When I started writing this blog, I intended it to reflect our life with T's diabetes. I have been text-silent for a while, and I think this reflects how we have been; just getting on with it really!
We have to be more organised than we were with making sure that there is always food in the house that T can tolerate (i.e. pretty low-carb, not just low GI - and he has pretty much ignored the advice that he should have a starchy carb with each meal from the point that he realised that starchy carbs really do spike his BG levels).
The discovery of the month for us has been celeriac. Never has such an ugly vegetable tasted so good as the humble (and frankly alien-looking) celeriac root. It reeks of celery, tastes a bit like parsnip, can be baked, boiled, mashed, or (presumably) fried, and has about half the carb-content of potato. Preparing it is a bit of a job though since the roots need to be sliced off and the tough outer layer needs to be removed (a job that tends towards the knife rather than the peeler).
I have been prompted to post again because I found out yesterday that a colleague of mine is waiting for the results of a diabetes test; should the results (gods-forbid) come back positive, then he is exactly the person I am writing this for. Naturally I wouldn't wish diabetes on anyone, but it seems not to be quite the end of the world that it initially appeared to be.
In other news; we are both still losing weight and T is now outside the 'obese' category - he has worked hard, and I am immensely proud of what he has achieved.* It was T's birthday the other day and a group of us went out for a carvery complete with roast potatoes, stuffing, yorkshire pudding and lemon meringue pie. T did have a spike, but it went down quickly and was only 10.4 (if I recall correctly).
We went to the Bluebell Railway at the weekend for both my dad and B's first trip on a steam train - great stuff! We enjoyed our picnic too and were rather blessed with the weather.
We have a wedding to go to this weekend, and I should imagine that there will be a corresponding BG spike at some point during the day - but his levels are generally quite good and this is a very occasional thing!
Right, back to the grindstone - the thing with my new job is that I quite like the grindstone here, and the other grindstone operatives are all very companionable too!
*I still have a way to go before I no longer appear to have a genetic link to Jabba the Hutt.
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Sunday, 14 August 2011
And now the fun begins
As of tomorrow, I will be working for a new company. Gone are the weeks when I could spend some time at home without the little person, or husband - and so gone is the time I had to faff about preparing meals.
So now, we either have to be amazingly organised, or it's every man, woman, and child for themselves. I vote for organised. T has made lunch for us to take to work tomorrow, and we have discussed morning faffing about like headless-chicken arrangements.
The plan is that we will be getting up at 6am, after washing / dressing etc, he will head down stairs to concoct breakfast, and I will get B up. Hopefully I will have enough time to feed him, change him, clothe him, and bring him downstairs before bolting some food down myself, and scarpering out the door.
Hopefully I will also have enough time to brush my hair too - and to remember to do so. Since I regard rising before 6am as positively barbaric, I wish to avoid doing so at all costs*.
T was very down last night about not being able to just slap something easy in the oven and slump in front of the TV until the timer goes off (e.g. oven-baked southern fried chicken and potato wedges). I get it - it's a pain in the ass for me too, but I do know that obviously if I really, really wanted to, I could just say sod it, and tell him to fend for himself as I would be eating the meal above. Naturally, I am not going to do that.
The cauliflower rice worked brilliantly yesterday - quick and easy, and according to the carb counting book we have, cauliflower is nowhere near as carby as actual rice. I think the spike he had might have been the Beanfeast - there was 25g of carb in half a packet. He will have to try both the rice and Beanfeast with alternative things, or on their own to see what happens. I hope the cauli rice is okay - I actually really liked it, and it didn't leave me feeling heavy like rice rice can. perhaps I just eat too much of it.
*All costs does not include being fired for tardiness, however, so there is a little wiggle room for getting up 20 mins earlier than that if I absolutely have to.
So now, we either have to be amazingly organised, or it's every man, woman, and child for themselves. I vote for organised. T has made lunch for us to take to work tomorrow, and we have discussed morning faffing about like headless-chicken arrangements.
The plan is that we will be getting up at 6am, after washing / dressing etc, he will head down stairs to concoct breakfast, and I will get B up. Hopefully I will have enough time to feed him, change him, clothe him, and bring him downstairs before bolting some food down myself, and scarpering out the door.
Hopefully I will also have enough time to brush my hair too - and to remember to do so. Since I regard rising before 6am as positively barbaric, I wish to avoid doing so at all costs*.
T was very down last night about not being able to just slap something easy in the oven and slump in front of the TV until the timer goes off (e.g. oven-baked southern fried chicken and potato wedges). I get it - it's a pain in the ass for me too, but I do know that obviously if I really, really wanted to, I could just say sod it, and tell him to fend for himself as I would be eating the meal above. Naturally, I am not going to do that.
The cauliflower rice worked brilliantly yesterday - quick and easy, and according to the carb counting book we have, cauliflower is nowhere near as carby as actual rice. I think the spike he had might have been the Beanfeast - there was 25g of carb in half a packet. He will have to try both the rice and Beanfeast with alternative things, or on their own to see what happens. I hope the cauli rice is okay - I actually really liked it, and it didn't leave me feeling heavy like rice rice can. perhaps I just eat too much of it.
*All costs does not include being fired for tardiness, however, so there is a little wiggle room for getting up 20 mins earlier than that if I absolutely have to.
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Been a while
I've been studying, and preparing for my new job that starts on Monday (eeek!). But, obviously, life has continued in the meantime, and we have made an exciting new discovery.
Cauliflower rice.
It is now an hour after we ate just under half a cauliflower and half a pack of chili Beanfeast each, and T is about to take his BG level. The suspense is killing me...
In the meantime, I'm about to go political regarding the UK riots and what is being done in the guise of 'justice' to the families of the people who have been accused of being involved.
