. I guess I should weigh myself tomorrow and get an official starting weight for the year. Official ending weight for December (Dec. 29) was 144.2.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Calories eaten yesterday: 1205
Fat: 63g (49%)
Carbs: 34g (12%)
Protein: 70g (24%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
I've been having to cut back on tomatoes. While I love them, they do tend to be rather carby, so I've limited myself to half a tomato a day. Cucumbers are low in carbs and calories and I can pretty much eat as much as I want, and I'm trying to add avocados in (a whole one if possible) to get my fat intake up without raising my protein also the way pork rinds do. They are fairly low in net carbs because of the high fiber content and don't have the heavy salt of the pork rinds.
Still sick today. The sugar-free cough drops seemed to help yesterday, but sugar-free doesn't mean carb-free, so I've had to use them sparingly. Sad but true. I slept semi-sitting up last night to keep my coughing at bay. Didn't give me a very restful sleep (kept waking up), but at least I managed to fall back asleep each time.
I feel pretty proud of myself for getting through the holidays without the weight gain most people experience. But it's true - when I cut my carbs back to about 40g a day I don't crave all the sweets that abound at this time of year. I even made it through the dreaded church Christmas party without eating any of the sweets that Becky made. I brought sugar-free chocolate cheesecake and just had that. :)
Now the holidays are pretty much over, but I'm trying to keep my carbs in the 40g range to see if I can get these last pesky pounds off. I'm still sipping a can a day of chicken broth (thanks Brad!). It seems to go down easy and is a "food" I tolerate well. It's true that chicken soup is good when you are sick, and for a low-carber, chicken broth fits the bill. :) I can also drink carbonated water better than plain right now.
My blood sugar was in my normal range this morning at 89. The more days I can have like that, the more I'll know I'm recovering from the toe surgery. It's draining less so it is getting better. But sheesh...I've gone through 2 four pound packages of Epsom Salt.
I have some good news I forgot to mention when it happened. As you may recall, I walked to work Sunday, New Year's Eve day, from the BART station. On the way I stopped at WalMart to pick up a couple items, then cut across the huge parking lot to Starbucks to treat myself to a latte since I wasn't counting calories or carbs that day. (I'm not supposed to have milk because of the high sugar content.) Anyway, I got a small latte with low-fat milk, two shots of espresso, and sugar-free vanilla syrup. It was yummy.
As I crossed the parking lot I spotted something on the ground and bent down to pick it up. I unfolded it and realized it was a $20 bill! Wow! I looked around and considered my options, then finally decided it was my lucky day and tucked the bill into my purse. :) Thank You, God! A nice little new year's gift. :) I did feel bad for whoever dropped it, however.
I got a couple of music CDs in my Vicki box this year, but the CD drive in my computer has given up the ghost. It spins the CDs, but won't read them. I called the computer guy and he said he'd come over today with an external CD drive. He did.
I guess he figures this is an easier way to deal with the problem than try to fix the CD tray on my ancient Mac (I probably bought it in late 1998). He was there for about 50 minutes and I made sure that it would recognize and load music CDs before he left. I plan to put the actual CDs onto iTunes when I get home tonight, then transfer them to my iPod. He charged me $50 even for the used drive and labor.
I can't afford a new Mac so I need to keep this old one limping along as long as possible. So far it's proved to be a mighty machine that needed only one expensive repair.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Fat: 63g (49%)
Carbs: 34g (12%)
Protein: 70g (24%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
I've been having to cut back on tomatoes. While I love them, they do tend to be rather carby, so I've limited myself to half a tomato a day. Cucumbers are low in carbs and calories and I can pretty much eat as much as I want, and I'm trying to add avocados in (a whole one if possible) to get my fat intake up without raising my protein also the way pork rinds do. They are fairly low in net carbs because of the high fiber content and don't have the heavy salt of the pork rinds.
Still sick today. The sugar-free cough drops seemed to help yesterday, but sugar-free doesn't mean carb-free, so I've had to use them sparingly. Sad but true. I slept semi-sitting up last night to keep my coughing at bay. Didn't give me a very restful sleep (kept waking up), but at least I managed to fall back asleep each time.
