Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Atkins bars

love these bars - especially the Chocolate Peanut Butter. Found the best price for these is Sam's Club. I made a haul the last time I went they had several varieties and they also have the best deal on the Atkins vanilla shakes (which I also LOVE).

Every week my blood sugar is getting better. I've been watching carbs and continuing the exercise and my weekly average just keeps going down. I did have a spike this morning - not quite sure what happenned but it was a little higher all day - not super high just higher than it's been. I woke up this morning with a sore neck and shoulders. Being new to checking my BS I wonder if that has anything to do with higher readings. Is it like your blood pressure, when you are in pain your blood pressure can be higher. Not sure. If anyone knows about that please share :)

Friday, May 14, 2010

end of another week...

It's been a hectic week so I haven't had time to post. For my blood sugar it's been a great week. My 14 day average is 98 and my 30 day is 103 - I've been checking at random times about 2-3 times a day so hopefully I'm going to knock the socks off my Dr when I have my next A1C test in July. I've also lost about 10 pounds which is a great benefit of this new way of eating.

It's going to be a great sunny weekend in California and I plan to be in the pool for most of it.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Friday, May 7, 2010

TGIF!! what a week....

so glad it's Friday what a week! I'm off on Monday and celebrating with Mom on Sunday for Mother's day.

My BS has been under control all week and my 7-day average is 98 from the samples I've taken at random times throughout the week. Hopefully that will translate to a lower A1C in July. I just have to keep it up.

Rough night last night though. I've been feeling just great, but last night I felt crummy and my blood pressure was what I consider high - my BS was normal but just felt like crap and so didn't sleep well at all. You ever have one of those nights where you think you can hear yourself breathing and it just doesn't seem right? I think I was getting paranoid and stressing myself out. This morning I feel a little better and my BP is pretty much back to normal -- I just have to keep reminding myself that God is in control, not me. I think I'm doing such a great job, but I let myself forget to give God the credit and I forget to just lean on him when I'm struggling. It's so easy to do.... and so easy to forget :)

Well - everyone have a great day and a wonderful Mother's day weekend. I'll check back in probably Monday or Tuesday.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Kellogg's Fiber Plus bars

This is another great way to get more fiber into your diet and if you are watching fat, too. These bars are delicious - the Chocolatey Peanut Butter bar is 130 Cal, 5g fat, 24 carb, but you get to subtract 9g fiber for a net carb of 15 which is pretty good for a morning or afternoon snack.

I like to rotate my fruits and this week I bought a bag of mandarin oranges. They are fabulous. My husband calls them tangerines, but I said they don't have the "tang" that's in tangerines. I guess we will have to wait until the end of the year when hopefully we have a good crop of tangerines :) and he can taste the difference. Another perk of living in California is the citrus. We have 2 grapefruit trees, a navel orange, avocado, tangerine and two lemon trees. So most of the year I have fresh fruit without having to go to the store. My mom and dad have apples, peaches, blood oranges, lemons and lots of nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans).

I also have a garden for fresh vegies. Can't wait until the tomatoes are ready to pick. I'm also growing peppers, onions, swiss chard, lettuce and lots of herbs. We have this huge rosemary bush that my hubby calls his retirement fund... have you seen the price of fresh herbs at the store? We probably could retire if we set up a stand...lol

well - back to work. have a great day!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

7 day average...

According to my meter, my 7-day average is 98. How totally cool is that?

I'm fixing my turkey Spaghetti tonight for dinner. I use Jenny 0 ground turkey breast and hot italian sausage. I actually substituted this for the beef and pork sausage a few years ago and we actually prefer the turkey -- which is hard to believe, but it's just so darn good! I add lots of vegies to my sauce, too...onions, peppers and depending on the season zuchinni or yellow squash and mushrooms, so there's lots of fiber in addition to the tomatoes. I make marinara sauce a lot during the summer when I've got lots of fresh vegies:) I'm using the Barilla plus pasta, which is pretty good. My hubby doesn't care for the whole wheat pasta, I'm not a big fan either, so the Barilla plus is a good compromise.

When I have a little more time I'll share the recipe for my sauce :)

have a great day!

Monday, May 3, 2010

back to work...

It's Monday and back to work - still managed to get my treadmill and exercise in today though and after exercise after lunch reading was 74. Last night I kind of splurged over my calorie intake. I was good on carbs and fat but just consumed too many calories.

So - I went to Calorie King and figured out how much exercise it would take to get me back on track before I went to bed. Turns out I just needed to do 35 minutes of moderate exercise to burn off the calories. So, while I watched The Celebrity Apprentice, I did 40 minutes on my exercise bike at about 15 mph.

I actually felt good after I finished and didn't go to bed feeling guilty for eating too much :) Go Brett on the Apprentice, he dodged another bullet. Hopefully he's getting better in the real world.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

That's more like it........

Hooray - my blood sugar was 89 this morning! and after lunch it was 77. We went for a bike ride before lunch down to the store for some of those yummy 80 calorie Sara Lee hot dog buns. Hubby grilled the dogs for lunch and then we went for our first swim of the season (heated up the pool this morning) One of the perks of living in California :)

Tonight we are having flank steak fajitas - I've got the steak marinating and Mike will be firing up the grill again. I'm fixing home-made refried beans (recipe courtesy of my friend Liz). Once you've done this yourself you would never go back to the store-bought canned refried beans. If you have time soak the dry pinto beans and cook them first. If not, a can of pinto beans will do just fine.

Home-Made Refried Beans
(serves 2)
1 can pinto beans (be sure to rinse off,drain and add water back in can)
1/4 onion (sliced thin)
1/4 bell pepper (any color will do - or jalapeno if you like it spicy)
olive oil or canola (enough to cover the bottom of the pan)
2% grated cheese (I like the Mexican blend)
Seasonings (I use a little salt, pepper and if I have it Fajita seasoning and a little chili powder - this is all to taste)

Saute onion and sliced bell pepper in enough oil to cover bottom of pan until onion is translucent. Add can of beans with water and bring to a boil. Add in your seasonings and simmer for a few minutes and then get your potato masher and start mashing the beans. Once you get them mashed up pretty good, simmer until they are reduced to the consistency you like. I add in the cheese near the end or you can just top it off with the cheese (I like to blend part of the cheese in and then at the end top off with the rest).

enjoy :)