How bloody dare people think that it is right to try to have whole families evicted from their homes because a member of that family may have been involved in the rioting and looting that has been going on? How dare they do it if it's proven, and how DARE they do it even before that is the case.
A 12 year old commits a crime, and his whole family stand to lose their home? Shame on the parents? Oh for gods sake. What about any siblings? Is a 14 year old sister responsible enough for the actions of her 12 year old brother enough so that she should be made homeless?
If there is an underlying cause to the rotten circumstances surrounding the riots, surely some of it is socio-economic poverty, and evicting people is not going to cure that. Sure, cure the symptom - punish those who offended - that is only right. But do those people who are dishing out this crap really honestly think that if the people who rioted are taught a severe enough lesson, the problems will go away? If they do think that, then they are very sorely mistaken.
And as for jailing a 24 year old mum of children aged 1 and 2 years for 5 months for accepting a pair of shorts that were looted, words fail me. I have never thought that 'making an example' of someone is fair - and I don't care that this woman will probably not serve all her sentence, it is too harsh, unjust, and punishes her family too.
Is this what the country has come to? Does this reek of using the law as a bludgeon to keep those who are actually in need of help under control and cowed?
I think it bloody well does, and I am very, very angry about it.
Gah.
From 7.1 to 10 mmol in an hour. Not so good either.
Cauliflower rice.
It is now an hour after we ate just under half a cauliflower and half a pack of chili Beanfeast each, and T is about to take his BG level. The suspense is killing me...
In the meantime, I'm about to go political regarding the UK riots and what is being done in the guise of 'justice' to the families of the people who have been accused of being involved.
How bloody dare people think that it is right to try to have whole families evicted from their homes because a member of that family may have been involved in the rioting and looting that has been going on? How dare they do it if it's proven, and how DARE they do it even before that is the case.
A 12 year old commits a crime, and his whole family stand to lose their home? Shame on the parents? Oh for gods sake. What about any siblings? Is a 14 year old sister responsible enough for the actions of her 12 year old brother enough so that she should be made homeless?
If there is an underlying cause to the rotten circumstances surrounding the riots, surely some of it is socio-economic poverty, and evicting people is not going to cure that. Sure, cure the symptom - punish those who offended - that is only right. But do those people who are dishing out this crap really honestly think that if the people who rioted are taught a severe enough lesson, the problems will go away? If they do think that, then they are very sorely mistaken.
And as for jailing a 24 year old mum of children aged 1 and 2 years for 5 months for accepting a pair of shorts that were looted, words fail me. I have never thought that 'making an example' of someone is fair - and I don't care that this woman will probably not serve all her sentence, it is too harsh, unjust, and punishes her family too.
Is this what the country has come to? Does this reek of using the law as a bludgeon to keep those who are actually in need of help under control and cowed?
I think it bloody well does, and I am very, very angry about it.
Gah.
From 7.1 to 10 mmol in an hour. Not so good either.
Monday, 1 August 2011
Short term amnesia
Me, not T!
I can't for the life of me remember what we did on Saturday. I'm pretty sure we did something. Eh, I've been asleep twice since then, so I suppose that's why I can't remember.
YESTERDAY, however, T and I went car-hunting. We need another car so that we can get B to-and-from his childcare during the week (T will be delivering the bundle, and I will be retrieving it (most days)). We needed to pick a model that has enough boot space for the mountain of Stuff that accompanies us whenever we spend the night away, is small enough to fit in our car park, has good reliability, doesn't cost the Earth to fixwhen I crash it if it does need something doing, and won't break the bank.
We have decided that a Skoda Octavia Estate is the way forward, and now we have to wait and see whether one turns up at a dealership near us in time for us to go and have a look. Naturally, my redundancy money will come through about a fortnight after we'll need it for the car so we'll have to put down as large a deposit as we can manage, get finance for the rest, and pay it off asap. I think our best bet is to get 12 months finance, put the redundancy money into the account that will be used to make the payments, and make up the shortfall in monthly instalments. That way we will minimise the interest costs and pain. Hopefully.
On the way home, T had an experimental McDonalds. His BG at 1 and 2 hours showed an initial spike of just over 10mmol, dropping to around 7mmol 2 hours later. And now we have to find out whether that initial spike is an acceptable occurence once in a while. If not, he'll have to decide whether he should ditch the buns, or avoid like the plague.
Bah.
I can't for the life of me remember what we did on Saturday. I'm pretty sure we did something. Eh, I've been asleep twice since then, so I suppose that's why I can't remember.
YESTERDAY, however, T and I went car-hunting. We need another car so that we can get B to-and-from his childcare during the week (T will be delivering the bundle, and I will be retrieving it (most days)). We needed to pick a model that has enough boot space for the mountain of Stuff that accompanies us whenever we spend the night away, is small enough to fit in our car park, has good reliability, doesn't cost the Earth to fix
We have decided that a Skoda Octavia Estate is the way forward, and now we have to wait and see whether one turns up at a dealership near us in time for us to go and have a look. Naturally, my redundancy money will come through about a fortnight after we'll need it for the car so we'll have to put down as large a deposit as we can manage, get finance for the rest, and pay it off asap. I think our best bet is to get 12 months finance, put the redundancy money into the account that will be used to make the payments, and make up the shortfall in monthly instalments. That way we will minimise the interest costs and pain. Hopefully.
On the way home, T had an experimental McDonalds. His BG at 1 and 2 hours showed an initial spike of just over 10mmol, dropping to around 7mmol 2 hours later. And now we have to find out whether that initial spike is an acceptable occurence once in a while. If not, he'll have to decide whether he should ditch the buns, or avoid like the plague.
Bah.
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