I’m Back

Well, not totally back, but back enough that I can now get back to focusing on my health. Foot surgery went well. Cast is off and stitches came out late last week. I’m in a walking boot but still using crutches for support. I head back to work tomorrow thank God. One can only work from home so many days in a row before they go crazy lol.

Menu planning was at an all time low these past few weeks and we ate out way more than we cooked but the menu is done for this week and I’m back to tracking my water intake, glucose levels, etc. Sent my daughter to the store with a grocery list so we are set for this week to hit the ground running.

The menu isn’t extravagant by any means and I haven’t incorporated anything new this week however I have gotten a few recipes for making clean bagels so I may experiment with that later today. I’ll keep you posted on that.

Here’s to a good week!

Weekly Update

Well, it’s been a little rough in the house in the past few days. Between the nervousness of having foot surgery and then the surgery itself yesterday I’ve been a little out of sorts. I’m pleased to report though that the surgery went great and I am on the road to recovery. I’ll be exercising again in no time!

In the meantime my glucose levels have been much better which is a result of me paying attention and watching what I am eating and drinking that 100 oz per day. My next goal is going to make sure that the 100 oz doesn’t include coffee but that will be for another week when I am feeling better plus…no need to rush these things.

I made a few healthy recipes this past weekend before the surgery. The family really liked this new one I tried: https://therecipecritic.com/creamy-tomato-italian-parmesan-chicken/ I did modify it slightly, switching out the heavy cream for fat free half and half. Next time I’m going to try to make an eating clean tomato sauce but for this recipe I just used canned. We had it over whole wheat pasta.

I also have some new recipes on the schedule this week that are relatively easy for the husband/kids to make. Will keep you posted on those new recipes.

Weekly glucose update (testing twice a day before breakfast and before bed):

Past 7 days average 126
Past 14 days average 129
Past 30 days average 132
Past 90 days 149

It’s very encouraging to me to see the averages start to come down as I really focus on my health.

Enjoy your week!

Kicking off the Week

Here’s to the start of a good week. Menu has been planned for the entire week and groceries have been purchased.

In a previous post I believe I mentioned that I got some not so good news on the health front regarding my foot/ankle. Saw the doctor today and have tears in the tendons on the side of my foot and a tear in my facia so I’ll be having surgery a week from today. Now I really have to be focused on food if I expect to keep on the straight and narrow without exercise to help me out. I’ll be in a cast for two weeks and then a walking boot for one. Am probably out of the gym for at least two months which is such a bummer.

Now on to happier things! I made a really good dinner tonight, meatballs in the crock pot. Made some whole grain pasta with the sauce/meatballs on top. So good. Here’s the recipe. The whole family gave it 2 thumbs up so WIN!

https://cleaneatingrecipes.com/clean-eating-crock-pot-spaghetti-sauce-meatballs-recipe/

I have quite a few ripe bananas so made the following blueberry banana muffins for the week. Haven’t tried them yet. Will let you know how they taste!

https://www.sweetashoney.co/whole-wheat-banana-blueberry-muffins-easy-cooking-with-kids/

And lastly, made this banana bread recipe however turned them into muffins for better portion control and added walnuts.

https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/my-favorite-healthy-banana-bread-recipe/

Fasting glucose: Sunday @ 8:20 a.m. 120; Monday @ 8:35 a.m. 115
Past 7 day average 132
Water: 100.9 oz

Week 2 – Wednesday

So I haven’t blogged in two days. What does that mean? It means I fell off the rail…but not totally. I ate well for breakfast and lunch each day and then dinner did not go well. The past two mornings I have been super disappointed with my fasting glucose numbers. Tuesday morning it was 140 and Wednesday was 141. Both nights however I didn’t choose wisely and I ate late. I did however manage to get my water in so I guess that’s a small victory. Tonight for dinner we had pizza so most likely tomorrow morning will also be rough. The next two days we also have lunch being brought in for meetings so it’s going to be a tough few days.

Does anyone have any tips when they start to go off the rail? Before it gets totally out of control? Let me know! I need all the help I can get!!!

Week 2 – Monday

With all that cooking I did over the weekend I have set myself up for success this week. I had scrambled eggs for breakfast, some of the paprika nuts for a snack, leftover burger (no bun) and potatoes for lunch and marinated mushrooms as a snack. Dinner wasn’t as good as we went out to the Olive Garden. That won over the veggie soup I was planning to make. Guess that’s on tap for tomorrow night!

I was thrilled this morning when my fasting glucose was 124. If you are keeping track that’s 8 days in a row of below 130. So headed in the right direction. We will see if the Olive Garden dinner causes me to have high fasting numbers tomorrow morning.I did get all my water in so that should help to keep it level.

This post is short. Will post more tomorrow!

Stats:
Fasting Glucose: 124
Water: 100 oz

Week 2 – Sunday – Lazy Day

1 p.m. I’ve been less than productive on this Sunday. Slept in until 10 a.m. Which is unheard of for me. So nice however for once not to have to set an alarm and great that we really don’t have to go anywhere except to Costco. It’s also supposed to snow today so a good day just to lay low.

For breakfast I did make the family the following: https://www.livewellbakeoften.com/chocolate-chip-greek-yogurt-pancakes/ and the whole family gave it a thumbs up. Of course the kids added extra chocolate chips and also whip cream. I just stuck to adding a small amount of maple syrup to the top. I did modify the recipe and used olive oil instead of regular oil. I don’t believe chocolate chips are clean eating so need to experiment a bit more with that but it did only have a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and it made 16 pancakes. Haven’t done the math yet but don’t think that’s too bad. I probably need to purchase some darker chocolate as I believe it has less sugar in it.

