turn the wagon over.

last wednesday i wrote about my desire to eat a lower carb array of food (read diet ~ but i really hate that word).

well, i certainly chose the wrong day to start that.  

i wasn't really thinking clearly.  i did really well for the first half the day.

then, well, i fell off the wagon. i completely forgot that my best friend's son was getting married on saturday!  now i know that sounds awful and that's not exactly what i mean.  i knew he was getting married, and i knew that i was invited and would definitely be attending.  




what i forgot about was the food!  the number of pre-wedding parties there would be.  with out-of-town family and friends showing up, the get-togethers seemed endless.  

wednesday night, we had an impromptu bar/meeting regarding the Rehearsal Dinner and Post Wedding Brunch.  since i was helping in the preparation and serving of these two meals, there were some fine details to go over.

it was just supposed to be a few drinks and finalizing the menu and time of the two events, which my friend, the mother of the groom, was hosting.  her sister, another good friend had arrived and we thought we could kill a few birds with one stone.

well that plan quickly turned into a little party, with dinner, and about 13 people.  i should have stuck with my rum and diet and just grabbed something to eat at home.  but oh nooo.  i had a little potato salad, some chick pea salad, a few crackers and hummus.  oh there was a piece of chicken thrown in there, but really?  and not only that, but the Caesar's were flowing and going down real good! (side-bar~~ fasting BG next morning was 5.5)

friday was the Rehearsal Dinner.  once again there was so much food.  greek pasta salad, green salad, potato salad, broccoli salad,  beef, chili, buns, and so much else.  i tried to limit myself to the low carb options like the beef without a bun, and the broccoli salad, but i just love greek pasta salad so i had to have a little scoop of that!

wedding day arrived and i started the day with an egg white omelet and coffee.  i didn't really eat anything after that as the day was just too busy!  

the day was beautiful.  the weather was perfect, sun shining, a cool breeze, and the wedding itself was a really nice little ceremony held out doors  at the Golf and Country Club.

after the ceremony, cocktails were served, without hor d'oeuvres.  so i lucked out there.  dinner was actually a pretty light affair.  a lovely salad of mixed greens, wrapped in cucumber slices with tomato, onion slices and radish roses and a drizzle of raspberry vinaigrette to start.  then the entree.  a chicken breast stuffed with asparagus, bacon and cheese drenched in hollondaise sauce, two little new potatoes and some green and yellow beans tied with a green onion.  a pretty little plate of food, not too high in carbs.  dessert was a little cake-like treat with a strawberry on the side.  i only had a bite to taste.  it was delicious but quite sweet.  

later in the evening a light lunch was offered.  i did not partake.  i stuck to my Caesars.  i know, i know.  but hey, it was a wedding after all.

brunch on sunday i tried to take it easy.  i had a mimosa. mmmm quite good really!  oh and a croissant with an egg muffin (basically and omelet made in a muffin tin).   i didn't have anything else until dinner, where i blew it yet again!  oh damn you Burger King!  

and so, today i start anew in my quest to eat lower carb.  i will not let myself be consumed in guilt for my epic fail over the weekend.  i helped to celebrate the beginning of a lifetime's journey of 2 wonderful young people!

today i will just turn the wagon over, and climb back on.  

confessions

i have been thinking about lowering my carb intake for a while now.  i have read articles, i have bought cookbooks, i have done my research.  

i understand how lowering my carb intake can help keep my BG's closer to my range.

i understand the difference between carbs found in fruits and vegetables and those found in starchy things like breads, bagels, white rice, potatoes(of all types, including potato salad, french fries, chips) pasta, and of course fruit juices.

i have a confession to make.  

i love potatoes.  summer is all about potato salad, and baked potatoes with sour cream, chives, cheese and bacon bits!  potato chips of any kind are my "go-to" snack of choice.  oh fall.  i love fall.  fall means casseroles.  comfort food.  to me, nothing is more comforting that a pot of mashed potatoes or a steaming casserole dish full of scalloped potatoes. 

we have a wonderful little place in town called The Whistle Stop Cafe.  they make nothing but poutine.  any kind of poutine you can think of.  awesome poutine!

not to mention all the delicious pasta dishes that fall and winter bring.  think about it.  spaghetti, lasagna, mac and cheese, chicken alfredo. 

