Show your Diabetic Pride to the world!!

I have been designing diabetic humor shirts for over a year now and these are just a few of my designs.  I am working on more in the midst of my ailing health right now.  I hope you like them!!!  I will be coming out with kids shirts toward the christmas season.  If you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know……

I am really loving  it  here in Portland/Beaverton, Oregon.

Yesterday, my “X” and I went on a train ride across the countryside from Hood River to Odell.  The scenery is just breath taking.  There were vineyards, orchards  and a few Victorian houses.  Everything was green!  I just loved the way the Douglas ferns layered across the mountains creating different color spectrum of greens into the horizon.  Way in the back of the horizon was Mt. Hood, which a big snow capped mountain.  Underneath all of the trees in the gorge was a fast moving river with lots of rocks.  Native American tribes use to live in these areas.  The whole scene reminded me of Little House on the Prairie.”   I would prefer to be in the countryside with a running stream and smoky mountains than to be on a beach. Just my preference.  :)

In Hood River, where we caught the train reminded me of old town Pasadena but more quaint. They really support the arts here. Every other shop was an art studio or a book store.  We ate at a restaurant called The Brassiere.  The food was awesome.  I had a Halibut special with a mango sauce and Mark had their famous lasagna.

We also did some wine tasting which gave me a buzz since I am not much of a drinker of spirits.  Being Diabetic, I naturally favored the sweeter wines and bought a wonderfully tasting white wine exclusively made by Springhouse Cellars (springhousecellars.com).  The coolest thing is if you purchase their liter bottle you can come back and get it refilled at a discount price.  This help with recycles and helps the environment.

The people here have been among the nicest I have ever meet outside of the Louisiana.  To be in a northern state, I really am getting a Southern Hospitality feeling here.   Until tomorrow….rumor has it may rain……..

This doesn’t have anything to do with Diabetes.

This is a story that has created much controversy in the Los Angeles area.  If you do hear about this story in your area please note there are so many aspects to this situation that may not be covered by your local media.  Police has not cooperated with the family.  The support the family has is the media and their website.  This story has been reported on several national venues like O’Reilly factor and People’s Magazine.  Being in the middle of things, we in LA will hear every little detail.

The remains of this beautiful young lady were found in a Malibu Canyon area not far from the police station where she was last seen.  This is an rugged and rough terrain where people go hiking.  There is also plenty of wildlife to encounter.  I will give you all the links so you can read her story.  Nothing in this story makes sense as far as the police goes.  The parents are outraged and have demanded the FBI to start an investigation into this Mitrice’s Death.  About a month ago there was a sighting of Mitrice in Las Vegas.  Per the coroner, the remain were at the canyon trail for at least 6 months.  So the sighting in Las Vegas was not valid.  Even at the press conference,  the police did not answer too many questions with details and basically was doing damage control.  this just upsets me so much to see another life end so tragically.  This young lady would still be alive if the police just kept her overnight at the police station.

Mitrice Richardson’s father says: ‘We are going to hold people accountable’

Mitrice Richardson’s Body Found

Bring Mitrice Home-Family website

Regards,

C.

Today is the first day of the Holy month of Ramadan!

I started my fast at 6:12 am.  I had my lunch at 4:00 am and I checked my BS levels around 5:00 am.  As expected they were 245 mg/dl.  I didn’t take my 1000 mg metformin and all my other meds  till 6:00 am.  Now between 5- 6:12am.  I ate a fat free activa yogurt and I was sipping on my orange juice mixed with eggs whites.  I am doing the egg whites to make sure I have enough protein in my system.  I learned from before that protien makes me have a full feeling or at least I don’t have hunger pains.

I did notice after 6:12 am I became very sluggish and wanted to go back to sleep.  After an hour things got better.  I went to Trader Joes to get food for breaking the fast and more egg whites.  I haven’t felt any hunger pains nor did I feel weak.  I had my OJ/EW shake with me just in case.

Basically, I have the mind set that I was not going to eat so I spent most of the day doing other things.  I had food around me but it wasn’t tempting.  After I took my nap, I checked my BS levels at 1:00 pm and they were 109 mg/dl.  This had me concerned but I didn’t feel any different.  So I did a couple of errands. I still felt fine.

I checked my BS level at 6:00 pm and it was 126 mg/dl !!  This rather was surprising to me because I was expecting to drop low and have to break down and eat.  After a few hours, I never felt hungry or weak.  At any rate my stomach is growling now and I think I will be breaking the fast early because of my nightshift work schedule.

Regards,

C.

