Monday Check-In

The challenge week disintegrated on Friday evening. First, Don and I went to a wine tasting. I got a bit drunk on just the tasting wine (I am a lightweight when it comes to drinking). Then, we were impulsive and overindulged in grilled cheese and chips and salsa. Then, on Saturday, Don and I had a big fight and I stress-ate. Although we made up and were soppy turtle doves by Sunday, I threw caution and the challenge to the wind. I didn't eat terribly. But I didn't test regularly, didn't eat enough vegetables, didn't portion control, and didn't take pictures.

So, when weighed in this morning, the scale read 222.0lbs. Not really surprising. I have decided that challenges with multiple goals don't work for me at the moment. I lack enough willpower to do all items on a checklist. So, this week I am going to stick to one - exercise. That is the one thing that I find hard to get started on and constantly find excuses for. So, my only goal for this week is to exercise at least 1/2 an hour each day starting today.

Now for the good news: I had my doctor's appointment this morning. It has been almost 3 months since my diabetes diagnosis. They did another A1C hemoglobin test. This is a test that tells you what your blood sugar has been on an average for the last 3 months. When I first got diagnosed, it was 11.2%. Normal is under 5.5%. This morning's test showed that over the last 3 months, it was 6.9%. Not normal, but still almost a 4.5% drop compared to May.

My doctor had wanted to prescribe me insulin at our last meeting, but I had asked to wait till today's appointment to see if I had to. Today, he said that with this improvement, he is not prescribing me insulin right now. If at our next meeting 3 months later, it is still in the high 6's, he will. I am ecstatic!!! I feel really REALLYmotivated to continue to manage my diabetes.

I also gave him some feedback about his assistant who had told me that Type I was better. Read about that here. He was very sympathetic and understanding. He apologized and said he would have a word with her. I feel better after having passed the feedback on. I hope that this will prevent other patients from being shamed/confused/angered like I had been.