After writing about my fall, my mind was on things I've learned this last year about my health. It's one of those things I don't generally write about but maybe some of what I've learned will help others as a lot of it I hadn't thought of before.
The one still impacting my life is keeping track of my blood sugar. I always thought if I had problems with it, it'd be heading toward diabetes. Not so. I ended up off and on (some thanks to nightshade intolerance before I realized it) going to hypoglycemia. Fortunately, I never went all the way into the dangerous realm, but when I get down to 70, my body reacts to it by unsteadiness and not feeling well.
How do I keep it from going there-- small meals and carbs... What I had been doing, because I liked it, was eating a good breakfast and lunch around noon and then not eating much from then through the rest of the day. What I do now is breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack and a piece of cheese before bed, which for me tends to be between 6 and 7 since I am up before 4 the next morning. If I watched movies or television, I'd likely stay up later. I do not.
The nightshades have been a huge disappointment and some of them were among my favorite foods, like tomatoes, but worse was what is often snuck into processed foods i.e. paprika. If I eat that, I am in bad shape within a day or two.
There was a plus to this. I've lost 50 lbs over the last couple of years and wear jeans 4 sizes smaller than I did. I think maybe the snacks might help with what my last doctor visit revealed that I was low on sodium. Who thinks that could happen given we are not supposed to eat salt! Some of this might be aging as in 2021, I turned 78. I didn't imagine getting that old as at one time I thought I wouldn't live past 30. So goes my age predictions.
The photo is from a month ago right before we took the tree down. I care less about how I look these days than I do about how I feel and how I can move (walking gracefully is a thing of the past but I am settling for being stable :).
9 comments:
Thanks for your health update, I’m having health issues too. The things you are doing to improve/preserve your health are interesting. I tend to eat the way you say you used to do, and perhaps I should try your new way of eating too. Old habits die hard!
It is hard but my afternoon snack is generally half an orange and I like that. I am not so big on the piece of cheese before bed but I am getting into it :)
Beautiful smile.
This getting old has proven to be quite interesting. Diagnosed as diabetic, when my insulin arrived in its styrofoam container I dug my heels in and said "Hell no!"
Wife and I immediately went on a strict Keto diet. My A1C in October was 11.9. (BAD) Last month I was measured at 6.0, which is quite normal. My sugar is under control.
(Not being able to eat tomatoes would also bother me a LOT, so I'll take my diet problem over yours, Rain.)
My mantra is "No GPS"...
No grains. No potatoes. No sugar. And yes, that's restrictive. But out of control blood sugar results in blindness, kidney disease, and loss of toes/fingers.
No thanks. EVERYONE needs to know what's going on with their blood sugar.
Thank you for bringing more information to others here.
I'm hoping this will post to you, Rain. You are as beautiful as you have always been. Facial features never change. Its hard to find the right daily diet due to different reasons with our body. IBS, RA and milk intolerance, kidney disease, overweight, along with too many medications. Since I turned 80 in January, trying to do better and I was dismissed from my heart doctor to the family doctor since we have the cholesterol under control. It was easy after I gave up bacon. I don't eat bad foods but too much. A habit when I quit smoking in 1995. I need to learn about my blood suger as Greybeard said and debated seeingva nutritionist. Thank you, Rain. I enjoyed this blog and I hope this goes through.
You do look good in the photo. My Pat gave up eating all things bread a couple of years ago and dropped her weight from around 130 to 104. She looked good. Unfortunately, a stroke took her away from me in January of this year.
I am so sorry for your loss. She always looked slim in the photos you shared of the two of you.
Judy, it went through. Thanks for the comment.
Graybeard, I got the ;pierce you; system when I had blood sugar near 100. Now it usually is near 87 unless I don't eat enough complex carbs :). I didn't expect low blood sugar and it's no fun.
Do hope all continues to go well for you. Health changes just seem to go with aging, especially when we reach a certain time in life for most of us. I've certainly encountered issues I never imagined and at an earlier age than I ever expected. I just go with the flow viewing adjustments I need to make as more challenges in life. I'm determined to continue deriving pleasure from what I can do and letting go of all else. The future remains unknown and may be a path different than I would have thought.
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