Here I Go Again

 So.... as you may have read about earlier in the summer, I recently switched General Practitioners.  I had my first in-person appointment in May and was told to come back in July to get my blood drawn to check my thyroid levels.  Well, I didn't go in July-- I waited til the first week of August because SUMMER.  At the blood draw, the phlebotomist took twice the amount of blood I thought she was going to take.  I assumed this meant that the doctor wanted a new CBC on record since I was a new patient.  I was correct.  

A couple days later, I called to find out if my thyroid medicine dose needed adjusting and was told "yes, and we'll call you next week with what the dose needs to change to" and that's a whole other story in and of itself.  However, she began to tell me the results of the complete blood count.  Most things were great.  One thing slapped me in the face and I could've earned an Emmy with how hard I worked to keep the tears back while she finished reading off the results of everything they had checked.  Despite the overall good report, it's the combination of the thyroid dosage change and this new bombshell that have me rattled and apprehensive and sometimes just downright sad. 

This receptionist on the phone told me "Your A1C is 6.5 and this means you are borderline diabetic.  You will need to follow a low carb/ low glucose diet, and the doctor wants to see you again in three months." The wind was slightly knocked out of me.  I was ashamed (although this was for no reason because sometimes, Type 2 happens to people who are relatively fit and know a thing or two about carbs).  I'm raising my hand because I am the mom of someone who has Type One Diabetes and I know a thing or two about carbs.  I also see myself in the mirror every day and know that I'm not astronomical in size.  Therefore, it serves great purpose to say that we have stigmatized a disorder and we assume that anyone who gets it must have self-sabotaged and should've been paying closer attention.  That's so not it at all.  Sometimes, genes are a factor.  Other times, environment can play a role.  Sometimes, and I'm just so certain of this, stress can wreak a myriad of havocs on oneself.  

Whatever the causes of my borderline diabetes, I am knee deep in walking this "low carb/ low glucose" diet and I WILL NOT STRAY (much) because I want to look the doctor in the face come November and say "I really did try my hardest."  For now, the onus lies with me.  I am on no medication right now because we are seeing if I can handle this disorder with diet and exercise alone or if I'll need medication or further help.  I am committed to this low carb diet.  In November, if my A1C has lowered, then we will know that diet can fix it and I'll stay the course.  If in November, my A1C has not improved, then I will probably receive the official Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis and will try out some form of oral medication (similar to what I had to be on when I had gestational diabetes with Avery).  If my A1C has risen to higher levels than what should occur after a committed diet change, then it could be possible that I'm in the early stages of Type 1 Diabetes and will soon produce none of my own insulin at all, which would require injecting artificial insulin like my son has to do daily.  

No matter the final outcome, I have found that the low-carb diets really aren't terrible.  I'm including some recent pictures of things I've found that I enjoy eating or drinking that fall into the low carb category.  I wrote extensively about this in 2017 when I was undergoing gestational diabetes for the second time.  Very recently, I have gone back to this point to remind myself of the variety of things that I really can eat or drink that will fill me up without overdoing it in carbs.  That post can be found here. 

Here's my most recent compilation. 

Chocolate Fairlife milk (about a cup) plus peanut butter powder.

I use a blender bottle metal ball and shake it up, then stick it in the freezer for 10-30 minutes and it tastes (kind of) like a milkshake!  The Fairlife brand of milk offers a lot of protein, so it helps fill me up as well. 

Target's "Good and Gather" brand offers sparkling water for pretty cheap and it tastes all right. I have tried the Cranberry Citrus and the Coconut Pineapple (this is heavy on the pineapple, and I wish it was heavier on the coconut). 

Salads have been my favorite side dish and/or meal option.  I made sure to order salad supplies on my recent grocery orders and I included Reduced Sugar craisins also.  

The craving for something sweet is real, but I'm able to stave this off by eating a couple of sugar-free wafer cookies.  The longer one is Publix brand (Vanilla flavored) and the shorter one is Voortman (chocolate flavor).  We also have the Voortman lemon flavor which Avery and Aaron prefer. 

This was my lunch from yesterday.  Half of a turkey sandwich, salad, Diet Dr. Pepper (or Diet Dr. Thunder as it were), and a couple wafer cookies.  This meal was under 30g of carb, and to be considered "low carb" a meal must be under 45g of carb.  (Side note: we'll talk about this book in another post.  I just finished another book by this author and it was phenomenal. I just started this second book yesterday).  

Thanks for keeping up with me on this journey!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba