UGH! What happened? –OR– Back to the Basics! Burnout..?

February 18, 2017

No matter what I do with my Type 2 Diabetes, all roads point back to the BASICS! I know what to do, we all do, correct?

• Monitor my blood sugar
• Eat properly
• Exercise
• Blah, blah!

It’s just NOT all that difficult, folks, so why my frustration? Sometimes, I just don’t know which direction to go… 

London

Maybe it’s the repetitiveness of it — day in, day out… But, c’mon. People have WAY worse diseases/conditions than diabetes. So much of it is simply an inconvenience, the real issue for me is the cravings. Yes — it’s ALL a pain in the butt, but not an earth-shattering nightmare. Is it diabetes burnout? Is there even such a thing? Yes! (See link)

Look at that! — not really a surprise, but I haven’t read about it (burnout) in a  l o n g  time.

 

It’s the answers that count. Here are a few, if you’re “feeling the pain” — (not literally pain, but feeling the burnout of T2D:

*Accept the damn diagnosis! Again.  I do think it has to be accepted every day, otherwise, the denial builds up. (Faster than a speeding bullet!)

*DO monitor blood sugar regularly and, yes, a chart helps to keep track. [Putting my big girl pants on and just charting it AGAIN.]

Monitor glucose regularly

 

*Put on the damn sneakers and move your butt. (That’s called EXERCISE, which in my world is walking, and walking, and walking.)  If your exercise of choice is the gym — go for it!

 

NO!!!!! NOT LIKE THIS! 🙂

                                                             [A little levity never hurt.]     🙂

*Eating properly — yeah, yeah, yeah. I think the answer to that might just be changing it up a bit. “It” being the menu. I KNOW I need to work on that, because I’ve been bored to tears with what I’ve been eating lately — and, a lot of the time I’ve been eating on the run. “On the run” has never worked for me, so I’ll be doing some extra planning.

Many posts back, I ended by listing my blood sugar level and my weight. Somewhere along the line, I stopped doing it. What was I thinking? It’s certainly a good practice to keep me on track and accountable. So, I’ll be doing it again — starting right now:

Blood Sugar:     109          Weight:     149 lbs.

There — I did it!

I have a doctor’s appointment on the 24th, so I’ll see what she has to say about my A1C. 

                 Good luck, folks! From your very DEDICATED  and  DETERMINED DIABETIC.

PORTION CONTROL — Name of the Game —

Sunday, September 18, 2016

It’s the name of the game in “beating” my Type 2 Diabetes, and I seem to be mastering it. I’m working on controlling my “portions” of everything;  probably why I’m so focused.

Because I’m downsizing and purging my house, I’m constantly evaluating what I NEED and don’t need. I’ve been in this house for 37 years so, trust me, that’s a LOT of stuff! Thanks to tips from minimalist, Billy from Simple Living Over 50, I’m progressing. His blog is amazing  — check it out, you won’t regret it.

So, basically, what I’m doing is controlling my “portions” in terms of what I really need (things), along with food. Watching what and how much I’m eating has gone a long way to lowering my A1C. It’s helping and I’m hoping that I can hang on to this discipline. This is the balance that I need in my life. Managing my diabetes and my environment will certainly help to achieve the balance that I yearn for. I’m following this path now, and this T2D is dedicated and determined to live a balanced and minimalistic life. 

I’m reading, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing), by Marie Kondo. 🙂  I have a shelf packed with books on decluttering (they’re going!), but this one is unique — she has a completely different method of decluttering and I’m taking it on!  Attacking my kitchen cabinets is next. I know there are LOTS of items that are well past their dates — OUT they go. I can’t wait to have room in the cabinets that I WILL NOT FILL! I’m going to leave room for the food to “breathe.”  🙂

Seriously, I’m so thrilled that I’ve finally discovered that less really IS more — it gives ME room to breathe.  I’m on a roll, wish me luck!

PORTION CONTROL — the name of the game!

