127 days and counting....

127 days since I began to change to my life.  127 days and I am still watching everything I eat, eating more fruits and vegetables, cooking low fat, and not grazing my way through the day.  127 days and FINALLY my PT is working on my lower back so I am now able to be more active. 127 days and I am losing weight (33 pounds so far) and feeling overall healthier.  In 127 days my blood sugar average has dropped from 234 to 109, my A1C level has dropped from 9.6 to 6.2, and I am completely off one of my diabetic medications.  At this point, I have had several low blood sugar incidents (usually at night) so over the next four days I am seeing where my blood sugar is without the second medication.

            People have asked me how I am “doing it” and in many ways it has been easier than I expected and harder.  At the time I began this there were no munchies in the house.  I had not recently made brownies, cookies, or muffins.  I moved my boxed mixes to the top shelf of my pantry- I would have to make an effort to get them down.  Then I started giving them away- thus removing more of the temptation.  I stopped buying the “junk” – no more puddings, cookies, cupcakes, sweet breads, snack crackers etc…  I began shopping for fresh (or frozen) fruits and vegetables, carefully measuring my portions, and learned to enjoy proteins as a way of helping me to feel full.  A daily protein drink has helped with this a lot!  I have long been an adventurous cook so cooking things like artichokes, leeks, faro, quinoa, and other grains and produce were not unusual.  Also my family has been 100% supportive.  Sarah has been measuring her foods along with me.  Michael has been watching his portions and not whining about missing the many goodies I used to bake. 

 On the harder side- I miss baking.  I have often enjoyed cooking as a creative outlet and have long been willing to try new techniques and foods.  Baking was always especially gratifying.  I think this is because in my family baking/food was how you showed love.  I can say without bragging that I am a very good cook – Michael often proudly shows off his tummy as proof.  So giving up baking has been a challenge.  Every now and then I think of our favorite snacks and want to make them.  The only baking I have done in 127 days has been cupcakes for a friend (they weren’t in the house to tempt me) and a Coconut Cream Cake for Michael’s birthday.  I did the calorie calculation on that and I only had one very small sliver of it once.  That was enough, I kept saying that until the cake was gone.  Whenever I feel like cheating, I check my blood sugar meter for my last week, 2 weeks, and month of averages.  That truly helps keep me on my goals.

We were afraid this would prove to be more costly for us.  It hasn’t been – doing more portion control enables the foods I buy to go further even if initially they are pricier.  I have discovered Kroger’s bruised fruit sales and those have helped as well. When Meijer has the 10 for $10 sale I no longer stock up on cake mixes and puddings- I buy fresh peppers, avocados, mushrooms and spinach.  I am getting quite good at home freezing fruits (bananas and mangoes especially) and have even used my food dehydrator (mangoes!) to prevent waste.  I have learned to shop the outside aisles of a grocery store (produce, meats, dairy, and frozen) and spend less time in the baking and prepared foods aisles.  For the first time in my adult life there is no brown sugar in the house- and I am not in a panic.  Now if it were garlic…well that is different.

Both of my parents have passed away.  Dad was only 6 years older than I am now when he died of complications from congestive heart failure and Mom lived longer but was very sedentary and unable to walk up a single step for about five years before she died.  That is one reason when we built our home; Michael and I wanted a two-story – so we have steps we have to walk up every day.  I know that I want my later years to be active and full and only by taking better care of myself can that happen. So now you have the how and why. 

24 Days and Counting.....

It's been 24 days since I took control and decided to live a healthier lifestyle. This has primarily focused on food and nutrition. I have had a pretty consistent level of improvement.  It’s been a bit embarrassing to realize just how few fruits and vegetables we ate as a family.  Thus it has been a marked change in our diets. We now have two or three vegetables at every dinner and at least two for lunch. Our snacks are healthier – carrots, dried fruit, oranges, etc… and we have given up sweets almost completely. Our protein levels are higher and I have noticed that I am less hungry when I eat higher protein foods.  I am hopeful these changes will be a long term effort- I am not just losing weight, but changing my entire relationship with food.  I admit I miss the sweets on occasion, but overall I feel so much better that I can push through the craving.

The improvements have been both subtle and marked.  In the marked category is overall lower blood sugar by nearly 50 points!  The subtle ones are the looser clothing and freer movements. I have totally stopped my afternoon nap and have noticed I am sleeping sounder at night. My daughter has noticed her blood pressure has improved and my husband also has increased energy. So even if the weight doesn’t melt off very fast- the improvements are enough to keep me sticking to the changes in our lifestyle.

