Thank Goodness for Diabetes

So I was in Minneapolis this week for work and I was sitting at a coffeehouse with my co-worker. I notice the man sitting next to me was really out of it and sweating profusely. In Minnesota. In the dead of winter. Then I noticed something - his blood glucose meter. Everything clicked and I realized the man was severely hypoglycemic.

I asked him if he needed something to eat and he said he was fine. Then everyone around him was asking him if he needed help and he insisted he was fine. My co-worker and i talked about what to do because we could both tell he was not doing well at all. My co-worker then wen to the coffeehouse staff and asked if they could check in on the man. While he was talking to the staff, two women sitting near the counter overheard and came with the management to ask the man for help. As it turned, out the women were nurses and insisted on helping out man.

While they were getting the man to drink orange juice, they asked me to check the man's blood glucose since I knew how to use the glucose meter. His reading was a scary ass 36. That is literally Shelby in a coma territory. Thank god the nurses knew how to be insistent.

In the end, the paramedics were called and they came and monitored the man's blood sugar as he drank more juice and ate a few brownies. After an hour, the man alert and able to take care of himself. When the EMT checked his blood sugar is was 140 so he was fine.

I have never been so grateful to be diabetic and be able to spot hypoglycemia. It's a blessing to have gone through extensive training on living with diabetes (however problematic) and get the support I did to understand the disease.

Thank goodness for my disease and hte knowledge it gave me.

Building up to 9 miles

To the commenter who asked about how whether I was on a program to build up to running nine miles – yes and no. About a month ago, I told my sister’s boyfriend that I would be stepping up and running the Presidio 10 as a 10 mile race as opposed to a 10K. He emailed me a running schedule and training program for the weeks leading up to it and I’ve been doing that program for the last three weeks.

But here’s what led up to that. Before I say anything else, I need to point out I have a long history with exercise. I’ve always ran and was on the track team in high school. In fact, I was an aerobics instructor in college. As an aside, my classes always had waiting lists because both women and men thought I was great to learn from. For the women, they liked not having to compare their bodies to the person teaching them and for the men, they wanted to see a dude aerobics. This is all to say exercise and I have been old friends. I’ve run 5k’s and 10k’s my whole life.

Once I graduated from college, not having a sport to compete in or a class to teach meant that I would go on this binge-purge cycle of exercise. Running a lot for a month but then slacking off for a week which led to slacking off for a month. With the diabetes diagnosis, I had a huge incentive to exercise regularly – eating what I wanted. As I’ve said before, exercise lower your blood glucose level so exercising after eating means that you have a little more leeway about what you eat. Also, when I was losing weight, my nutritionist told me not to be concern about the fat in my diet since it was being burned off during exercise. Exercise = eating bacon. A win win proposition.

Here’s the progression:
A year and a half ago after the diagnosis, I ran four times a week on the treadmill for three miles per session. I was doing a 10 minute/mile pace.

After about three months, I increased my speed to about a 9:30 minute/mile pace and made one of the runs a four mile run at a 10 minute/mile pace.

The following month, I increased one of my slow runs to 5 miles.

When I ran my first 5 mile race in January 2009 and did great, I increased my short runs to 4 miles and increase my pace to 9:15 minute/mile.

Upon committing to do Bay to Breakers (12k or 7.4 miles), I upped my long run to 6 miles for a month and then to 7.5.

After Bay to Breakers, 9 months after the diagnosis, I reduced the number of runs to three per week but with increased intensity – a 9 minute/mile pace.

During the summer, with no race in the near future, I increased my short runs to 5 miles at the same pace and omitted the long run (just made it another 5 miles)

When I made my commitment to run Bay to Breakers AND do Presidio 10 as a 10 miler, I reintroduced the long run of 7 miles but would only do that twice a month.

And that leads us to this point where I am doing a set training program leading up to 10 miles.

Milestone acheived!

Sunday, I ran 9 miles - the furthest I ever ran in my life. It kicked my ass and I learned that I do need to start slow because the last two miles I was running at a 10 minute mile pace. My own impatience got to me and I really just wanted the run to be over. Lesson learned and I look forward to running the full 10 miles. The challenge is to do it slowly.

Dear God, Whole Foods

Seems like Whole Foods is getting on the fat shaming bandwagon. Check it. Y'all know how much i think BMI is a load of crap as a health measure, but this is some seriously effed up thinking. If you do buy the idea that we should encourage more people to eat healthier, should you offer the discounts to the people with HIGHER BMIs so that they take advantage of the all of those fruits and vegetables?

And interesting post on Pandagon

So I just read this post on Pandagon, a feminist, political website. It brings up two really good points.

