The Fat Girl Writes Again

Wednesday, July 19, 2011

Weight – 231.2 lbs or 104.87 Kg

BMI – 35.15 Obese Class 2 - risk of weight-related health problems and even death, is severe

A1c (as of 5/21/2011) – 7.0

Chloesterol (5/21/11) – 219 (triglycerides 109/ HDL 79/ LDL 118)

Clothing Size – 20W (the W is for “wide”, yes, “wide”…… not “women”)

The last time I served up a good, fresh heap of Diabetic Dish was 21 months ago (approximately 630 days) and, well, its an understatement to say that things are not as they used to be.

It is a waste of time to rehash the past almost-two-years when it doesn’t change where I find myself today.  However, today is a special day.  Today is the first day of my final lower-my-A1c-without-meds-weight-loss journey.  That’s right folks….. I can truthfully tell you that I have been to the party not once…… losing 93 lbs in 2005-2006……not twice…… losing 75 lbs in 2008….. no, I now find myself the Belle of the Obesity Ball once again! As I have written before, once a fat girl, always a fat girl. However, it is enough to encounter my fat girl only when clothes shopping. I am frankly quite tired of seeing her in every mirror and every size 20W label and most horribly, letting her have the use my favorite number for my A1c.

I weigh more today than I did when I gave birth to my second child last November.  Oh, and, my A1c was 6.1 when I gave birth.  I haved exercise vigorously through both pregnancies and gained an average of 20 lbs during each one.  I have been about 10lbs from my pre-pregnancy weights after both babies. Within in months of each of their births we faced a move, the start of medical school for my husband the 1st time and the start of residency the second time.  In times of destabilization and stress, I eat.  Yep, I said it.  I eat.  Oh, and, I eat a lot. I do not mean I eat alot of celery…. I mean I eat A LOT of VERY BAD things. And to add fuel to the fire….. we have relocated to Asheville, NC – Beer City, USA – and Miller Lite just doesn’t cut it since I have encountered the majesticness of a locally brewed (Pisgah, French Broad, The Wedge, Green Man) wheat beer adorned with the heavenly slice of orange (I have no idea of the calories….. I do know that one is about 6 Weight Watchers points and it is just wrong to only have one.  WRONG!).

Really? Whoever would think it funny to capture this image? Laughing Now, Funny Man?

So, you get the picture, the official formula for a Diabetic Disaster = (new baby+1300 mile move+loss of job+search for job+husband never home+2 kids) + (Asheville’s plethora of INCREDIBLE food x 2 <2 is for ‘twice a day’>) + (MIRACULOUS beer x 2<2 is for “two a day”….. less at times and possible more at others>).  Many of my other entries emphasize my motivation to do this yes, for me, but also for my best friend (one in the same as my husband) and my 3 beautiful daughters. I obviously love them, but I like them, I like just being with them, I like their laughter and I do not want to short myself one day of their world changing morning cuddles.

So, today.  Today is the first day.  Weight Watchers weigh in – check.  Excercise – check. Recording Weight Watchers points – check. Glucometer dusted off – check. Limiting carbohydrates – check. Goals in place – check (see below). I will be weighing in, both literally and figuratively, here on this blog every wednesday come hell or high water, come loss or gain as well as reporting my blood glucose trends. I may sporadically post random thoughts, ingestion frustrations (similar to sexual frustration but arises from not eating what one wants as often as one wants), new recipes and notes from my daily lower-my-A1c-without-meds-weight-loss conquest.

GOALS:

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Weight – 158 lbs or 71.6675 Kg

BMI – 24.02 Normal Weight - ideal amount of body weight, associated with living longest, the lowest incidence of serious illness

A1c – 5.9

Chloesterol – 150 (triglycerides <100/ HDL >80/ LDL <100)

Clothing Size – 8/10 (no letters in this size!)

Is today a first day for you?  Or, do you just want to hang with me on this journey?  Or, maybe you would just like to check in and laugh at my fat girl (it’s ok, I promise!  I do it all the time!  She is not easily offended!) No matter the reason, I hope to see you here and would love to hear you here, too!

