After spending a few hours in gorgeous (and warm) Laguna Beach, I went shopping for food for a few days. The grocery store was mobbed, and it took about fifteen minutes to get through the line. I guess everyone is stocking up for New Year's Day.

Tonight, I made pork medalions over pecan spinach. It was very easy to prepare. I fried the pork in canola oil, then put them aside in a warming dish. In the same pan, I squirted the juice from a lemon and a shot of hot pepper sauce. After a quick stir, I put a box of thawed spinach, diced green onion, and two tablespoons of chopped pecans into the pan and let them cook for about five minutes. After dishing the spinach mixture on a place, I covered it with the cooked pork medalions and served it with a green salad. It was a perfect dish.

Tomorrow I'm packing away my former suits and other clothes I've outgrown to put in storage. I thing about the amount of money I'm packing away, but when I consider how much healthier I am now, it's worth it.

Happy new year!

I went to the doctor this morning to get my blood tested. He officially told me that I have lost 39 pounds since October 8, the day I was rushed to the hospital for having a diabetic reaction. I will get the results on Monday, but he thinks the numbers will be way down, and that I can continue using diet and exercise to maintain my health. In fact, he thinks I won't need medication until I'm in my 70's. (I'm glad he thinks I'm going to live until my 70's.) Although I swim, he wants me to start weight resistant exercises. What I didn't know was that building muscle helps to battle diabetes. I belong to a gym where I swim, now I need to get to the circuit room. He also said that exercise is the best thing one can do to keep diabetes in check. I always feel better after a swim so I've got to find other things to supplement that exercise.

After thinking about what a drag it is to go to the gym, I went out and bought a weighted hula hoop and two ten-pound weights. Don't laugh, it's a start. I haven't hula hooped in forty years, but I can keep it around my waist!

Tonight for dinner, I prepared Lemon Chicken from the Diabetic Living cookbook and sauteed asparagus. I served the chicken and the scrumptious sauce over about two tablespoons of brown rice. To make the lemon chicken, I cut up one huge boneless chicken breast into four pieces, dipped each piece in non-fat milk, coated it with breadcrumbs, and fried it in melted Smart Balance for five minutes to set the breadcrumbs and brown the chicken. Over that, I poured 1 3/4 cups of water, the juice from half a lemon, and minced garlic. I brought that to a boil, then let it simmer for 15 minutes. The chicken was incredibly tender and went well with the crunchy sauteed asparagus.

I'm going to leave you with a picture of me and my new weighted hula hoop. Enjoy your evening.

When I woke up this morning, I immediately started dinner! The Diabetic Living cookbook recipe that I chose today was the Spinach, Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, and it's prepared in a crockpot. Nothing could have been easier than adding water, reduced-sodium chicken broth, reduced-fat and reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup, wild rice, thyme and pepper to my crockpot and letting it simmer for eight hours. When the soup was done, I simply added some cooked turkey (although the recipe calls for chicken) and fresh baby spinach. The taste was delicious and the soup was filling. Like all the recipes I've made so far, there was enough left over for tomorrow's lunch.

I see the doctor tomorrow morning to check my blood sugar. I've been lucky in that I'm not being medicated to keep this disease in check. The doctor wanted to try the diet/exercise route, and I'm hoping that my numbers have decreased significantly, especially in light of the major weight reduction.

Today, I packed up my shorts and pants and took them to the Salvation Army. I have purchased six pairs of new pants that fit me now. Next, I need to go through my shirts. My dress shirts are definitely too big. I hate giving away all of these clothes, recalling how much they originally cost, but it's for a good reason. I think I put my skinny clothes in storage; it's time to check that out.

I have an ear infection today, which prohibits me from going swimming this evening, but Stella and I took a long walk earlier, so I'll count that as my exercise for the day. (By the way, Stella is the one in the picture.)

Day 2

I have the week off so I'm really taking the time to peruse the recipes in Diabetic Living. So far, I've batted a thousand. For lunch, I made another Spinach Panini, and it was even better than last night's because I stuffed more spinach into it, which made it bulkier and chewier. For dinner, I tried two recipes and, once again, I'm glad I have enough left over to be tomorrow's lunch.

I made a simple green salad of mixed baby greens, cucumber, plum tomatoes, chives, and my newest favorite food-kalamati olives. If you haven't tried these, you need to do yourself a favor and do so. They're more expensive than green or black olives, but their flavor is in a class of its own. You can even get them pitted. I made the balsamic vinegar recipe from the cookbook, and it was perfect for this salad. 1/3 cup of good balsamic vinegar, 1/3 cup of olive oil, three cloves of garlic (Yummm!), and fresh oregano are thrown into a blender to produce a sweet, but tangy, dressing for the green salad.

