Happy Birthday to Me

Here I am, 37 years old and not really feeling that much different. I still have occasional dreams of being in high school even though I graduated from college ten years ago. Every now and then I dream that I've somehow gone back to college and I can't remember which courses I'm scheduled for.

Overall, I had a pretty good day. Having my mom home from the hospital and doing so well is a present in itself. 

My niece Lizzie spent the night with us last night, I had a nice morning walk around the park with my headphones, I got to go on a little trip to our local mall (I can hardly remember the last time I've set foot in that place) and we bought a few goodies from Bath & Body Works, we came home for a nice lunch, I relaxed with more music while Mom shopped some more, Christine eventually swung by with my youngest nephew Lucas (Josh and Spencer chose to stay home and Spencer's birthday happens to be tomorrow), and we had dinner at Chick-fil-A. 

My birthday cake came from my workplace. I asked for the smallest cake we had, a chocolate strawberry one with vanilla mousse, and to my surprise, it was already paid for. Guess that's their little present to me, I sure can't complain about free cake, and I also got to take home a free pastry; I chose one of our tasty mini raspberry tarts. Ice cream was Rocky Road and plain vanilla. Turned out Mom was allowed to have a little cake and ice cream, and Chick-fil-A is a fairly diabetic-friendly place. Mom loves their chicken salads and I had a very nice grilled chicken sandwich, though I opted for a medium combo instead of the large like I used to. It felt a little strange eating fries and drinking soda again, but it was kind of nice, too. Mom had Coke Zero while I had Cherry Coke. 

Besides the B&BW stuff, my other presents mainly consisted of clothes. Since I'm losing weight, my old clothes are starting to feel baggier, so I got new jeans and a nice new shirt. 

The cake was quite rich, so we only had a small amount as well as a small amount of ice cream. Christine helped to serve up, and that's about it. 

Like I said, a nice day on the whole. Happy birthday to me, and happy birthday to Spencer tomorrow!

Making Changes

Looking at Mom now, you hardly would have guessed anything had ever happened. But of course, now she has to be a lot more careful about what she eats and drinks, and she needs to exercise more on top of checking her blood sugar regularly and taking her necessary diabetic medications every day. Such is the case for all of us.

I've never been one to dictate what other people should or shouldn't eat or drink. But when you think about it, it's amazing and rather scary how unhealthy most of us are. I was surprised to discover just how bad soda is; sure, a little soda on occasion won't do any real harm, but too much of it at a time (even just one can or bottle a week) all but guarantees disaster. It not only causes your blood sugar to skyrocket but it also sucks calcium from your bones, so it's not very tooth-friendly, and it's not the best thing for quenching your thirst. You're much better off drinking water and milk most of the time.

Fast foods and processed foods are pretty bad as well, and the effects are further sped up when you don't provide enough of a counterbalance with good food and exercise.

Not only that, but how much you eat at a time matters just as much. Ideally, vegetables should make up at least half your plate (leafy greens are best), you should eat more fruits than drink them in juices and smoothies, and whole grains fill you up better.

So while these lifestyle changes are taking some getting used to, I must admit it's a rather nice change. I'm losing some weight already; I've always been a bit on the plump side and so I'm at greater risk for diabetes myself, so this is good progress. I've spent a lot of time cooped up in my room, either on my bed or in front of my desk, but now I'm dedicating myself to a little outdoor walk every non-work morning, before it gets too hot, and we take Mom out for a little walk around our church (which is just across the street) in the evenings.

I'm forcing myself to go to bed sooner, too. I got in the habit of staying up pretty late, but I'm enforcing a stricter curfew for myself. Just last night, I probably had the best sleep I had in ages.

Nothing crazy or excessive. Just a little tweak here, a little tweak there, and maintaining consistency.