Though I overslept and missed my dental appointment yesterday morning, I made the afternoon A1C test at Dr. Mohamadi's office in the afternoon.

Will know Monday how it turned out -- what my average glucose level was over the last 3 months.

It may not be too bad. While I dove headfirst into my cousin Jolanta's Christmas cookies, my holiday visit in New Berlin, Wisconsin involved plenty of other good and good-for-us foods like her protein-rich seafood and goose. 


Generally I've been adding more vegetables and fruits, balanced with good protein. I feel better, and my daily blood glucose testing shows healthy numbers. 


                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                                        Yes, the sugar level shoots up on days of  pizza for lunch and dinner. Learning not to do that.

One thing that helps is eliminating or limiting starches (carbs). Remember how we were taught that a balanced meal was protein, vegetables, and starch?

For someone dealing with diabetes or pre-diabetes, the starches/carbs are a problem.

I've been learning to cook extra vegetables and add them so that I may be doubling the amount of vegetables I'd have eaten in the past. 

They replace the white rice, white pasta, white bread I would have had before.

I use fresh vegetables and frozen vegetables. Steam-in-bag veggies are handy.














The result is that after a balanced meal of protein and vegetables and/or fruit, low on carbs, or a balanced snack -- I feel good. 

It's a treat to go to a place like SweetGreen for a healthy salad -- even in winter.

Sugar and a slug of carbs bring a feeling of depleted energy, fatigue, as the pancreas struggles to shoot down the high glucose level.

I'm upping my exercise slowly, with tai chi class and more walking. Plan to do more as I get stronger.


Reading supporting books helps. I liked Al Roker's Never Goin' Back for its sensible ideas AND total lack of telling readers what to do.

Suggestions are one thing, but I believe we all have to find what works for us as we try to eat and live healthily in America, now the land of cheap fast, fat and sugary food all around.





Roker's book also has good recipes. Very amusing, too, and touching in his struggles.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/502587411

Another book that I think will be helpful, amusingly titled, is Why Quantum Physicists Don't Get Fat.

IMHO, I don't think it makes the link to  quantum physics that author Greg Kuhn wants, but it does express the power of positive thinking and feeling in a persuasive way. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/530297332

An incisive explanation he offered was the false stories we tell ourselves before eating the doughnuts or cookies or candy or bag of dorritos:  (“I deserve them, I’ve worked hard, 1 or 2 or 3 won’t hurt”).

What follows are the shaming stories we declare after we’ve downed the doughnuts or cookies or ice cream or bag of potato chips: (“oh crap, I’ve blown it, I’m crap, my hard work of healthy eating is lost, might as well give up”).

His suggestions are helpful: eat only what we can tell ourselves believable, positive stories about, and to move every day as much as we can, with gratitude. Sound simple?

Really, it's mindful eating. Truly a good thing.

The key is not to put the book on the shelf on the “read” pile, but to do these steps, practice them.

I'm going to give it a try.