Clearing the Path

Wow, It’s been five weeks since I last wrote a blog entry, but my journey has been moving along. My current weight is down to 223 lbs. That is 17 lbs. down from where I stared six weeks ago. Also, my fasting blood sugar had been running between 145mg/dl and 180mg/dl. This morning it was 106mg/dl. In the past, I would get shaky and clammy as if I had low blood sugar when my blood sugar would get below 120mg/dl. Yesterday afternoon, my blood sugar was 90mg/dl and there were no signs that my body thought my blood sugar was too low. Now, that’s progress.

Over the last five weeks, I have been discovering which foods work for me and which do not. Then I take those foods that do no work for me out of my diet. So far, wheat, white sugar, and oats are out. Cheese, blueberries, most veggies, beef, chicken, beans, a bit of jasmine rice, nuts and seeds, and Avocados are in. Another thing that is in for me is moving. Since it has been cold, snowy and icy in this neck of the woods, I haven’t been able to walk home form work, so instead I get on the stationary bike after work for a 30 minute ride. After that I stretch.  The moving helps to elevate my mood. So step by step I have been moving forward and clearing my path.

Speaking of clearing my path, I have also been moving towards simplicity in my life. I have been working on decluttering my living space the way I am decluttering my body. It’s a process I’m working through at a steady pace, trying not to think so far ahead that the journey overwhelms me.

Week of Discovery

This week has not been the best of weeks for me. It’s been a bit up and down nutritionally, but it has been a week of discovery.  I’ve been trying to eliminate as much sugar and wheat for my diet as possible, but this week I ate some of each. Here’s what I discovered.

After running out of one of my usual breakfast foods, berries and raw yogurt, I had to find something to replace it. At first I tried making a rice pudding. My recipe calls for white sugar, a banned substance for me, no only because it would raise my blood sugar, but also for all the crap they have to do to it to make it nice, white and refined. So to substitute I tried Organic Raw Sugar (also called Rapadura). I also reduced the amount rice and the amount of sugar in my recipe. It looked good, it tasted good, and I dished  out a reasonable portion, but after breakfast I felt ravenous. I wanted more sugar, more bread, more, more, more. I could not get satisfied no matter what I ate or how much I ate. It felt horrible. My sugar crazed brain thought, It’s a fluke. I’ll try a smaller portion tomorrow. I did, and my body reacted the same way. My husband gladly accepted the rest of that rice pudding. So discovery number one: Sugar makes me crazy.

My second discovery came later in the week. We are not rich. My family needs to be fed on a budget. One night I had a rather small roast out for dinner, and I knew it wouldn’t stretch so I made what I call Beef Pot Pie.  Beef Pot Pies starts out with a base of beef cubed and browned with lots of vegetables. They cook until the veggies are al dente then I make a bit of gravy with the cooking juices. Everything gets put into a pan and topped with homemade biscuit dough and baked until the biscuit dough it golden brown. And yes the biscuit dough was made with unbleached wheat flour. Again I portioned out a small bowl for myself.  The next morning when I took my fasting blood sugar it had bounced up 50 points higher than it had been on the days I had devoured sugar. So wheat and sugar are strictly off my list.

Now, my week wasn’t all bad. I did have a Reiki session with Alice and during the session I felt a surge of joy soar through me. I almost felt as it I was floating. She too, said that she could feel this massive flow of joyous energy.  Today I start reading The Blood Sugar Solution by Dr. Mark Hyman to see what other nutritional nuggets I can find to lead me further down the path in my healing journey.   J

The Journey Begins

Let me start out with a laundry list of my issues. I’m a 52 year old woman who has type 2 diabetes, and hypothyroidism, both diagnosed in 1997. I am obese by every medical standard I’ve seen. At 5’10” I currently weight 240 lbs., (at least I did when I started, this morning I jumped on the scale and was down to 233 lbs.). Last time I had blood tests done my cholesterol was in a good range, but my triglycerides were a little high, but had come down from my previous blood test. Also, I have not had any blood tests in over a year, but I measure my fasting blood sugar from time to time.  I’m also about seven to eight months out from a two year bout with frozen shoulder which negatively affected my overall flexibility.  And even thought you might think I’m post menopausal, I am not. I am still in perimenopause with irregular periods.  In addition to my officially diagnosed ailments, I suspect my liver does not function at 100% even though my tests have been with the “medically acceptable” range, but I’m not sure that “medically acceptable” means it is functioning at it’s optimal level. Everyday I take no fewer than four prescriptions, and I want to reduce that to one or less if I can.

My destination in this part of my journey is to reduce medication, and illness and to improve the functioning of my body through holistic means using integrative nutrition, supplementation and energy work. I’ve already started on my journey.  I’m changing what I eat, finding what works best for me. At the store I look for organic fruits and vegetables, and grass fed meats. I’ve been adding supplements to my daily regimen. I’ve been taking Fermented Cod Liver Oil, Vitamin D3, Spirulina and Fenugreek. And every week or two, my friend Alice of Source to Soul Reiki performs energy healing on me. The my mind and body health is already showing improvement. Another piece to my journey will be finding a doctor who will walk beside me on my journey. Recently, my primary physician moved to New Zealand, and I need to find a replacement, so in two weeks I have and appointment with a new doctor. He is a member of the American Holistic Medical Association, and I hope he will help guide me on my journey.  And when this leg of my journey ends, I hope to start a new one. I would like to become a Health Coach by taking classes from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.  I’m excited so let’s get going!