Ouch!

Tomorrow I will begin testing my blood glucose levels at home. I have been doing a good job keeping track of my sugars and carbs. In three and a half weeks I have lost 12 pounds. But that is just a portion of the picture.

I see the results of eating healthy and exercising but I don't know how my body is responding to the food I am eating. I can eat 6 servings of carbs per day. At times I save them and eat 2 or three of those servings at one time. It hasn't affected my weight loss. But what is it doing to my glucose level? I have no idea. My goal is not to lose weight, that is just a side effect of getting my glucose under control. Although I did want to lose a little, because that would help lower my A1C number. I had no idea I would drop this much, this fast.

My ultimate goal is to have a low, stable glucose level at all times. Checking my blood glucose after I eat will tell me exactly what my food choices are doing to my blood glucose levels. Should I eat only one carb serving at a time? Maybe two servings at a time is ok? How is my blood sugar during my workouts? Is it dropping to low? I am excited to find out the answers to all these and many more questions.

I have a motto for this whole prediabetes journey- I am fighting to win :)

A Moment That Made Us Smile :)

Earlier this year we sold our home and moved across town. It was a really hard decision to make. We loved our home and our neighbors. But those 1000 square feet appeared to be shrinking as my children started growing. I have second guessed that decision a thousand times. I am very thankful for the home we have, but I know what we left behind and it breaks my heart.

We miss the neighbors that we lived next to for 8 years. One neighbor in particular comes to mind when I think about our old neighborhood. She was just awesome. My kids adored her. I remember how proud Asher was when she told him what a good job he was doing riding his bike. Her comments made my kids feel like they were amazing.

This afternoon I saw that same light in their eyes when I handed the kids three orange envelopes that came in the mail. The return address was familiar. Tonight I wish we could magically return to our old life. To watch Joshua zoom his bike around the cul-de-sac. And the kids jump in leaves in the front yard. To spend time talking to my neighbor. I miss her greatly. We will make new memories, but the old ones will always be treasured.

The kids are excited to trick-or-treat in our old neighborhood. And they were bummed to hear that they won't get to see our awesome neighbor on Halloween. But they were touched that she sent them each a card (they loved the jokes inside- they keep asking me what kind of music mummy's like :).

The kids holding their Halloween cards.

School Times

We have art once a week using a program called Artistic Pursuits. This week we studied Near Eastern Bas-relief. Ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia used bas-relief to decorate their city walls. All three kids enjoyed making their own bas-relief using self-hardening clay. Joshua and Asher have a map assignment each day. It was awesome to walk in on Joshua helping Asher find Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Random Fun Shots

This is what happens when a princess goes to sleep putting her lipstick on..it ends up on her cheek, her forehead, and a little on her lips.

How the kids spent most of their time on the trampoline at Rader's...falling off :)

My beauty :) I just adore this girl!

Salads!!

I have always liked salads. Now that I am prediabetic I am on the look out for foods that have no sugar or carbs. Salads fit the bill!

I eat at least one salad each day. I have several variations that taste amazing! I always add a chopped up hard boiled egg and cheddar cheese. Those ingredients alone make an awesome salad. When I want to make it an entire meal I add bacon, sesame chicken, or taco meat.

I am now three weeks into this new lifestyle and I LOVE it! I feel amazing! Finding out about my blood sugar problems has been such a blesssing :)

So go eat a salad!

Fall Happenings

My boys are so awesome! I love Joshua's Mr. Cool look :)

We had a great time at Rader's, the trampoline was awesome!

The kids liked all the other activities as well :)

Joshua loves shooting with Grandpa Tucker!

Elliana loves it when mommy plays dress up with her. Mommy puts fancy clothes on her and does her hair in an up-do :) Mommy loves teaching her daughter about beauty, femininity, and celebrating being a girl!

Asher reading The Mouse & the Motorcycle. He is a great reader!

Learning Curve

There are so many different things to learn in this new eating lifestyle. I have been doing a lot of research and I am learning new things almost everyday.

Just yesterday I learned that "sugar free" does not mean sugar free. Items marked sugar free contain sugar alcohols. These sugar alcohols raise blood sugar levels the same as sugar. So you must count the grams of sugar alcohol as grams of sugar.