My goal today once I actually get out of my pajamas is to make some healthy banana bread again and some healthy muffins to go with my vegetable soup. Recipe to follow on that tomorrow as the veggie soup is on the menu for tomorrow night.

10 p.m. I’m exhausted. Besides the trip to Costco it seems like I spent the rest of the day in the kitchen. I made some marinated mushrooms which were amazing. https://cookinglsl.com/easy-marinated-mushrooms-recipe/. I also made the following snack: https://cookeatpaleo.com/paleo-snack-mix/. I was only able to find smoked paprika, not the hot or sweet kind or smoked sea salt so I just used regular sea salt and smoked paprika. I liked it. Could have used more salt but I will definitely be making that again.

For dinner we had potatoes in the oven with olive oil, season salt and garlic and pepper seasoning and then I made burgers. I opted not to have a bun with mine to make it more low carb.

And finished up the evening by making raspberry muffins. So good. We are going to have those with our soup tomorrow night. https://www.sweetashoney.co/whole-wheat-banana-muffins-an-easy-snacks-for-kids/

Daily Numbers:
Fasting glucose: 111
Water: 100.9 oz (although most of that was consumed later this evening so I may be regretting that partway through the night lol)

Week 2 – What Keeps me Organized

7:30 a.m. Do you menu plan? For the longest time I used to just fly by the seat of my pants and not have any plan for dinner until I was standing in front of the fridge trying to figure out what to make. As the years progressed, my job got busier, the husband worked longer hours and the children become preteens and teenagers. And with our busy evening schedule between class, volleyball, exercise, etc. we were getting take out all the time which wasn’t good for any of us nor for our pocket books.

So I went to Target and purchased a calendar white board and also downloaded an app called Any List. Every weekend, I make the time to plan out the entire week of food and also add all the items to my digital “shopping list”. The entire family is connected to the shopping list so when the kids need lunch snacks and such they just add it. I can’t tell you how much smoother the week goes when the menu is planned and the groceries have been purchased. Of course I’m not perfect and some weeks when we are super busy on the weekend I end up not menu planning and we fall back into our old habits.

Now more than ever planning is so important if I plan to be successful on this journey to health!

8:15 a.m. Had a whole wheat english muffin with some natural peanut butter

Noon Made the Quinoa salad I made last week.

2 p.m. Had a snack of purple grapes and lowfat string cheese

6 p.m. Made delicious chicken fajitas with corn tortillas. https://kirbiecravings.com/sheet-pan-steak-fajitas/. Entire family really liked them. My daughter also made homemade Guacamole. So good! https://www.iheartnaptime.net/best-homemade-guacamole/

Fasting Glucose: 124 (I test each morning and then before bed)
Past 7 days: 12 readings with an average of 129
Water: 100 oz

Day 7 – Week in review

Today wraps up my first seven days of truly tracking and making positive changes for my future. I of course had some challenges like eating out and going to events but did my best and tried to make good choices. I think that’s all we can ever ask of ourselves. What I learned this week was that through managing my diet and coming close to meeting my drinking goals (water of course) that I can control my fasting glucose levels and I can kick diabetes to the curb if I keep plugging away at it.

What’s next week’s goal? To really try and hit that 100 oz of water each day. For the week I averaged around 80 oz. I also need to do a better job with exercise. Lets do this!

Fasting glucose level: 115

Water: 80 oz

Day 6 – Another Test this Evening

I started the morning with fasting glucose at 128. I’m especially pleased with this since I went out to dinner last night! Yea!

Today will be another challenging day. Now that I am blogging about my day it seems like every day has challenges lol. No wonder I was struggling! Anyways, today I am going to a happy hour party. My goal is to have a snack before I go and then stop in for a bit, maybe have one glass of wine, and then head home.

I ate out quite a bit today but like to think I made some decent choices. For breakfast I ended up at Panera and had a breakfast sandwich with ham and egg on a whole grain bagel. For a snack I had some seedless grapes and a lowfat string cheese. For lunch I had the half-size Southwest Avocado Chicken Salad from Wendys and a small bowl of chili.

I’m excited to report at the happy hour I threw a piece of gum in my mouth and then opted to not have any appetizers or drinks. Huge WIN!

Had martial arts class tonight so that meant another late night meal. We had Panera (I know, I know, second time in one day!) and I had the you pick two with chicken and wild rice soup and a half grilled cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread. I just couldn’t do another salad for dinner when I had one for lunch!

Fasting glucose: 128
Exercise: 60 min martial arts
Water: 83.9 oz

Day 5 – Five Days Straight of Fasting Glucose Under 130

Yea! so happy to wake up and my fasting glucose was below 130 — 123 to be exact. My end goal is to have my fasting glucose the same level as those without diabetes. My last A1C was 6.7 on 1/22 so will be in for a retest in three months. Diabetes is getting kicked to the curb!

I packed a healthy lunch again of the leftover quinoa salad from yesterday. So good! Dinner will be a challenge as I am going out. I just need to keep thinking about where I want to go, not where I currently am.

11 a.m. Snack Time – I ate a whole wheat english muffin with a smear of natural peanut butter.

1:30 p.m. Update on Lunch – I did well! I ate the quinoa salad and a handful of grapes and a sparkling water. And I’m looking at the dinner menu for the restaurant and think I’m going to get soup and then a salad. I’d prefer a burger but I’ve got goals baby! Also planning on only one alcoholic drink.

My snack in the afternoon consisted of a lowfat string cheese and a few purple grapes.

5:30 p.m. Dinner – Had a bit of pretzels and cheese dip for the appetizer but not too much and for the main meal had soup and a salad and only one light beer. WIN!!!!

Today was a good day.

Fasting Glucose: 123
Water: 81 oz