One Week In

It's been one week since my diagnosis of Type II diabetes. The week seem to drag by--probably because I am anticipating my vacation which starts next Friday. I am like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning. But not so fast...the drag could be due to the darn glucose meter. If you remember, that's the machine that causes me to prick my finger on more than one occasion during each day. I think I've finally gotten over the fear of the prick, but I was having real trouble managing the meter. My husband suggested I go back to the doctor's office, but I don't cave that easy. I finally went to the site of the company that makes the meter and all my questions were answered. Goodness, Gayle, what took you so long. My meter is a OneTouch Ultra 2 made by LifeScan. It really is easy to use and I have to say the prick isn't that bad.

The first week on Bob Greene's 1500 calorie diet for diabetics didn't go badly. For the first three or four days, I think I was too nervous to really care about eating, but my appetite seems to have returned today. I've always been very conscious about reading food packaging labels, but am even more so now. I am mostly looking for sodium, carbs and fiber content. I love salad, which is very good for me to eat--low cal, low carb, high fiber. I just hate making them and I refuse to buy salad in a bag-it just never tastes fresh enough to me. I have a salad spinner which really rinses and dries the lettuces very well. Using a variety of greens makes the salad interesting. I usually throw in some yellow or red pepper, cucumber, red onion,cherry tomatoes and sometimes either broccoli or cauliflower. Depending on my flavor moods, I add avocado, or Gorgonzola with roasted walnuts or pecans. Okay, now you see why I hate making salads--I am fussy and it is a lot of work, but oh so good. One of my favorite dressings from a bottle is Newman's low fat lime vinaigrette. It goes perfectly with the avocado.

The most upsetting part of my new eating plan is having to cut down on my favorite carbs. I am not a big sweet eater, so I don't really miss desserts. A bowl of fresh strawberries or blueberries fills that niche. I do miss my potatoes and my pasta. It is not that I can't eat them, it is the amount that I can eat. 1/3 of a cup of cooked whole wheat pasta does not take up much room on the plate. Nor does a third cup of brown rice or half a baked potato. I haven't had a chip of any kind since last Friday and may go into withdrawal since tortilla chips are probably my favorite snack. I've added a lot of seafood choices to my menu--even though I prepare for me only since Eric does not eat fish.

I've been walking--but not every day this week. Eric and I had some errands to run so I guess I could count walking through stores we visited. I did walk Monday and today, just around the neighborhood for about 20 minutes. I actually love to walk but here in Texas, even at 8:30, it is a chore. It was probably close to 90 degrees this morning.

Here's hoping I can keep this up on the road. I will keep posting from my vacation stops.