23 Days...

My streak made it 23 days...

Well, I made a strategic decision to change my exercise streak. Working out every single day is not realistic for me. I'm not trying to worm my way out of this (or maybe I am!) but here's my reasoning:

On Tuesday I woke up at 5 am to get dressed and ready for work which began at 6:30. No real time to exercise before work, unless I wanted to get up at 4 am, but I think we can all admit that's a bit excessive. I worked from 6:30 to 3 pm, drove to class, attended my Latin American history seminar from 4 to 6:45 pm. My blood sugar had been good all afternoon and was 106 mg/dl as I left class.

Here was the dilemma. If I exercised at 106 mg/dl with no insulin working in my system (my last humalog injection was over 6 hours ago) It would probably raise my blood sugar. If I gave myself some insulin at 106 to exercise, I would definitely need a snack to avoid a low. That 150 calorie snack would be just a few less calories than I'd burn in a 30 minute workout. If I skipped the workout, I'd be at a perfect blood sugar to have dinner. See the problem? If exercise is about burning calories and ultimately losing weight (which it is for me) than eating something just to workout doesn't make a lot of sense. Don't get me wrong, I do eat a snack before exercising quite often, but when you know the workout is going to be pretty weak, it doesn't feel worth it.

My exercise "streak" has been altered, but not abandoned! I'm thinking of doing a weekly streak. In order to have a week count, I'll have to exercise at least 5 days out of the week. This way I can take breaks throughout the week when my schedule doesn't permit a good, long workout. Also, I'll exercise more strenuously during my five workouts than I would when I'm trying to fit in something everyday. Like, this past week. After taking Tuesday off, I woke up early Wednesday and did my long, tough Tae-bo workout.

Today I also don't have time for a workout. I have the same work and school schedule as Tuesday and tonight is the Gonzaga vs. UCLA basketball game at 7 pm. This game is huge in our house. It's actually the first real test of our marriage. Dennis (my husband) is a UCLA Bruins fan and I'm a fan of Gonzaga and my diabetic buddy Adam Morrison. My husband and I are big sports fans. Watching baseball, basketball and especially football is a large part of our life together. But, in our three year relationship we've never seriously been for opposing teams. Someone may very well be sleeping on the couch tonight :)

I'll keep you posted on my weekly exercise streak. After this week, I'll have four consecutive weeks of at least 5 days of exercise. Not too shabby!

Go Zags!!

Musings on Saint Patrick's Day!

I like lists. Lists are good. Especially when you have a bunch of random thoughts without any real theme to link them. (I doubt this format will work for my thesis... darn!)

• Today is Saint Patrick's Day and I'm wearing a new green shirt that looks much more electric green than it did in the store.
  
• My boss is Irish and just sent an email to the shareholders and our department asking if we'd like to join him for some green beer at 11:30 this morning. He stated: "I might need somebody to watch me to be sure I get back by one as I have been known to disappear into the bowels of numerous Irish pubs downtown on March 17th if not adequately supervised, I might not return till Monday!" I have a great boss.
  
• My streak is now at 19 days. Fitting in at least 30 minutes of exercise everyday is tricky. But once you're committed to it, you find a way. Case in point. I woke up late on Wednesday and didn't have time to do my Tae-bo before work. I HAD to do some reading after work. Hmm. When can I workout? I brought my running shoes, socks and a t-shirt to work, through them on at lunch and took a 40 minute walk up an down a large hill by my office. I took advantage of the weather in beautiful San Diego: 65 degrees, brillant sunshine with a strong breeze!
  
• A side note to the beautiful weather comment: San Diego is amazing! That's why so many people want to live here and the median home price is almost $600K. Ridiculous!!
  
• It's NCAA Tournament Time!! I love it! I ran three miles on the treadmill last night while watching the Gonazaga Bulldogs come back and defeat Xavier! I was so excited. If NCAA basketball was on everytime I ran, I'd be 105 pounds. Seriously. Adam Morrison is the most amazing player and I'm unendingly impressed with his ability to manage his type 1 diabetes during such intense games. (See previous blog on Adam).
  
• The timing with the tournament and my thesis writing is not good. This week was spring break and I did just that... took a break! But, I don't have the luxury of time right now. I have a 30 page chapter of my thesis due at the end of April and my research has been minimal so far. Please pray for me.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day. I'll be having a green, low-carb beer by 6 p.m. tonight! Cheers!!

Highs and dreams?!

I dream a lot more when my blood sugar is high. Anyone else experience this?!