For the main course, I made Pork Chops with Red Cabbage and Pears. The boneless chops, which I pounded to the recommended half-inch thickness, were braised with a cider vinegar, brown sugar (substitute), and dried sage mixture. Once they were done, I covered them in foil to keep them warm. Using the same pan, I heated red cabbage and red onion slices for 8 minutes before pouring in the remainder of the braise mixture and cut-up pears. The pan was covered for a few minutes. (This is when I whipped up the salad.) For the last five minutes, I put the pork chops on top of the cabbage and pear combination to reheat them.

Each dish alone was good, but I served both recipes on the same plate and the combination of all the flavors really made this dinner a memorable one.

I'm down to 175 pounds as of today; that's 37 pounds lighter than I was on
October 8. I don't know about other diabetics out there, but when I put something into my mouth that doesn't agree with me, I can feel my blood getting hot, especially in my feet. I hate the feeling, but it's a damn good indicator of what my body can tolerate.

Anyhow, if you're taking the time to read this, thank you. I'm going swimming!

Introduction

On October 8, 2009, I was at work in my role of principal of an elementary school. Around 11:00 a.m., I felt a pain in my chest and was afraid I was having a heart attack. The school nurse rushed into my office, where I was lying on the floor. After checking me out, she called an ambulance, which took me to the nearest hospital. After twenty-four hours of all kinds of tests, the doctor told me my heart was in great shape, but that my blood sugar levels were high and that I should check in with my regular doctor. I did that and found out that I was a type-2 diabetic. The news was shocking because diabetes does not run in my family, but more importantly, the news was a wake up call for me. At 57 years old, I weighed 212 pounds. Although I love to cook and eat healthy foods, as well as swim laps four times a week, I was overweight and needed to do something about it. My doctor recommended losing 20 pounds and sent me to a dietician to talk about how to change my diet. She was very helpful in showing me the old pie chart that recommends a quarter of a pie of protein, a quarter of carbs, and a half pie of vegetables. She also suggested that I eat six small meals a day, keeping an eye on the calories, as well as the balance of foods I was eating.

On Christmas day, I was 35 pounds lighter than I was on October 8. I'm back to the weight I was at for most of my young adult life. I feel great, look great, but am constantly looking for sales at clothing stores to keep my body in pants that fit! The weight loss came from eating foods with absolutely no sugar and few carbs. For breakfast, I choke down egg beaters laced with chunks of chicken accompanied by a slice of wheat toast. When I'm too busy to cook breakfast, I eat Carbmaster yogurt with roasted almonds and a Think Thin Creamy Peanut bar. Lunch usually means a turkey wrap on wheat. For dinner, I'm gotten creative with chicken, although I've added pork and turkey medalions to my menu, as well. All of these meats are prepared with loads of green vegetables or squash. Snacks generally include more yogurt, almonds, and Think Thin bars. I've made sure to exercise every day, as well. If I can't swim, I go for long walks with my dog. People at school have been amazed at my weight reduction and their words keep me going when I feel like all I want to do is dive into a New York cheesecake.

A couple of things happened in the last couple of weeks that inspired me to start this blog. The first was viewing Julia and Julie, the movie about a woman who cooks and bakes her way through Julia Child's cookbook. The second was receiving The Better Homes and Gardens Diabetic Cookbook. My dream was to open a restaurant some day, but I thought the diabetes would prevent me from doing that. Receiving the cookbook has given me hope that if I learn how to cook differently, I might open a restaurant for diabetics. So..long story short, just as the character in Julia and Julie cooked her way through a cookbook, I'm going to cook my way through my new cookbook and report the experience on this blog. There are five hundred recipes to make, and I'm not going to promise to make them all, but I will try the ones that look great.

Today, December 27, I made my first recipe, Spinach Panini, and it was wonderful. Fortunately, I have enough ingredients left over to make it again tomorrow. The recipe is simple: After you've sprayed you panini pan with Pam and are waiting for it to heat up, place a layer of baby spinach on a slice of whole wheat bread. On top of that, layer thin tomato slices, thin red onion slices, fresh basil, feta cheese, and top all of those ingredients with another layer of spinach. Place the other slice of bread on top and push it down to keep in all of the ingredients. When the panini press is ready, put the sandwich in for two minutes. Voila, you have a tasty and healthy meal. I ate mine with Kalamati olives (delicious flavor) and sliced kosher pickle spears.

I want to thank Terri Owens for the cookbook, which provided me with the inspiration to write this.