Friday, May 25, 2012

On a Mission . . . .

After having my Bad Diabetes Day it would be easy to get frustrated and put in a little less effort.  I’ve been feeling pretty depressed lately too, so that makes it even easier to just throw in the towel.  But instead I’m trying to fight through.  And for some reason, I decided my mission of choice would be to conquer cereal.

A bowl of cold cereal is near the top of my list of foods I can’t seem to work out a bolus for.  I have such a difficult time eating it without a huge post-meal spike.  I’m not a huge fan of cereal, so usually I’m happy to just choose something else for breakfast.  But for the past few days, I’ve really wanted some cereal for breakfast.  So I set about to finally work out a bolus for it once and for all.

SpecialK
I don’t quite have it down yet, but I’m definitely making progress.  For the past two days I actually ended up too low during my post-breakfast blood sugar check.  So I’ll keep dialing down my aggressive bolusing bit by bit until I get the formula worked out.

Eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast is such a minor thing that most people wouldn’t think twice about it.  But when diabetes is in play, the smallest things can become a challenge.  I’m on a mission to make cereal work for me, and I think I’m almost there.

What diabetes missions are you taking on these days?

14 comments:

  1. Hi Karen! I had this challenge with porridge believe it or not. Took me two weeks to get it right but think I'm there! I'm taking on the massive challenge of trying to reduce Hba1c naturally over twelve months as I'm at that age where the pregnancy chats with dsns are becoming more frequent...!! Good luck x

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  2. Don't give up, Karen. I usually don't eat cereal for the same reason, but there are days I crave it. I have my box of Honey Nut Cheerios, non-fat milk and add up the carbs to 38 grams and it usually works for me...but that depends on every other variable. No two days are alike. That's why we can only "manage" diabetes....it's never an exact science. It drive me crazy too, but some days I just gotta have it. So I do the usual 38 and hope for the best :)

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  3. Exercise. Sometimes it drops me, sometimes it raises me, and sometimes it does NOTHING. I still can't quite figure it out, even if it's the exact same walk home. One day I will conquer exercise! And I will NOT end up in the fifties, barely able to get my key in the door afterwards!

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  4. When you get it please share:)

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  5. Almost everything since my 9.5 year old daughter's T1D diagnosis eight weeks ago. Managing everything she eats can be so infuriating with her numbers nonsensical. Right now I'm focused on getting her friends' parents comfortable having her over, especially for sleep overs. Mostly, I'm gearing up for her summer which includes a cruise with her grandparents, a rafting trip with friends, and a 'regular' camp. All of which were planned before her diagnosis and we don't have the heart to cancel. The role of T1D advocate and educator can be exhausting, but otherwise, she's be missing out.

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  6. I gave up eating cereal at breakfast many years ago. Even oatmeal and bran flakes caused a big spike for me. If I really wanted cereal very much, I would eat it at lunch since my insulin sensitivity is higher then, and I usually exercise soon after that meal. I actually don't eat cereal at any time of day now. There are things I like better for lunch. Fruit is my favorite dessert, no other dessert interests me as much.

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  7. Pre-bolus!!! Like 20-30 minutes!!!

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  8. YOU totally CAN do it!!! The frustrating thing is that it takes tweak, study, repeat...tweak/study/repeat to even sort of figure things out...and even then...there are always other variables. :)

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  9. HI Karen,
    I see you eat Special K. Have you tried the high protein Special K? Its not quite as flavorful as the others, but it is lower carb. I do put a little bit of a granola cereal on it to give it a boost. I've eaten cereal just about every day my entire life and could just not give it up. This cereal and sometimes an egg on the side do help.
    Enjoyed D-Blog week!

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  10. I agree with Richard - for me it seems like anything eaten before noon will cause a bad spike, probably because of the wake-up hormones that are rambling through my body. But I know it's probably not as satisfying to have cereal later in the day....

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  11. Oh how I miss cereal! I finally had to give it up but I don't have insulin to adjust with so it's just out for me. I know you can figure this out! (by the way, I adore that there is an empty coffee pot in your picture. :)

    My mission these days is to drop my fasting reading. It just stubbornly stays in the 115-125 range no matter what I do! Damn liver. I won't give up, and neither should you.

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  12. I am not a big cereal eater either but if I decide to get some, I have it for dinner instead.

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  13. I've noticed lately that oatmeal is doing this same thing to me.. and I am eating boring, plain oatmeal - prepackaged so I know exactly how many carbs, and I use water not milk. Frustrating! :/

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  14. I gave up cereal too because though it's my favorite food it is awful for managing my blood sugars. So frustrating! Then I switched to eggs but then my daughter became deathly allergic to them, aarrgh! Anyway, if something is really hard for me to eat I just don't eat it except for special occasions. I've just gotten so tired of struggling. Good luck to you and keep us posted on how it goes!

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