[The Little Bowl] Back in the Saddle

[Guest guest]

Yesterday was my first full day back on the truck. Wow, I cannot believe that after a year and a half living full time on a big rig, 3 months off would be such a life altering deal. But it sure was, I am grateful to have living with my daughter and her family for awhile, experienced Hawaii, participated in the home birth of my granddaughter and to have had so much free time that I could devote to doing the things I love, like sewing and swimming and SHOPPING! lol. It was a bit of a challenge to get back on board, as I had not been on this particular truck before and my husband had been the one to transfer all our stuff from the old truck, so it was a matter of figuring out how to set this one up to my best advantage for cooking and getting dressed and so on. Cooking while bouncing down the road has always been a huge challenge and the first priority is having everything within reach. Much of yesterday was rearranging and finding my key components that keep things moving smoothly as can be. I have to be able to make coffee and breakfast in total darkness, batten down the hatches on lunchbox ovens, time it all to correspond with our stopping place in the night or eat as we go. We drive 10-12 hours a day. No time to stop and smell the roses. Not a good photo, but we lost the under cabinet spot for the fridge, so it has to rest on husband’s bed. But this is my kitchen and my bunk. I had my first night in the top bunk which is a trip all in itself! The upper bunk is narrower, so several times I had to orient myself to the edge of the bed, I was afraid of falling off! lol. Also, to get up on the bunk, one has to climb the shelves on the right side, swing the left leg up and roll onto the bed. Not a problem, but there is the indelicate view off all body parts to the bottom bunk inhabitant if one does this when wearing a nightgown. So I am learning to get dressed and undressed while lying in my bunk. I am using muscles I never knew had to accomplish this new task. Normally I talk about these quirky things on my trucking wife’s blog, but this is all a part of my experiences, so today, it is on my diet blog. Blood Sugar. Sigh. (click to enlarge any report) Note that I had 149 carbs after a full 10 days of very low carbing. The 198 glucose reading was 3 hours after eating 4 oz of bread. I was really shook up by this. I went back and looked at my old spreadsheet when I was monitoring it for 3 months in the beginning of 2009. I wished now I had tested since then, because I do believe that I am still having pre-diabetes issues and that losing 70+ pounds has not made an improvement in that area. I also noted that one other day when my carbs were 49, that my high for the day was up there. I know I am not very knowledgeable in this science, but to me it gives me an idea about where I ought to be careful when taking in carbs, what kind they are and work this into my diet. It has been an eye opener. My husband seems to be fairly steady in his readings, the highest he tested was after the whole wheat pizza I made, that shot his BS way up 163. He has been eating 220-298 carbs a day and stays between 102-132 BS readings. I have a much more dramatic fluctuation and I fear that if I ate as many carbs as he does, I would really show it in my readings. I am definitely not interested in finding out. I am glad for one thing in this experience, is that it has been wonderful working with my husband on this, a shared experience and a shared problem to solve. He refuses to take medication before working on diet changes. So on this run, we are testing the BS eating normal truck foods we buy. He wants to keep as many carbs as he can, but is open to reducing them if it keeps his readings from creeping up. For myself, just a couple of notes. The day I purposely upped my carbs, for the first time in my life, I really didn’t want to eat them. I noticed that the bread was tasteless compared to my use of sliced provolone as my “breadâ€. I noticed the same thing with the rice for dinner, it was tasteless even though it was a saffron rice full of seasonings. Starch tastes starchy to me. Contrast that while my recent decent into binge hell, when I could not seem to stop my behavior: Once I am off the carbs, I feel better, feel brighter, more alert and energetic. All of my previous low carb ventures were based on a weight loss diet, but now there is a whole different mindset behind it. It no longer matters if I want to “indulgeâ€, it will definitely affect my BS and my predisposition to Diabetes. Reality check if there ever was one. I am glad to be back on the truck because I do find it much easier to diet and I am really feeling tons of positive energy towards taking off the rest of my excess weight. My foods for the truck (it will rarely change): Breakfast: 1 cup coffee, 1 tsp pure whole milk powder, 3T flaxseed meal, 2T peanut butter, multivitamin, probiotic tablet. Lunch: 2 oz Italian dry salami, 1-2 slices provolone, a couple of cherry tomatoes, a couple of slices of cucumber. water Tea: a few nuts or a hard boiled egg, tea Dinner: 2 chicken artichoke sausages, 1/2 can green beans or sauerkraut, drizzle of olive oil, can of diet Pepsi This will average as so: Fingers crossed that I get back to that 239 number on the scale soon! --

Posted By elisaannh to The Little Bowl at 10/12/2010 07:37:00 AM