I feel pretty proud of myself for getting through the holidays without the weight gain most people experience. But it's true - when I cut my carbs back to about 40g a day I don't crave all the sweets that abound at this time of year. I even made it through the dreaded church Christmas party without eating any of the sweets that Becky made. I brought sugar-free chocolate cheesecake and just had that. :)
Now the holidays are pretty much over, but I'm trying to keep my carbs in the 40g range to see if I can get these last pesky pounds off. I'm still sipping a can a day of chicken broth (thanks Brad!). It seems to go down easy and is a "food" I tolerate well. It's true that chicken soup is good when you are sick, and for a low-carber, chicken broth fits the bill. :) I can also drink carbonated water better than plain right now.
My blood sugar was in my normal range this morning at 89. The more days I can have like that, the more I'll know I'm recovering from the toe surgery. It's draining less so it is getting better. But sheesh...I've gone through 2 four pound packages of Epsom Salt.
I have some good news I forgot to mention when it happened. As you may recall, I walked to work Sunday, New Year's Eve day, from the BART station. On the way I stopped at WalMart to pick up a couple items, then cut across the huge parking lot to Starbucks to treat myself to a latte since I wasn't counting calories or carbs that day. (I'm not supposed to have milk because of the high sugar content.) Anyway, I got a small latte with low-fat milk, two shots of espresso, and sugar-free vanilla syrup. It was yummy.
As I crossed the parking lot I spotted something on the ground and bent down to pick it up. I unfolded it and realized it was a $20 bill! Wow! I looked around and considered my options, then finally decided it was my lucky day and tucked the bill into my purse. :) Thank You, God! A nice little new year's gift. :) I did feel bad for whoever dropped it, however.
I got a couple of music CDs in my Vicki box this year, but the CD drive in my computer has given up the ghost. It spins the CDs, but won't read them. I called the computer guy and he said he'd come over today with an external CD drive. He did.
I guess he figures this is an easier way to deal with the problem than try to fix the CD tray on my ancient Mac (I probably bought it in late 1998). He was there for about 50 minutes and I made sure that it would recognize and load music CDs before he left. I plan to put the actual CDs onto iTunes when I get home tonight, then transfer them to my iPod. He charged me $50 even for the used drive and labor.
I can't afford a new Mac so I need to keep this old one limping along as long as possible. So far it's proved to be a mighty machine that needed only one expensive repair.
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, diabetes, glucose meter
Monday, January 01, 2007
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you don't feel like like that picture to the right!First, let's get some past business out of the way.
Calories eaten Wednesday: 1012
Fat: 44g (41%)
Carbs: 25g (10%)
Protein: 62g (26%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
Calories eaten Thursday: 1634
Fat: 79g (45%)
Carbs: 41g (10%)
Protein: 100g (25%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
Calories eaten Friday: 1757
Fat: 78g (41%)
Carbs: 46g (11%)
Protein: 110g (26%)
Calories burned in exercise: 0
Saturday and New Year's Eve were non-counting days, but I ate only low-carb foods. I walked the last 1.5 miles to work from the train station on Sunday and I think I overexerted myself. :-p I'm still not recovered from my cold.
I feel a little better today and I have a cough and am hacking up stuff, so I guess I'm getting better. My recovery plan is simple - do nothing but work and sleep and any stuff that HAS to be done (doing laundry, buying groceries). No gym or walking to work until I'm fully recovered.
Meter-wise I've pretty well settled on keeping my TrueTrack as my main meter and the Aviva as a backup. The Aviva is pretty good at testing me in about the same range as the TrueTrack, sometimes higher and sometimes lower. (The OneTouch was always lower.) At any rate, I'm impressed with the Aviva and am keeping it.
Cutting back on calories today to help make up for all the excess food eaten the last couple of days. Time to get serious about my plan now that the holidays are over. Well, almost. My birthday is in 11 days and that will be the end of the holidays for me.
So what are you going to do in the new year? What are your resolutions? I posted mine here, but I'd like to know what yours are. Are you going to lose weight (how?), exercise, eat healthier (what do you think is "healthier"?), pray more?
I have pictures from last night's New Year's Eve party (Brad and I) at my house. Click any of them to enlarge.
Xena
Food, glorious food!
Abby gets neck scritches
Sick on New Year's Eve...
...but not too sick to party!
Me drinking champagne
Brad drinking champagne
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, exercise, fitness, new year's eve, glucose meter, champagne
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)