Life is Complicated

When I started the journey to repent my old way of life and adapt a new lifestyle, I knew there would be some difficulties. After all, I am 60 years old, my colon has been removed, and I had diabetes. But, all in all, I thought it would be fairly straightforward -- reduce the calories and increase the exercise. I thought within a month I would have a detailed strategy nailed down.

Well, I am finding it a bit more complicated than that. I am not only having to basically run experiments on myself to test how I react to various foods, but also having to run experiments about how and when to exercise.

For example, I have found that eating my normal snack of a pack of peanut butter cracker sandwiches at 190 calories will spike my blood sugar numbers worse than 2 slices of bread spread with peanut butter that have closer to 250 calories. They are both carbs, both have peanut butter and a type of bread -- but my body processes them differently. I also find that both process better if I add a cheese stick to the snack -- even though that is 90 more calories.

Of course, the extra calories there have to be deducted off of another meal or snack -- so that is something else to experiment with and figure out.

So it is complicated.

I have also found that even a half hour difference in when I exercise can determine whether I have a spike or my blood sugars stay stable for several hours.

Each time I am able to lower my insulin dosage or my weight drops another pound or two -- things change and I have to figure some things out all over again! I know it will get more and more stable as I go along, but right now it can be frustrating.

So I continue to spend a lot of my day keeping detailed records and trying different combinations. Each day I get a little closer to my goals and the knowledge I need to change my life and keep it changed.

It may be complicated, but it is achievable!

Yesterday's Report Card:

Weight:                                    236
Total Calories:                      1,590
Exercise:                                    90 minutes
Total number of steps:        9,632
Average blood sugar:             129

Today's Report Card:

Weight:                                   236  Seems to be another plateau
Total Calories:                     1,850
Exercise:                                 105 minutes
Total number of steps:       9,879
Average blood sugar:            135

And the battle continues..............