I am real excited in participating in the fasting other requirements for the holy month of Ramadan. 

I have been preparing myself by drinking lots of water now.  I have drinking liquid egg white shakes.  Egg whites have a high percentage of protien.  I purchased pasterized liquid eggs whites add a little of sugar free chocolate syrup and whipped them.. I makes a wonderful protien shake with just the essentials.  The egg whites themselves have a slight salty taste.  Beside this they don’t have a taste to them.  I have also bought quicky foods to eat before the fast at work and after the fast at home.  I figure I will go to the mosque to be with others so I won’t feel so alone.  Making it to the mosque everyday is hard since I work at night.  I will have orange juice on hand if I should feel weak. 

Being Type 2 diabetic I have made the following schedule for myself:

1. When I go to work I will check my glucose levels and my weight.
2. I will be eating lunch and snacks- these will be recorded also take my 1st metformin pill
3. At sunrise I will check my glucose levels
4. I will go home and normally go to sleep
5. Try to last to noon and check my glucose levels- If I am feeling week I will drink some orange juice
6.  After 12 noon, normally i am practicing my congas or doing other things till around 4 pm
7. 4 pm I will evaluate my overal feeling to see if I need anymore orange juice.
8. Hang loose till sunset.
9. For the first 2-3 days I was going to do lean cuisine meals till I figure out how my stomach is at this point.

Not sure when I shoot inject my levemir.  If you have any suggestion about my schedule or anytime on my journey please write them in..

Regards,

C.

I saw the TIME cover with the beautiful Afghan girl with a whole in her face and ears severed.  This  made me cry.  Her crime was trying to flee  a horrible arranged marriage.  Her husband’s family treated her like a slave and they would beat her.  My heart weeped for this beautiful girl.  Even through her disfigurement I can see that she is still a beautiful young lady.  I don’t understand her culture. But this should be barbaric in any culture.  Why can’t a young lady  leave a terrifying situation without repercussion.  Most father’s would step into a situation if they knew they child was being ill-treated.  Imagine all the women in the U.S.A. that leave families and husbands for greener pastures.  Under the Taliban,you could be  hunted down and disfigured or killed.

What was disfiguring this young lady ultimately going to do?  If she had enough spirit to defy the family knowing the consequences, I am sure she has enough spirit to leave her family or start a revolution.  Just like the memoriable previous Afghan girl that graced the cover of National Geographic that was the face of war.  This young lady is the new afghan girl who is now the face of women’s rights under Taliban rule.

This just made me thankful for the freedoms that we have here in the U.S. It made me think about how much we take for granted and how precious little things are.  The only thing this young lady wants know is to recover her nose.  If I am correct a nose can be a hard body part to reconstruct.  I wish her luck in getting this done.

Hey folks!



I will be updating my blog about my experience with the fasting  that occurs with Ramadan.  For those that are not familiar I will be fasting from food and beverage from sun rise to sunset.   Not only do you fast from food you will also fast from other normal behaviors and trying to be good and gracious person for the whole month.  For me all of this is a tall order!!!  But I will try.  It is important to say it not required for people with medical conditions,  nursing mothers or women on their menses to fast.  I just chose to do so even though I am Type 2.  I have participated in the fast for the past 7-8 years before my health condition changed.  So for me it is mainly an issue of mind over matter.    Believe me if I feel that I am struggling or I am about to be hypoglycemic I will look for have orange juice with me at all time.  I will take several big sips.   I have 2 big rolls of fat on me so I know I won’t be starving anytime soon.

A friend of mine that is Muslim told me that Americans are slaves to their appetite.  I sat and thought about and I had to agree with him.  Normally if we don’t get what we want in 2 seconds we are ready to scream and cry.  Not eating food all the time is another way to teach patience is a virtue.  I am not suggesting that one should starve themselves.  I am questioning do we need to eat and graze on food each and everything we put it into our months?  Are we hungry for the right reasons or because we didn’t feed ourselves properly?  It is also about will power.  I know if I am able to accomplish – even if it is for 2 weeks- then I should be able to try and do other things.  It is not only a challenge for the body but it is a challenge for the mind.  I am not asking people to understand and agree with everything I say.  If you have an opinion I would love to hear it too.

The 3rd time I participated in the fast taught me a few lessons.  Since I knew I wasn’t going to eat till after sunset this made me think of other ways to utilize my mind.  I read books, I went to the movies, I meditate, I got  manicures, and pedicures done etc…  It allowed me to focus on the million other things I could be doing with my time besides grazing on food continuously.

