Sunday, December 30, 2012

My Christmas

I was worried that Christmas would be difficult with gestational diabetes, but I managed pretty well. In some ways I think it's actually better that I can't eat too many sweets or carbs because I usually eat way more than I should over the holidays and feel gross afterwards. This year I felt really good! I'm looking good too, if I do say so myself. My belly is getting nice and big and round, while the rest of me is pretty much staying the same size.


30 weeks
So here's what I ate over Christmas. On Christmas Eve, my parents watched the boys while Tony and I did some last-minute Christmas shopping and then went out for lunch. I had a steamer bowl of clams and mussels in white wine broth with whole wheat rolls. I forgot to snack much that day because we were pretty busy. I was going to do a fondue but decided against it since we weren't even home from the church Christmas pageant until 6pm. So when we got home we just had appies (or "pickies" as my Newfie relatives call them) and watched Christmas movies.


We had sausage, cheese, pepperoni, crackers, veggies and dip, and everyone's favourite- bacon wrapped water chestnuts. They're amazing! I didn't have too many of those because they have a lot of sugar in them. I wasn't really paying that much attention to how many carbs I was eating that day, and it turned out I wasn't eating nearly enough carbs because I had large levels of ketones the next morning (oops!).
Christmas morning we had steel cut oats that I had put in the crockpot the night before, so they were hot and ready for us to enjoy as soon as we got up. Steel cut oats rank lower on the glycemic index than regular oats, so I thought they would be a good breakfast for me. I ate them with sliced bananas, peanut butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon and Skinny B cereal. Alas, I think I put a little too much of it in my bowl because my blood sugar was a little high (8.1). But it was Christmas morning so I didn't worry too much about it.
After we opened presents we had brunch, which consisted of scrambled eggs, sausages, hashbrowns and multi-grain toast.


It was lovely, and my blood sugar was great afterwards. It was low enough that I enjoyed a little of my mom's homemade fruit bread that afternoon.
For Christmas dinner, we made the usual turkey, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, and steamed vegetables. I ate what I would normally eat (well, I maybe went a bit easier on the stuffing!).



Again, my blood sugar was great! I was able to enjoy a tiny sliver of cheesecake for dessert. It was so delicious and I savoured every little bite.
So that about sums up what I ate for Christmas. I really didn't have to sacrifice too much, it was more about being mindful of my portion sizes. I should really eat this way every Christmas!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

An update on me

Here's a little update on how I'm doing, because it's been a while since I posted. I've just been so busy with Christmas craziness that I haven't had a chance to blog at all. Anyway, I had the quickest visit ever with the diabetes specialist the other day and she told me my blood sugar numbers were looking so good that I only have to test every 2nd day now. Woohoo! The nurse at the diabetes education centre said the same thing, but added she was a little concerned about my lack of weight gain and traces of ketones. She wants me to eat more! I think I can handle that, especially seeing as Christmas is only a couple days away.
I've been finding that pairing carbs with protein really helps a lot. The more protein the better. I'm getting a little tired of peanut butter so I've been having strawberry cream cheese on english muffins and in my oatmeal lately. I also made a really yummy pasta with loads of Italian sausage in it, which worked really well. Sorry no pics (again, too busy!). I'll try to take some photos of what I'm eating this Christmas. I'll be having no cinnamon buns on Christmas morning or pumpkin pie for dessert, but I have some ideas that should hopefully still be tasty and satisfying.

Monday, December 10, 2012

More pancakes and snacks

Wow, this week has flown by! It's getting a little tough to fit in any blogging with all the holiday hustle and bustle, plus all the appointments I keep having to go to. I'm also finding it hard to remember to test an hour after every meal. I've missed it or tested late several times (oops!)
Here are some of the snacks I've been eating:

Rye crackers with Laughing Cow cheese spread.


Greek yogurt with strawberries and a handful of mixed nuts


Oh and I've been pleasantly surprised with Starbucks' selection of sugar-free syrups. I had a very tasty Skinny Peppermint Mocha when I was out with Bennett this weekend.


For breakfasts, oatmeal with peanut butter and bananas seems to give me the best blood sugar levels so that's what I've been sticking with. On the weekends I've been trying out some different pancake recipes. I tried almond flour pancakes with blueberries and they were okay, but I've discovered I don't love the texture of almond flour all that much. On the plus side, I can eat a lot of these with low sugar syrup without my blood sugar rising too much.


This Saturday, we had Weelicious' cottage cheese pancakes.



We've had them before and I thought they'd probably be good for me right now because they're high protein and low carb. I liked them a lot better than the almond pancakes- they were nice a fluffy like regular pancakes. The boys loved them too so they're something we can all enjoy. I ate at least 6 of these (they're not big) with my quick berry sauce and a little low sugar syrup, and my blood sugar was only 5.6 afterwards! That's low. I think I'll be making these pancakes a lot in the coming weeks. Sorry, I sure blog about pancakes a lot on here! I guess it's because it's a big part of our Saturday morning routine and I want to still be able to enjoy it. I'm really happy to have found something that works for me.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my birthday today! I had cereal for breakfast and did absolutely nothing after, so I shouldn't be surprised that my blood sugar was 8.9. Ugh. I guess I was asking for that. Not a great way to start off my birthday morning, but I sucked it up and got on the elliptical and brought my sugars down to a reasonable level. I suppose birthday cake is a bad idea, but maybe a mini-cupcake might be ok. I may even try a sugar-free Starbucks drink.