Currently Under Deconstruction

I Saved My Life

“You saved your life,” my endocrinologist said as he was leaving the room.  This was the conclusion of my one year anniversary appointment since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.  My A1c was 6.3, my fasting glucose was 105, total cholesterol was 171 and I am down 60 lbs (17 lbs from goal)…… all without any meds. While the heavens did not open in song, nor can I all of sudden eat a big fat piece of cheesecake, those words keep running through my mind.  “You saved your life.”

I think about my life.  I think about the good and I think about the “challenges.”  There is nothing I wouldn’t do to save that life, challenges and all.  Nothing. 

I think about the blessing that lies in being given control over this disease.  Unlike so many other diseases, type 2 diabetes came with a choice, the ability to choose a path that could avoid the devastating complications.

I think about my family, my friends and the legions of “virtual” supporters that make up the communities of dLife, TuDiabetes, WeightWatchers, and ADA.  The information, support, encouragement, ideas and recipes that have been shared has played a critical role in getting me out of the denial as a rookie type 2 diabetic and in the right frame of mind to take up this battle each day.

I think about the millions of people who have type 2 diabetes.  I think about the choice they each have.  I think about the things in their lives that make it worth saving.  And, I wish for each one of them that they could say, “I saved my life.”

This has been a trying year.  It has been a successful year.  But, it has only been 1 year.  I have many, many more ahead of me and each day of each year will embody the choice to manage diabetes.  Today, this day, I will revel in the knowledge that I saved my life.  And, tomorrow…….well, tomorrow I will wake up and make the choice to save my life all over again.

Have you saved your life?  I would love to hear your stories!

The Dishing Diabetic

There is Nothing Fair about The Fair

Well, here in Texas we are smack dab in the middle of “Fair Season.”  You know, the place you go and take your kids and spend gobs of money on absolute cr@p and rides that scare the bejeezus out of you (and not because they go upside down, but because you find yourself praying that they do not fall apart while you are upside down!).  However, it is not the trinkets or rides that 1st spring to mind when 99.9% of people are asked about the fair…… it is THE FOOD!  Corn dogs, funnel cakes, strawberry lemonade, turkey legs, caramel and candy apples, curly fries, sausage-on-a-stick, chocalate covered bananas rolled in candy, brisket wrap and ‘the fried’s”….. the bevy of items that are rolled in batter and thrown in hot grease –  fried snickers, fried twinkies, fried oreos, fried cheese, fried corn, fried coke (seriously, look it up, The State Fair of Texas has it)….. if you can fry it, the fair has it!  So, in the name of all that is good, all that is diabetic and all that is TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT, I propose that “The Fair” forever be known as “The un-Fair!”

This past weekend we thought it would be fun to attend the South Plains Fair and take in a concert by Eddie Money.  Yes, I am keenly aware that this dates me.  If you were born somewhere after 1985 you do not know who Eddie Money (or as he calls himself, The Money Man) is; however, if you were born, say, in the ’70′s, you can sing every word of “Take Me Home Tonight.”  This evening was made all the more interesting as I left work 30 minutes before expecting the babysitter which left no time for dinner (at least the kind of dinner you eat at home, the safe kind).  Surely, I thought, the fair will have something I can eat, right? Um, well, WRONG!

The classic part about being a type II diabetic who was obese upon diagnosis is that not only do I need to manage my blood sugar, I need to lose weight.  So, it is like all foods that enter my mouth must 1st pass through the diabetic-blood-glucose-carbohydrate filter that I employ to successfully manange my blood glucose.  But, wait!  I am not done there.  Next, the Weight Watchers Points system kicks in.  As my potential food choices pass through the diabetic-blood-glucose-carbohydrate filter, they are assigned a points value that is designed to help me lose weight.  I can only eat so many points a day (right now that # is 23) and as you can imagine, it is not a very big #, hence the losing weight part!  Let me just say, I have spent the past few days dousing my diabetic-blood-glucose-carbohydrate filter in Drain-O…… my food choices at the fair clogged this filter beyond recognition!

A few items did make it though the filter; somehow, they eaked by “The Fried’s”, the funnel cake, the corn dog, the candy apple, the chocolate covered banana and my favorite…..the liquid sugar over ice (aka strawberry lemonade).  Total # of items to pass through the filter – 3.5.  #1, the Turkey leg; #2, the  sausage-on-a-stick; #3, the brisket wrap (minus the wrap); and #3.5, the sliced apple with a smidgeon of caramel on top (the missing .5 is the rest of the caramel).  So, in keeping with the routine order of the process, these 3.5 champions-of-the-filter were then subjected to the assignment of their Weight Watchers points (courtesy of the Weight Watchers application on my nifty little iPhone).

1 Turkey Leg – 27  points (0 carbs)

2 Sausage-on-a-stick – 19 points (0 carbs)

3 Brisket Wrap (no wrap) – 3 points (0 carbs)

3.5 Large Apple – 2 points (25 carbs)

2 Tbsp Caramel Topping – 2 points (30 carbs)

So, for me, here is how this breaks down….. if I exercised for 1 hour and did not eat anything else all day long, I could split the items above with a willing party and not exceed my daily allowable points.  Not exactly realistic and deep down in places I don’t like to talk about, the consumption of the items listed above would not qualify as an indulgence.  You see, when eating items that pass the diabetic filter and Weight Watchers test while surrounded by hundreds of items I would rather be eating, the “qualifying” food choices seem like, well, qualifying food choices.  So un-fair!!

Are you a fair fan?  Are you a fair foodie?  What are your favorites?  Do you have any diabetic, weight loss friendly suggestions while navigating the fair season?  Let me hear!!

The Dishing Diabetic

Premiere Pounds to Finale Fit!

I love TV.  I have had no shame in admitting my love for food, sugar, beer……. why stop there?  I will conceed that the programs I can’t live without do absolutely nothing to enrich my life.   However, they do in fact enrich the level of physical activity in my life!  My workouts, specifically the speed with which they pass, are directly related to television programming. Yep, I have my elliptical machine parked right in front of the television and my love for “my shows” and the DVR that records them is a close 2nd to the love I have for my family.  I am not joking.

Let’s see……. Sunday you have Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters.  Monday is Heroes.  Tuesday you have The Biggest Loser and Dancing With the Stars.  Wednesday is a second helping of Dancing with the Stars.  Thursday is Survivor, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice.  This is 9 hours of programming that must be squeezed into 7 workouts…… this is so much better than suffering through 4 more workouts  each week once after I have exhausted my summer recordings…… True Blood, Hung and World’s Strictest Parents.  With this month’s premieres I have found my old excitement for exercise.

This  year, as I strive to lose my last 29 lbs and and gain better control over my blood glucose, the upcoming season of “my shows” will be used for good…… it will be the season that takes me from Premiere Pounds to Finale Fit!

Here is how it will work.  My shows premiered with The Biggest Loser last week and they will continue for the next few weeks.  Most of the finales are in May of 2010.  That is 9 months of tv viewing bliss!  I can do anything for 9 months and I can do anything as long as I am allowed to watch my shows while doing it.  I will only watch my shows in a state of physical activity.  I will either be on the elliptical machine, doing sit ups or push ups, or my Core of Steel video (that is housed in my memory) through out each program.  I would rest during commercials, but  I prefer to fast forward through them to get on with the plot twisting, trash talking, dirting dancing mecca of TV!!

I will also adhere to my allowed carbohydrates per meal and allotted Weight Watchers points/day on the days my shows air.  On the days my shows do not air, well, they won’t be a free for all…… any diabetic knows we dont get “cheat days” like non-diabetic dieters….. but, I will enjoy the sensation of the sitting on the couch, I might just have a beer, a second low carb tortilla with dinner, or maybe even a small apple with peanut butter (walking on the wild side, huh?)!  Point is, I will relax on my “off days”!

When the season finales roll around in May, they will be met with the saddest of farewells and the most triumphant of exhultations.  I will have enlisted my shows as powerful allies in my weight loss and diabetes managment challenges, I will put them to work for my greater good!  That’s right….. all those others fighting the scale for $250,000, Bree, Gabby, the cheerleader, Sylar, Kitty, Meredith and Derek, Addison and Noami……they will carry me from Premier Pounds to Finale Fit!  Just stay tuned in and watch and see!

Will you go from Premier Pounds to Final Fit with me?  What are your favorite shows?  What exercise will you do while you watch them?  Please let me know if you will spend this season in front of the TV as an exercise potato instead of a couch potato!

Have a wonderful weekend! 

The Dishing Diabetic

A Vacuum of Vices

We are designed to rebel.  Or at least that’s the way I see it.  My personal beliefs tell me that we, humans that is, are imperfect beings.  Furthermore, we are the target of infinite varieties of temptation.  It’s funny, instead of which came first, the chicken or the egg?, one could ask – which came first, imperfection or temptation.  The irony of this situation is that not only are we imperfect and vulnerable to temptation, we are highly developed and possess both a knowledge of what is good and bad for us and a conscience that inflicts remorse and guilt when we choose the ‘bad.’  The irony doesn’t stop there…… those ‘bad’ choices usually deliver some form of pleasure, relief, relaxation, exhilaration, contentment, etc.  This has to be the definition of cruel and unusual punishment!

Certain seasons make this cruelty more palpable that others.  Last Saturday, it was in the air, swirling all around me.  The temperatures had dropped (for Texas this is truly a moment to rejoice in), the smell that accompanies the arrival of fall saturated the air, I noticeably had a new shimmy to my step and down here in the south, the part of you that only comes alive with college football roared to life!  It was finally here, the dawn of my most favorite time of year and the beginning of my vicious void of vices!

Shopping.  Oh the fall fashion!  Ok, maybe you wouldn’t really use the word fashion in the same sentence with me…… but I LOVE to shop for and more specifically, buy fall clothes.  Jeans.  Sweaters. Boots.  Jackets.  Hats. Scarves. Yes, I love it all, including the rush of endorphines that is released by the simple act of spending money (come on ladies, you know its true!).  Ohhhhh, but one must have money to spend money.  This is what that little thing called a conscience tells me anyway.  As a medical student’s spouse there is one thing we are guaranteed not to have….. money.  FANTASTIC!  Vice #1 out the door.

Eating.  I love to eat.  I have no shame sharing that with you.  It’s true. Food and me, well, its just like peas and carrots – nevermind, I HATE peas and carrots.  It’s like chips and queso, or wings and bleu cheese, or cheese fries and ranch…… we were made for each other.  The arrival of fall ushers in weekly “game days” and the food that defines it.  You say ‘football’, I say ‘queso’…… broccoli, spinach, zucchini….. these are just a few things that do NOT spring to mind.  Then you must factor in that with fall comes Halloween…….. CANDY, Thanksgiving……. ALL OF IT, and yes, Christmas…… again, ALL OF IT!  The cherry on top is the contentment and true happiness these delectables bring me. Me and food…… we are quite the pair.  The problem is, we have a third wheel, type 2 diabetes.  And, let me just tell you, you will find this third wheel wherever you find me and food. The worst part is that the food and type 2 diabetes have a terribly contentious relationship.  They can not stand to even be in the same room together!  Guess who knows this better than anyone?  My conscience, of course!  TERRIFIC!  Vice #2 out the door.

Drinking.  I like wine.  OH, and I really like beer.  Fall = football=food=beer.  I am not talking about wild, crazy, college-esque drinking (although, if you read The Dishing Diabetic you will see that has been a vice I have employed before).  I am talking about friends, food, football and responsible beer consumption.  Surely when you use the word “responsible” next to the word “beer” this would be allowable for little ole me, right?  Yeah, well, NO!  #1, beer, alcohol in general, is an antagonist for my weight loss efforts and therefore an obstacle to my type 2 diabetes management efforts.  Seeing as I do not like light beer (give me a Fat Tire or Sam Adams Blackberry!)….. I am looking a 3 points/beer on Weight Watchers.  If I have 3 beers during a 3 hour game and I have used up 9 points…… that is 40% of my daily points!  Then when you consider the effects of diabetes on my liver, well, asking that organ to work overtime processing the alcohol I ingest is just not a good idea – again with the conscience thing!  So, as I search for a vice, a way to rebel, adult beverages are not a qualified option.  SPECTACULAR! Vice #3 out the door.

