01 Thursday Apr 2021
Posted in food, health, life, moments, retirement, Uncategorized
since the reminder in January that my eating habits had loosened up a bit too much, I’ve been eating less and much better…
I’ve also been reaching my step goal every day, even though it is not a huge goal…
I am walking a figure eight in the living and dining room, and sometimes on the deck… if I walk on the treadmill my hip gets really grumpy so I am not doing that just now…
looking forward to a better A1C result in April…
31 Wednesday Mar 2021
Posted in business, health, life, moments, retirement, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
A1C, big girl pants, blessed, diabetes, Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers, health, moments, Patreon, soothe, support, surprise, Technology, treat, widow
anyone who follows me knows that I am trying to keep my diabetes in check with diet and exercise only…
when I started I absolutely gave up any type of sugar… that was hard, and also included potatoes, one of my favourite foods, lol…
over the years I have loosened up my diet to include some of the things that had been removed… always done in consultation with my doctor, so that my life was less focussed on the fear of my A1C number…
at my last appointment, my number had gone up to the edge of needing meds…
so, I cut back all sugar once again, which meant that I wasn’t having any chocolate;-(…
I was excited a few days ago to learn about Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers (through Patreon)… it is a monthly subscription that will send me an envelope of goodies each month… all chocolate-themed, but no actual chocolate…
a great way to soothe my chocolate craving, without any of the sugar content, and provide support for an artist…
there is even an app for Patreon so I can see any items going up about Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers (also on Instagram @happymailforchocolatelovers).
looking forward to see what will be in my first envelope;-)…
14 Friday Dec 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
A1C, big girl pants, black currant, bonbons, careful, chocolate, doctor, eating, Soma Chocolatemaker, stricter, the Chocolate Lab, week, widow
been a week since the conversation with the doctor about my A1C and how I need to work to get it down a bit…
happily we both agreed that I can do this with more control of my diet and without meds…
I think it was just the day before that visit that I ordered a bunch of chocolate from Soma Chocolatemaker and it arrived this week, lol…
one of the things I ordered was this blackcurrant flavour that I fell in love with after one of the Easter treats from my daughter… trying to figure out how I can have some without messing up the stricter eating plan…
one thing I did do was start cutting my wonderful Advent bonbons into quarters and just having one of them each morning… it has made me focus on the bite and I’ve really enjoyed the flavour of each one…
today I took the extra pieces and shared them with my colleagues;-)… made everyone happy…
07 Friday Dec 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
A1C, alarm, big girl pants, crazy, daughter, diabetes, doctor, focussed, health, quality of life, sleep, treadmill, treat, widow
crazy morning…
I usually set my alarm for 6:30 but always wake up before it goes off… I’ve been having trouble sleeping for the last week or so due to a sore neck so didn’t put on my alarm as it was my day off…
woke up to a call from my daughter at 7:51… unfortunately I had an 8 am doctor’s appointment;-(…
flew out of the house wondering what my blood pressure reading would be, lol…
was only a few minutes late as the office is close to home…
my blood pressure was great which was amazing but my A1C was not so great… still in the safe zone but it has been creeping up over the last year…
early on following my diabetes diagnosis I did not consume any sugar and was so strict with my diet that my life was overly focussed on food… the good news about that was how low I was able to bring down my A1C without meds… the bad news was that the strict eating was causing problems with my quality of life… since then the doctor and I agreed to relax my eating to find a happy medium…
today we decided that I need to find something between crazy strict and what I’ve been doing recently…
so, not so many treats… and I also think I need to be sure to spend a bit more time on the treadmill every day…
10 Thursday May 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
A1C, big girl pants, bread, chocolate, drinking, hummingbird, intake, journey, sugar, watch, widow
tonight I enjoyed some hummingbird drinking chocolate… it was a Christmas gift from my daughter…
I used Almond Milk… made with 70% cacao, it was delicious…
before making it, I reviewed what I had eaten during the day and realized there was room for a bit of sugar;-)…
last week I saw the doctor and heard that my A1C has been creeping up for the last six months… it is at 6.3 but needs to stop rising…
I had loosened my very strict watch over my eating habits to make life a bit more relaxed… I don’t think that was bad, but will tighten up my food intake a bit to see if that can make an improvement to the next test…
so, I am trying to have bread only once a week and dark chocolate a few times a week… on the whole, the rest of my food choices are pretty good… we will see how this goes…
life sure is a journey, lol…
06 Friday Apr 2018
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, travel, Uncategorized
Tags
A1C, big girl pants, blood work, exercise, gentle, ice, knee, pain, pedicure, physio, purple, right, sore, walk, widow
my goodness, crazy busy day…
woke up really early and watched a few tv shows…
had difficulty walking as my right knee has gone from a bit of discomfort to serious pain…
got ready and went for blood work for my next doctor’s appointment… I always try not to stress but it is difficult as I wonder if I’ve consumed the wrong foods which could have raised my A1C… the technician did a great job as I barely have a mark on my arm… yay…
was able to get in for a pedicure at the last minute and it went well… a few times I had to hold my leg as the aesthetician worked on it… she had lovely purple hair and is the most gentle person on staff…
then it was off to the physiotherapist office to see what they might be able to do to help my very sore knee… it had been uncomfortable for a while but in the last two days I have barely been able to walk…
