Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Small steps add up

In the name of health (not weight loss!) I've decided to make some changes to my habits:
  1. Staying on top of diabetes management - this includes many blood tests per day, accurate carb counting, and scheduling and going to my doctor apointments every 3 months (and getting bloodwork done in advance so we can have something to talk about)
  2. Being aware of my thyroid symptoms and proactively getting bloodwork done to make sure my dosages are on track
  3. Eating healthier - We recently switched to Organic produce, dairy, and (when we can find it) meat.  I'm also making smarter choices when I order out, and we're eating at home more often.
  4. Eating breakfast - I eat a healthy, balanced breakfast every day now, usually consisting of a hard boiled egg, some fruit, cheese, and water
  5. Drinking plenty of water - We recently got stainless steel bottles that are 100% BPA free, and mine can hold 1L.  I keep it at my desk and do my best to down 2 of those in a day.  Usually I only get through 1 - 1.5, but it's way more water than I used to drink.
  6. Not drinking other stuff - I've given up soda.  Can you believe it?!  I was a diet coke junkie, and now I drink almost exclusively water.  That's gotta be healthier, right?!
  7. Minimizing the amount of "sweet stuff" I eat.  I'm a sweetaholic!  My favorite foods are buttercream frosting and caramel.  And I have seriously reduced the amount of sweets I have in a given week.  This is helping with #1.
  8. Avoiding artificial sweeteners.  Those things probably aren't very good for me, so I'm trying to give them up.  Which means cheating on #7 is a lot harder.

Things I'm not doing that I should be:
  1. Exercising!  I don't do this...ever.  I have a gym membership, I just need to use it.
  2. Logging my blood sugars.  How do I know if I am doing a good job if I can't watch trends?  I suppose I can't.  I am currently researching meters with good computer interfaces that allow me to upload my data and it does the graphing for me for easier analysis.  Hopefully I'll find the right meter for me that will make this process easier.  Logging has always been a struggle for me.

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