Smoking.  Oh, I know, for many this is such an ugly word.  It seems unimaginable why anybody would smoke….. for those who have never smoked.  Well, for those of us who do or have smoked, we know it to be a popular vice.  Smoking is a stress reliever, a calorie free treat, a social habit and it is all of this without leaving us unable to operate heavy machinery!  I smoked in college, although like many of my friends then (and quite a few of them now) I would have classified myself as a non-smoker.  Why?  Well, I only smoked socially (with beer) and isnt that the definition of a non-smoker?  Yeah, right.   Remember that conscience thing?  Well, something happened when I shed the adolescent sense of immortality and realzied that everything I do, eat, say, drink, smoke, dont do (exercise) has a direct impact on my life….. it’s quality, longevity, success…… and the life of those that I desparately love and who I am quite sure love me, too! So, there it was…… no more smoking.  No more “non” smoking  with my “non” smoking friends at football games while we ate our queso and drank our beer dressed adorably in our fall wordrobe.  OUSTANDING!  Vice #4 was out the door with it’s 3 best buddies!

So, as my absolute favorite time of year unfolds spilling forth parties, football games and holidays, I find myself in a virtual vacuum of vices.  There is no shopping, no carbohydrates, no booze and no smoking.  I am left with the instinctual need to rebel and no qualifying vices.  My world of rebellion sadly rests upon the moments when I defiantly leave the dirty dishes in the sink, the laundry left undone for one more day or the bed unmade.  Despite my belief in the contrary, I was not Born to be Wild……. I was Made to be Mild.

What vices have you kicked to the curb?  What ‘wild’ healthy substitutes have you found? 

The Dishing Diabetic

Lost in Translation

Ok, folks, I am stumped.  I mean really stumped.  If you imagine me as someone that is very rarely at a loss for words…… well, you are spot on.  However, this is one of those rare (and valuable for many that know me) occasions, where words just escape me.  I know many refer to this as writer’s block; but, I am not sure that what I have is a clear cut diagnosis.  You see, I know what I want to write about, I know the thoughts that I want to reveal; however, I seem to be paralyzed beneath the severity of the feelings I want to share and the hope that they don’t get lost in the sensitivity of the topic.  I have missed my almost daily interaction with my readers and I have tried multiple times to write an entry on another topic until I could find the words that are eluding me……. but, apparently I have a one track mind that does not allow for a new subject to be broached until the current topic of my obsession has been cleared (this could be a problem!).  So, here goes it……

I stumbled across a new blog lately, Eat a Cheeseburger.  I like, borderlining on love, this blog.  It is spunky, clever and honestly, it makes a valid, much needed point.  The media’s obsession with thin, specifically the death-knocking-on-your-door-with-a-sledge-hammer kind of thin, is a message females of all ages are bombarded with daily.  This message takes a devastating toll on many girls and has been documented time and again.  I spent the last 18 months of my time in high school subsisting on a diet of jelly beans and rice cakes.  Why, you ask?  Oh come on, you know, it’s that whole sweet ‘n salty thing….. yeah, right!  I was desperate to be skinny.  My desperation was not as much a result of the media as it was from pressure I felt from home.  Either way, from a very young age we learn the “value” placed on being thin.

The “skinny message” must be falling on a few deaf ears though.  This is evidenced by the spiraling obesity figures in this country. Childhood and adult obesity rates are increasing every year and we are now seeing this trend in Europe and Japan.  And, you know what?  This trend has not escaped the media’s attention.  Have you seen FOX’s show More to Love?  This show is marketed as a “The Bachelor”  for girls that literally have more to love…… as in more weight.  I have been disturbed by this concept from the word go.  So, now the media, realizing the growing number of viewers who also have “more to love” are going to profit from a weight message that is just as dangerous as their get-thin-or-die-tryin’ escapades.

My new favorite blog’s most recent post discusses their “hope that women will not feel pressure to change the way they look just because they are given such a limited view of appearance from the media.”  My response – are we really only given a “limited view of appearance from the media”? I am not so sure. The contestants on More to Love present the morbidly obese view of  appearance.  FOX did not choose to use the average-size 12/14-American-girl (also ridiculously referred to as “plus size”) who in comparison to their The Bachelor counterparts definitely have “more to love”  AND offer viewers a realistic, healthy view of appearance.  Romanticizing obesity (I weighed 250 lbs during most of my 20′s), dressing it up and advocating an eat-what-you-want-and-dont-worry-about-your-weight approach is just as dangerous as blasting the dont-you-dare-eat-dont-you-dare-even-think-about-it look. There are crippling side effects of both extremes…… life threatening effects.