I am open to hearing any comments and opinions.  I would like to create a dialogue.  If you are Muslim what are some tips you have used to get through the fast.

Regards,

C

Aren’t all drinks evil?  The ones in this article are very evil….One of my favorite sites is this Men’s Health site. Yeah it is for men but they normally have some very good advise on foods and nutrition.  I ran across this little gem of an article about some beverage facts.  This is frightening….

6 Beverage Industry Secrets They Don’t Want You to Know

By David Zinczenko
Jul 20, 2010

I have a drinking problem. You do too, friend. Liquid calories now account for a whopping 21 percent of the average American’s daily intake—more than 400 calories every single day, which is twice as much as we drank 30 years ago and about 40 pounds a year that we have to figure out how to work off, or live with. These statistics are good news for the beverage industry, which is always looking for new, tasty ways to lure customers and increase profits. Unfortunately, these techniques include covering our bottles with misleading information and filling them with chemicals that often wreak havoc on our bodies.

In our new book Drink This, Not That!, we aimed our nutritional magnifying glass at the beverage industry, and found dozens of products we wouldn’t want filling out our bodies—not anymore, at least. Before you take another sip, check out these six secrets we found lurking in your bottles, cans, and cups. Know the score and decide when and where to indulge—and how to lose weight effortlessly whenever you choose to.

1. Baskin-Robbins doesn’t want you to know… it takes a degree in food chemistry to engineer one of its milkshakes!

Think about the first milk shake you ever drank. Chances are it was chocolate or vanilla, blended in front of you by a young man wearing a paper hat and a toothy grin. And how many ingredients did he plop into that metal cup? Well, there was ice cream, milk, maybe a little syrup. Now contrast that with the Frankenshakes at Baskin-Robbins. Many have more than two dozen ingredients. One, the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Shake, requires more than four dozen.

How did Baskin-Robbins transform the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Shake into a 50-ingredient science fair project? Well, sugar, in its various forms, graces the ingredient list seven times. Partially hydrogenated oil, the source of trans fat, shows up three times. Then there’s a smattering of flavoring agents such as artificial butter flavor, vanillin, and salt, and behind that comes the cabal of emulsifiers, thickeners, colors, preservatives—not to mention industrial items like guar gum (do I really need gum in my shake?), carrageenan, polysorbate 80, and sorbitan monostearate.

Just as dismaying as the ingredient list is the nutritional breakdown: The large Cookie Dough Shake packs in 1,690 calories and 46 grams of saturated fat. That’s two and a half days’ worth of saturated fat. So much for an innocent summer indulgence.

Bonus tip: Did you know that a glass of 1% milk, the moment you wake up, offers up protein and calcium and cuts your obesity risk 70+%? For other free health, fitness, and nutrition secrets that will improve your life instantly,follow me on Twitter here.

2. The dairy industry doesn’t want you to know… a hormone given to cows has been linked to cancer!

You’ve probably noticed that some milk jugs carry this claim: “from cows not treated with rbST.” You might have also noticed a smaller claim: “No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rbST-treated and non-rbST-treated cows.”

Seem contradictory? It is. Here’s the deal: rbST (also known as rBGH) is a hormone given to cows to increase their milk output by 10 to 25 percent. It was developed by biotech monolith Monsanto, and after an unsuccessful attempt to convince consumers of its safety, it was sold to Elanco, a company that specializes in agricultural pharmaceuticals. Monsanto fought hard to prevent dairy farmers from telling consumers whether their cows were treated with rbST. Dairy farmers who don’t use the hormone fought back, and the result is the two statements appearing together on milk cartons.

The concern with rbST is that it produces milk with higher-than-normal levels of the insulin-like growth factor called IGF-1. Studies at the Channing Laboratory in Boston have shown that high levels of IGF-1 increase risk of several cancers, including breast, prostate, and colorectal. In the study, those with the highest levels of the hormone were four times more likely to develop cancer. True, other studies contradict these findings, but until the issue is resolved, we recommend playing it safe. Especially when so many big players—Starbucks, Kroger, and Wal-Mart among them—have agreed to sell only hormone-free milk.

Bonus tip: If you want to eat burgers while still staying lean and healthy, trust me, it’s possible. But you’ll need this must-have list of The 15 Worst Burgers in America, and what you should eat instead.

