Dataphile Type 1 Diabetes Diet: Step 1

DinoPicFitnessSo, I’ve begun the initial earnest stages of “getting fit” (which of course involves all the additional fun stuff that happens when you start getting fit with diabetes).  No, I don’t ever expect to look like the gladiator chick with the T-rex in the picture but I will need to borrow her warrior spirit.

Brief Backstory:  Baby No. 2 (who is now 18 months) was a total surprise!  I’m pretty old to be a new mommy again and also was told I couldn’t have any more kids.   The pregnancy was difficult on my body in many ways, not to mention being Type 1, having Graves Disease, and requiring bucu synthetic hormones to maintain it.  It took me a little over a year postpartum to feel remotely back on track (and finish nursing the babe).  Then the week before this past Christmas I had outpatient surgery (also related to baby No. 2), which I hope was the final step in getting my body more or less regulated again.  Yippee!

MyFitnessPalStep1Now, it’s finally time to lose that baby weight (and hopefully get my A1c back to where it used to be)!  I’ve been tracking my weight and BGs, and keeping a rigid food journal for about three months so that I have a realistic baseline.  Also, while counting carbs is obviously a daily occurrence, I’ve never had occasion to count calories before.  The baseline data really gave me a good idea of where the calories I’m consuming are coming from.  (Note to self:  Yet another variable that I would love to compare long-term via computer algorithm to my BGs to see if there was any correlation between high/low calorie meals or days and BG readings).  I used MyFitnessPal food journaling app and a Fitbit to collect my data.

A week and a half ago I started hitting the gym for regular exercise and cutting out enough calories to supposedly lose 1lb a week.  More on how things are going and how all this is affecting my BGs in future posts : )  Wish me luck!


Check out these related posts:

Photo-a-Day: Exercise

My Fitbit Flex: A Delightful Surprise

Photo-a-Day: Diagnosis

Photo-a-Day_diagnosisPregnant single mom gets diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in her 4th month.  Just like that. Needless to say, it was quite a ride but luckily for me, my natural go-to for dealing with rough situations has always been research, research, and more research.  We made it through and are both happy and healthy 7 years later (although some Drs. might think otherwise).


This post is one in a series for the National Diabetes Month of November.  Kerri from sixuntilme.com initiated the Photo-a-Day idea and prompts and lots of other diabetes bloggers have chosen to follow suite.

Diabetic Shaming

Laughter makes everything better.  Let me explain:  My husband came up to me randomly, asked me to hold up this piece of paper without reading it and snapped my pic.

Diabetic ShamingWhen he showed it to me, I started cracking up, even though minutes before I’d been upset about my recent bout of high nights.  Even when we do our damnedest to maintain good BG control, we can’t always get it right and sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.  If you’re confused by the post title, or the sign I’m holding, and yet still reading, see DogShaming.  This is also my “Photo-a-Day: Frustration” for National Diabetes Awareness Month.

 


This post is one in a series for the National Diabetes Month of November.  Kerri from sixuntilme.com initiated the Photo-a-Day idea and prompts and lots of other diabetes bloggers have chosen to follow suite.

Mediband Gets a Thumbs-Up!

Several months ago I wrote I Heart Silicone Medical ID Bracelets , covering the list of reasons why I wear a medical ID bracelet and choose to go silicone (on the wrist!).  Also, I plugged my favorite place to order individual bracelets with customizable text (inside and outside.)  Today, I’m plugging a newly discovered favorite, Mediband!

MedibandWristbandsWhile, I do still love my old silicone bracelet, 4 years is a long time to wear the same one…and I think our relationship was due for a little “space,” so I’ve been on the lookout for new diabetes wrist bling.  Criteria:  Silicone, customizable inside/outside, and hopefully something with a little character that isn’t too child-like.

I’ve also have been considering finding a place online to store all my medication/dosing info…and it turns out Mediband fits the bill there as well.  Previously, I had all this information at home and in an emergency my husband would probably be able to find it.  However, with everything else in my life stored and easily accessible “on the cloud,” why not this too?  Why burden my husband with having to know where to look for it?

I found myself biting the bullet and looking into MedicAlert.  For some reason, that company has always made me feel like it caters to a much “older” crowd and with my 40th birthday looming on the horizon, I wasn’t excited about it.  It does seem that their website has been “youthed” up a bit, however I still find a lot of their jewelry personally unappealing and their service isn’t free, at $10-$50/year.  Plus, a lot of their jewelry has “set engraving” which means it’s not customizable.

Mediband (based in Australia,) on the other hand, has an online Emergency Medical Information Record (EMIR) called MedibandPlus that is free for the first year with a purchase of a bracelet and only $7 a year after that.  You can enter only what you like and set the privacy level individually for each field of information, e.g. Maybe I don’t care if everyone in the world could see that I’m Type 1 diabetic but would prefer to have only hospitals be able to access my health insurance ID.  Of course, to access any of your information, someone would first need to enter your membership number on the MedibandPlus website…and mine is safely tucked away on the inside of my wristbands.

Mediband packageFor the wristbands themselves, I wanted to order the customizable set of 7, but seeing as they were coming all the way from Australia, there were 7 of them, and I’d be wearing one everyday, I wanted to be sure I got the order right.  I emailed with my detail oriented (hopefully not to annoying) questions about exactly what the finished product would look like.  Their customer service was great (and patient with me)!   I took the plunge and then waited almost a month (custom product from Australia, remember), which actually felt like a year, and finally got them last month!  I love them!  In fact, I like the look of them so much, I often “go eighties” and wear several at a time.

MedibandInside

I’ve even gotten compliments on them from non PWDs who just think they look cool.  I chose to have the “Star of Life” logo in bright orange/red on the outside, so it wouldn’t be likely to be missed in an emergency.  I also printed “Insulin Dependent Diabetic” on the inside with another logo (where the logo and Diabetic are in bright orange.)  Then, there is still room for me to add my MedibandPlus membership ID, the website url, and my husbands name and phone number.   For me, on all fronts, Mediband is a win.