Day 14

OMG! It's been two whole weeks since I began my journey to a healthier lifestyle. These 2 weeks have been hard, but I tried to stay motivated and focus on the bigger picture. I've exercised most of those days. I haven't had any fast food, potato chips, diet sodas, chocolate, cookies, candy, cake... okay I could go on and on with all the wrong foods I was eating, so I'll just stop now. But seriously, I haven't had sugar in 2 weeks and for me, that's nearly impossible.

You know, in the past, I would reward myself with a cheese steak sub, or pizza, or fried chicken, then have a really fattening dessert afterwards. After all, I was celebrating, right? Unfortunately, that kind of thinking has always gotten me into trouble. My one meal binge sometimes turned into a full week of pigging out. Anyway, I figure instead of messing up just when I'm slowly but surely getting my diabetes better controlled, I've decided to reward myself with a pedicure instead. It won't take long, it's affordable and the best part is it's calorie free.

Here are some awesome things that have happened to me in just 14 days:
... my glucose has gone from 299 to 146... down by 153 points.
... I lost 14 pounds. My weight has gone from 196 to 182.
... my vision is improving.
... I don't have the pains and tingling in my hands and feet like before.
... I feel healthier.
... my pants aren't super tight anymore and the bruises along my stomach are healing.
... I have much more energy than before.
... I'm sleeping better.
... I'm noticing a difference in my skin. I'm not breaking out as much.

Inspiration picture: Al Roker



Weight: 182 - Glucose:146

Daily Food Journal:
Breakfast: Special K with berries, decaf
Lunch: Tuna on 12 grain bread, 1 apple
Snack: 15 grapes
Dinner: Haddock with squash, zucchini, tomatoes and basil, 8 walnuts
and green tea

Notes: I lost my internet connection last night, I guess it was probably due to the weather. I wasn't able to put up the new post yesterday so here it is... a day late. I don't want to put up two in one day, so I'll start with day 16, tomorrow.

Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork.

Day 13

It's funny but as soon as I wake up in the morning, I'm excited to do two things...and no, eating breakfast is not one of them. Believe it or not, I can hardly wait to weigh myself and check my glucose. That's a big switch for me because before my journey I avoided my meter and the scale like the plague. At the time, I figured what was the point? Because of my poor eating habits, I knew the numbers weren't going to be good, but now, I can't wait to do both. My how things have changed.

Inspiration picture: Valerie Bertinelli



Weight: 182
Glucose: 155 (I can't believe it! Yesterday, it was 166 and today, it's come down another 11 points.)

Daily Food Journal:
Breakfast: Special K with berries, decaf
Lunch: 2 boiled eggs, 2 slices of whole grain toast, 1/2 banana
Dinner: 1veggie burger, 15 grapes and mixed vegetables with broccoli and spinach

Notes: My husband suggested that I put off exercising for a day or two so that my knee can heal. He feels that I'm pushing myself too hard and maybe I should only work out 3 or 4 days a week. I don't agree. I mean, I've been listening to my body and if I'm becoming too exhausted, I stop. I just don't want to not work out for 2 whole days. It seems like I'd be going backwards. Besides, my knee feels much better than it did yesterday. Today, it only bothered me when I was going up the stairs. Anyway, I took his advice and skipped my work out today, but tomorrow, I'm getting back to it.

Day 12

Inspiration picture:



Weight: 182 (No change here) I was so happy after using my meter yesterday that I forgot to post my weight.)
Glucose: 166 (Dropped another 3 points!)

Daily Food Journal:
Breakfast: Special K with berries, decaf
Lunch: Tuna on 12 grain bread and 1 apple
Snack: 1 box of raisins

I'd forgotten all about this recipe for baked squash until PJ Geek was giving me some really great menu ideas. I used to make this at least every other month or so and my husband and kids loved it. I don't know why I stopped making it because it's so easy. I started out by buttering the pan... yeah I know... butter is bad, but it was all I had in the house.

Then I sliced a few squash,

Laid them flat on the tray,

Seasoned the squash with salt and pepper,

Then baked it in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes on one side. I flipped them over, seasoned the other side and baked them for another 20 minutes.

Dinner: 1 veggie burger, spinach, squash and a hot cup of lemon zinger tea with honey

Notes: I went to the gym tonight, but about 10 minutes into my walk on the treadmill, I started getting a pretty fierce cramp in my right knee. I had to end my work out early... which sucked. My husband rubbed my entire leg with some of that smelly Bengay so hopefully it'll be better by tomorrow.

You are successful the moment you start moving toward a worthwhile goal.

Day 11

Inspiration picture: The Biggest Loser season 13 winner



Glucose: 169!!! Down by 33 points from yesterday. I can't believe it. I was finally under 200 when I checked my glucose this morning. It's been a long time since that's happened and shame on me because I was so grumpy last night after I made that cheeseburger and fries for my husband. When I saw that number on my meter this morning, I knew that tonight I would do the exact same thing and skip the cheese and bun... without being grumpy this time.

