Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Paleo

 I’m caving to peer pressure.

Scott and Sara have ((ahem)) encouraged me to blog more.  :-) Thanks guys!

It’s been a crazy few weeks. I have 12 school days left. The last day of school is June 8th. This is always a wacky time of year for me. I’m busy with paperwork, meetings, and planning. I can see the “finish line.”

I have been working really hard on my diet the last few months. I read Allison’s post at the ‘Mine and it was the last push that I needed to jump into the Paleo lifestyle. (eat like a caveman-- so a diet that includes meat, eggs, vegetables, some fruit, nuts, etc. It doesn’t include any grains, rice, legumes, dairy, sugar, or pop) I knew that eating grain wasn’t working for me, and was trying to figure out a low carb diet that I could enjoy. I’ve tried it in the past, but have always felt sluggish and hungry when doing it.

At my last endo appointment, my doc told me that the injectable steroid that I have been using since my insulin allergy was diagnosed, is seriously “backordered” and I probably won’t be able to get my hands on it for a year or more. She prescribed oral steroids, which makes me nervous. I haven’t made the switch yet, as I still have a couple months worth of the injectable stuff. My reality is that the more carbs I eat, the more insulin I need, and the more steroids I need.  I really wanted to figure out how to decrease the amount of insulin I was taking each day.

It’s been six weeks without grain. I am using about 1/2 of the insulin that I was taking before switching to a paleo diet. My 30 day average (according to good old Cozmo) is that I am averaging 35 grams of carb per day. I think that qualifies as officially low carb. I’ve lost weight. It's amazing how much easier it is to manage my blood sugar when I'm not eating much carb.

Is it hard? Yeah, sometimes.

Do I miss grains and sugar? Yeah, sometimes.

I was "jonesing" for some toast last week. I figured out a paleo recipe for “pancakes” and that was enough to distract me out of wanting toast.  The good news is that I like meat and some vegetables. I’m working on trying/enjoying more vegetables.

I’m cooking more, which I actually do enjoy. It’s just a little challenging to psych myself up to cook when I come home from school. I’m starting to figure out recipes that are “quick.”

Am I 100% paleo? Some days. The last vice that I’m working on is diet pop. It’s definitely NOT part of a paleo diet. But I’m doing this my way, and I’m working on eliminating. I’m no longer drinking diet dew, which was a MAJOR feat. I have a soda stream machine and am drinking carbonated water with sugar free kool aid in it. It’s not caffeinated, so I’m off that. I'm trying hard. Every day.



Dixie is excited for school to be out so she can spend more time in the yard. She continues to be my absolutely, amazing CGM.

Happy Wednesday!