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Glucose update

October 17th, 2011

I went in for my 3-hour glucose test on Thursday, and I was really nervous, considering I “flunked’ my 1-hour test… by 71 points…  So, after all the help you all gave me, I could see that I needed a major diet change.  My goal was not to try and trick the test (if that was even possible), but to make sure that I was eating the absolute right foods for me.

When I went in, my baseline glucose reading (after fasting) was an 88.  A normal reading is somewhere between 90 & 100, and if I had had between 90 & 100 in the 1-hour test, then I wouldn’t have had to take the 3-hour test.  Then I drank the lemon-lime-sugar-coma-inducer… Last week I chose the orange-crush-of-death… and after an hour, my glucose level was at 151, which was better than the 165 level I needed to stay under.  And after 2 hours, my reading was down to 130, and they were looking for me to be under 145.  So, I passed, with flying colors.[insert big sigh of relief]

So, what was my ’secret’ for eating better?  I majorly cut back on sugars & grains in my diet.  That little step was so much harder than I ever thought it would be.  Don’t get me wrong, I still ate 1-2 things per day that I considered “no-nos”, but for the most part, cutting back on those 2 things was my secret.  And the best part?  I had more energy than most days when I was pregnant.  I didn’t snap at the kids as much, because I wasn’t always crashing on sugar highs or lows.

The day of my glucose test, I made these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with the kids (they were super yummy!) and had no regrets about eating a few.  I could definitely tell, after not eating things with flour and sugar all week, that I didn’t want to eat too many, for fear of the sugar high.  ”Everything in moderation”, right?

And what do I eat the most of?  Meat.  Veggies.  Nuts.  Cheese and plain milk, even though most people who follow this plan might cut dairy out completely.  I’m not even tired of salad, and we’ll have an entire garden bed of lettuces, spinaches (sp?), and swiss chard in a month.

Now, I think my challenge is convincing the kiddos that this change is a good thing… that we can eat healthy foods that don’t have sugars and still enjoy them.   Any tips?

Entry Filed under: Carlee, Colby, Family, Food, Getting Greener, Kennedy