Win Some, Lose Some

It's been a while since I provided a Weight Loss update. :)

I've been on and off the Weight Watchers wagon for the last 6 weeks, but I've continued losing weight regardless. (Thank you, breastfeeding.)

My original goal by my August 3rd endo appointment was to go from 183.2 lbs to 173 lbs. Result? 170 lbs. Thank you. :)

My second goal was a drop in pants size (from 16). I'm in a 14 and sometimes a 12, depending on the alignment of the cosmos.

My third goal...my A1c. I wanted to see a drop from 7.0% to 6.5%.

[shifts feet, kicks dirt, checks fingernails for something interesting... Is that the phone ringing? What's that behind you? That's a weird place to put a piano.]


7.7%

Sigh.

The highest I've seen in 6 years. siiixxxx yeeeaars. It's not high. It's not even in my greatest hits of high A1cs. It's an average of 179ish. But it's not what I was aiming for this time.

what went with me to the endo appointment

That being said, I can't say I'm surprised at all. My meter average was reading 190, my standard deviation was a whopping 70/80+. That's out of whack even compared to my usual game of chutes and ladders.

In four months, it rose .7%. So I have to check some of my habits before this runaway train hurtles itself into eightsville.

I believe that switching back to my Cozmo pump almost a month ago has helped. I can see at a glance on its handy Therapy Scorecard screen that I'm wasting a lot of insulin in corrections - 20-30% of my TDD. I like to keep high blood sugar correction doses below 10% of my total insulin usage. That was a red flag for me to start adjusting my post-partum basal rates and make them just normal people basal rates. I waited too long to make those adjustments.

We are continuing to follow our Weight Watchers (which for those of you wondering is a makeshift "free Weight Watchers") plan. My next A1c check will be in mid-December... Goals?

As far as weight is concerned, I haven't been below 160 pounds since I was 16. So I'm not setting that bar any lower. Let's say 163. Yeah, 163. And my size 12s should feel roomy.

For the A1c, I'm going to strive to get it back in the other direction. Nudge it. Skooch it. Shimmying down toward 7 again. I'll take whatever I can get.

Weight Loss Update: 3 Weeks

For those of you following my journey, Hubster and I just completed our third week of Weight Watchers (the old Points program, not Points Plus).

so hungry i could nibble those cheeks?

My current stats as we start Week 4 are:

Estimated A1c (based on 30 day meter avg): 6.6%
Weight: 175.4 lbs
Pants Size: 14

The weight is flying off. I have already netted a loss of 7.8 lbs (down from 183.2). In just 3 weeks!

I'm already in the jeans size I hoped to be in by August. (But I won't count it as a success until my shorts fit without me having to suck in. Wedgies are a public health issue, people.)


But the real question might be What's going on with your diabetes?

I'm glad you asked.

I have been logging my data pretty consistently with the iBG Star app. I miss some readings here and there, but I try to go back and enter them retroactively.

I am a lot better with carb counting when I am stopping to weigh and measure portion sizes so that I can determine my Points values.

I am a better shopper, too, looking at the label before it goes in the cart, evaluating the "opportunity cost" of foods that are neither good for my waistline nor my blood sugars.

And OMG Nestlé makes a 120cal snack-sized drumstick ice cream cone that my two year old and I think is snacktacular!!!! Thank you, @parenting!

Anyway, the big change is that I'm eating more mindfully, reviewing my data (because it's actually logged somewhere), and not allowing the fact that I have a new baby to derail my efforts at self-care.

Speaking of which, roly poly Dibbs is a whopping 18 lbs 6.5 oz at only 3.5 months old. o_O The boy is massive.

So at least we know my calorie reduction isn't affecting the smorgasbord that is the Dibbs lunch truck.

Points of Contention

Weight Watchers is very D-friendly. While we as people with diabetes very frequently get turned away from programs like Jenny Craig and Nutrasystem, Weight Watchers will turn a blind eye. You'd think weight loss programs would cater to people with D. You hear about NutrasystemD specifically for people with D. Yeah, unless you have Type 1, use insulin, or use an insulin pump. Then they 'review' your health history, freak out, and want nothing to do with you.

So I've always respected Weight Watchers.

I adapt it to meet my needs though, working in incentives to handle my diabetes correctly in the process.

For instance, low blood sugars.

In the beginning, I remember wanting to exempt myself from the foods I ate to treat a low, thinking it was unfair to ask me to give up 'points' for food I wasn't eating by choice. But that's part of the problem. I was eating whatever I wanted to treat the low. I might have 2-3 lows a day and treat each with 2-4pts.

So I decided early on that, if I treat the low with glucose tabs, I may exempt it. If I treat with food, I have to count it. There have been two days this week where I ate food for the lows and watched a third of my daily points slip away on banana peels and crackers. And one day where I used glucose tablets and a juice box and lost a mere two points.

See my point?

Hubster argues that I'm still taking in calories, so I should count the glucose tabs, too. But it'd be too easy for me to turn my nose up at the tabs if they cost me my precious points.

This way, there is an incentive for me to treat with the tabs - which is the faster, smarter, grosser way to handle a low from the diabetes standpoint.

From a weight loss standpoint, it is highly doubtful that 60cal of fat free chalky tablets will be my downfall.

And from a motivation standpoint, I won't give up the program from resentment or burnout because I can insure that my points will be used for meals and snacks (like regular people).

That being said, it's hard. I had three lows Tuesday - a 49 upon waking, a 50 around 3:30p, and an I-didn't-check-because-I'm-busy-cooking-dinner around 7p. They cost me a juice box (2) and coffee (1), a banana (2) and 2 rice krispie treats (4), and another banana (2). 11 points. Ouch.

Wednesday was worse. I used at least 15 points to treat low blood sugars. And only reached for glucose once. =\

Today, I'll do better. I'll really try to do better. And maybe I'll start dialing back some of my insulin, too. Nobody should be low as often as I am. Sigh.

Disclaimer: I'm neither a medical professional nor a nutritional expert. Please pursue nutritional programs and make adjustments with the help and advice of your own medical team.

Weight Loss

Hubster and I have decided we are going to do Weight Watchers again.

I am exclusively breastfeeding a small human milk tank, so I am allowed as many points as Hubster. This makes me deliriously happy.

My starting weight is just one pound over what it was when I started WW before, back in April of 2008.

Then, I lost about 30 lbs in 6 months and lowered my A1c by 0.8%. Those efforts help me get green lighted for pregnancy with diabetes.

Since then though, I've given birth to two precious bebés - one of whom was over 10 lbs. My body took a beating with him.

After Sweetie's birth, I bounced back within six months to my pre-preg weight just by breastfeeding. Something tells me that recovering from Dibbs is going to take extra effort.

So far, everything about my chunky monkey takes a little extra effort.

Anyway, I am approaching the program with a few attainable goals:

1) eat more reasonable portion sizes of the things I already eat
2) lose a little of the baby weight
3) reduce my A1c by necessarily reducing my total intake (and by extension, carbs) at meals
4) make a renewed commitment to my blood sugar control

You have no idea how quickly and easily that can slip away from you. If I look at my blood sugars from this weekend alone (see screenshot), my A1c could be climbing a whole 1% higher than it was a month ago. That's HUGE. And it means I've got to get my butt in gear.

So, internets, to keep me accountable, I'm going to disclose my current stats here.

A1c: 7.0% (April 2012)
Weight: 183.2 lbs.
Pants size: 16

Hubster has never told me I looked ridiculous before.
Then he saw the outfit I chose to go walking in tonight.
What's wrong with 80s shortie shorts and navy socks?

When I get my A1c checked again in August, 3 months from now, I would like to be closer to the following:

A1c: 6.5%
Weight: 173 lbs.
Pants size: 14

I'll update you on my efforts with specific attention to how my food choices affect my insulin and blood sugars.

As you can see in the picture, I am also playing around with the iBGStar Diabetes Manager App. I am on the fence about whether to purchase and begin using the accompanying meter (which docks onto the iPhone), but so far I think their interface is deliciously slick.

Seeing my high pre- and post- meal numbers in the logbook screen was the kick in the pants that I needed. It's time to pay attention. Again.