Pot Luck High

Having never participated in one, I was looking forward to my 1st pot luck today. It was great having the opportunity to socialize with co-workers and try a little bit of everything from broccoli salad to calico beans to an amazing Mexican chip dip. Some home made treats and some store bought snacks were there to graze on. I was happy to see lots of veggies too. It was a nice variety, and I was actually surprised at how low-carb my choices seemed to be. The only thing I needed to bolus for was the pita chips I enjoyed with hummus, a handful of chips, a small bite of ooey-gooey brownie, and a tiny maple pecan bar (then a 2nd). Ok, dang. Now that I list it out I see wear I went wrong. Oh and I suppose those scrumptious beans I ate had some carbs hidden there, I always forget about beans!

Tricky tricky pot luck boluses. It's so hard to tell what you have consumed when you go back for 2nd and 3rds or have a bite here and bite there. I thought I had done pretty well. Then 3 o'clock rolled around and I found myself fighting an intense urge to take a nap at my desk. How horrible would that be if someone walked by and I was sleeping?! I seriously could have fallen asleep. Then a little birdie told me, "maybe you should check your BG". Ugh, but that means getting up and walking all the way to the bathroom. FINE. So I did. Whoops. 219. Duh. A correction bolus followed.

Lesson learned - I suck at bolusing for pot lucks. Ha. They are fun and the food is good, but carb counting = not so easy! Still worth it : )

Afternoon Delight

I have to say last weekend was quite fantastic.

I was pretty bummed on Friday when I realized I would not be able to make it to Nodak that night due to Old Man Winter, which meant no Jingle Bell 5K. I still had hope that Saturday would bring clear skies and clean roads, and allow me to at least celebrate my sistah's big 3-0 : )

Friday night we took advantage of being snowed in. We invited over our friends that live close by. I made some pretty tasty (but probably not so healthy) white chicken chili. Then we played cards and had a few drinks.

Saturday I was pumped to see we would be able to make the trek back to ND! The birthday celebration was FUN. I had never been to a Japanese Steakhouse, and was thoroughly entertained by our chef (especially when he was shooting sake into my mouth from a squeeze bottle!). The food was oh so delicious. I cleaned my whole plate : ) The rest of the night was spent with some pretty awesome people, more drinks and more fun.

I got to sit next to guest of honor!

Who doesn't love fried rice???

Sunday I was starting to feel pretty guilty about not working out at all Saturday and eating soooo much food. That guilt got me on the treadmill as soon as we got home. To my surprise I was able to kick out 5 miles, and an even larger surprise was how great it felt! 

That got me thinking - why have my morning runs lately felt so miserable and my evening runs so good? My conclusion, completely unscientific, is that by morning my background insulin from the morning before is probably out of my system. I read somewhere that even though it is suppose to last 24 hours, it's usually more like 18 hours. And lately I have woken up a little higher than I would like to be, so I also don't eat anything before I jump in the mill in the morning. Or it could just be that I am TIRED and want to crawl back in my warm bed!

It's just weird, because morning workouts use to always be my best and my end of the day workouts left much to be desired. Hm, who knows? Either way I was happy with my much needed run yesterday.

Today spin kicked my butt. (Seriously, my gym needs to figure out how to ventilate a room. The spin room gets SO hot that the windows and the mirrors all fog up - gross! The yoga room on the other hand, blasts cold freaking air when its not needed. What the heck?!?!)

I need to go check on the Maple Pecan Bites I am making for my Finance team's holiday potluck tomorrow! Never tried this recipe before, but they look and smell delicious!

November Month in Review

Whoa, hello December, you snuck up on me!

Although I am excited for all the holiday fun, I know it will go by too quickly.

Here's November's workout recap:

Cycle - made it to 6 classes

Swim - 2xs

Run - 8 times totaling about 30 miles

Bodyworks - survived 4 classes

Yoga - 3 wonderful times

Off days - 7 much deserved and enjoyed

I am pretty satisfied with November's results, especially given the fact it included a long Thanksgiving weekend back home. 

My plan for December is to enjoy one last month of care free workouts, meaning do whatever I feel like: spin, yoga, swim, run, strength training, all of it, whichever I feel like doing each day. In January I will get focused again and begin building up my running base for the Fargo half-marathon in May!

Check out our budget friendly real tree for Christmas 2010: 

Before

After!

Trapped

Yesterday I mentioned I had a headache. Well somewhere around 4am I realized it was more than headache, and more like a horrible migraine. I woke up and took some Excedrin, only to toss and turn, hit snooze to cancel any plans of working out, and toss and turn more. It made the workday pretty unbearable, and a 2nd dose of Excedrin still did nothing for me. In the afternoon I decided maybe a massage would help, my shoulders felt super tense and hurt when I rubbed them anyway. Luckily I was able to get an appointment in right after work.