This has been a totally reworking of my relationship with food.  As an overweight person, from a family of overweight people, I know food has been used to comfort me and show love.  When in stress about my relationships, my faith, my infertility, etc… I turned to food- I love sugar and have felt the perfect response to stress is a brownie- gooey with caramel and nuts.   Even now my mouth is watering as I think of a turtle brownie.  BUT and this is a huge BUT—I want to be healthy more than I want the comfort. Being healthy is its own comfort and reward.  My father died at 62—just 8 years older than I am now.  He had remained active but had Type II Diabetes (which I have) and heart disease- he had a heart attack which led to congestive heart failure and then he had a stroke.  He finally died after three long weeks. My mother lived to be 78, but was so sedentary that she could not climb a single step or walk very far at all; she was also diabetic and had high blood pressure.  She spent the last few years of her life in chair watching television.   I want to be healthy longer and able to harass everyone around me. I, too, have Type II diabetes and my doctor has wanted me to go on insulin for the past couple of years.  I have resisted but became aware that I needed to make changes if I didn’t want insulin.  It seems that the past two years have been pretty unhealthy for my family – I got seriously ill in Aug of 2014 and it took me a while to recover.  My husband had a nasty abscess in Feb. of 2015 that took 6 weeks to heal.  Then it seemed we caught every cold that was going around in the fall and winter.  I don’t think we really got to enjoy the holidays – I know I remember the taste of cough drops instead of Christmas goodies.  So in January of 2016, I asked a friend for advice and she has guided me along this process.  Both she and her husband have been very supportive, giving me advice on both eating habits and exercise. 

I have been rather amazed at how “easy” this has been.  It helped that we were completely out of munchies before I began so there was nothing around to “tempt” me!  I admit I have boxed mixes if I choose to make brownies or cupcakes or something—but thus far I have refrained from indulging. The next step is to add regular exercise.  I am still dealing with lower back pain (though not nearly as much as I had earlier) from the assault I suffered in November, so I cannot use my exercise bike as much as I want to.  I am planning on adding a daily walk to my routine – as soon as it warms up a bit. A side effect of eating less is that I am freezing much of the time it seems.  Especially my hands and feet.   So enough explaining – time to continue FORWARD! 

Changes for 2016

Changes for 2016

Well, 2016 began in the emergency room for me- I had a bad reaction to one of my meds and looked like Harry Potter with a stinging hex.  My face (and much of my body) was covered with hives. Not fun – not fun at all.  I decided then that 2016 was going to be my healthy year!

 It took me another 17 days to get off the medications for the drug reaction and really decide to DO IT!  So on the Sunday the 17^th I asked a friend who is an expert in good health for advice and BAM began making healthier choices on Monday.  I admit I am not being incredibly rigorous – if I ingest between 1500 and 1800 calories a day I am pleased.  My friend has me eating more protein (100 grams a day right now) and more fruits and veggies.  It has been an eye-opening week for me:  Before these changes I had barely 1 serving of veggies/fruits a day and my carbs were off the charts. I don’t think I had much in the way of protein either. I am feeling more energetic these days.  No more after lunch drowsiness or IBS.

I have made other changes as well. If it goes in my mouth I write it down, pure and simple. I send my daily food log to my friend who makes suggestions and gives me encouragement. I also am cooking in a healthier manner- no more pasta heavy lunches or dinners. I cook strictly by serving amounts – for example – usually we eat 6 servings of instant potatoes for dinner- but since there are only three of us, I cooked only three servings. We are having more fruits and vegetables and we are all noticing improvements in our over all feeling of well-being.  We actually have eaten a 4 pound bag of navel oranges since last Friday as well as 2 pounds of bananas.  We have been eating more salads and using veggies as a snack.  I am pleased as our overall eating choices have improved and gotten healthier.             

I am amazed that the cost of eating healthier hasn’t been that much different.  I have substituted buying vegetables and fruits instead of high fat, high calorie snacks. The healthier food fills me up so I am not hungry all the time.  I am making the conscious decision to NOT eat junk food or sweets (my personal favorites) and choose a piece of fruit or some veggies.  Our family’s milk consumption has dropped, yet I still get 2 to 3 dairy servings each day. I am very pleased that changing our eating habits haven’t raised our grocery costs.

I am very grateful my husband and daughter have been willing to go along with my choices.  We all have been grousing about our health and wanting to get healthier.  It seems when the "Mom" does it, the rest of the family goes along. Since I am not buying junk food, they are making wiser choices when they snack.  I call my daughter my "diet buddy" - we remind each other to write it down.  My husband has been very supportive as well.  He is also a Type II Diabetic and is on insulin, when that is added to his high blood pressure he says he wants to be healthier.  We have long been a low-salt, low-fat family but this is helping us to cut the sugar (carbs) in our diet. I admit I couldn't do it without their support!

