Health Update

I haven't mentioned anything specific about my health in a couple months so it's a good time for an update.  While I enjoy viewing blogs that are focused on weight loss with numbers and charts and all that, I really intend for this blog to capture more than just that aspect of my life so I'm trying to keep my posts balanced.  If you ever have any questions though, please feel free to ask.

So, drum roll, as of right now I've lost just over 25 pounds!! The last two months have been much slower than the first month.  I have not been as strict.  As I mentioned in this previous post, I knew May was going to be a very busy food-centric month and I was totally right.  I only lost 2 pounds in the month of May!  I was pretty devastated by that but upon checking my measurements I saw that I was still losing inches so all was not lost.  June has been slightly better but still slow going.  I have let the bad carbs back in too many times and once they are in, it's like they need to bring all their friends.  Once I go off plan it can take me 3 days to get completely back on due to my sugar cravings being triggered.  I would say on average I am on plan about half of the week and off about half of the week.  And, when I say off plan I do not necessarily mean the entire day is off, it might just be one meal or snacking after dinner that is not on plan.  Being off plan so much just means I am losing a lot slower than I could be but I am learning this is a marathon, not a sprint, so as long as I keep trying and do not just give up, as I have been prone to in the past, I am fine with it.

In terms of measurements, I have lost the following inches:

• chest 2"
• bra band 2.5"
• waist 4"
• hips 2.5"
• thighs 2" on one side, 1" on the other (lol!)

I take measurements at the start of each month so these are from June 1. I'm not sure July will be any different as I haven't noticed as much body shape changes this month but we'll see!

I still have such a long way to go but I'm making progress and feeling much better overall.  I can't say I'm full of energy but I feel better mentally (about myself) and I can tell when I am just in everyday life that I have lost weight.  My knees do not yet love stairs but they no longer cause pain either and I am able to walk for about 30 minutes at the YMCA track which is a big improvement.

And I almost forgot the best news of all - my fasting glucose at home has gone from pretty regularly being between 115-125 to now being almost spot on 105 everyday.  I have even seen it in the 90s a few times.  My meter runs a tad high so I believe this means my fasting glucose is actually <100 which is normal.  I still see spikes when I eat too many carbs so it's not as if I am "cured" (in fact once you are insulin resistant you don't undo that really, you just are able to control it with diet) but I definitely think losing some weight has improved my insulin response or my body's ability to use the insulin I produce. Happy, happy, happy!

The Great Sugar Experiment

This past weekend we had a children's birthday party to attend. I have been testing my blood sugar regularly since changing my eating habits and have seen improvement but I had never tested it after a carb/sugar-filled meal. I was curious to see what would happen if I ate like I used to at the party. So, I had a couple slices pizza, ice cream and cake. I did skip the soda so it wasn't exactly how I used to eat but close enough. I knew all that sugar would blow my meter up and I didn't want the full impact of it so as soon as we got home I mowed our yard. Exercise is known to decrease blood sugar. If I had not mowed I'm sure it would have been significantly worse.

At 2 hours after starting a meal a normal person's glucose should be below 140 mg/dl. At the 2 hour mark mine was at 139 so I thought "hmm, not bad". But, I had a sneaky suspicion that my glucose might still be rising so an hour later I retested and got 169...whoa! That is a hallmark of insulin resistance....glucose that is not curbed by insulin at the 2 hour mark. The insulin is either insufficient to counter the glucose or it isn't working properly. By the 4 hour mark I was back to 139 again and it we can assume it continued decreasing. My fasting level was 129 the next morning, much higher than it usually is, so you can see that the effects of that meal were not limited to one evening. And that, my friends, is why decreasing carbs is so important for the insulin resistant!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad