Primal Stride Challenge Update 2.5

Double Crunch Challenge

Physical Challenge: 250 crunches per day

Health Challenge: eat a different green veggie each day

The first few days of this challenge were really tough.  My stomach was SO sore and it was hard to get through the new crunches with the previous night's crunches reminding me that they weren't yet a memory. But after 5 days, I'm really surprised that I now get to the 200's and I feel like I can actually keep going.  I think on the last day, I want to keep pushing to see how many I can actually knock out in one day.  I'll let you know. . . 

I love veggies, so the health challenge of this has been fairly easy for me. (Much easier than the 5am wake-up call from last week!) I've had spinach, several kinds of leafs (lettuce), zucchini, fennel, peppers, cabbage, green beans and I've still got avocados, olives and more to try. Are capers a vegetable? I have some of those and haven't eaten any yet.

I'm so excited for everyone participating in the challenge.  Some have faced physical injury, health issues and just plain ol' life and they keep pushing, modifying when needed, but still pushing through to the better, new Primal Stride Challenger they're becoming.

Oh, I got another challenge from my daughter today.  She challenged me to read the book Born to Run in the next month.  She said it was amazing, a great read and so inspiring.  She walks and rides her bike everywhere she goes so she's in fairly good shape.  But, this book made her want to take up running and she's making great progress.  So, I'm also taking on this challenge. Apparently, the only way I can accomplish things is for someone to challenge me! 

American Idol is back. . .

Every year I say I'm not going to watch it.

I'm not going to watch the exploitation of really horrible noise makers who dress funny, take themselves too seriously or who truly have no idea that they can't sing.  Yet, like a bad accident. . I can't turn away.

I feel sorry for the young people who sing in church every week. They're constantly told how great they are. They practice singing in their rooms, with their friends.  They sing for hours, holding a hairbrush, dancing in front of the mirror.  But. . .they can't sing.  It truly brings to mind the old adage, "can't carry a tune in a bucket."  They have no concept of intonation, resonance, basic pronunciation.  They PUSH the sound from the back of their throats out through their noses.  They scream each note as if it were their last.  They're so desperate, loud, painful to listen to.

I feel sorry for the delusional people showing up in costumes, strange outfits or with props. They don't know how crazy they look and that we truly are laughing AT them, not with them. Some of them were just trying to get their 15 mins of fame by appearing on the show as one of the strange people getting cut during the first few weeks.  But, some of them truly thought they were helping their chances by standing out and being unique.

Why is this so fascinating?  I know people who ONLY watch the first few weeks of the show to laugh at the rejected contestants.  Does it make us feel better when we see someone else being rejected?  I start questioning my own abilities after the first couple of weeks of this show. . seriously. . like, I used to sing at church.  I used to actually be the music minister.  I led choirs, I did solos, I performed in musicals.  Now, I wonder, did everyone just humor me because I was the only person willing to do the job?  I know it's stupid, but I do wonder. . .

So, here we are. . another season of Idol.  I'll pick out a few favorites, follow them through to the end, voting, cheering, downloading their iTunes singles. (I still listen to Adam's version of Ring of Fire.)   I'm already partial to the cute little blond with the huge family and two brothers with Downs Syndrome.  I'll pick out a few really, horrible auditions and hope they make a comeback in the finale.  AND, all along the way, I'll sing a little less loudly at church, make sure my great new outfit isn't just another version of my "uniqueness" and try to pick up on subtle hints that I'm not as cool as I think I am.  Even though, I think I'm pretty ok.

Bionic Barb Released to the World Today!

I can not put today into words.

I have been on the edge of happy tears all day long and the fact that I can even think straight to know they were happy tears, just proves what a great day it's been.

The 'betes started messing with me in February of last year.  Seriously, I've felt so horrible for an entire YEAR. My prescription for my glasses needed to be changed, then I started eating and eating, insatiable eating, and then losing weight, a lot of weight.  I started having cramps in my legs just before waking in the morning that were excruciating.  I was getting up in the night, 3-4 times for the bathroom and drinking water on the way back to bed just to keep my tongue from sticking to the roof of my mouth.  As soon as I'd eat something, I'd fall asleep for an hour.  During the day, at work, I'd get drive-thru food for lunch, eat it as I drove back to the parking lot then sleep it off and go back to work so lethargic. I had fallen at work and scraped up my shin, and it wasn't healing.  I was jell-o brained, tired and tired of feeling sick and tired. 

That was then. .

This weekend I started on insulin and I can not tell you how much better I feel.  I only feel sad that my Dr. didn't get me started on this earlier. . I would've really enjoyed feeling this well for my birthday, the holidays and all the other days.  Today, I started my bolus doses with meals and besides the 192 BG I had after breakfast, I've been in the low 100's all day.

My boss and I have been joking that the New Improved Barb came to work today.  I'm the new release. .  Bionic Barb and she's faster, smarter and alot more fun than previous version.  The previous version seemed to have a problem maintaining charge and the batteries needed to be replaced far too often.  She would also lose files, frequently reboot without notice and just when she'd start running, exhibit symptoms of a virus. (Happily no WORMS were ever detected. . blech!) LOL

So, what do I do with this new life I've been given?  I, hopefully, am able to encourage someone else who may be feeling as horrible and hopeless as I was.  I hope I'm now able to enjoy time with my friends and family as I've missed out on so much this past year.  Even though I was in attendance, I was checked out for most of it.  I hope I can encourage another person, in the same situation, to push for answers when they seem to just be getting worse and no one is listening.  I hope I encourage them to use the resources that are available online, in books, at their magical library, and especially through the diabetic online community to find the answers they need to feel healthy, vibrant and alive again.

Welcome Bionic Barb. . I hope you stay around for a good, long while.

Insulin, Primal Stride Challenge 2.2 and Diabetes 365 Photo.

Wow, I'm just covering everything in one entry tonight. . .

I started on insulin last night.  What an amusing moment for me. To stand there, with a needle in my hand, pointed at my belly, thinking, "ok, I just. . ok, I'm ready. . just push it. . ok, wait, *sigh* (holding breath) ok, now, just . . yeah, I'm ready. . just push it in.  Wait. . ok, here I go. . .ha ha  Even more funny, is that you don't even feel it, once you actually do it.  I expected something. . stinging, pressure. . nope, nothing.

The first injection was romantically delivered in the bathroom @ Oklahoma Joe's restaurant.  I'm actually not using bolus doses until Monday, but the CDE wanted me to have french fries last nite, so she instructed me to administer a corrective dose and then have 10 fries.  I'm a VERY compliant patient, a rule-follower. . so I obliged her.  Unfortunately, the 10 fries and the 1/4 of a hamburger bun still threw me into the 300's but after my basal dose at night (of long acting/24 hr. insulin) I woke up to a beautiful number of 166.  WOOT!

So, I've been low enough to work out most of the day and I'm so happy to be able to keep up with the Primal Stride Challenge.  I'm getting ready to work out right now and complete the 250 crunches per day.  My green vegetable for the day was actually a "double-crunch" as I had asparagus AND broccoli with dinner.  The better part of that meal was the SALMON. I do love me some salmon.

Today's Diabetes 365 photo is:

I teach scrapbooking and papercrafting for Joann's Craft store in Overland Park.  This art form is very therapeutic for me.  Not only in its ability to get my mind off my broken pancreas, but it also helps me to share my story, express my fears, explain my feelings in a creative outlet.  This is a mini-album that I made as an example for a class I'm teaching next week. Maybe YOU'LL end up in one of my albums, eh?

I'll catch up with you all tomorrow.  Have good dreams. . dream about me eating ice cream. . hee hee

Diabetes 365 Day 8

@devilishly_diab joins our group of friends and family at Oklahoma Joe's for dinner. The way this fits into Diabetes 365?  I met Scott the first time at a World Diabetes Day luncheon in downtown Kansas City in November.  We have since become quite good friends on twitter.  He has been instrumental in my finding out I'd been misdiagnosed as a Type 2 when in fact, I'm a LADA Type 1. (Latent Auto-Immune Diabetic Adult)  He often helps with encouragement, education and quite a bit of fun and laughter. I was thrilled to be able to see him in person and introduce him to my family.