Valerean

If you have diabetes, then you have to regularly have your A1C tested. This is a blood test that measures the level of blood glucose (or blood sugar) you've had over the last three months. Up until this year I always had to depend on the local lab to give me the test, until I found a way online via a video by Beat Diabetes to test it myself using my blood glucose meter and some math. First, some disclaimers: I have not worked in the medical profession since the 1980's, and I cannot give you medical advice; this is just something I do myself to stay on top of my diabetes. Also, this is an averaged A1C and should not be used as a substitute for a lab test ordered by your physician. Finally, you should compare your results to your lab-tested A1C to assure you're getting the right readings from your meter. You do five glucose tests in one day to get your averaged A1C. Here's the schedule of when to test: 1. Just after waking up 2. One hour after lunch 3. ...

Over the spring and summer I tried intermittant fasting, but it just didn't work for me. I was hungry all morning (my most active time of day) and tired, which is never a good thing. It did help my blood glucose numbers, but not significantly. I also gained weight rather than losing it because I ate too much during the time I was allowed to eat, which I think is mainly why fasting didn't work for me. So I started tinkering on my diet plan again. All diabetics have special concerns with foods, and since I'm trying to control my disease with diet and exercise I can't eat like most people do. I don't use sugar, and avoid products that have it added. I limit myself to a max of 25 grams of carbs per day, which eliminates most bread and other baked products. I also have to abstain from eating potatoes, which jack up my blood glucose like crazy. I don't have the same problem with rice, but I still limit that and other grains. Tracking the food I eat and its...

I've been out of sugarfree candy for a while now, so my guy took me on a trip to the outlet store where I usually buy most of my sweets for a discount. Like everywhere else prices have soared, especially on the sugarfree items. Some had ballooned out of my budget range. That was a bit depressing, as I already have pretty limited options on snacks, but ce la vie. Here's my little haul. With the baking chips I plan to make a batch of sugarfree toll house cookies during Christmas as a present just for me.

I have to drink a lot of water every day to help regulate my blood sugar, but after three years of this I've grown tired of it. I've tried a couple of alternatives like sparkling mineral water, but everything I'm allowed to drink has become pricier so I'm back to making my own drinks. I'm trying to avoid caffeine, all sugar substitutes except stevia, and anything with dye in it. Caffeine-free iced tea is one good substitute. A pitcher lasts me pretty much all day, and it's not hard or expensive to make. Some herbs teas are also actually good cold, like Celestial Seasoning's Lemon Zinger. Diet cranberry juice has become my go-to daily breakfast drink, as a small glass has only about 2.5 grams of sugar. I buy a generic brand, and a bottle lasts me all week. Lemon juice + stevia = sugarfree lemonade. I'm hoping once our lemons are ripe I can make pitchers of it this summer. Another strategy of mine to keep hydrated is to always have a glass o...

For the first two weeks of January I tried a dietary experiment by eating half a cup of sugarfree oatmeal for breakfast every day for seven days, and then other things every day on the following week. The other meals I had were all according to my diabetic diet, so breakfast was the only thing I changed. I tested my blood sugar every morning, and here are my numbers. The Week of Oatmeal 1/1: 132 1/2: 133 1/3: 112 1/4: 113 1/5: 115 1/6: 117 1/7: 127 Average: 121 The Week of Other Things (usually zero sugar yogurt or a whole grain English muffin) 1/8: 124 1/9: 125 1/10: 109 1/11: 143 1/12: 116 1/13: 108 1/14: 132 Average: 122 There are a couple of things to take away from this experiment. I started out the year with (for me) high blood sugar, which I know was partly due to holiday stress and partly to the fact I wasn't able to exercise. Once I got calmed down and back to my regular routine, my blood sugar dropped to the 112 to 117 range, which ...

On our last run to the Russell Stover outlet store I noticed they were selling sugarfree semi-sweet chocolate baking chips. Once I come up with a diabetic-friendly low-fat version of the classic Toll House recipe, I can make my own cookies. Thanks to being on steroids, extreme stress, and not watching my diet closely, my A1C went up a full point, which makes me officially diabetic (though still low on the danger scale.) My doc was not pleased, but gave me three months to bring it back down. Since I don't want to go on medication again I'm back on the very strict diet I followed right after being diagnosed the first time. After resolving it and being declassified I thought I was in the clear, but it's obvious that I'm always going to be in danger of slipping back into diabetes. I'm not happy about that, but it's better to accept what I can't change and sacrifice what I can't have to live healthier and medication-free. I don't want to end up ...

Avoiding sugar in my diet always limits my beverage choices, and I feel the pain of that most during the summer when I tend to drink more. I recently discovered Spindrift, a brand of sparkling water flavored with real fruit juice. It has 4 calories, and only 1 gm of carbs, so it's perfect for me. The lemon and the lime flavors taste good, too, very slightly sweet but not overpowering. I definitely recommend it as a diet soda alternative.

I've now successfully reduced my coffee intake to one cup per day. At first it gave me some withdrawl headaches, but nothing I couldn't handle. So I rewarded myself by trying a new tea: Teavana Peach Tranquility. It's not only the best peach tea I've ever tried, it's also caffeine free. I subscribe to Stampington's newsletter and this week they sent me a free .pdf article on how to make mini journals from (I assume used) tea bags. I've seen this done a lot in the art magazines, but I've never been tempted to try it (shudder.) Anyway, I think it would be difficult with Teavana, as they use little three-sided nylon bags for their teas. In the thank-God department, Chobani has recently now made my absolute favorite oat milk sugar-free, which will allow me to drink it whenever I want. Thank you, Chobani.

When you're a diabetic who doesn't care for soda you're very limited on what you can drink. I mostly drink water, unsweetened homemade ice tea, herbal tea, coffee or oat milk. For a while I was using Crystal Light, but that turned out to a headache trigger for me. Since then I've eliminated all products sweetened with aspartame from my diet. I use stevia to sweeten my hot and cold teas, which seems to be the safest sugar sub on the market. I like it (it has a slight vanilla flavor to me) and I don't have a problem with any aftertaste. If anything it's a bit too sweet, so I use it sparingly. I've also been adding a little lemon juice to my ice tea, as I like that, too. Typically I drink about two liters altogether per day, and the majority of that is water or tea. I've been looking for something else to add to my options, but fruit juice is loaded with sugar, and too much coffee gives me heartburn. Smoothies are a pain to make and even the lac...