 

now, i know what these wonderful food items do to my blood sugars.  as delicious as these foods are, they are very bad for me.  they inevitably send my BG's skyrocketing for the most part.  i've tried doing combo boluses, i've tried upping my basals temporarily.  sometimes these tricks work, sometimes not.  

i have found some low carb ways of preparing these mouthwatering dishes,
and so today is the start of a new way of life.  

i am going to start trying to lower my carbs.  it's going to be like quitting smoking.  one day at a time.  i am not going to eliminate them completely. no cold turkey for me. but i will definitely cut down.

and so in honour of my new direction,  here is what i had for breakfast.

before you, we have a carb (and cholesterol) free red pepper and onion egg white omelet.  yes, those are hashbrowns, but notice there are only 2 and they have a total of 9gr of carbs.  compared to my usual english muffin(30gr) or my bagel(53gr), i think i'm off to a fabulous start!!

wish me luck! and i'll keep you posted.

 

does that sound logical??

sometimes i wonder if it's worth taking a holiday.  

this past week was actually my first "holiday" since my triple bypass surgery in January 2011.

we really didn't do anything on our holiday.  we didn't go anywhere.  we didn't do anything stressful.  i think the most ambitious thing we did was grocery shop.  we had what some call a "staycation".  

basically, we stayed home, lazed around, went out for lunch a couple times.  nothing fancy.  we swam a couple times.  i went to the library.  i read.  i had a couple drinks (he had a couple more!).  

our town has a free music festival every wednesday and saturday night all summer long, so on our first saturday of our said staycation, we went to Little Lake to see Kim Mitchell.  the evening was clear.  the weather was nice.  it was a warm evening.  everything was going along swimmingly.  we made it through the warm-up band (a young punk/alternative group), and were just beginning to enjoy Kim Mitchell, when the skies opened up halfway through his 3rd song. 

needless to say, after a minute or two we were asked to leave the park "for our safety".  Kim told the organizers he would stay and continue to play but i guess there have been some near misses with thunder and lightening at other events (not here though), so they told him he couldn't continue.  we left, a little disappointed, but knowing that he would make every attempt to come back to our neck of the woods before summer's end.

our biggest "thing" was having a BBQ this past saturday night with 8 of our closest friends.  it was potluck.  we did hamburgers and hotdogs, with a lot of wonderful side salads made by our guests.  there was music going and drinks flowing.  i had a great time!  laughed my ass off all night long!  

i woke up sunday morning with a pretty good BG considering.  my only problem wasn't a hangover.  it was the fact that my ribs and stomach were so sore from laughing i couldn't sneeze without hurting!!! OMG!! i guess i need to laugh more.


so monday comes and i know i have to work that night.  my problem is that i am so tired. 

how is it possible?  i've slept in most mornings (well till 8am), i didn't really stay up late(considering i didn't have to get up early), and yet i am sooo tired!!

next year, i've decided i'm going to take 2 weeks holidays.  the first week will be the holiday, and the 2nd week will be the recovery from the first week.

does that sound logical??

 

rainy day experiment

Today is not the greatest day of my holidays.  It has been kind of cold and dreary.  Rain has been falling on and off for most of the day. 

On a better note, fasting BG was back to normal this morning!

I decided that since I have wanted to do this for a couple days, I may as well do it this morning.

homemade zucchini relish

We have been growing zucchini, tomatoes, and hot peppers.  The tomatoes are started to turn red.  The grape tomatoes have been eaten by my granddaughter.  Every time she's here (which is every day normally) she wanders over and plucks all the red ones off and pops them in her little mouth!  She thinks we're growing them just for you.

The zucchini plants have gone wild!!  We have probably had over 20 zucchini off the 3 plants so far.  We let the one plant just go.  We didn't pick the zucchini and they were mammoth, finally killing the plant.  Each one weighed over 3 pounds!  Apparently once a zucchini becomes that large it is no longer a zucchini.  It becomes a Vegetable Marrow.  Good for making relish and brownies!! 

I started this last night, basically cutting everything up and soaking it with salt overnight.  After rinsing, draining and squeezing out the excess water, into the pot it went!  Below is the recipe I used.  If you have any "Vegetable Marrow" hanging around and you don't know what to do with it, try this!  It smells wonderful and goes well with hotdogs, hamburgers, basically any type of meat dish, mixed into potato salad, tuna salad or even egg salad.