he advised that is was inflamed but felt it was likely osteoarthritis… did lots of measuring, pushing and pulling and then used ultrasound and electricity on it… I have things to do three times a day and go back in a week… he mentioned that it was likely going to hurt a bit more after all his prodding… and he was right…
icing it as I write this… good news is that it should be much better by the time I head to Ottawa;-)…
03 Friday Mar 2017
Posted in family, food, health, life, loss, nature, Photography, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
A1C, big girl pants, Chamois, doctor, dumplings, pedicure, shopping, Tea, travels, waiting, wifow
seemed to do a fair bit of waiting in my travels today…
started at the doctor’s office as I waited for my quarterly appointment to stay on top of the diabetes…
didn’t have to wait long and the report was good… my A1C has stayed the same and blood pressure was excellent…
then I dropped in at the Chamois because Shadow was so dirty you couldn’t tell what colour she was…
picked up a small bottle of de-icer just in case the doors wouldn’t open, although with the remote to open the locks, maybe that isn’t a problem… just remembered that George always carried some after he had the car washed, lol…
then I stopped at a store I wanted to go to… it wasn’t open so I went into the Subway next door to have a cup of tea and wait…
had big girl pants on as I sat there all by myself, calmly drinking tea…
this is a very big deal as just five years ago I would have sat and waited in the car… not a chance I would have gone into a restaurant on my own…
in the afternoon I went for a pedicure with a dear friend… we sat and waited for our aestheticians to collect us…
happy that the sandals are hard to spot, lol…
after our fun visit and relaxing foot work – we both had the paraffin treatment on our feet, and I even had my hands done –
we waited for our nails to dry…
and then I walked to the car with these lovely flip flops on…
final bit of waiting was for the chicken and dumplings to cook for my dinner…
now to rest;-)…
16 Tuesday Feb 2016
Posted in family, health, life, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
A1C, big girl pants, blood pressure, cabinet, cholesterol, diabetes, doctor, drug store, healthy
had my doctor’s appointment today with my GP… great news was that my A1C was the same as the last test, 3 months ago… I had been a bit worried because I felt I slipped a little over Christmas…
feel confident that I can eat as I have been and not be worried all the time that I am messing up… this is very good news and should help me relax about my food intake…
my cholesterol is up a tiny bit, but not enough to consider drugs, thankfully.. and my blood pressure is good…
all in all a great appointment…
packing up my diabetes strips and lancets to give to a colleague… if I need them again it will be down the road and I will get items that aren’t expired…
also spent some time cleaning the cabinet under the bathroom sink… dumped out a bunch of out-of-date items and made a bit of space… will have to drop the stuff off at the drug store in the next while… they are able to dispose of it properly…
pretty fine day…
01 Monday Feb 2016
Posted in family, health, life, nature, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
A1C, Assiniboine, big girl pants, black and white, clinic, exercise, slippery, snow, Valentine
up early to head to the clinic for an A1C blood test… see the doctor next week…
always park a ways from the clinic and walk to get a bit more exercise… the sidewalk was terribly slippery… on my way back, sadly an hour later, I chose the road as a safer way to travel…
after the test I went to the Assiniboine hotel for breakfast, as I’d been fasting…
put on those big girl pants and ate on my own…
did a bit of shopping and picked up valentine treats for the boys and even mini eggs for Easter…
now to put them in a safe place that I will remember on the 14th, lol…
also picked up a couple of tops… lots of black and white out there, but no purple…
had a nap and went to a gathering for supper and the evening… lovely dinner and interesting conversation with some very special women… we were all careful as we arrived and departed to watch our footing so there wouldn’t be any falls… lots of ice under the light dusting of snow…
another excellent day off…
16 Monday Nov 2015
Posted in health, life, nature, technology, Uncategorized
Tags
A1C, big girl pants, changes, cholesterol, ducks, hospital, iPhone, moments, Pro-Activ
weather wasn’t quite so nice today… it was cooler and rainy for much of the day…
arrived early at The Forks for breakfast with a dear friend, so wandered along the river walk before the rain really got going… took this picture of the newest sign…
looks pretty cool, but then I spotted the mallard ducks…
and geese… I do love my birds…
also took a few pictures of St. Boniface Hospital… reminded me that George’s bypass surgery took place in November of 2008 and he enjoyed the next four years… seems like a different life ago…
then there were the six weeks I spent there in 2010… many hours of looking out onto the river…
was realizing how I have grown and changed over the last few years…
after breakfast I stopped to visit with a former colleague… not something I would have done before without causing a lot of stress…
went to the mall, had a problem on my phone sorted out, and picked up a number of gifts for Christmas… very happy to have that pretty much done… stopped at a few other spots to finish up the shopping… am feeling more excited about Christmas this year I think…
went to the doctor and was thrilled with the report on my A1C and cholesterol… it was so good that we don’t have to think about drugs for at least the next three months…
he was astonished at how low both numbers were… woohoo… I am sure the cholesterol came down due to the Becel Pro Activ margarine I’ve been eating every day…
also feeling less concerned about checking my blood sugar more often… he had me stop testing when I saw him last and I have felt like I lost a crutch… but I can trust that I know what I can and can’t eat…
haven’t lost any weight according to their scale but I think I am actually at about 160… think I have lost about 38 pounds since last November…
during the appointment I realized that it was last November that I was diagnosed with diabetes… lots of lifestyle changes since then…
some wonderful moments to savour today…
