Ouchie on the dentist for Rachel. Glad to hear that maybe your insulin requirements have dropped, and that you're not having as many low blood sugar incidents.
07/26/09 Cardio Coach Volume 6 on Elliptical
Duration: 1 hour (including extra 10 minutes cooldown)
Heart rate: Average 131 (77%) Max 151 (91%)
Time in zones: Light: 20: 32 (min/sec); Mod: 26:50; Hard: 12:38
Blood sugar preworkout: 103 post workout: 196
Challenge 1: 2 minute hill, 1 minute sprint, 2 minute recovery; Repeat x total 4
intervals.
Challenge 2: 1 minute sprint, 1 minute recovery; Repeat x total 5 intervals
Challenge 3: 4 minute hill.
It has been pretty hot for western Washington highs in the 90's for us so am trying to get my workouts done before the room is sweltering. We don't have air conditioning where our work out equipment is so need to get it done earlier in the day.
Still having issues with low blood sugars despite cranking back the insulin and starting to get hypounaware (no symptoms) which is not a good thing overall. I'm a little torn about today's workout sugar readings as typically I need more insulin for higher intensity workouts and there was enough anaerobic in todays that I'm not surprised my blood sugar went up. As a precaution I drank a gatorade (30 grams of uncovered carbs) during the workout, will run temp basal of 50% for 4 hours but did cover the bloods sugar and 10 grams of the CHO post workout. We'll see how that does.
Today's weight was 242.5 down a pound this week which is amazing since I've had several hundred extra calories with the lows combined with a milder deficit (on paper at least). I'm not tracking too closely with all this but probably right around 1800 to 1900 calories average.
I don't know enough about it, but definitely no symptom lows are bad. As to the weight loss, some people will suddenly do better on a mild deficit. So maybe you've found what works for you?
I don't know enough about it, but definitely no symptom lows are bad. As to the weight loss, some people will suddenly do better on a mild deficit. So maybe you've found what works for you?
Actually I was kind of wondering that myself. Not enough data to make conclusions yet though. But it might be worth trying. Also from past experience major shifts in blood sugar often mean I'm overall doing something right especially when the trend is downward. It would be nice if the bigger impact on diabetes would translate into more inroads into weight loss though.
The blood sugars will straighten itself out eventually. The rest of today has gone well I think the lowest I've been has around 104 and for the most part I've been less than 150. Although tonight I was quite startled when I got a 401 blood sugar. Must have had a little BBQ sauce on my finger as the recheck was 141. Much better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snarlla
I'm enjoying your log. The blood sugar regulation seems like quite a challenge. It's very interesting to see all your data from the monitor.
Just wanted to say hi, and subscribe to your log!
Thanks for stopping by. I've had diabetes over 20 years now so while there's ups and downs for the most part I'm used to it.
Talked to my parents tonight. Found out my dad has cancer of the lip. He doesn't remember what kind it is but is scheduled for surgery the first week in August. It sounds like some kind of skin cancer caused by sun exposure but not totally sure from what my parents are saying. He's had a CT scan to see more about the extent but they don't know the results yet. It sounds like he'll need some sort of reconstruction post surgery or with the surgery. Unfortunately this is one of those times where being a nurse isn't too helpful as the head and neck cancers I've seen have been bad. Of course I don't work in oncology so don't see all the good outcomes and I know most skin cancers have a good prognosis. So anyway I'm going to try not to worry too much till I know more about what he's dealing with. May be hard though. Especially since I'll be in Atlanta while he's having surgery. I was planning on going back to visit them the end of August so that should be a good time to go. He'll have some time to recover by then.
On a more pleasant note we've been having gorgeous weather here. But it's hot for western Washington and supposed to be hotter next week. Today wasn't too bad a little breeze made it tolerable. I'm most definately going to have to try and get my workouts done early am. I'm glad I'm back to my part time work schedule next week. I'm not a morning person so getting those done in the morning is a stretch for me.
I'm sure that being a nurse will sometimes lead to you considering the worst possible outcomes, not the best. Hopefully it's one with a good prognosis. My mother has known someone for decades that's had numerous issues with small cancerous growths on his face (primarily his head). So far (touch wood) he's still quite well overall.
