Thursday, August 29, 2013

Creative carb counting


Are all carbs the same?



When I give myself a dose of insulin in order to eat something, I count the carbs and then inject for them.  Whether it’s rice, Quinoa, couscous, pasta, potatoes, bread or fruit, the ratio of carb to insulin is the same.

 
So that means:
 


Supper #1
 I have Tilapia with couscous and broccoli
-          1cup cooked couscous is 36g of carbs,
-          1 cup steamed broccoli florets is 10g of carbs
-          1 1/2 Tilapia fillet: protein
o   For supper, I inject  
1.5units of insulin for every 10g of carb I eat
o   so that’s 46g of carbs
o   a dose of 7units of insulin


The Confession
How crafty can I be staying within my daily carb allocation?
See, I’m a chocoholic, not a carb-a-holic 

How about I tweak my supper just a bit and eat:
Supper #2
-          The fish: protein
-          1 cup steamed broccoli florets : 10g of carbs
-          1 entire 35g bar of 70% Lindt dark chocolate

The chocolate is 12g for the entire bar and 3g of protein AND 15g of fat too…but isn’t dark chocolate healthy?  Like the chocolate equivalent of celery, right?
Let’s just say it is because I really want to eat that chocolate!!!

SO, that’s22g of carbs total.
See, it seems like a better choice than the couscous!
(However, the trick is to not turn around and then eat the couscous too!)

Did I eat that or not?
Carb counting confusion
Every morning I prepare breakfast for my children and me.

My son immediately chooses the sugary sweet artificially colored cereal, which he thinks he likes but often just plays with.  I pour him a small portion and then I toast a few slices of bread:
-          1 slice to be shmeared with full fat cream cheese and cut into little squares
o   for my 1 year old to eat (and stick on her head and throw onto the floor)
-          2 slices for me to butter while hot and eat while deliciously fragrant and dripping butter

 Our current favorite is Bon Matin flax seed bread, so for 2 slices ...
15g per slice – 5g protein – 2 g of fat (but a good fat…. Mostly, Omega-3 polyunsaturated fat which provides an essential fatty acid that our bodies need.)
For breakfast I dose 1.2 units of insulin for every 10g of carb I eat, so that’s 3.6 units of insulin

BUT!!! It smells so good that my son declares ‘I’m jealous, I want hot buttered toast too!!’
So happily I give him half a slice(don’t want to overwhelm him), then the little one wants to taste my toast so I offer her a few bites here and there.  If I’m lucky, my son devours it and snatches the second half
We are all fed and happy and full of crumbs

…and then I get to work and go LOW!!!!! Because I forgot to replenish the carb value of my lost slice!

I NEVER thought I would EVER be too busy to eat!!!!!!
Had I known I could have eaten more chocolate!


 Man, do I love chocolate





Monday, May 13, 2013

One more year

Here we are, 1 full year later and I'm again fundraising and recruiting for the JDRF Walk-A-Thon

Have to admit, it's a bit more challenging with 2 kids

My letter of invitation was written with my baby on my lap trying to yank my glasses of my face and pull out my earings (which she did, by the way)  


At least I have good news about where the money is going:

The JDRF is funding several research projects that could be very significant to me in my lifetime
Such as, the artificial pancreas project: this is basically a software that will read my blood sugar, and automatically dose me with insulin to fix it,
Or the Beta Cell Encapsulation project, the idea being to give a person with juvenile diabetes new beta cells and putting them inside a casing that will not allow your body to destroy them
The JDRF is also looking at Preventing diabetes.  I mean they never actually cured Polio, they just eradicated it with vaccines preventing people from getting it
Lots of promise….


My big fear of shame is showing up with a team of 4- me, my husband and the kids
Or falling so far short of my fund-raising goal that the JDRF organizers look at me and whisper between themselves that people must not like me very much. 



SO here's my plea:
 
Please sponsor me: Tamara Segall
Last year, my team raised a total of $5,227 this year I am setting us an optimistic goal of  $8,000!!!!
(So far, I've raised $118.00 )

Please join my team:Team Dex4

Last year we were a team of about 30

My friends, my colleagues, my family
We brought baby strollers and sunscreen
We talked about summer plans and work and music and maybe a few comments on how fat and pregnant I’d gotten
It was really great and everyone who went has already started asking about this year’s walk

The walk:
Sunday June 9, 2013.
At the park: Centre de la Nature in Laval
Registration time: 8:30 am
Walk time: 10:00 am

At the end they feed you lunch.  And it's good too, I swear!



The web site to register for my team or make a donation is now open as well:



 Thank you!



Tuesday, March 12, 2013

There is a logic to my brand of Insanity


Am I the only one that feels like my latest A1C is an exam result worthy of either reward or punishment?
That's insane, right?
I got a 6.4!!!! Yay!!!!!!
New shoes for me!







Do other people with diabetes exercise so that they can have a 'free' snack?
If I walk the 4 blocks to the café, I can have a medium latté and NOT bolus for it!
Worth it!
That's insane right?

If a gym wanted to cater to me, they should advertise a woman on a treadmill eating a KitKat 70% dark!
That's why I do it. If I wanted to just eat carrot sticks I could skip the work out all together.
That's insane right?



How about when I do a check and find I am low, somewhere between 2.5-2.9mmol/L and on my way to fix the low it seems like a good idea to sweep up the breakfast crumbs under the dining room table.  That's completely insane!  I know the crumbs will still be there in 15 minutes (hell, they'll be there next week unless I sweep them up!) but at THAT particular moment in time, I am SURE this is what I should do!

Or, my husband and I are relaxing in the living room watching a few episodes of Big Bang Theory.  I hit 'Pause' and he looks at me.
- Wouldn't it be great to have a tea right now, I say
- Great idea, he says, make mine black
- You should go get them, I say
- But I cooked supper, he says
- But I bathed the kids, I reply
- But I had to move 12 tables at the store
- But I have a defective pancreas!!!!
- Fine! I'm going! he gets up to make the tea
Fine, I admit that was a cheap shot.  But I won! I know, so wrong to use in an argument.  But so help me a moment later I was wondering if I could sprint a few minutes on the treadmill while the kettle boiled to eat a few 'free' cookies for desert.
I know, it's insane right?