I'm coming out of the sugar pantry

I have been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes.

I am 6 months pregnant now and my life has hit a wall with this news. Shocked? yes a little.  But I did it to myself so I haven't yet asked Why me????  I KNOW why me.  It's called sugar-addiction.

I failed all 3 blood tests. You only have to fail 1 to be GD.  So I met today with 2 dietitians and Diabetic counselors. They were wonderful!!!  I have to prick my finger after my 3 meals a day and record my numbers. I have to pee on a stick first thing every morning and I HAVE to start exercising and changing my diet....in a major, major way.  If I can't get it under control in only 2 weeks, I will be put on insulin.  Now THAT scares me. I had no idea I had done this much damage to my body, but now that i've been reflecting for 3 days since I found out this bad news, I know why it happened to me. I love sugar.

My whole adult life I have struggled with my weight. Been so self-conscious of how I look and what people think of me when they see me walking down the street with my hot sexy man.  I always felt they were thinking, why is he with her?  Well for one main reason he's with me...I'm totally awesome! And we are besties and have a blast together. But I am aware of my size, I know what the scale says and my clothing size. I'm not a complete idiot. 

But my sugar addiction is strong. I love my pop everyday, my Latte's, sugary drinks, and chocolate!  Oh man Easter is coming and no chocolate bunny for me :(  I cant even think about it or I'll cry....I'm a  newbie at this healthy shit, It'll take some time to adjust.

So the ladies showed me how to use my clicker/pricker thingy and how to record it all. I have to email my results weekly to the hospital and every 2 weeks meet with them to review and ask more questions. So I was happy they are taking good care of me.  They spent well over an hour teaching me how to read labels, what foods to eat, to always eat a protein with every meal and snack I put into my mouth. And to get off my lazy fat ass and go for a walk.  I do not exercise at all, so now I HAVE to. No excuses!  I can't go on insulin!!

So when I got home tonight my man and I started reading the labels of foods we eat here at home.  here;s what we found.  OK 5g of sugar on the label = 1 tsp of sugar. 
1 YOP drinkable yogurt= 26g sugar (5 tsp!!) (the same as drinking half a Pepsi)
1 500ml Dr. Pepper= 52g sugar (10 tsp!!)
1 apple nutrigrain bar= 16g sugar (3 tsp)
1 apple juice from McDonalds that kids drink= 18g sugar (3+ tsp!!)
1 400ml Minute Maid Apple Juice= 52g sugar (10tsp) (same as Dr. Pepper)
16 Rold Gold pretzels= 3g sugar (yes my new fave snack LOL)

we stopped after that depressing news.  But it sure makes me feel good about hardly ever giving my child juice!  10 tsp of sugar in 1 bottle of apple juice you buy at the store!  Thats crazy!!

It has now become clear to me to read those sugar labels! I used to read the fat and calories, not caring about sugar thinking Oh I burn sugar off, fat is bad for me.  Apparently not!  The white has got to go. Sugar, white rice, white buns, white pasta...all of it. I have to do some serious grocery shopping next payday now to fill our house with better options. I just had no idea how bad we were really eating. I thought oh I'm 6 months pregnant and have lost 5lbs i'm eating soooo much better!  But sadly no, I am killing myself with sugar.

The good news about GD is once I deliver the baby my sugars go back to normal. But this is a huge wake-up call for me to change our lifestyle and eating patterns now, or later in life I will face this again....and it wont be pretty. And I don't want our kids growing up guzzling juices and pops and sugary granola bars all day and getting fat and unhappy like I have been for so many years.

So we finished our supper, mine had 3g of sugar for the whole meal, yay me!! And we got on our shoes and went to the park with our daughter and played on the slides then went for a long walk around the neighbourhood.  We pooped her out, she sat on the sidewalk and said she was too tired to go any further.  So daddy carried her home but she said it was so much fun.  And it was so nice to get fresh air, and for us to talk about our days and be a family doing something good for us! And when I came home and took my blood, my sugars were in the good range...hooray for exercise!!

I am so happy I have him to support me on this. He's right on board with healthy eating and what we need to do exercise wise to get us all healthy again. When we came home and he was drawing the bath for our daughter I asked him if he'll still love me when I'm all skinny and sexy?  And he said yes! LOL  :)