Yeah there's definately times that working in health care means you know too much. Also, just from the perspective that dealing with any sort of medical issue for himself will be totally new to my Dad. He is on one blood pressure medication and is hardly ever sick. He's never had to be hospitalized and never had surgery so even if this all ends up being pretty minor it will be a big adjustment for him.
I don't think I've done too good with the not worrying thing as I've been eating too many jelly beans and a few chips too. I hardly ever eat candy.
It's also unseasonably hot here which has kind of thrown a monkey wrench into my routine. Even with the AC going the temperature inside the house is in the 90's. We just have one AC for the living room. Yesterday on the radio they said that typically only about 13% of the population has air conditioners. Not sure if that's for Western Washington or just Seattle. Must be miserable for those in the city or if they are at risk for heat related illnesses. I live rural so at least I'm not surrounded by asphalt. The room with the exercise equipment is even hotter so I'm not going to be working out right now as I'm just not acclimated yet. I will try to move around as much as possible though.
The step ups on a 14 inch step bothered the knee I tweaked earlier this week so did all sets with 8 inch step. Form is improving on all exercises.
Yesterday was 105.8 in Puyallup and today supposed to be more of the same. It's actually 20 degrees cooler in eastern Washington right now. But at least it cooled off overnight so I was able to get a workout done this am. Our workout room was still 82 degrees this morning and I was sweating buckets. Jackknifes were a little tricky as my legs wanted to stick to the ball. We probably should get an airconditioner for out there. Seems like a waste though when we might only need one for 2 months out of the year.
Persevering despite the heat. It's a little cooler (mid to high 90's) actually and it cools off at night. Still very warm in our little workout room though even with the fan blowing. Took me longer as I just didn't have the energy. Next week I'll be at a medical conference in Atlanta and I got an email from the hotel. The temps are actually cooler back there although the humidity will be higher.
08/01/09 NRoLW Stage 1 Workout B (10of 16)
Warmup: 5 minutes elliptical, dynamic, glute activation plus warm-up lifts included below
Brief summary for this month. I'm enjoying NRoLW. I bought a new scale so weight is down some on paper but probably really the same. My old scale actually consistently weighed higher than dr's office and was starting to act up even after battery change.
My measurements are unchanged and not going to do photo this month. Considering my looser dietary restrictions for summer and the extra calories from the low blood sugars earlier not too bad.
I haven't been wearing the GWF as much this month especially with the heat. I've had a bit of a rash starting up so wanted to give my arm a break. I finally broke down and bought a new armstrap for the band. (I'd held off as they actually charged more for shipping than the strap cost.) That way I can keep one just for workouts and not have to wash it so often.
Today will be a rest day as far as exercise goes. For once I got to sleep in and it's just too hot. Probably won't be too good on the diet either as we have a big family party this evening--a dual celebration of Rachel's return from Japan and my hubby's birthday.
Last evening the power went out. That's miserable when we're in the middle of a heat wave. Can't even run the fans. Fortunately it was late enough we had already eaten dinner.
My weight is actually down again today 239.9. Finally broke 240's. I've been hovering right at 241 for quite a while so it's nice to see it start to drop into the 230's.
Yuck on the power outage. If we're going to get them I'd rather see them in the fall/winter when I can light a fire and keep warm and barbecue for cooking, etc. In the summer it's such a problem with the heat, melting stuff in the freezer and such.
Yuck on the power outage. If we're going to get them I'd rather see them in the fall/winter when I can light a fire and keep warm and barbecue for cooking, etc. In the summer it's such a problem with the heat, melting stuff in the freezer and such.
And congrats on breaking out of the 240s!
Agree. You can always add layers and bundle up when it's cold but it's harder to cool down when you're hot. We have a wood stove also and while will usually cook on the gas grill outside we will heat water and stuff indoors as needed.
We've actually had more problems with stuff in the freezer spoiling in winter power outages. The 24 hour or less outages aren't too bad it's those that run 3 to 5 days when we lose stuff. Unfortunately where we live there's only a few thousand that tend to be on the same grid or area of damage so we're usually one of the last to get the power back on.
