Just got home

I worked a little over a half-day today and then took a friend to an appointment in the afternoon, which took awhile. After we got out of that, we went to the pharmacy to get his medicine and then by that time it was dinner time and so we stopped by Gumbo Ya Ya and got some food and took it to his house and ate. Then I did a little work on the computer (it's really lagging for him) and came on home. I've taken the brace off because you shouldn't wear it all the time, but I'm trying not to move my wrist that much. I'm listening to Of Monsters and Men and as soon as I get off of here, I think I'll do some reading on intuitive eating, which satisfies my tasks for today of reading and nutrition. :) I am oddly very tired; I'd gone into work early, so I was up earlier than normal, although I did get 8 hours of sleep, but still. I should work on the game notes tonight, especially as tomorrow is 'Grimm' night, and I may later, but I'm tempted to lie down for just a bit. Of course, that does usually turn into a sleep rather than a nap for me. Still, it may be worth the risk.

I thought this article was interesting

What $29 A Week For Food Looks Like For Actual Low-Income People (And Not Gwyneth Paltrow)

That rounds out to $28 and is about what I’d spend at my local discount store. That adds up to 17,710 calories, or 2530 calories a day. Which is about as much as I’d need to be sustained, and frankly, isn’t that unhealthy of a menu — it includes plenty of healthy fats and proteins, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. I know how to do that mental calculus, balancing between what I need to be able to get through the physical motions of my life and how much I can actually spend, because I lived it.

That being said, I lived it not in a food desert. I lived it in a suburb that was safe. I lived it with a car, even if it was a car that was on its last legs. I lived it on a little more than minimum wage, which is better than what people who qualify for SNAP benefits can say. And yes, the point of the Food Bank Challenge is to bring attention to the fact that Congress has cut SNAP benefits, and if Gwyneth Paltrow’s insane 1000-calorie-per-day diet brings attention to that fact, then all the better.

The author discusses the nutrition vs. money issue, getting the best amount of calories and nutrition for very little money, and the challenges of living in a food desert.

Reading

The article is actually about rural Guatemala, but there is malnutrition throughout the world

even in places like the United States, which has its 'food deserts' and a reliance on cheap carbs for many who are living from paycheque to paycheque. But the article asks an interesting question and provides ideas for what governments and non-profits are doing to help people.

In a land of plenty, a reporter’s snapshots of malnutrition

What if every politician, political appointee and influential executive at a Forbes 500 company in the United States was encouraged to spend the night in the circumstances of one of the least fortunate of their constituents or customers? Would that make a difference?

Guess what?

Yesterday I finally went to the YMCA and worked out. I did a round of cardio and got my heart rate up to 140, sweated quite a bit, and generally had a good time. My friends and a co-worker really helped get me there through encouragement. I didn't go into the swimming pool because one, I was on this side of an asthma attack and it didn't seem advisable, and two, I'm still afraid of being the big pink blobbie (my swimsuit is neon pink). But as YKWIA put it, I should be the best pink blobbie I can be. People were all shapes, sizes, ages, etc., so I feel a little better about being there. I'm going to try to go tomorrow. A friend has a doctor's appointment (and I'm taking him) tomorrow afternoon, but the Y's pool doesn't have open swim till 7:30 pm, so it should be doable. Go me.

I sat down with someone more knowledgeable than I about diet and diabetes today and she helped me get a plan together for dealing with carbs. It's not extremely low-carb, fairly balanced, but she put together a good guideline that should help me track them, which will help my blood sugar and probably help me lose weight, too, so I'm going to put that in action. That, along with the exercise and going to the endocrinologist in a couple of weeks should help on the diabetes front.

I've been pretty busy at work each day this week. After work today I went and got a friend, went on a small grocery run, and then watched 'Ugly Betty', 'H2O: Just Add Water', and some stuff on Paula Deen with YKWIA. Before I left I fixed him dinner and now that I'm home, I've been texting with another friend. But I must admit, I'm fading fast. It's 11 pm already; the day has flown by. I should probably go on to bed. But I wanted to touch base here. I've got some news stories I'd like to blog about; maybe I can do that tomorrow. In the meantime, have a safe and wonderful evening. Good night.

Today I tried to eat healthier

I had light blueberry yoghurt instead of a package of blueberry Pop-Tarts. For lunch I had minestrone and a salad. I had an apple and a small package of trail mix for my snacks during the day rather than candy bars or chips. I came home and devoured a lot of hummus and pita, but I still wound up with 2353 calories (less than I burn as at a sedentary lifestyle, but much more than I really needed to eat). I had roughly 53% of my intake as carbs, with 17% protein and 30% as fat, so I need to tweak that. My nutrition was really great vitamin-wise except for C, E, and potassium, and I took a children's multivitamin, so the potassium was the only thing I was low in. I know all of this because I kept a food log on FitDay.com, and it calculates all this for you.

My fasting blood sugar this morning was 294. Two hours after lunch it was 244. I forgot to check it before dinner. It's usually in the 140 range by then. I also forgot to take my second Janumet, which I am going to take right now. I guess it's a start, though.

All in all, it could have been better, but it was probably better than it has been. It was slow and probably useless, but I walked 20 minutes to the bus stop this morning and got out and walked around the hospital a couple of times today. I need to start walking around the neighbourhood now that it's cooler. I got a ride home this evening, so I really should have. Instead I came in and gorged myself on spinach and artichoke hummus. But I guess it was better than pizza or some sort of thing. The least healthy thing in terms of salt, fat, and calories I ate today was the trail mix. Breakfast and lunch totaled only about 850 calories, so I was doing really well. I'll have to watch the later eating during the day.

I can't imagine why you would be interested, but my food log/information is public, if you want to see an example of how FitDay works or you're just curious.

One of the blogs I read, Ben Davis's Ben Does Life, chronicles a young man's struggle with weight and his exercise goals and achievements. Ben used to weigh 360 lbs. Since then he's lost 120 lbs., has run a marathon, and has done an Ironman competition. I find his story very inspiring. Anyway, somewhere Ben wrote that it's best to start making changes in a public manner. His point was we often don't hold up bargains with ourselves, but putting a log up and trying to lose weight (or change other things about ourselves, for that matter) in front of others make us more likely to achieve it.

I'm not going to lose weight overnight, by any means. I weigh 288 lbs., after all. I've set a goal to be 150 lbs. by my birthday (April 2nd) of 2012. That's a year and a half, or 78 weeks, making a goal of 1.77 lbs loss a week. I'm not going on a specific diet. The goal is to eat healthy in general, keep my calories down down but well-balanced and my activities up, drawing from various suggestions. I have a long way to go in terms of exercise; it's actually easier for me to eat better, but that's an important component in lowering insulin resistance and losing weight, so I need to do it. Walking is probably the best choice for me at this time. I do also have an exercise bike. If I can work with it, I may get a real bike come spring. We'll see. Anyway, that's what my main focus was on today. The food log really helps a person be more mindful about what he or she is eating; it's just difficult for me to remember to write down every thing. But the online aspect helps a little.