Dietitian - Health Update

Yesterday was a super busy day with lots of running around and lots of walking. I walked around 7.57 km (4.7 miles). Boy was I pooped last night when I went to bed.

My dietitian, Ulla, was very pleased when I saw her. She said that I have a very balanced diet (she had me record everything I ate over the past week). She was happy that I made good choices too. I went out last weekend for an early Christmas party and made smart food choices. It was also Angus's birthday on Monday and I made good choices then too. Only having half serves of dessert.

To top things off I had lost 2 kg since I saw her last. ALL GOOD!! I don't mind stepping on the scales at the moment. Especially when I see the numbers are dropping.

Ulla's tip for me over the Christmas break was to try to maintain my weight and not to put anything on. Sounds good to me but I am hoping that I will continue to lose some weight. If I don't that's okay but it would be a bonus if I did.

I am trying to base my food choices on the healthy food pyramid above but it's not always easy eating as much as it recommends. So I try to stick with the following:

• no more than 4 bread, pasta, potato or rice serves a day
• 2 - 3 serves of dairy per day
• 2 -3 serves of fruit per day (not always an easy thing to achieve)
• 4 serves of vegetables a day (sometimes I am able to achieve 5)
• 1 serve of protein a day (sometimes I have 2)

Ulla didn't say too much about that when I told her what I based my days on. So I guess I am doing the right thing.

I don't have an appointment to see her again. She said she will phone me up in February or March to see how I am going and find out whether I need to see her then. I'm crossing my fingers that I can continue to drop some weight and reach my target weight. That would be amazing. If I reach my target then I would have dropped 37 kilos (81 lb) since I was initially diagnosed with Diabetes. So far I have lost 30 kg (66 lb). You never know I may even aim for more.

It's Happy Dance Time

I am so happy I could burst! Well maybe not burst but I am very happy that everything is going so well for me right now.

I've had lots of visits with my health care team this past week and every single one of them has made me smile and feel pretty darned good about myself.

Last week I saw my GP and organised to get my usual 3 monthly blood test. To check things like my HbA1c, cholesterol, iron levels and a few other things that I can't remember right now.
While I was there I mentioned that I had read how it's recommended that diabetics get the flu shot each year. I asked him considering that I feel pretty healthy most of the time and rarely get colds if I even needed it. To which he replied it wouldn't hurt. There I was thinking he would give me a script to fill and come back to get the jab. Boy was I wrong. He said he would be back in a second and the next thing I knew he was filling a syringe and said give me your arm! That'll teach me to mention flu shot & diabetes in the same sentence (+_+)

I went and got my blood test done on Thursday morning hoping that the results would be in this morning when I went to see my Diabetes Educator. They were actually in on Friday and my dietitian, who visits the same surgery as my GP, was able to check the results for me. I was thrilled to see that my HbA1c was 5.9 mmol (the same as it was in January) and that my overall cholesterol level was 3.5. My iron levels were down but still within normal range. Apparently that's something to watch as you get older and head towards that thing called menopause.

Anyway as I was saying I saw my Dietitian, Kerry. She was very pleased with how things are going & that I have continued to lose weight. She said I am obviously doing a good job with my BGL's and to keep up the good work. Kerry told me that she doesn't want to see me until October unless I feel the need to see her before then.

This morning I saw my Diabetes Educator, Karen. She asked me how I thought I was going with my diabetes. So I told her about the two HbA1c tests that I've had since I last saw her & how both levels were 5.9. She was very happy for me & gave me a high 5. When I first met Karen she wanted me to aim for 6.2 for my A1c.
I told Karen that I had lost over 20 kilos. I think she wanted to see that for herself so I got on the scales. Another high 5! Karen then said I have made her day with all of my successes.
We spoke briefly about various check-ups that I will need in the next few months or so. Like my feet and eyes. Some other test that's needed that I can't think of right now (I know I'm an air head for forgetting). Karen then said that since everything is going so well for me that I don't need to come and see her for 12 months unless I had some questions.

How good is all that? All these appointments and everything is fantastic! All of my health care team is happy with what I am doing. All my hard work is paying off big time! I feel so good about myself that I want to splurge and go shopping! I haven't done it yet. I'm waiting for that feeling to pass. I don't think my budget could handle it if I went on a shopping spree no matter how much I want to spoil myself.

I Love Flowers

On my walk with the boys yesterday afternoon I noticed a lot of pretty flowers about the place. It's a good thing I took my phone with me so I could take some photos to share.  I have absolutely no idea what some of them are but they pretty and make the gardens look lovely. Although I don't think I would like the idea of having to clean up after all the flowers drop off the plants.

Brodie modelling one of the flowers. Isn't he precious! lol

Oh and some good news that I almost forgot. I saw the dietitian on Friday evening. She was really, really pleased with how I am going. The fact that I am losing weight is a good thing but she said not to focus on that. She said to just focus on getting my BGL's right and if I lose any weight it's a bonus. Drum roll please .... I have now lost 7 kilos (15.4 lb) ** Happy Dance time ***

My Visit To The Dietitian

I just got back from seeing the dietitian, Kerry. I had a wonderful talk with her.

The first thing she asked was if I was on any medication for my diabetes. I said yes and explained to her how disappointed I was that I wasn't given the chance to have a go at controlling this without medication. She agreed with me. Its good to see that I am not the only one who thought that it was unfair.

I showed Kerry the app I have on my phone called on track. Its a great little app that allows me to keep track of my BGL, blood pressure, carb intake (not that I use that bit) and weight. It has all these graphs and gives the daily average plus what my HbA1c level might be. Personally I think its a great way to keep everything with me so that I can show my DE & Dr. F when I see them & not have to carry a little booklet.

