Gluten Free - Diabetic - Vegetarian.....,.oh joy

As mentioned in one of my posts from the beginning of this month, I have been on a mostly gluten free diet. So far, it has actually been quite easy to find substitutes. For example, today I had a burger bun that I didn't know was gluten free until my mum told me. It looked, smelled, and tasted just like real bread. But alas, on top of eating gluten free, I am also a vegetarian. I decided to stop eating meat in the 7th grade. That's about 5 years ago now. I really enjoy it and don't think I will go back to eating meat anytime soon. That's right folks, I am a 17 year who doesn't eat meat or wheat, and has to significantly limit my sugar intake. Believe it or not, it has not been that difficult to find foods that are yummy and nutritious that still fit my dietary needs. I have had amazing pastas, sandwhich's, burgers, pizzas*, bagels, you name it! Natural health food stores are your friends. They house everything you could possibly ask for. But unlike your local grocery mart, they understand that some people have certain restrictions on their diets, and willingly accommodate. They stock their shelves with the foods that you love and give you more options than you ever had before. So can I eat everything that people with "normal" diets eat? No. But I can ge pretty darn close. Happy shopping everyone. :o)

Diabetes Among the Mayhem

So yes.....I have been slacking on the posts. But I do have a valid excuse if it helps. This month has just been absolutely crazy for me between my two jobs and preparing for my grade 8 RCM piano examination. I hardly had time to breathe let alone write blog posts. But now I'm back and today's theme is (surprise, surprise) being busy and managing diabetes. Now I would be lying if I told you that the summer I have been 100% on top of my diabetes 100% of the time. I will admit that I have been a little (just slightly) slack on some of my care. Not to the point where I have had any lows or serious highs, but just some bad habits that I need to fix before they become regulars on the diabetes train (a bit too corny maybe?). Most of these just happen to be giving my bolus injection after a meal, not doing ANY nighttime checks, and testing maybe 3 times a day (even though my doctors only tell me to do it 4 times each day, during the school year I was doing it up to 10 haha). So I made a "back to school resolution" to be more organized in everything I do, but especially in my diabetes maintenance. I feel like I need to curb bad habits early in the game rather than later when they will surely be much harder to stop. Wish me luck!

hannathedrivingdiabetic :)

YESSSSSS!!!! I did it.......Miss Hanna Taylor passed her drivers test. Just like any other teenage girl..... Sure I have to have a medical screening in order to re-class my license, but it's done. Here is my "driving prep" list:

1.) Make sure I know where I'm going, how long I'm going to be gone, and if I plan on eating anything while I'm out. This isn't just so my parent's know what I'm up to, it's so I know in advance what could possibly happen to my blood sugars.

2.) ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS make sure I keep fast acting sugar on me. Last thing I need is getting pulled over by a cop who thinks I'm drunk just because I'm having a low.

3.) This builds on the last one: I, without fail, make sure I check my blood sugar before the keys go in the ignition. If it's below 4.4 mmol/L, I eat something.

4.) I stop every so often to check my blood sugar while I'm driving. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

5.) So this hasn't happened yet, but I'm going to get a decal for my car that let's other drivers know that I have diabetes. This is good for two reasons, a.) if my driving is affected in anyway, people may be less like to to "road rage" while around me. b.) in case of emergency, people automatically know what my condition is.

So my last piece of advice to you is to be aware of your body and your blood sugar, but don't become obsessed to the point where you're forgetting about the basic road rules. And please please please, do not try to check your BG while actually driving.

SAFE DRIVING EVERYONE!!!!

Canada Always Misses Out

Well, "always" might be a little bit of an exaggeration, But I really have noticed that Canada does really miss out on some cool products that other countries get (cough, cough Great Britain, United States). Namely the two products that I'm getting at are Dexcom and Symlin. I mean honestly, other than the integrated Medtronic real-time on their pumps, Canada has no access to any other countinuous glucose monitoring system. Not fair at all. We want tight glucose control just like everyone else! And Symlin (a.k.a Pramlintide/ Amylin) in an injectable drug used to prevent post-meal glucose spikes and can sometimes allow you to use less insulin. For me, as soon as I started on insulin I started gaining weight like nobody's business. Less insulin would be a godsend.

So why is it that Canada doesn't get the cool stuff like some other countries do? I mean, we are a fair sized country that maintains great connections with Europe and the States. From my research it is narrowed down to mainly these two things; Health Canada (Canadian equivalent of FDA) has not approved it yet, OR the manufacturer does not think that Canada has a big enough market to make a profit.

THIS IS A TOTAL BUMMER!!!

p.s On the plus side though, two cool things we do have are the InsuLinx glucose meter and the color screen on the Animas Ping meter-remote.

Gluten Free And Me...

***Before reading this post please note that I strongly discourage anyone from doing or changing anything in their diets without first talking to their medical proffesional(s). I know my body but I do not know yours.***

     Just these past two weeks I decided I was going to try something. I stopped eating gluten. No I'm not a Celiac, nor do I have a gluten allergy or intolerance. And I'm definitely not self-diagnosing myself. My objective was to cut gluten from my diet for a little bit to see if it made a difference. And boy did it ever! I've already lost 8 pounds of the weight that I put on since I started on insulin. I feel much less tired and groggy and my concentration has improved tenfold. 

    I thought it was going to be really hard but I was pleasantly surprised. For those of you who don't know, gluten is a substance found in wheat, barley, rye and many other grains. Meaning it is present in pretty much all pasta, cookies, bread, baked goods etc.  But you would not believe the amount of gluten free options out there. I just found some gluten free perogies and taquitos that are positively scrumptious. Some of my favorite brands so far are Udi's and Glutino, which between them, have a massive variety of cereals, breads, bagels, granola bars, and even desserts. Panago Pizza even offers a gluten free crust now too.

    Both my parent's are in on this too. We have all read the book "Wheat Belly" by William Davis M.D. It talks about the numerous benefits there are to eliminating gluten, especially wheat, from your everyday diet. This can be really good for diabetics too because wheat can really make blood sugars spike.

So before anyone tells me that I should not be making this change unless I actually have to, I have been feeling so much better without this kind of food in my life. I am ensuring that I am not missing out on nutrients and I make sure to closely monitor my blood sugars. I have succeeded very well on a vegetarian diet for five years now and I can can definitely accomodate for this change in my life too.

Have a super Saturday!!!!