Well, it is obvious that I haven't posted in a while. Basically, it boils down to illness. I have had over the course of 6 weeks bronchitis, a sinus infection, chronic constipation, had an unholy menstrual cycle due to switching birth control, and trouble with my allergies. I felt like hell, but exercised though most of it, continuing to eat "paleo" and gained 12 pounds. Needless to say, this week, as I felt better, I have going back to "slow carbs"; beans and quinoa and such. I have lost 10 pounds in that week, and was down to 216 this morning.
I am not totally discounting the "paleo" diet or its approach to health and nutrition. It works for many folks, and perhaps when I hit my goal weight I'll revisit it. On the other hand, I believe that there is no one way of eating that is perfect for anyone, so it may just not be right for me. While I did see lower morning fasting blood sugars, they were not low enough to justify the weight gain.
It may be that I am finally feeling better, or pooping normally, but within just a couple days of eating my slow carbs I felt like I had more energy and my morning brain fog, which has been worse the past few months, was much lessened.
So the daily meals look something like quinoa hot cereal for breakfast, greek yogurt and fruit mixed in, lunch is my favorite black beans with garlic, onion, tomato, salt, pepper and oregano, and dinners are lean protein (baked chicken, fish, pork, etc) on a green salad with tomato, feta, olives, and other such salad goodies sans dressing. I'm snacking on apples with peanut butter and carrots mostly at the moment.
I had been running in the mornings, doing the couch to 5k, and made it to week 4 before my treadmill died. I am hoping with the time change I will be able to exercise by running outdoors now. I am also hoping to add in some toning exercises to help build muscle and speed weight loss. I'll progress on that as I fully recover from my respiratory aliments.
So things seem to be getting back on track, and I am feeling better, but I do have a gripe.
It seems like no matter what I end up doing, I am always going to be a diabetic. A perfect example of this was yesterday, I splurged for dinner after a mildly active day. I had a salad, some french fries (not a whole order mind you) and a steak sandwich on focaccia bread. I probably ate more carbs in one meal than I do in a day easily. I had felt my sugar creeping low before dinner, and it was 86 when I checked it. An hourish afterward it was 210, and I took my meds and went to bed. A few hours later I woke up, anxious, sweaty, and confused. I headed down to the kitchen where I left my meter and felt like I was shaking so bad I wasn't going to be able to make it. I remember looking up at the bedroom from the landing, thinking I needed to tell my Sweetie I needed his help, but I was so out of it I couldn't figure out how to call out to get his attention. I managed to make it to the kitchen and my sugar was at 46, which is DANGEROUSLY low. I ended up needing to eat an entire meal's worth of carb rich foods to get it back to an acceptable level, which took a half hour. Upon returning to bed I was freezing, tired, and had one of the worst headaches I have ever had.
Now, I know I messed up on one meal. We all do it from time to time. It isn't the end of the world, and it can be pleasant to indulge in "bad foods." But my experience cements in my mind that no matter what I do, no matter how healthy I become, I am going to be one of the folks "who would have gotten it anyway" due to genetics. My bad habits and not taking care of myself when I was diagnosed in 2004 worsened my problems and I will be dealing with them likely for the rest of my life. And that sucks. I hate hearing how this 50 year old guy lost 30 pounds and not he doesn't have to take his meds, or this 45 year old woman just changed her diet and her symptoms went away. I lost the equivalent of a small to medium sized adult human female and I am still having to take my meds and watch my carb intake. And that royally irks me. I don't regret losing the weight or changing my diet, but knowing the damage is done is very bothersome.
