Where am I going with this whole thing?

Before I start this morning, I just want to thank those of you who have expressed your support for me at this time in my life. Having a good support system and knowing that there is someone out there who actually cares can be all the support someone needs to succeed instead of fail. From  the bottom of my heart, thank you. I really do mean it, thank you very much.

Anyway, enough of the sappy crap. On to the task at hand...

So this morning I sit here going through my checklist of how to start this thing and what to do today, and come up with the following:

1) Avandia, Januvia, Hydrochlorothiazide, and Phentermine taken - check.
2) Wait half hour to eat - what I'm doing now, so check.
3) Eat breakfast.

That's where I get stuck. Usually I would eat whatever the kids are having, but since my two kids eat breakfast at school, I don't have Kady in the morning anymore, Sam's at his babe's house, and I only have Nick, I have to look at what he's eating. Chocolate milk and Fruity Pebbles. While that sounds good minus the chocolate milk, for a diabetic it's not the best thing to have a sugary cereal and two servings of milk that are packed with carbs - even though the milk is good for you. So I look in the cabinet and sure enough the kids have eaten my cereal again before eating theirs.

So this raises the following question : what "diet plan" am I going to follow? Now any expert will tell you that you can't diet, but instead have to change your eating habits and lifestyle. I have been doing this for years, and have tried several different things. Weight Watchers worked very well for me after I had Rowdy, but their diet is centered around lean meats, vegetables, and lots of carbs. Again, not good when you're diabetic. Adkins works, but that means I have to adjust meds for the lack of carbs - too much work. South Beach? Same as Adkins, but when I go off the diet I tend to over-indulge in those things that I couldn't eat while on the diet, so here comes the weight back.

After weighing all o my option, I have decided to go with the old standard - the food guide pyramid, slightly modified for my diabetes. For those of you who don't know the revised pyramid and only know the one that was drilled into us at school growing up, you can find information here. Yes, this is going to be a bit of a hassle at first, but it will be worth it to change my eating habits and lifestyle and hopefully not fall back in to what I'm trying to get out of right now. A splurge every once in a while is okay, just not ever day. So, here are the guidelines I have set for myself...

1) Caloric intake of 1500 - 1700 calories per day. While this seems low, without the snack-size Snickers bars it's actually going to be hard for me to achieve as I don't eat as much as I should or I eat waaay too much.
2) Eat 3 larger meals and 3 snacks each day. Meals must consist of a lean protein, at least one serving of "free" veggies, one serving of fruit, 2 servings of carbs (grains, starchy veggies). Snacks will consist of one serving of dairy at each one along with one serving of free veggies, except for the before-bed snack, which will be a serving of carbs and a serving of dairy. By eating the two together the carbs won't break down as fast and will help stabilize my blood sugars over night.
3) Walk at least 5,000 steps per day.

The nice thing about the MyPyramid website is not only does it give you dietary guidelines, it also has food charts and meal planners that you can download or print out to help you on the journey to a new you. And believe me - I'm going to need all the help I can get!

Well, now that my half hour is up, I guess I'm going to go dig through the kitchen and see what I can find. Maybe a one egg sandwich with a couple pieces of regular bread and some tomato with a few cucumber chips on the side. Lord knows I have enough veggies from the garden to eat them non-stop for a week!

Well, more to come later. I have decided that I'm going to find a widget of some kind to act as a recipe exchange for those who are also doing this journey and wish to share some of the great new recipes they find. For those of you who would like to share, feel free to post your comments or start your own blog and we can network them together! The more support everyone has, the more successful we all will be!