3. The coffee industry doesn’t want you to know… the average latte is worse than a double-scoop ice cream cone!

No source of sugar is more stealthy than the caffeine kicks dished out at coffee shops across America. Even an unflavored 16-ounce latte has close to 200 calories, and for the average person that represents nearly 10 percent of your daily energy requirements. Starbucks alone sells about two dozen drinks with more than 500 calories apiece. Drink something like that once a day, and you’re facing at least an extra 50 pounds of flab each year! So, make coffee a habit more than coffee “drinks”, and discover the secrets that help you eat, drink, and be healthy at your local coffeehouse.

4. 7Up doesn’t want you to know… it takes a centrifuge to produce its “all natural” soda!

This might be the most flagrant abuse of the term “natural” we’ve seen. Even if you can overlook the fact that a 20-ounce bottle of 7Up has nearly as much sugar as five Breyers Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches, that still leaves the issue of corn-derived sweeteners—which are about as natural as a Mickey Rourke expression.

To obtain the high-fructose corn syrup that spikes this bottle, corn is crushed into a slurry of fiber, protein, and starch. Everything is stuffed into a centrifuge to spin out the starch, which is then blended with enzymes that convert it to dextrose. The dextrose is then blended with more enzymes to convert it to fructose. Finally,glucose and fructose are stirred together to create a substance that has a flavor similar to table sugar.

Granted, many sodas contain high-fructose corn syrup, but 7Up is the only manufacturer that we’ve come across that’s brazen enough to call its product natural. We call foul!

Bonus tip: For other “health” food imposters, check out the 30 “Health” Foods that Aren’t to learn how the rest of the food industry is secretly sabotaging your waistline, your wallet, and possibly your health.

5. The soda industry doesn’t want you to know… some aluminum cans are lined with a toxic plastic!

You may have already heard of bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical found in plastics that’s been linked to myriad maladies. University of Cincinnati researchers found that low doses of BPA suppress a hormone that protects against diabetes and obesity. Another study at the Yale School of Medicine discovered that BPA disrupts brain function and leads to mood disorders in monkeys. Add that to the growing pile of evidence that show it lowers sperm counts and increases your risk of heart disease and breast, prostate, and testicular cancers, and you have many great reasons to avoid plastic bottles altogether.

But even if you’ve replaced your plastic food containers with glass, you’re still susceptible to a BPA bludgeoning from aluminum cans. Aluminum is highly reactive, so manufacturers use a BPA-loaded epoxy lining to keep contents safe. The USDA is evaluating the safety of aluminum cans, but don’t expect action anytime soon—the beverage industry will fight hard to keep its cheap fix.

In fact, in 2009, the Washington Post uncovered internal documents from Coca-Cola that outline a public relations strategy for persuading consumers that BPAis safe. Part of the plan: using fear tactics and targeting young mothers who make the most household purchasing decisions. Pretty scary stuff.

6. Juice companies don’t want you to know… what goes into 100 percent juice!

Thanks to lax FDA regulations, fruit juice makers have a lot of wiggle room when it comes to labeling their bottles. One loophole they love: the “100 percent juice” claim. Yes, the bottle may have 100 percent juice, but not 100 percent of the juice you think you’re buying.

Some juices—notably apple, grape, and pear—are cheap, abundant, and loaded with sugar, so manufacturers use them as fillers to stretch and sweeten more nutritious and expensive juices. You might think your bottle contains 100 percent blueberry or pomegranate, but it’s just as likely to be a blend of inexpensive juices along with a splash of what you really want.

Last year, the FDA chastised Nestle for sticking 100 percent juice claims on its grape- and orange/tangerine-flavored Juicy Juice products. Turns out, these products were mostly apple juice. The only consolation: Juicy Juice said it’d fully cooperate with the FDA to find a resolution. We’re not satisfied, though, at least not yet: Juicy Juice is just one of dozens of inauthentic products in the juice aisle.

But here’s the good news: The smoking gun is often right on the bottle—in the case of Juicy Juice, it was small print that called each product a “flavored juice blend.” Remember: The nutrition label doesn’t always tell the full story. Read the ingredient list, too. That’s how I’m beating my drinking problem. And you can too.

Bonus tip: Here’s another shocker. These beverages we just looked at? They aren’t even the country’s worst. If you can bear to see it—and I’m shocked every day by new discoveries, frankly—check out The 20 Worst Drinks in America.

My biggest recommendation for anybody that works the night shift is to get off the night shift.  If that is not possible at the momment,  then get all the sleep you can get.  I encountered an elderly CDE that told me there was absolutely no connection with sleep and diabetes.  I told her she needs to educate herself.  She was taken back by my boldness but it was the truth.  I found this article to prove my point.

Sleep’s Effect on the Body’s Insulin