Daily Food Journal:
Breakfast: Special K with berries, decaf
Lunch: Tuna on whole wheat, 1 apple
Snack: 1 box of raisins
Dinner: Veggie burger, mixed vegetables and spinach
and a hot cup of lemon zinger herbal tea, (this was pretty good)

Notes: I worked out at the gym, by myself this time... 30 minutes on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the machines. I can run a little longer on the treadmill now. I ran for almost 7 minutes then I had to walk the rest of the time. I feel great!

Day 10

I made veggie burgers tonight for dinner. My husband had French fries with his, but I had fruits and vegetables with mine. As much as I love potato bread, I skipped the bun and just had the burger. I was envious looking at my husband's plate and watching him eat. This journey can really be hard sometimes.

Inspiration Picture:



Weight: 182 (I lost 2 more pounds! I was hungry when I went to bed last night and I started to get back up to have a snack. I didn't because it was late and I didn't want to lay on more calories. I'm so glad I didn't give in because I wouldn't have seen that number on the scale this morning.)

Glucose: 202 (Down 15 points. I'm getting closer and closer to getting under 200.)

Daily Food Journal:
Breakfast: Special K with berries and decaf
Snack: 1 hard boiled egg
Lunch: Roasted garlic hummus with romaine lettuce on whole wheat, 1 apple
Dinner: 1 veggie burger, spinach, 20 grapes and a cup of hot green tea with honey

Notes: I walked around the neighborhood for an hour, a small part of it was uphill. Today is the day that I've felt the most hungry since my journey started which sucked, but I did pretty good. I only ate what I planned to eat though, and not a morsel more. I can do this!

Day 9

I would like to introduce Spark People to those of you who haven't already heard of it. In my opinion, it's the best web site out there to help with your weight loss battle. It absolutely free... yes, it doesn't cost any money. There are so many things you can utilize on this site and I'm learning so much about not only losing weight. but when the time comes... how to keep it off. You can find healthy recipes, learn exercises, track your calories, start a blog or just read and be inspired. You can even get a program geared specifically for people with diabetes or heart disease. I absolutely love it and now that I'm on my weight loss journey, I'm on this site just about every day. Go to sparkpeople.com today, join for free and start reaping the benefits. You'll be glad you did.

Inspiration picture: Jill Scott



Weight: 184
Glucose: 217 (My numbers are up by 9 points) I'm thinking maybe it was because of the grapes that I had with my dinner last night. I usually have 2 fruits a day, yesterday I had three... an apple, an orange and grapes. Even though it's fruit, I still have to be careful being a diabetic. I want my doctor to see progress after I go to the lab in July so from now on, no more than 2 fruits a day. I want my glucose below 200 for a change.

Daily Food Journal:

Breakfast: Steel cut oatmeal with blueberries, flaxseeds, walnuts and decaf

Lunch: Tuna fish on whole wheat with lettuce, tomatoes, 1 apple
and a hot cup of green tea with honey

Dinner: 1 piece of beer battered fish tender, (I really wanted 2, but the sweet potato was pretty big), 1 baked sweet potato and spinach

Notes: I got the girl's up early this morning. We were at the track by 7:00 a.m. We walked around for about 50 minutes... the other 10 were spent stretching. Then we came home and got ready for church... which is why we were all nodding during the sermon. Also, tonight after I washed the sweet potato and put it in the oven, I worked out at the gym for 30 minutes while it was baking. That's the first time that I was able to work out twice in one day. Still going strong, but I'm also still taking things one day at a time.

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well neither does bathing, that's why they recommend it daily.  (Also from Spark People)

Day 8

You know, I must say that since I started this weight loss blog, it certainly distracts me from thinking about snacking. Working on this blog is all I've been doing in my spare time. I've found that sharing health tips that I've researched, looking through motivational pictures and finding weight loss success stories daily have all been so inspiring for me. My goal is to keep myself motivated and if I can help anyone else on their journey as well... then that's awesome.

I have to say, I was really sore last night after working out. I had to really push myself to wash the dishes afterwards. I did it because I figured it was just one more way to keep my body moving... maybe not much, but enough to burn a few calories at least.

Inspiration picture: Josh Peck



Weight: 184 (I lost another pound... yeah!)
Glucose: 208 (That's 4 points lower than yesterday... yeah again!)

Daily Food Journal:
Breakfast: Special K with berries and decaf
Lunch: Tuna on whole wheat, 1 orange
Snack: 1 apple

Dinner: 1 baked sweet potato, mixed vegetables with spinach and broccoli and 20 grapes

Notes: I'm really surprised at my progress in such a short amount of time. It makes me wonder why I never stuck to eating healthy in the past. They say that 'you are what you eat.' I totally believe that because when I was eating crappy, I always felt crappy. Now that I'm eating good, healthy foods, I feel good and I feel much healthier than I have in a very long time. There are times when I'm really hungry and I want more, but I try to fight the hunger pangs with all that I have. So far I haven't given in, but I've got such a long way to go on my journey. All I can do is hang in there and take it one day at a time.

There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.