It was good to learn that I am already doing the right thing. When I explained to her that a lot of the changes to whole grains and low fat were made a long time ago & that there were only a few adjustments that I needed to do she said that it was great. Too many changes at once causes stress (and I know all about that don't I!)

Of course I had to get on the scales while I was there but guess what?!?! I have lost 3 kg (that's around 6 lb) since my GP weighed me about a month ago. I ♥ her scales. That also means my scales at home weren't telling fibs either, like I thought they were. They showed I had lost about 2.5 kg. Either way that's good right? and I wasn't even trying! :D

Kerry said that I shouldn't just focus on my weight. So I explained to her that I would be happy if I was able to maintain my weight but if I lost anything that would be a bonus.

What I need to do is just adjust a few things to make sure my BGL isn't too low at night time (like it was last night 4.4 mmol/L) That I should probably eat a slightly higher level of carbs at lunch rather than none at all like I have done a few times.

Kerry also said that if I have any favourite recipes at home that we haven't used for fear of them being too high in carbs that I should bring them to my next visit so that we can adapt them. The idea is to just watch what I eat and not deprive myself of the things we really like to eat.

It feels good to know that I am doing the right thing already and that I am actually losing weight. All I need to do is make sure I do that horrible thing I don't like doing (you know that swear word) ..exercise and drink more water.
I go back for a review in a month.

The boys!!

Brodie been such a prat with his behaviour. The other day at the supermarket we asked him not to poke and prod the food as no one wants to buy squashed food. He went weird and started saying (to Mark) come on be a man hit me. I could not get over how he was daring Mark to punch him! Needless to say Mark didn't and ignored him. I did warn Brodie however to watch it as he will say it to the wrong person one day and they will hit him! What a little scamp he is!!

I had parent/teacher interviews with nearly all of Brodie's teachers last Tuesday. Brodie was expecting it to be all doom and gloom but I knew it wouldn't be as I read his interim report. Which, to be honest, surprised me it was much better than I expected. Peter (principal) explained that it would more than likely be the different what that the teachers are handling him this year. There were many positive things said today which was great to hear. There are a lot of things Brodie needs to do, like focus on his work and cut out the inappropriate language etc, but all in all its much better than last year.

We had a dietitian appointment on Tuesday as well. I know what I need to do as far as Brodie is concerned and the dietitian agreed that I am already doing the right thing. I just needed Brodie to hear it from her as he doesn't always listen to me. He knows that he needs to cut back on his intake and needs to increase his exercise. I have agreed to let him ride his bike for half an hour in the mornings as he is usually up around 6 am anyway. So I told him he can ride from 6:30 am to 7 a.m. Then he can have breakfast. Hopefully that will inspire him to do a little more. We go back and see her in three weeks time. I know it will be a struggle but I just hope that he sticks to it. He nags all the time as he 'thinks' he is hungry .. I just hope that he isn't sneaking food out of the cupboard late at night or very early in the morning to compensate for the lack of it during the day.

I had a parent-teacher interview for Angus on Thursday. The only thing we need to concentrate on with him is making sure he gets his homework completed and to do his reading every day. He hasn't been getting me to write it in his reader cover and he also has not been showing his cover to his teacher either.

They started school holidays on Friday. They're being such prats at the moment. Constantly arguing. I don't know if we will all survive the next two weeks at home! Thankfully Brodie is going to the Temple on Thursday so there will be at least one Brodie free day!

Paediatrician Appointment Last Monday

The boys had a paediatrician appointment and we have some more concerns for our boy Brodie.

Angus is doing marvelously well though. He's lost a little weight just a kilo, must be from all the sport day training that he has been doing at school!! And he is getting much taller too .. just under a metre and a half. Before I forget his school won the Athletics Sport's Day on Wednesday .. they win almost every time so the pressure is on for them to keep on winning. We had a great day and I was there helping out with the triple jump and target throw events. I wish more parents would help though as it would've been nice if I could've seen some of Angus's events. Maybe next year as it will be his last Sports Day in primary school.

I don't want you to worry too much as I am doing all of that myself. Brodie has high blood pressure. It's been up for the last couple of visits. So we had it checked again on Monday. It seems that his high BP is only in one arm (140/90 I think it was) but when Michael checked his other arm it was normal. Strange huh! Anyway Michael did mention what it could be, perhaps something to do with the narrowing of the arteries, but I have forgotten but he is concerned enough to send him to a cardiologist! He also mentioned an ultra sound of his heart might be needed. We're still waiting to hear back from the clinic with an appointment for Brodie. This professor we will be seeing only comes out our way every so often and will be letting the clinic know of the dates when he comes out next week.

Needless to say I'm worried so Mark suggested that we organise a blessing for Brodie. Which was done on Tuesday night at Young Men's so I feel a bit better since that was done. Goodness I think our poor boy has so much going on with him already and now we (well mainly me) have this fret over.

I've also got Brodie booked in for a Dietitian appointment on Tuesday next week. For a boy his height he is a bit overweight and that would not help all of his other problems, including the blood pressure I would imagine. Hopefully she will be able to help convince him that 4 tablespoons of sugar on your breakfast cereal is NOT a good option! Or even suggest ways we can 'swap' other foods that would be healthier yet economical at the same time!

I guess there is one good thing (well Brodie thinks so) he is only a centimetre shorter than me!! I think I might have to start wearing high heels all the time rofl.