Discouragement

The last week or so has been discouraging. My blood sugar readings were frequently too high even after I started exercising again. And although the first couple of weeks on the diet weren't too bad, in the last 10 days, I've had a couple of days where I really, really craved something I couldn't have. Something as simple as an extra glass of milk or some juice or a bite of Thom's ice cream. It felt depressing to be avoiding those things and still have high blood sugar.

I did feel like I cheated a little. Although I was told I could have angel food cake and had had some previously without a problem, I had some last week when I had family over for dinner. With unsweetened peaches and just slightly sweetened home made whip cream. It would have been OK, but that was when I was just getting back into exercising and knew I was having trouble keeping my blood sugar under control.

Previously, I had been consistently having the same bedtime snack of 1/2 a peanut butter sandwich with a teaspoon of reduced sugar jam and a glass of milk. That snack had seemed to keep my fasting glucose levels in check. But not only did I have the angel food cake for my night time snack that Tuesday, I varied my night time snack several nights in a row because I just wanted something different. But after having high fasting scores several days in a row, I went back to my peanut butter sandwiches. A different week it might have been OK, but I probably shouldn't have changed it the week I was struggling to keep my blood sugar under control.

I also had several days where I just felt hungry all day. Or I'd eat a snack and feel full for only 30 minutes. Those were tough days. I could have had an extra low-carb snack (and once or twice I did), but mostly I didn't feel like eating anything I could have had.

I think the most discouraging day was the day I had a fasting level of 100 and even though I only had one piece of Trader Joe's french toast (15 g carbs) with peanut butter and went for an 18 minute walk, my post-breakfast reading was 136. I had never had a high post-breakfast level after going for a walk. That was disappointing.

Overall, I feel good about how I'm doing with the diet and the amount I am exercising. And most days the diet is tolerable. But some days are definitely harder than others.