26 million people in this country are diabetic (95% are type II and the majority of those are obese) and 54 million are pre-diabetic.  80 million people, ALMOST ONE THIRD of the US population are affected by this disease….. the largest risk factor for diabetes? Obesity.  I couldn’t agree more with Eat A Cheeseburger’s sentiment of “hoping that women will not feel pressure to change the way they look just because they are given such a limited view of appearance from the media”; however, I hope that we can feel pressured to change the way we look because our survival is dependent upon it.  As I sat in a doctor’s office last week listening to the results of a CT scan that revealed a fatty and enlarged liver I was shocked by my physician’s stumbling, stuttering and complete decimation of the word ‘overweight.”  She was trying to explain that my weight could cause these results and she says, “your BMI is 28, so, you, are, um……o-o-o-o-o-overweight.”  This reminded me of when I thanked my OB/gyn for sticking with her yearly plea, “I need you to lose weight” and she told me that she had lost many patients over that plea.  What is going on?  We will listen to a magazine, to a TV show, to a blog, to our parents, or our friends……. but those that are charged with managing our health, well, their words, get lost in translation.  My docs don’t care if my jeans make my butt look big or if my big butt is just, well, BIG.  They only care if my big butt is causing my big blood glucose numbers. That is the only translation that matters.

I promise, I am almost there…… I am almost out of words for this entry and then you can load your cannons and fire away.  The entry that got all this started was again from Eat A Cheeseburger -Kids and Dieting: it’s not just the “media’s” fault. Having been skinny-by-starvation and morbidly obese and now being the mother a flawless 2 1/2 year old daughter……. I am beyond sensitive to how I raise her in regards to her body image.  Because of my own obesity induced health obstacles, I want her to understand the importance of maintaining a healthy weight…… for her health, NOT how her rear end looks in a pair of jeans!  So, when I read this entry and it asked the question, “If Mom is constantly dieting and obsessed with her food portions and her weight and is exercising like a maniac, what type of message does it send to her 4th grade daughter?”  I had a fairly strong reaction.  I am on Weight Watchers.  I exercise 6 days a week.  I test my blood 4-5 times a day.  I weigh once a week.  I can honestly tell you that I do this FOR MY HEALTH.  I do this so that I can witness as many days of this flawless creature’s life as humanly possible.  Somehow, this could be a harmful message to send her.  But, encouraging her to drink water instead of Woo-Hoo or to eat baked sweet potato fries instead of cheese fries, or to exercise, or teaching her to make healthy choices and that she can eat ANYTHING in MODERATION…… well, this message, too, could be lost in translation.

So, what is the alternative?  To not say a word?  To not teach a thing? To not live by example? I do not think that is right either.  For the first time ever, the current generation of children is not expected to live as long as their parents.  This is unacceptable to me.  I am her mother and for a long time I will be her compass.  I will find a way to teach her to love herself, to love herself inside and out, to love herself enough to make the choices that keep her healthy and yes, to love herself enough to change the way she looks if it will help ensure her survival.

I am not sure I have arrived at any great conclusion.  In fact, I am pretty sure I have no conclusions.  I am also not sure that what I have said hasn’t touched a nerve with someone else.  It is not my intent to pass judgement on anyone, it is only my intent to share my thoughts and ask that you share yours.

The Dishing Diabetic

A Breakfast Believer!

Whether weight loss is your game or managing your diabetes (or both), you have heard, “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” at least once.  Most of us actually heard this at some point growing up or in the process of growing up our own family.  Back then it had to do with being at our best during the school day and hopefully having our brain function optimally.  These days, it has more to do with trying to jump start a metabolism that has decided to enjoy early retirement or trying to bring down a fasting blood glucose number that seems to peak first thing in the morning.

Breakfast.  Just the word conjures visions of french toast, banana nut pancakes, bacon, sausage links, biscuits, gravy, piggies in the blanket….. mmmmmmmmmm! For a weight loss crusader or a diabetic defender, these visions will stay just that….. visions.  As a faithful follower of Weight Watchers, I know that you can treat yourself to these every once in awhile, especially if you manage your allotted daily points in a way that allows it.  However, as a diabetic there is a question as to the definition of “once in awhile” and as for this diabetic….. treating myself once just creates a vicious craving that I would rather be without!  And, bottomline, although those breakfast choices are once-in-awhile options, breakfast is not.  Breakfast should be an everyday occurrence for an endless list of reasons; after all, it is the most important meal of the day!