Zippy Zucchini Relish

Ingredients

• 3 lb (1.4 kg) zucchinis, cut_into 1-inch (2.5 cm) chunks
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 sweet red peppers, diced
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) pickling salt
• 2-1/2 cups (625 mL) granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 cups (375 mL) cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) dry mustard
• 1 tsp (5 mL) celery seeds
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) turmeric
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) hot pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) cornstarch
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) water

Preparation

In food processor, pulse zucchini, a few pieces at a time, until size of rice with a few larger pieces. Transfer to large stainless-steel or glass bowl. Add onions, red peppers and salt to bowl; stir to blend. Let stand for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Drain well; rinse and drain again, pressing out moisture.

In large heavy shallow saucepan, combine sugar, vinegar, mustard, celery seeds, ginger, turmeric and hot pepper flakes; bring to boil. Add drained vegetables; reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Mix cornstarch with water and stir into relish; simmer, stirring, until spoon pulled across bottom leaves trail that fills in slowly, about 5 minutes.

Pack into four 2-cup (500 mL) canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch (1 cm) headspace. Remove any air bubbles, readjusting headspace if necessary. (See “Canning Basics.” ) If necessary, wipe rims. Cover with prepared lids. Screw on bands until resistance is met; increase to fingertip tight. Boil in boiling water canner for 15 minutes.
Source : Canadian Living Magazine: September 2006

D loves, D loves me not

I'm not really sure what exactly is going on.  

Is it the weather?  The time of year?  The moons placement in the sky?  The fact that I'm on holidays?

For the last week or more, my fasting BG's have been through the roof.   I haven't been doing anything different than I normally do.  Well that isn't exactly true.  I have been on holidays.  But really the only thing different is that I am not working in the evening after looking after the grandkiddies all day.

Looking at my meter, this really started the first morning of my holidays. These are my fasting BG's for the last 5 days.

Aug 5 ~ 20.3
Aug 6 ~ 21.0
Aug 7 ~ 18.9
Aug 8 ~ 20.5
Aug 9 ~ 19.3


I spend the rest of the day chasing these highs with insulin.  I try not to eat anything carby, so that it won't go up any higher.  Some days it takes all day to come back into range.  Talk about rage bolusing!!! 

I have changed my site more times in the past 5 days than i normally do in 2 weeks!!! I have opened a new bottle of insulin.  I have used temp basal increases.  I am going through test strips like there's no tomorrow!!

I am tired.  My eyes itch.  I am sick of this.  I think it is because I am eating the same but not getting the same amount of exercise as I do when I'm working.  You would think that after 37 years of living this D-life, I would have some idea of what is going on and how to fix it.  

The only good thing is that I am not showing any ketones during any of these highs.  And I don't really feel "sick", like I sometimes do.  No weird smell of bleach either, thank goodness.

This has been the D-week from hell.  

D Loves me,    D Loves me...

it's official

tonight at 8:30 pm, i will officially be on holidays!!!

i can't remember the last time i actually had holidays.  the last time i actually didn't have to get up and look after someone, or put on that stupidstore uniform, and paste a smile on my face (ok so the smile is just a natural thing 'cause i'm actually a pretty easy-going, happy-go-lucky kinda gal!) and go to work.

an open invitation

clearly, the back of my uniform is an invitation for some of the most ridiculous questions anyone can think of.  and because it has been well over a year since my last holiday (which, when i think about it really wasn't a holiday at all ~ damn open-heart surgery!) i am in dire need of some "me time"!

last night at work, while wearing this awesome, loud, red piece of clothing, i actually had a person come up and ask "do you work here?" as i was standing at the Self Scan desk, assisting a customer "self scan" their order (read sarcasm).  yes, they really did!  and the scary part is that that is not the first time someone has asked me that.  i usually just smile, and say "yes, can i help you with something?"

but if you lived inside my head these days, what you might have heard me say would have sounded more like
"no, but i saw this girl in the parking lot walking to her car and i thought to myself 'i really like that vest' so i just went over, knocked her down, grabbed the vest, and now i'm here just waiting to answer your questions" with a big goofy smile on my face!

or sometimes, when someone walks over and says "can i ask you a question?" i so want to say "NO" and just look the other way.  i know this may seem a little harsh, and really i would never do those things, but seriously?  some day i'm going to write a book.  a compilation of stories and humorous tales told by cashiers from all over the country.  all i need is a cartoonist to do the pictures for me.

i think perhaps it's time for a holiday, don't you?