It was really bad when everybody was out though for extended outages. No traffic lights so traffic is backed up for miles, no gas stations open, no stores, or pharmacies or fast food places etc. I'm not one for stocking up for an extended disaster but since we've had enough of those I usually make sure we have water, some gas in the gas tank and we usually have canned goods around. I also refill my prescriptions as soon as I can and I'm enough ahead that I have enough extra to last me a few weeks. The only thing I'd be in trouble without would be insulin so I always make sure I have at least one extra vial around. And asthma inhalers too. We probably should get a generator at least one that'll run the freezer but we never seem to want to spend the money. And the extended outages are rare but a pain in the neck when they do happen. I think we've had 3 so far that have been close to 5 days without power.
Wow, that is a long time period. We're probably lucky in that we're in a fairly large metro area. I remember years ago when the power went down over the US and Canada, I knew people who had no power for weeks. We didn't even go 12 hours before it was back on. I went to work the next day, assuming that their power was on (it was). However, I helped the plant manager, along with a few others, answer the night line (I started earlier than most). People would call, ask if the power was on, then go 'oh'. I suppose they were all hoping for a day off.
Had a big post all typed up and deleted it trying to fix some funky formatting.
I'm in Atlanta for a conference. I'm tired but wound up so can't sleep so thought I'd post here. Too little sleep last night coupled with time zone changes not too surprising.
I brought a hotel workout and if there's time I'll check out the hotel workout facilities. Medical conferences generally also mean after hours parties both official and unofficial ones and those are way more fun than working out so maybe won't get any exercise in at all this week. We'll see. This is my first national conference so I'm excited about that too. It's actually very very cool to have a few thousand people attending as opposed to a few hundred.
I have a hotel room to myself. I think I've died and gone to heaven. It's awesome. I rarely am in hotels anyway but up until last year I've always shared with family or coworkers. Did I say this is really awesome? I can be by myself when I want or I can go party. This is just too cool for words.
If anyone happens to read this I'd appreciate prayers or good thoughts for my Dad tomorrow. His surgery for the lip cancer will be early afternoon. I still can't tell from what my parents are saying whether this is going to be minor procedure or something more involved.
Anyway will post when I can. I brought my computer but not sure if I want to pay $15 each day for internet access.
Yikes, not sure I'd want to pay $15 for internet access either. Best thoughts for you dad's surgery tomorrow.
On the alone in hotel rooms, I used to love it. A few jobs back we would go out and drink maybe 4 or 6 times a year. The best part was the location - basement bar of a decent hotel (close to the plant). Funny thing about high business traffic hotels, they often offer dirt cheap rates on the weekend. It was a Holiday Inn, so I'd book in, take the cash and charge the drinks to my room. I got points for that! It meant that only about half the time did I actually have to pay for the room (we drank a lot, I mean really a lot).
Back home still feeling jet lagged had a wonderful conference though. I learned a lot and there were always fun parties after hours too.
My Dad's surgery went well although the cancer was more extensive than initially thought. He ended up being admitted overnight postop instead of the outpatient recovery originally planned. I'm going to go see them in two weeks.
On a personal note I've decided how to spend my bonus money from work. I decided to hire/consult Alan Aragon. This should be cool.
From what I've seen Alan is a great choice, good luck with that. Sorry that your father's surgery didn't go as well as you would have thought. I hope the long-term prognosis is favourable.
Neat to see you work with Alan, just like Karla (not sure whether Tom is still working with him). Am curious whether you'll drop carbs lower than they are now...
08/15/09 NRoLW Stage 1 Workout A 9 of 16 Warmup: dynamic, glute activation, warmup sets for some of lifts
A. Squat: 35 lbs/10, 45/10, 45/10 (forgot how to add the first set no wonder it felt like a warmup)
Alternating Sets B1 Incline Pushup: BW/10, BW 10, BW 10 B2 Bentover Row: 50/4, 40/10, 40/10, 40/10 C1 Step Up: BW--14 inch step/10 each leg, BW--8" step/10, C2 Prone Jackknife: BW/11, BW 12
All in all a rather craptastic workout. I have been dragging all week anyway so forced myself to do it. Form suffered on some of the moves so dropped weight and last set on stepups/jacknife. Could be for a number of reasons like not enough food today or too much time off or gremlins.
Edited to add that I don't have my plan yet from Alan. Didn't want anyone to think the lack of food was anyone's fault but my own.
OK, I have my plan from Alan and it looks good. For obvious reasons I'm not going to be posting specifics here. I can certainly tell that it's been individualized. It's very much based on what I've already been doing with a few tweaks which I hope will be effective.