Breakfast.  Just the word conjures a steady stream of excuses…… I don’t like to eat in the morning, I don’t have time to eat in the mornings, I am not hungry in the mornings, nixing breakfast helps cut 1/3 of the day’s calories, yada yada yada.  When I first started Weight Watchers in 2005 I was one of those I-don’t-like-to-eat-in-the-morning people.  After a few months I became very frustrated with losing an average of less than 1 pound a week.  My group leader re-addressed the topic of breakfast and its effects on weight loss with me. I decided, heck, if I could figure out how to enjoy exercise, I could figure out how to enjoy breakfast!  My new routine became ½ cup of original Fiber One cereal mixed into a 98% fat free Yoplait yogurt, 1 small banana and a large glass of water.  Within a month or so of adding breakfast to my day, my average weekly weight loss increased to 1.5lbs a week.  I became a Breakfast Believer!

So, my ½ cup of original Fiber One cereal mixed into a 98% fat free Yoplait yogurt, 1 small banana and a large glass of water became my daily breakfast.  The only part that varied was the flavor of yogurt. For 3 years – over 1,000 days that included a pregnancy – this was my Old Faithful of breakfasts.  When I received my diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in October 2009, I was left utterly dumbfounded.  Yes, Old Faithful was healthy; yes, it had contributed greatly to my weight loss (93 lbs) and to my efforts to maintain my loss; yes, it seemed responsible for keeping my “plumbing” in good order; however, in an instant, the arrival of diabetes turned my old friend to a new foe!

This value of this breakfast had been quantified for years as “3 points.”  This is fantastic in a Weight Watchers World.  Now, it was quantified as “65g carbohydrates.”  This is known as one big fat no-no in a type 2 diabetes world.  Every diabetic is different and their blood sugar responds to different foods at different times of the day.  I tried everything.  I tried Fiber One and water, yogurt and water, Fiber One and the banana, the banana and water….. you get my drift.  My blood sugar was just not on board with any of the combinations.  Now I was stuck.  I needed to lose 80 lbs, so I knew I needed to eat breakfast.  My mornings are CRAZY trying to get myself ready for work and my 2 year old ready for school.  I needed an new Old Faithful.  It needed to be delicious, fast, low carb AND low points.  How’s that for high maintenance??

Two fellow Weight Watchers turned me on to Egg Beaters.  Now, I had eaten them before and I loved them.  The key to this “turn on” was that they let me in on a little secret……. THEY CAN BE MICROWAVED!  Who knew?  Microwaved egg substitute out of a carton gave rise to my current Old Faithful.  Not only is it “5 points” and “18g carbs (11 net)”…… it can be prepared in less than 4 minutes and yes, I have timed it on multiple occasions!  The punch line – my blood glucose is routinely 120ish 2 hours after my 1st bite. I take the ingredients for the week to work every Monday morning so that i am never left empty handed and tempted to just wait it out until lunch.

A Breakfast Believer’s Breakfast Burrito – 5 Weight Watchers Points, 18g carbs/7g fiber

1/2 c Egg Beaters

1 Mission low carb small flour tortilla

1 Tbsp salsa

1/4 c Weight Watchers shredded cheese

1/2 small or 1/4 large avocado, sliced

Microwave bow of Egg Beaters for 2 minutes, stirring about every 30 seconds.  While microwaving eggs, place tortilla on plate and put cheese on tortilla.  When eggs are finished put on top of cheese.  Top eggs with salsa and sliced avocado. Breakfast Bliss!

Whether we are hustling ourselves to work or hustling children to school, breakfast is just an easy thing to miss.  However, once you experience the impact the most important meal of the day can have on your weight loss efforts or how the right breakfast may help decrease your blood glucose faster than skipping a morning meal, you  too, will be a breakfast believer!

Do you have an Old Faithful?  I would love to hear what made you a Breakfast Believer!

The Dishing Diabetic