What Did You Eat Today? Do You Know? It Is Important

What did you eat today? If you want to get serious about better control of your blood glucose levels, you need to begin keeping a track record of everything you eat. You then combine that activity with more frequent testing and patterns begin to emerge.

This morning for breakfast I ate a bowl of Quaker oats, with a tablespoon of cold pressed flax seeds, one package of Stevia and some skim milk. Later for a snack I had an 8 ounce glass of strawberry whey protein and a couple of mozzarella skim cheese sticks.

For lunch, I had a 6 inch chicken teriyaki sub, a small bag of whole grain chips and a diet pepsi at Subway. OK, I cheated a little. I have drank way too much diet pepsi and coke over the years and i am trying to wean myself off that too. Once in a while the craving hits me and i give in.

For dinner, I had a big slice of a rotisserie chicken breast, with some steamed green beans, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. For Christmas my daughter gave me a little pump spray bottle from "MISTO" which she purchased for around $10.00 from the mall. Now instead of wasting half of the extra virgin olive oil I put on the steamed veggies, I can put a light mist of olive oil that sticks to the veggies. A little light Italian dressing and some ground black pepper to taste and I am full.

Handful of nuts for late night snack.

What I didn't eat:

I didn't eat any bread today except for the 6 inch sub at Subway and that was 9 grain oat bread. I didn't have any cakes, pies, puddings, candy, doughnuts, cookies, potato chips and other empty calorie foods. I won't lie and tell you that I didn't have a couple pieces of pumpkin pie over the Holidays, however I don't make a habit of eating those foods anymore.

My blood sugar readings today:

1/4/11  (112)    12:01AM
1/4/11  (120)      4:30AM
1/4/11  (129)      8:00AM
1/4/11  (142)    10:00PM

For an almost 24 hour period, my blood glucose level did not go above 142. This is probably the best day I have had since I began getting serious about eating right, and frequently testing. I have read it is very important to try and avoid the "highs and lows" in your BG readings. Hopefully this is not a fluke and that my BG levels will be stabilized as long as I continue to eat right. If I can maintain this program till my next A1C, perhaps I can convince my doctor to allow me to cut back on Metformin and Glipizide.

I find that eating right and recording your blood sugar more frequently work hand in hand. If you know you are going to test later and put it out there for the world to see, then you tend to eat better. On the other hand if you eat better, then it is easier to put your numbers on display.

Over the last 7 years, my A1C figures have ranged from a high of 7.6 down to around 6.4. My goal is to get my A1C test down to below 6.2 and keep them there. Again, the key to it is education, taking responsibility for your own results, and making changes.

Here is a conversion chart for understanding your A1C readings:

What is it really? Mine is 7.2 (example) / not my own

Tin S	Glycated hemoglobin (A1C) test This test is not for diagnosing diabetes, but it shows you how well you have controlled your sugar in last 2 or 3 months. Normal value is less than 7%, however if it is more than 7 then you and your doctor should think of changing your treatment of diabetes. To convert an A1c to the new average mean blood glucose, use this formula: eAG(mg/dl) = (28.7 X HbA1c) – 46.7 So the old method has an A1c of 6% at an average blood glucose of 135mg/Dl, and using the new formula will give you 126mg/DL, and a 7% A1c now equals a eAG of 154mg/DL instead of 170mg/DL. A1c Average Blood Glucose mg/dL. eAG (New) mg/dL 5%  Example of an A1C 100  OLD method would put your average Blood Glucose here 97    NEW formula gives a lower average blood glucose reading of 97 (vs.) 100 1+2 6%  Another example of A1C 135 OLD reading 126 NEW formulas 7% A1C still acceptable for type II diabetics, but anything over this is too high 170 OLD reading 154 NEW formula 8%  / 205 OLD  / 183 NEW 9% / 240 OLD / 212 NEW 10% /275 OLD / 240 New 11% / 310 OLD / 269 NEW 12% / 245 OLD  / 298 NEW
N	Hemoglobin A1c is a value which represents the average blood glucose for the past few months. It is used to see how well controlled a diabetic is. The recommendations for diabetics is to keep the a1c lower than 7 and ideally less than 6.5

	Dan Psalm 103.3 "Praise the Lord, O' my soul and forget not all His benefits---who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases"