U Bit it, U write it!!

Okay, I have an idea to get my self back on track.  The 'great cookie incident' freaked me out more than I thought it had.

I am going to start a food journal.  I have always hated to keep a food journal, but the cookies taught me that I have no idea what I am putting down my throat!  Not only that, I think I have let my portions get out of hand as well.

I have been watching this program called Ruby.  Yes, I have come late to the party where this program is concerned, but thanks to Netflix, I am up to the fourth season.

This is  a truly inspirational woman.  At her highest weight, she was 716 pounds.  She is now in the lower 300s ( I am hoping she is lower than that by the end of the 4th season!)

Ruby has this wonderful counselor  who gave her some wonderful advice that I think I am going to borrow.  Ruby had gotten stuck, and was on a plateau where her weight was concerned.  The counselor suggested that Ruby find five things, small things, that she could change in her environment to sort of 'shake things up'.

I am going to take that advice and see if I can find 5 things.  Here is what I have so far:

1. Keep a food/exercise/glucose journal.
2. Measure everything I eat.
3. Test blood sugar 3x per day (like I'm supposed to)
4. Exercise, exercise, exercise (No matter how much I hate it!!!)
5. Plan and prepare my meals so I'm set for school and band stuff!

Those are the five things that I that I think I can do to help myself out.  I think that the journal is important because it will keep me accountable to myself.  If I notate everything that I eat I have a record with which to hold myself accountable.  My new motto is going to be"U bite it, U write it"!

But, what exactly do you write down in a food journal?  I turned to one of my favorite sites Diabeticliving.com  they always have the best ideas!  Sure enough, they had an entire slide show on journaling:   Why Journaling Can Help.

 According to the article, are six diabetes-related questions a food journal can help to answer:

• Am I eating healthfully?
• Am I eating consistently?
• How does eating affect my blood sugar?
• Are my medications working?
• How does exercise affect my blood sugar?
• Do I eat more when I'm upset, happy, bored, or sad?

The No. 1 rule of keeping a food journal: Be honest. Do it well or not at all. That mantra has merit when it comes to food journals. Remember that when keeping a journal, you're doing it for you -- not to please your dietitian or doctor. Be honest when filling it out. Don't say you ate a burger when you really had a cheeseburger or wheat bread when you had white.

That maybe hard for me, as I have discovered that where food is concerned,  I am not honest with others,  much less myself.  This could be a real test for me.

Right now, though, all this has to take a backseat to what is happening to me physically.  I have been sent to the ER twice in the last week for what apparently, is a gallbladder issue.  We don't quite know what is happening yet, we are waiting on some tests to come back.   But it looks as though, I may have to add a gallbladder diet on top of the diabetic diet.

I'm telling you, if this keeps up, I will not be able to eat anything!!

Off I go . . . to write in my new journal!!