1. BMI sucks and as an indicator of health. I have a cousin who is 6 feet and thin as a rail. I can run circles around him and my BMI is a zillion times more than his. My sister's boyfriend's BMI is a zillion times bigger than his - my sister's boyfriend IS A TRIATHELETE.

2. All of this fear on women "bulking up" is based on misogynist ideas that women should be frail and weak. My question for you readers of the female persuasion is - do you do weight training? Why or why not. I personally do the absolute minimum of weight training mainly because I find it boring and I cannot stare at the tv while I'm doing it.

Don't Cry for Me Stef...

I get to eat plenty of sweets. Ever since I've gotten over my fear of Splenda and learned about almond flour, the sweet are pretty plentiful in my household. Given the fact I am replacing flour for ground almonds, the fat content will be high, but that's why I run 18 miles a week.

But here's my list of sweet stuff:

Fruit cobblers
Pavlovas
Brownies
Peanut butter cookies
Dark chocolate
sugar free ice cream
almond flour pancakes
Hot chocolate with almond milk and splenda (and a shot of sugar free hazelnut syrup)

All of them are less than 15 grams of carbs and taste pretty awesome. In fact, the sugar free pancakes are 1 gram of carbs per pancake. I can only eat five before I'm full.

Here's a recipe for the pancakes
Ingredients:

* 1 cup almond flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 2 eggs
* 1/4 cup water (for puffier pancakes, you can use sparkling water)
* 1 tablespoons oil
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon sweetener
* 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Preparation:
Mix ingredients together and cook as you would other pancakes. I like to use a nonstick pan with a little oil. The only real difference is that they won't "bubble" on top the same way as regular pancakes. Flip them when the underside is brown. Serve with sugar free maple syrup.

More Cooking with Veggies

I'm still experimenting with new ways to use veggies, and/or using new veggies in my usual ways.

I tried this great recipe for a creamy celery soup. I'm loving pureed soups lately, and this one is really yummy. It's the surprisingly great combo of celery and thyme, and I even used dried thyme. The potatoes give the soup the creamy consistency, so it tastes much richer than it is since it has no actual cream in it. Yum! Great frozen and reheated, too.





And here's just a variation on the usual, but I thought it looked pretty with all that green in the pan. It's chicken stir fry with baby bok choy, which I served over brown rice.

Salt and Public Policy

The research and debates continue....

Health / Fitness & Nutrition
Big Benefits Are Seen From Eating Less Salt
By PAM BELLUCK
Published: January 21, 2010
Scientists writing in The New England Journal of Medicine conclude that lowering the amount of salt people eat by even a small amount could reduce cases of heart disease, stroke and heart attacks.

Sweet Heaven

Sorry co-blogger, this one's gonna be all about the sweetness....

I can always tell when I'm about 2-3 weeks into healthy eating, cuz that's when I start to crave things like cookies, cake, ice cream, etc. I don't normally have a huge sweet tooth, but if you put it in front of me I'll eat it. And when I'm focusing more on veggies, fruit, lean proteins, and fiber - well, my brain starts thinking "Dooooooooonnnnnnuuuuuuuuttttttttttttttt."

Anyway, I decided tonight to try and curb my craving with something I could whip up from the pantry. And although the result is not *totally* guilt-free, I have to say this is one of the awesomest things I've ever made.

Breakfast, it's what's for dinner. In the form of CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA PANCAKES.

Oh, dear Lord. I want to lick the plate. Reduced fat "Heart Smart" Bisquick. Non-fat organic milk. Egg beaters. Sugar Free Maple Syrup. Low-fat butter. One banana. About 20 semi-sweet chocolate chips. Two pancakes. One giant smile on my face.

Cravings begone!

The conundrum

I am totally grateful for this blog because it does keep me focused on what I need to focus on. Case in point, since I've gone off the medication to control my blood sugar I've gained about 8 pounds and gone up a pants size. I talked with my doctor about it and he said that a beneficial side effect of the metformin is that it facilitates weight loss.

I've been at the same weight for two months so it's not like I'm blowing up. And on every other measure I am rocking.

- My cholesterol, A1C, and urine scores are actually better than when I was at my lowest weight

- I've increased my running from two 3-mile runs and a 5-mile run to to two 5-mile runs and a 7.5 mile run.

- My speed in the races improved dramatically.

So everything is going well BUT I was damn tempted to ask for some drugs to get the weight off. It's a conundrum. I need to celebrate that my body does well enough on its own (as along as I do the things I need to). The flip side is that I am pretty damn tempted to get back on drugs I don't need just to lose a few pounds.

Now where was that forest again?