I tend to get low at night, particularly when I exercise. Sometimes in my desperate attempts to keep my blood sugar up, I over shoot it and end up high.

How do I know I'm high in the middle of the night? Not only am I thirsty and restless, but I dream a ton! Sometimes they're bad dreams... like last night :( But whether they're nightmares or pleasant dreams, I dream constantly when I'm high.

I have crazy dreams in general. When I tell people my dreams, even folks who are into dream interpretation, they're like "you're just weird!" It's as if my brain just downloads every random thought I've ever had and mixes them up. Quite amusing in the light of day actually :)

So, that's it. My thought for the day is: What's up with dreaming so much when my blood sugar is high?!

The streak is alive... but barely!

So, as I've mentioned previously, my days are literally scheduled to the minute this semester. Trying to fit in this 100 day streak of exercise is actually a bit ludicrous. However, I am loving my blood sugars with all this exercise, so I'm really working to accomplish the streak!

Last night I thought I might end it at 8 days...

Since it was Tuesday, my only free time to fit in a quick workout would be after my class, before dinner, from 7:15-8 p.m. I was sitting in my Latin American History class. We took a ten minute break at 5:20 p.m. I figured I should test so I could ensure a good blood sugar for my post-class workout. I search through my purse and my bag for my little black kit containing my meter. Huh, don't see it.

Now, my kit is black and both bags are black, so this momentary feeling where my heart jumps into my throat as I ponder "where would I have left it?!" hits me just about every other day. I'm getting used to it and just take a breath and slowly search around the bottom of the bag until my hand inevitably lands on the familiar object wedged in the corner. This time that didn't happen.

Darn, I must have left it at work! I vaguely remember testing before I left. Hmm. This stinks. If any of you are familiar with San Diego, you know that it is incredibly spread out! I live, work and go to school (SDSU) all in the city of San Diego. However, we live downtown (south), I work in Scripps Ranch (north) and SDSU is east. The drive from school up to work and back home would take me 35-45 minutes, depending on traffic. That cuts seriously into my workout time. (Plus, I need to get to bed no later that 10 pm so I can get up and do Tae-bo at 5 am the next morning).

I resign myself to having to run back to work for my kit and figure, "I'll start a new streak tomorrow." After class I rush to my car with the small hope that maybe it fell out of my bag when I pulled a notebook out that I didn't need. I open the car door and right there on the driver's seat is my kit!

"Oh right, I tested my blood in the car before walking to class." I'm such a nerd. I'd been convinced that I had to make this totally inconvenient trip up north for my kit and even called my husband to tell him so. Opps.

The next obstacle to overcome was changing my mindset about exercise that night. Since I thought I wouldn't be able to do it, I was kinda okay with restarting the streak and just relaxing that night. Ahh! We really are our own worst enemy! But, I got home and found that my husband had just finished a run, so it was good ol' spousal competition that got me to hit the gym!

So, I got to fit in a 30 minute treadmill workout after all! :)

Counting the tae-bo I did this morning... the streak is alive and well at 10 days!!

Let the Streak Begin!

So, I'm attempting to join John and others in a 100 day exercise streak.

I'm in a good routine of Tae-bo on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. I can get up early and do them before having to be at work at 8 am. The difficulty for me are my Tuesdays and Thursdays. I start work at 6:30 am; leave for class at 3 pm; have class from 4 to 6:40 pm; get home, make dinner, study, and try to be in bed by 10 pm, so I can wake up the next morning at 5:00 am to do Tae-bo.

Hmm. We have a gym in our apartment complex, so sneaking in a workout is a possibility. In fact, this Tuesday our class was cancelled for student/professor conferences, so I still left work at 3 pm and had a nice walk/run on the treadmill for 35 minutes. It had been awhile since I ran, so it felt good to get back into it.

I guess I'll try to hit the gym for a quick half hour when I get home from class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It won't be my most intense workouts, but at least it'll keep the streak going.

I am constantly AMAZED by how much exercise helps my blood sugars. I did Tae-bo Saturday, but not Sunday or Monday (plus my period started, which we women know can wreck havoc on blood sugars!) and I went over 300 mg/dl on Monday! It's been months since I was over that mark!! Since my workouts Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, I've been golden, never over 150 mg/dl! Plus my insulin needs are really low!

With all the stuff I'm cramming into my life this semester, I really NEED to exercise to keep my energy and blood sugar control. So, even though it'll be tough to fit everything in, I think it'll be worth it.

So, my streak is starting off at 2 days already... Wish me luck! :)