The first thing my massage therapist asked was whether I had any issues. Yup. I explained the pain I had in the left side of my head all the way down through my neck and to my left shoulder. Instantly she said, "It's your Trapps." Huh? She explained that is the exact description of the pain people feel when their Trapezius muscle is tense or knotted. Sounded about right to me.

source

She spent the next hour working that baby out. She pinched it, she pressured it, she rolled on it. She couldn't believe how bad it was, and she kept finding little balls of knots. She actually remembered me from the last time I was there a couple of months ago and reminded me how she had told me then I needed to schedule an appointment to just work on my shoulders. It was the least relaxing massage I have ever had, but anything to make this headache go away.

It was actually interesting when she would put pressure on different spots and ask where the pain referred to. One spot she pinched resulted in pain in the front of my head, and one I could feel pain down my upper back. She said it was so bad that she would honestly recommend accupuncture over more massage.

After the hour was up, she told me to get up slowly since I had been on my stomach the entire time. She wasn't kidding. Once I got up I felt SO dizzy and unable to balance. The pain in my head seemed to worsen, and on top of it, I felt nauseous from being hungry too. She warned that I may start to feel like I have flu like symptoms tonight, and to keep my shoulders warm. Ick!

About an hour after the massage and my headache is gone - and I feel great! Wow, thank you massage therapist.

I am going to work on being more aware of when I scrunch my shoulders. I am guessing I do that during spin and probably during Body Works when my arms get tired. It's amazing how our bodies work, and how little I know about it. I think I need to take intro to Biology again or something???

Things That Make Me Go Hmmmmm

I have a headache and can't imagine posting anything too insightful, so instead here are the things running through my diabetic brain right now:

1) How did I manage to keep such awesome BG numbers Thanksgiving Day and the following days, while still enjoying in my favorite homemade pumpkin cheesecake, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and chocolate caramels (yes, I indulged in all of the above)?

2) How come after getting back to work and my normal routine, including a good and sweaty spin session this morning, now my BG numbers are so high? I hope I am not getting sick.

3) Why have I been hungry all day, even after eating half a bag of almonds during the day and big fettuccine alfredo meal? Normally, it would be because of my workout this morning and my muscles storing up all the glucose they can, but then I would expect lower BGs, which as #2 indicates is not the case.

4) Why did pricking my fingers hurt soooo bad last week? No matter which finger I tried? Thankfully, that has come and gone.

5) Why does the nursing room at work always have to be in use when I want to check my BG and/or take some insulin? I guess some people actually need to use it for it was intended.

6) When will taking insulin in a public restroom ever become normal and not gross to me?

7) How come sometimes when I poke myself I bruise or bleed or it just really hurts, while other times I feel nothing?

8) Maybe having a pump would help solve many of my questions/issues? But then which pump, how much would it cost, how difficult would changing infusion sites be, how would I hide it under my clothes, etc???

Well on that note, I think it's time to schedule another appointment with my CDE!

Wordless Wednesday from ND!

Thursday Monday

Due to dire weather forecasts, we have decided to head back home a day early. This means tomorrow is FRIDAY! Coming to that realization today, and just in general being super excited to spend the holiday with family, I had a really hard time focusing all day at work. I am ready to go NOW (seriously all packed, ready to go)!

Looking ahead, the rest of my year is pretty much booked up:

1st weekend in December: 30th Birthday Party for my lovely sister! We also signed up for a Jingle Bell 5k. It will cold, but fun (I hope)!

2nd weekend in December: 2nd Annual Hilarious Ornament and Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. Last year my purple glitter mosquito ornament was quite the hit. I am on the search for another ridiculous ornament.

3rd weekend in December: Heading to Florida to visit my husband's brother, celebrate my husband and niece's birthday, and have an early Christmas. I can't wait, and a break from MN winter won't be bad either!

(Somewhere in the middle of all that I need to find time to do some Christmas shopping and have other mini-Christmas' with friends)

Then its Billy Elliot and Lori Line, and then Christmas!

After that, I only have oral surgery to look forward to. Time to get these wisdom teeth out, all four. Apparently they are quite large, so it's going to be a long process. And the Dentist thought it was a better idea to use sedation and keep me awake during the surgery, rather than laughing gas, due to my diabetes. Something about being coherent enough to check my BG and treat if necessary after the surgery. Lovely.

Then its 2011. Holy cow, I am not ready to think about that yet. Here's to a happy holiday season just about to begin!!