One unforeseen side effect was that initially I had low blood sugar incidents.  I have Type II Diabetes currently being “controlled” by non-insulin medications.  My doctor has wanted to put me on insulin for the past couple of years but I have balked.  So he has put me on medications to take when I eat.  These are supposed to help my body deal with excessive sugars that I eat.  Since I began these changes, I have had a few incidences of low blood sugar -- something that never happened to me before. So I have proactively chosen to take myself off these medications. I have been keeping my blood sugar levels steady in a very acceptable range since last Saturday without using additional medications. SCORE!!! This has long been a goal of me and my doctor.

I have also added exercise to my daily routines.  I am still suffering some lower back pain from when I was assaulted, but good posture helps with that.  Getting on my exercise bike while watching season 4 of Once Upon a Time, gives me an incentive to workout.  I am doing a warm up and cool down stretch before and after.  I also am doing some light weights- just arm exercises for now, and some simple leg work as well.  I feel the workouts in some muscle soreness but it’s a good “hurt” .

My friend’s husband says that “accountability = success” so that is why I am writing this – holding myself accountable so I have success.  I have lost a lot of weight before- using diet medications.  It didn’t last, so this time I am doing a whole lifestyle change so it will last. 

The Shannara Chronicles- a Review

The Shannara Chronicles

            The Shannara Chronicles aired on MTv on Tuesday night as a 2 hour movie.  They made the next two episodes available today to watch as well.  Overall it is a visually stunning show.  The production values are very high.  

Here is my take on the aspects of the show:

The casting is very good.  I wasn’t sure about John Rhys-Davis as King Eventine, (too old and short) but he has the voice and magnetism to carry it off.  I was very impressed with the casting of Manu Bennett as Allanon – he isn’t as large or as old but he has PRESENCE on the screen and made a very convincing Allanon.  Austin Butler is very good as Wil Ohmsford- much less whiney than the book’s version of Wil is.  Poppy Drayton is well cast as Amberle.  She is feisty and yet vulnerable.  Ivana Baquero isn’t nearly as gorgeous or seductive as Ereteria is described in the book.  But she is an adequate actress. The rest of the casting is pretty well done.

The sets are gorgeous, but they have conflated the time line terribly.  The setting is post-apocalyptic; the “Great Wars” were only 30 years OR 300 years in the past.  They were not consistent with that at all.  The post apocalyptic look would be more appropriate for the books of the Genesis of Shannara  series– set 2 to 3 thousand years earlier. (Also after watching Life without People – I understand that most of our structures and “stuff” will last less than 200 years.)  I liked the look of Arborlon (Elven capital city) and the Ellcrys is majestic.  The countryside is okay….but as I said too post-apocalyptic for the story timeline.

The special effects are amazing.  Yep a couple of the scenes were a bit too gooey for me- but then I don’t like ewwie-gooey stuff!  I loved the special effects of the Elfstones and the leaves falling from the Ellcrys. The demons are convincing and the changeling was excellent.  They make Arborlon look like an “alien” city – it is not “human”.  The costuming is good, the elves clothing doesn’t look like basic materials - has an exotic look.

They have taken a lot of liberties with the storyline.  They had the author involved with the rewrites so I am not as “outraged” as I would be had they willy-nilly taken over his work.  They combined the character of the Dagda Mor (a demon) with the former Druid, Brona (also known as the Warlock Lord in the Sword of Shannara)- thus also shortening the timeline.  It got a bit confusing if you listened to Allanon explain that the Dagda Mor had been trapped by the Ellcrys for thousands of year, but they fought Brona 30 years ago. Yep a nitpicker I know.  They have added new characters- from Eventine’s sister- Pyria- Allanon’s old flame (uh no!) to Bandon – a seer.  They are not too irritating and help the storyline along.  Also as part of the shortened time-line Wil is not Shea’s grandson but his son.  Flick and Shea had a falling out and the magic drove Shea crazy- very different from the books – because Shea was a larger percentage of elf the use of the elfstones did not affect him at all- but does affect Wil.  They did steal the “Magic always comes with a Price” from Once Upon a Time- that is no where in any of the books.  They have changed some of the mythology – the Ellcrys leaves are not trapped demons, the trolls do not wear old gas masks, and the Ellcrys chooses the chosen – it’s not a race.

Overall, it is an interesting and fun fantasy series I feel.  There is enough “familiar” to me that I found myself really enjoying it!  Because it has been changed from the books, I find myself interested in what other changes they have made.  MTv has done a wonderful job translating it to the small screen.  I don’t feel they have added “angst” to the storyline at all.  I am looking forward to the rest of the season.

Rac80