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.