Minus Two and Counting!

HALLOWEEN!  My second favorite “holiday” — Valentine’s Day is still #1!

YES — I’m being facetious. Both days are torture to me. But, Halloween, the spooky one, is upon us.  Here’s the answer —     🙂

I will fight the fight — and I WILL win.

Thanks to a good friend, I have an alternative  to dole out to the Trick/Treaters — Play Doh!  Remember that squishy, colorful stuff that you could form into various shapes, in the hopes that the end result might actually look like something recognizable. It came in a can and, I’m happy to report, it still does.

Thanks to Dollar Tree, that’s what my visiting ghosts and goblins will be receiving when they come Trick or Treating to my house. They had two different sizes: One package contained 4 for $1.00, and another had 8 smaller cans for $1.00.

This alternative to a sugar rush, will give the chickadees hours of entertainment and the opportunity to be creative. AND — most importantly, there will be NO bowl of candy calling my name at the front door.  This T2D’s blood sugar levels will remain in tact.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone and  — thanks to Jane for the idea!        🙂

 

 

VALENTINE’S DAY! :) OR :( ..?

February 14, 2016

So, how did it go?  Take your blood sugar lately?  🙂

If you feel you’re making all the right decisions — BRAVO! Good for you.  If perhaps that’s not the way your day is moving along, remember — you can always start over. We are only human, so just do your best.

Hey! Maybe you’re not a sugarholic or chocoholic — count your blessings! But, if you are,  you’ll relate to this post, and this time period may be rough for you.  It’s interesting, I’ve found that many of my friends don’t crave sweets. Their “drug of choice” is carbs! Is their a difference?   😦  [Too many links to post.]  If you’re in this category, Google carboholic.  You may be in for a surprise…

For those of us who crave sweets, please — BE ON GUARD against the sales next week.  All those bright, shimmering, pink and red heart-shaped containers, beautifully decorated square and rectangular boxes, that are left over and filled with shiny pieces of chocolate, will likely be 70% off!  I LOVE a good sale, AND, I am a “chocolate addict,” so I know those boxes will be calling me.

Here’s this Dedicated Diabetic’s PLAN  to avoid temptation — I’m simply NOT going into the stores tomorrow.  I just can’t.  I know my limitations. That chocolatey odor will seep from the containers and I’ll hear my name being called — “Kathy, I’m over here.  Buy me — 70% OFF — how can you resist?” UGH! Torture. I seem to be most vulnerable around Halloween and Valentine’s Day, for obvious reasons. My plan is to take my “vulnerable” self as far away from those stores/displays, as is humanly possible.  I have my trusty Grapefruit Oil, always at the ready,  (IMPORTANT:  Check with your doctor; this oil really should not be smelled directly from the bottle — could cause irritation in your nose.  Instead, a drop or two on the palms of your hands, held away from your nose, is the more appropriate method. Check it out before using!).  For the past week or so, I’ve been sniffing away when I even think chocolate, dessert, any tempting delight.  I’ve mentioned it before — I think the odor of the grapefruit oil simply “detours your brain” away from craving the sweets.

My “HEARTfelt” (get it?) suggestion to you, my fellow Type 2 Diabetics:   Make the healthy choices — for yourself.  Begin TODAY, right now. Do it for YOU — the effect will trickle down to those you love. you’ll see.

The good news is the stores will be sold out in two or three days, and “Satan’s Attack” will be over. Ended. Kaput!    🙂

Whew!                              

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!  🙂