Any of my readers that follow me on Facebook know that I failed my glucose test a couple weeks ago and have Gestational Diabetes. I was feeling really bummed about it at first because it meant having to go back to seeing the high risk doctor regularly again, the dreaded finger pricking, and the all-around guilt I felt for knowing my baby is more at risk for being bigger (which means risking C-section) when she's already been measuring a bit big anyway and more at risk to develop diabetes later in life. But after talking to friends and a few people who had it in their pregnancies, I felt better. Still not over the finger pricking though! The bright side is that I should be able to manage it with just diet and no meds, which means eating better for me and baby anyway!
So I got my handy dandy diabetes kit and was ready to roll! I got out a little journal and started logging all the food I ate for each meal and what the subsequent blood sugar level was 2 hours later. Man, does that open your eyes....
The first day testing, I had a bowl of shredded wheat cereal for breakfast. Even measured out just a cup. Blood sugar level went way high! What?! I read over the pamphlets the doctor gave me, searched information online, and started to realize it has a lot more to do with balancing your meals out then avoiding anything. Not that there aren't things you should try and avoid or limit.
My first week with GD, I was in Florida, with the rest of the staff I work with, for a teaching seminar. While there, our meals were provided for us at the college cafeteria. Which basically means 8 full buffets for every meal each day! Oh the self control. I did try to do the best with what I could. But most days I had 1 level go over. Some days even 2. I started to think that maybe that was just normal and accepted it.
After I got back from Florida, I made my grocery shopping trip for all the things I thought I'd need for my new diet. Oh my goodness....even having 1 level a day is not normal and I should not accept it! For the week I've been back home I've only had ONE day where even 1 level was too high (eating fast food the day before grocery shopping). I'm getting the hang of it and eating more things I wouldn't normally (like peanut butter! yuck) and I'm pretty proud of myself so far. Now it's like an inward competition to see how many days in a row I can make it without any levels going over. The hardest part has honestly been having to make sure I actually eat 3 full on meals every day! I hate eating when I'm not hungry.
Here's an example of some of the things I've had the last week.
1) 2 eggs on a whole wheat english muffin, organic unsweetened apple sauce, and a glass of milk. 2) Bran flakes (plainest cereal ever) with banana (makes it taste so much better). 3) honey, all natural organic peanut butter, and banana slices on whole wheat english muffin. With the rest of the banana on the side and a glass of milk. 4) Turkey sandwich (haven't had deli meat the entire pregnancy cause heating it didn't sound good but I finally broke down and got some since it's an easy lunch) on whole wheat sandwich thins with multi grain tortilla chips (these are SO much better than regular tortilla chips! yum!) and black bean/corn salsa. 5) Baked breaded salmon and baked shrimp with broccoli and grilled squash. 6) Cucumbers and carrots with spinach/artichoke hummus (nope. still don't like hummus!).
Hope this gives any of you with GD some ideas and motivation. I'd love for any of you to share some meal ideas with me! Especially any of you who have/had GD too. I get tired of having the same things all the time. Well, time to go make dinner. Tostadas tonight! =)
I've been trying a lot of new recipes since I started meal planning. I wanted to share a few that I've tried the past couple weeks. These are my real pictures of how they all turned out! I hate when the pinterest picture (or whatever other site you use to find recipes) looks like perfection and then it doesn't come out at all like that! =)
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I was so excited to find this recipe. I love having coffee in the morning but I like it sweet and creamy. Like half coffee, half cream kinda coffee. But I am trying to cut out sugar. This was super easy and fast to make and smelled soooooo good. Even after adding it to the coffee it still smelled so sweet and delicious. Then I tasted it and I was a little disappointed. It didn't taste nearly as strong as it smelled. It kind of just tasted like watered down coffee and not very sweet at all. BUT I am going to try again with regular milk instead of almond to make it thicker and add a little more of the spice and honey to sweeten. I'm not giving up yet. For all you normal coffee drinkers out there, this recipe may work just fine for you. It's a nice alternative (with way less ingredients) to store bought creamer.
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So this picture is actually my husband's plate. After I made his plate I couldn't get another big piece of leaf like that so I ate mine like a salad. I have yet to find good wrap leafs! Anyways... not going to lie. I was a little worried about this as I was cooking. There's a couple different asian seasonings and everything was just making a weird smell to me as it was cooking. But this was delicious! Definitely going in the meal plan rotation. I maaaay have used a teensy more sriracha than necessary. I love sriracha and spiciness but my husband can't handle too much. His mouth was on fire...but he still finished it.
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Find this recipe here
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This meal is not paleo since it includes beans and corn. And a meatless meal was something different for us. But this is another good one! I really liked it but not sure how often it will make the rotation since the husband wasn't as much of a fan. He finished it but only after dousing it with a ton more cheese. He's not a big veggie (especially onion and pepper) lover and that's mostly what is in this. He actually really likes spaghetti squash (when I make it as spaghetti anyway) though. This basically just sautéed onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno layered with black beans, corn, and the spaghetti squash. The only hard part to this was actually cutting the squash!
Let me know if you try any of these and how you like them.