 

“DEDICATED..?” Hmmm…

February 25, 2016

So that’s the question that I’ve been asking myself. AM I a dedicated diabetic or not? Make up your mind Kathy!  Either do it or don’t — damn it!

Obviously, I haven’t been too dedicated lately. Oh, I don’t mean to my diabetes — that’s been going along pretty well.  I’m talking about my blogging. You see, the reason I started this blog in the first place was to keep me on track in terms of my diabetes (and hopefully impart some words of wisdom on the topic).  I thought that if I blogged each day — or at least three or four times a week — I’d stay more focused. Obviously, I haven’t been too successful/committed/dedicated lately.  But that’s about to change.

Thanks to Bill at “Simple Living Over 50,” a wonderful blog on WordPress, I’m back on track!  As of this morning, probably around 7 a.m. (it’s 1:15 a.m. now), along with my post, I’ll be listing my blood sugar number and my weight!  Yep, I think it’s a great idea (Thanks, Bill!), and I’m stealing it.  I’ll post both at the end of…well, at the end of whatever comes out of my brain.

Posting my blood sugar, along with my weight, will keep me honest — just another form of accountability, I guess.

Sorry about my lack of pictures, folks.  Planning on getting to Apple to cure this dilemma. Somehow, I just haven’t gotten there; life gets in the way.  No excuses!!!

See you sooner than you think!   🙂

Post Halloween…

 

I was out for most of the day, a conscious decision.  I thought I was home free but, at around 4 o’clock, I decided that I’d better buy something in case kids ring my bell later in the evening.  Why didn’t I just make plans to go to a movie or something? NO, then I wouldn’t have bought the candy… Obviously, I knew exactly what I was doing. So, off to the store I went.  I did buy candy that I really don’t like, with the exception of a bag of Snickers.  Truth, I’m not crazy about those either.  Anyway, the good news is, I gave the leftovers to a friend who works in a school.  Nothing better than sugared-up teenagers!  My drug of choice is officially out of the house — good for me.  Next year — no candy; just go to a movie!

WHY does it have to be so hard?  Do any of you feel like an addict when the topic of junk food comes up?  Intellectually, I know sugar is addictive, thus I point to myself as an addict.  I have a shelf in a bookcase filled with books on sugar.  That the “white stuff” is addictive is not news.  Getting and staying off it is really difficult!  I’ve read the latest and greatest on the topic, I’ve worked really hard over the years, (and worked not so hard too), but the bottom line is always action, choices, the do’s and don’ts.  It always points to back to the basics.  Always.

Suicide by Sugar, BY Nancy Appleton, Ph.D.. and G.N. Jacobs, is a book that I bought years ago, the copyright is listed as 2009.  It’s pretty clinical.  Sugar Shock, BY Connie Bennett, and Stephen Sinatra, M.D., was purchased in 2007, in my quest for answers.  I’ve found many answers, but do I follow through ALL of the time?  NO.  That’s the path of this disease; not unlike alcoholism. It’s a journey that I liken to a roller coaster, for obvious reasons.  BUT, I keep on trying.  I will not give up, no matter what.

Here’s another tome that brings a smile to my face:  Sugar Blues BY William Duffy. I just opened my copy and the pages are yellow; it’s dog-eared and well-worn. This one is copyrighted 1976!  [I’ve been at this for a LONG time]. Of all the books I’ve read on SUGAR, this one is the BEST.  It’s historical, realistic, and filled with valuable information.  Of course, it’s dated (the statistics will not be up-to-date), but trust me, it’s also very 2015. Because it’s a “back-in-the-day” book, seems to prove the point — maybe even more so!  I can still relate to it.

Halloween is gone, and as the holidays loom ahead, I will be working on my preparedness. Yes, almost like with a hurricane.  Just as a weather disaster swirls and strikes furiously  into the lives of people, so do poor choices wreak havoc with diabetics. I’ll be ready, and we’ll be talking about being prepared (for those upcoming holidays) in future blogs.

Thinking positively!  🙂