Its been snowing sooo much here lately and as much as I love the winter wonderland, its not been too good of a motivator for me to go outside and get some exercise.  I have some exercise tapes, but I was feeling restless and wanted to do some new stuff.  I went onto youtube and searched yoga exercises and I found lots of free yoga classes on there!  (Its from the user yogatoday...I guess they have a website where you can pay a membership and get a new class everyday, but I'm all into the free stuff from youtube, and theres like 20 classes uploaded so I'm set!) 

So I've been reconnecting with my downward dog, cat, cow, cobra and lunges heehee.  And though yes, yoga can be relaxing...whew it can TOTALLY be a workout too!  I dunno if any of you get the winter blues (workout or not) but this seems to help me out a bit.  Yoga away! :)

-Susie-

Hey Dlifers!

I had my first checkup w/the doc since my diagnosis (and being shown how to give myself insulin) and I got the results of my new A1C test!  When I was diagnosed with type 1 my A1C was at 13%, and now 2 months later its down to 6.8%!!!  I feel really proud of myself for bringing it down that much so far, and now that I'm getting a better feel for carb counting and givng myself the right amount of insulin I hope next time its even better :)

One thing I'd like to do is start to take my finger prick readings and put them on some sort of chart or something so I can see my averages and stuff.  I know some of you can do that with your meters, but mine doesn't have that program.  I did a google search for organizers, but they seem to mostly be ones you have to pay for.  Any ideas?  What do you all do?  Thanks and Happy Holidays everyone!

-Susie-

Hi everyone!

I just watched a documentry called "Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days", and I'm not sure what to think of it.  It was basically an experiment of mostly Type 2 diabetics (and two people w/type 1) who went on a raw food diet for 30 days, and went off their insulin or other medications affiliated with that...and their diabetes was cured!  Is that really possible?  

I am a newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic, so I guess maybe I'm just a bit overly optimistic or maybe even niave, but these people were being assisted by doctors throughout this documentry and were able to get off insulin (or GREATLY reduce their intake to liek 5 units a day).  I'm not saying that all of us should try this, I mean I definetly would NOT reduce my insulin intake without a doctor holding my hand through that, but has anyone else heard of this working or helping?

Obviously eating only raw food (fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, grains, sprouts not cooked above 116 degrees) would be a challenge.  I mean even eating that kind of food all the time wouldn't taste as good as a big steaming bowl of pasta probably, but if it worked to cure diabetes, it might be worth it you know?

I'm a bit pessimistic that this diet would really work for type 1 diabetics especially, since we don't produce insulin at all, but the results from the documentry were pretty compelling.  I'll have to do some research on this for sure.  Anyways, what are all of your thoughts on this?

Thanks, and I wish you all well.

-Susie-

   Before I found I had diabetes, my husband and I were basically living off of velveeta mac and cheese and brautwerst for dinner.  (we're currently living in Germany)  Ok thats exaggerating, but we ate that meal quite often.  I am a pastaholic!  But since I found out I'm type one and I've gotta reduce my carbs, we're really trying to eat healthier and add veggies and other healthier proteins to our diet so that I can be full from things other than just carbs....

   and you know what?  I've fallen in love with celery...And chick peas and lentils....and mixing in peppers and onions in foods.  They're delicious!  Who knew that the veggies my mom used to have me snack on when I was younger would make a comeback in my 20s?  I find now that when I'm craving a snack of chips or something crunchy, if I make myself a plate of crunchy veggies, I'm usually very well satisfied.  It may just be attitude, but I think that its helped me with my exercise--I have more energy. 

       I feel like diabetes has given me an oppertunity to really assess the way I eat, and make a lifestyle change, not just try to eat less carbs because I have to.  Also, I've been finding all these amazing super yummy recipes online at dlife, plus in all these great cookbooks (check out the Women Heart's All Heart Family Cookbook) and its making me love "unique" foods all the more. What I initially looked to as a frustration is helping me think outside the box. (Wish me luck on food prep for Thanksgiving!!)

    So you feel like you miss your candy and cookies?  Try picking up a celery stick (with maybe a bit of peanut butter or salad dressing...just a BIT though!)....you might find its rather yummy!  (ok I know its not the same, but its definitely satisfying)

Happy Eating!!

-Susie-

   Grr I'm feeling a bit frustrated this morning.  I woke up with fairly good numbers (104), and then ate my usual breakfast of 1 cup Kashi (go lean crunch) cereal and 1 cup light plain silk soymilk.  I like to eat cereal cause its yummy and it fills me up so that I only need a light snack inbetween breakfast and lunch.  I know that cereal is kinda high in carbs (1 serving is 45g) but at the same time, when I talked to my dietitian bout it, she said that was a good choice of cereal because its soo high in fiber and protein. 

      I'm feeling frustrated because after an hr and a half after eating I checked my blood sugar again and it shot WAY up!  343 in fact.  Normally after breakfast its somewhere in the 200 range, which is higher than I want, but not this bad!  I took extra insulin and fixed it....but should I just not eat cereal for breakfast?  Arrg I want to maintain normal blood sugar levels, and not jump all over the place.  Tomorrow I'll try just eating eggs or something.  Any suggestions on good/bad cereals?  Thanks in advance for the help!

-Susie-