I had a very yummy lunch today that contained 5 grams of sugar and 2 servings of carbs. I had a small portion of a honey crisp apple (probably 1/5) and tuna fish with lettuce on a wheat pita. I am drooling just looking at this picture!

Another Yummy Meal :)

I made turkey tacos for my family last week. A favorite around here. I knew that I wasn't going to eat a traditional taco due to the carbs in the tortilla. So I came up with my own spin on tacos and it is so yummy! I made a salad using a spring mix of lettuce (0 g sugar/0carbs), cheddar cheese, chopped up egg, and taco meat. It was so good! And it had no sugar or carbs!!! No more tortillas for me! :)

Taco Seasoning:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Add 2 tablespoons, of the above mixture, and 2/3 cup water to ground turkey (or beef).

My computer won't rotate pictures at the moment, so tilt your head to the right :)

It is day 12 of limited sugar and I feel GREAT! I have a feeling some of my chocoholic friends are thinking "Oh, poor Amy..." If these thoughts cross your mind, you are mistaken. I would not go back to eating sugar and a ton of carbs! That way of eating was literally making me sick. Why would I want to go back to being sick?? I love eating healthy and keeping myself on track :)
I will add more great recipes as I find/create them :)

Lunch & Snacks

This my favorite low sugar/low carb lunch right now -

A salad with cheddar cheese and egg and a pepperoni pizza. This entire meal contains 5 grams of sugar and 2 servings of carbs (the salad is 1 g sugar/0 serv. carbs, the pizza is 4 g sugar/2 serv. carbs). It is really yummy!

The pizza crust is a whole wheat pita. Simply stick it in the oven for a few minutes to get it a little toasted. Then add a little ragu pizza sauce, some cheese, and pepperoni. Pop it back in the oven until it looks good. The kids love these little pizzas!

I have found some good substitutes for sweets. I want to lessen my desire for treats. So I do not indulge in these very often.

I have not tried the Dove sugar free chocolates yet. But my kids have and they LOVE them.

One treat I have made for myself is a mixture of the sesame sticks and sugar free chocolate chips. I liked this treat before I had to give up sugar. It tastes just as good with the sugar free chocolate chips.

One serving of sesame sticks (1/3 cup) mixed with 2 tablespoons of sugar free chocolate chips = 0 grams of sugar/ 2 servings of carbs. Because it takes up two servings of carbs, it isn't something to eat everyday. As much as possible we need those servings to be veggies and whole grains.

Good and Not So Good

I have discovered many foods that I thought were healthy that contain a lot of hidden sugar and carbs. With the kids we want to limit their sugar and have them eat good whole grain carbs.
The Yoplait strawberry/banana yogurt contains 33 g of sugar in each 1 cup serving (Asher's favorite yogurt). Yoplus has 15 grams of sugar (this is my yogurt, or it was, too much sugar for me now!).

These yogurt cups contain 15 grams of sugar (Elliana's yogurt). The best choice would be Fage yogurt. It contains a lot of protein and only 7 grams of sugar. But my kids won't eat greek yogurt. So the yogurt cups are my best option right now (for Elliana). And a small portion of the yoplait strawberry/banana is my best choice for Asher. I will be combing the yogurt section for a better choice! Or I will be dropping yogurt all together.

Whole wheat pitas and whole grain english muffins are good choices for carbs. I will be posting yummy recipes I have found using these products. The pitas have less than 1 gram of sugar and the english muffins contain 1 gram of sugar.

String cheese and healthy popcorn are a good snack option. My kids will not eat string cheese . But two of them like popcorn!

This is another example of a food that I thought was really healthy. The applesauce contains 12 grams of sugar in 1/2 a cup! My kids eat 1 cup at a sitting! The Honey Crisp apple has 17 grams of sugar. My kids normally split an apple between the three of them. So the apple is a better choice. But an entire apple would be too much sugar for one of them.

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So I have a few good snack options for right now-popcorn, apples (split between them), whole grain english muffins, and wheat pitas.

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Unfortunately, Asher is a picky eater. He has a sweet tooth like his mama. He also does not like meat. In order to get him some protein I will be giving him a small portion of the yoplait yogurt (similar to the size of the yogurt cups). But I will find more choices as I continue on this sugar/bad carbs war!