I have been dragging all this week. I hope I'm not getting sick. I have one sinus that's periodically acting up so I'll have to watch that. I'm hoping it's just allergies though. My blood sugars are high but usually they'd be a lot higher if I was getting a sinus infection.
When you froze the zucchini did you pregrate it first? Slice it? Just curious. I never thought of that. Since you bake with it over the winter I'm assuming the texture of the cake isn't altered by freezing the zucchini? When baking with the frozen zucchini do you end up making any liquid adjustments?
Well, I did bake with it today. Originally I grated it, froze it on a baking sheet and then broke it up into pieces. I weighed out 6oz, which is what I use in the cake, and packed it into containers. As freezer space is tight, the new stuff I'm freezing is just measured into baggies and frozen. They might be harder to defrost, but I'll deal with that later.
Today I took out a container of frozen zucchini and dumped it into the bowl I use for making the cake. I let it sit until it was almost thawed, but a few ice crystals remained. I did not make any adjustments to the recipe, in fact I added a Tb of water towards the end as I thought the mix was a touch dry. I do this probably half of the time I make it, so that wasn't a surprise.
Although I haven't cut into it yet it baked the same, and rose the same, so I would say it makes no difference. Hey, it's one thing I won't have to buy during the winter as we have more ripening as I speak.
(I'll put a copy of this in your log as I know sometimes I skim.... bad Anne)
Thanks Anne and Espi. We're getting a lot of zucchini now so I should try that. I don't like baking in the summer it's too hot.
Yesterday was interesting. I didn't feel well all day. My blood sugars were a little high 160 to 180 overnight so figured it was a site going bad and I was due shortly to change anyway so changed the infusion site and then worked out. Did an upper body workout. My blood sugar spiked to 257 with that and I felt really sick afterwards. It took all day and night running 130% increase in insulin to get back down. I also was achy and nauseated the whole day I thought for sure I was getting sick. But I was 88 this morning and I feel ok other than a headache and allergies so it doesn't look like I'm getting sick. Yeah for that.
It was interesting though because in hindsight it looks like a classic case of how things can go wrong if you're exercising without enough insulin on board. I wasn't expecting it because typically a blood sugar between 70 and 180 is considered ideal conditions for exercise and I caught the site problems early. But if insulin is too low exercise can cause increased levels of stress hormones plus less glucose enters the cells hence can cause higher blood sugars.
I've always noticed a little spike with weight training and I don't usually have to cut back my insulin for weights. Some people need to take extra insulin for weight training. Sometimes I've needed a little extra for a heavy session. Now I'm curious I think I'll do more pre and post exercise testing of sugars especially weights. It's possible I do need a little more insulin then anyway and coming into a session a little deficient just made it more obvious.
Anyway sorry if that's boring for people to read. I find it fascinating though. While it's not much fun to feel like crap it is kind of cool to experience textbook stuff you learn about. It can be kind of fun being your own guinea pig.
It's interesting but I think it's ALMOST (but not entirely) over my head. What has my profound interest though is how cortisol wrecks havoc with blood sugar. It may be the cause of why I tend to get blurry eye-sight when driving (or maybe it's from staring too much.. but then again, it rarely happens from reading the computer, so it must be stress).
It's on those days I think it might be interesting to have a gadget like you have to monitor blood sugar all the time..
The things that affect sugar can be interesting. Cortisol is a weird one.
My weight has been bouncing around like a ping pong ball this week. Or maybe it just seems this way because this scale weighs in 1/10 of a lb whereas my old failing one weighed in 1/2 lb increments. But the 7 day average is 236.3. Today's weight is 235.6. My weight on August 15th was 237.8.
I probably will not be posting again until Friday or Saturday. My parents do not have a computer. There's not much point in bringing mine without internet access.
Diana
I am heading to eastern Washington today to see my parents. I'm figuring it'll be an 8 hour drive especially since we're bringing Tweedlebutt. (Jackie the deranged dog). She has been doing really well. She's the one that had the brain infection. There has been no recurrence of symptoms so the prolonged course of clindamycin was effective.
I have been dragging all week anyway so forced myself to do it. Form suffered on some of the moves so dropped weight and last set on stepups/jacknife. Could be for a number of reasons like not enough food today or too much time off or gremlins.
Linear Mode
