A few weeks back I was feeling rather odd. This is going to be something of a rambling post as I flip back and forth in thought tracks. Mental Mix Tape!
Okay, let's go back further than that. For as long as I can remember, mostly as an adult I would get dizzy and shaky along with getting hungry. Well fast forward to being an older adult, and after having a few surgeries, I no longer get 'hungry' per se. I very rarely ever have that gnawing stomach pain associated with being hungry. I know I should eat something because I'm vaguely hungry and it's an appropriate time for whatever meal it is. Sometimes I'll feel shaky and know that my blood sugar must be low and go have some peanut butter or something.
At my last doctor visit a year or so ago I had a fasting blood draw (not on purpose but I hadn't eaten yet before my appointment and figured that was a thing to do.) Anyway, bloodwork came back and it indicated I was pre-diabetic. No real surprise there with my eating habits of two or three cokes a day, more carbs and other things and not much in the way of greens and veggies.
With the way our budget has been we have had to ration sodas and good meat, fresh veggies and so on, but in the past few weeks I noticed that my urine was clear. Completely clear. I had been drinking more water than sodas of course, I've been taking my vitamins and supplements but this was alarming. I asked a friend and she said that if you've been drinking a lot of water that could be it. I wasn't so sure.
So, with the increase in money for food, I'm making better food choices because one of the early signs of possible diabetes would be colorless urine. I haven't been ragingly thirsty, just not been using a soda to drink while sitting at the desk for hours.
Going back to my odd feeling. On one of my shuttle days I only had a bowl of cereal and I think a half can of coke before going to pick up the boys. Remember me saying about not being hungry? Jon decided to come with me that day and so he napped while I took my usual 1/2 mile walk before school let out. Well by the time I got back to the school I was shaky and kind of foggy brained and knew it had to do with my sugar level. I had just exercised and thought maybe it had to do with that but I told Jon that we needed to stop at the store near Amber's because I had to use the bathroom and get a candy bar or something. It kind of galvanized me into changing my eating habits.
I still felt off the next few days after that but I decided to cut way back on my soda and other sugar intake and next food pay would invest in more salad greens and healthy veggies. I found a list of appropriate snacks for diabetics as well as good veggies for the same group. I got lettuce and celery, bell peppers and something else.
I bought kale.
I swore kale would never be in my diet because it was so trendy and people were making smoothies out of it and all sorts of things. Kale. I bought it to cut up with other salad greens and not to eat by itself.
BUT....
I have now cut way down on my soda consumptionto maybe a few sips a day (not from a can because that's useless, we bought a 6 pack of bottles when we were out and have been nursing three of them over the past week or so), trying desperately not to have too much in the way of carbs but when you have very little left other than rice and potatoes, not much can be done. I was hoping to have some cauliflower fresh from the garden soon but that's a bust unfortunately. They aren't much bigger than they were a month ago so not counting on having a few heads of cauliflower to use.
But any change as long as it is consistent is good right? So I've been eating celery and peanut butter for a snack, will be looking for a container of nuts as well. I don't snack much really if I've had a good size meal.
Overall it's been okay. Being more conscious of what I'm eating and trying to eat at a regular time every day. We still splurge once or twice a month and get sandwiches, or burgers but that's the limit as it costs about $30 for us to eat out now. Cheapest meal is In N Out when we just get fries and burgers to take home and that's only $16.
It's a two hour process max for me to fix a fresh meal at home. We have to limit that to the days I don't have to pick up the boys so we have leftovers or quick meals like soup or salad or something.
Honestly, the suggested foods for blood sugar control and general health are mostly foods that are too expensive for us to buy on a regular basis. Salmon? Any good fish for that matter, avocado is .99 cents each for the small ones at the store we go to. We love avocado but they rot very quickly and buying them a head is not an option. Tuna we can only afford the cheap stuff in a can, don't even bring up chia seeds or yogurt, not happening. Fresh or frozen berries? Not on the list either, so we will do what we can with what we will eat and that's the best we can do.
Just being more conscious of what I am eating and how much is a good start. Completely removing sodas was a big jump being a coke-aholic for most of my adult life is difficult to kick. Not going to do diet because that's not much better in other ways.
Even after this evenings meal of a fried chicken thigh (I only use canola oil) with mashed potatoes and gravy I had maybe a few mouthfuls of soda afterward and am feeling a bit lightheaded right now. I just had a hard boiled egg with a little salt and pepper then maybe later will have to go see about making a salad with that kale, tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber. I have some italian style dressing I made the other night from scratch, not very good but it'll do.
That's a lot of work. Really. But guess will have to make a sacrifice.
Oh and we're okay down here in the midst of the rain storms. Being in a
two story building with adequate ground drainage in the neighborhood,
we're safe and dry.
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