A Losing Battle
Back in 2001 (I think), I was diagnosed with Hypoglycemia. I actually have hypoglycemia which is rare (unless you have Diabetes). I had had it for years and just never knew it. My husband only knew that, when we traveled, if he didn't feed me when I got grouchy, well, it would just go downhill from there. I didn't know I needed to eat to combat that grouchy feeling. At least, not directly. I knew that food would solve the problem. I just didn't know I needed food until I got grouchy. It was a weird battle I fought.
I was not given much help. Just some stupid (and I declared it stupid when it became clear I couldn't make sense of it) diet that involved exchanges etc. I had NO CLUE. To actually be diagnosed with hypoglycemia was just unusual since so few people actually have it and it is so hard to diagnose. I went in for a GTT because I actually thought I had diabetes. I was wrong.
The test itself is simple. I went in for the four hour test. I drink this horribly sugar filled drink (which actually doesn't taste too bad). Then I go through a series of having my blood drew every thirty minutes for the first hour and then every hour. Well, the first half hour test I was fine. The second half, I was starting to droop. By the next hour I was asleep, in a stupor. I set my alarm on my cell phone and slept. Then I would wake up, go have my blood drawn and before long, I'd be asleep. My blood sugar, as I found out later, dropped to about 20-25. That is SUPER LOW. I would spike, then plummet (the sleep part). Then I'd spike a little bit and plummet. SO that explained quite a bit. Sundays were the worst. I'd have a sunday lunch and I'd be awake for maybe 45 minutes, reading or whatever and before I knew it, I would be sleeping and it would be difficult to wake me up. I could easily have slipped into a coma. It was horrible. Finally I had an answer. If I could just figure out the friggin diet. After doing a bit of research, I pretty much deduced pretty quickly that I was just TOO ANAL to understand it and I gave up.
I was also a bit overweight. So I started looking for ways to lose weight. I happened upon Weightwatchers. A friend of mine had started going and was losing weight. I decided to try it online. I lost 12 pounds. And I was finding that the points system worked well. I decided to try my hand at meetings. I needed the accountability. I won't say what I weighed but at my first weigh in at a meeting I was 30 pounds above the highest point in my healthy goal range. That wasn't good. And they didn't count the 12 pounds I lost online. (I count them in my totals though)
I found that I enjoyed the points system. I also found that it alleviated my hypoglycemic symptoms. The healthier I ate (the lower points foods), the better I felt. I was winning the losing battle! A few weeks after starting to attend meetings, I had a pretty hefty knee surgery. I was on crutches for a month. I was watching my points very closely. I was not very active but I managed to not gain one pound during that time. I was impressed. And so was my physical therapist. She said the average weight gain for a surgery like mine was 30 lbs! I felt fantastic!
Over the next year I lost up to 37 pounds. Then I developed problems with my back. After a series of steroid shots etc. I had gained twenty of that back. Finally, after six months of treatment, I was able to start exercising and the weight came back off. Slowly at first. Then I started to enjoy wearing those clothes I had worked so hard to get into. Just as I was getting close to goal, I lost my mother. Her death did something to my metabolism. The stress combined with everything else kicked things into gear and the weight started coming off. I'm now up to 49 pounds (that is including that initial 12lbs). I'm extremely happy.
I have curves! I can fit on my husband's lap easier than I've ever fit. (I've always fit mind you but it was uncomfortable) People are making comments about my weight loss. Someone said last week at church that I looked like a different person! I love it. I feel so much better. I rarely take a nap on Sundays anymore (I'm sticking to my points which wards off those sugar spikes and plummets). If I do it is not because my blood sugar is out of whack. I have gone down 6 sizes in clothing and I pick most of my clothes from the junior department! I'm ecstatic! And I'm so pleased. My husband has noticed more than once and he is starting to get more and more excited with every pound that comes off!
He gets comments from people too! People often tell me they dont think I had 40 pounds to lose. I appreciate it but I did. I'm glad I didn't look bad before. That is a relief. I find myself wanting to dress nicer too.
Anyway, J., I wanted to share this with you. I finally won the Losing battle. Praise the Lord!
I was not given much help. Just some stupid (and I declared it stupid when it became clear I couldn't make sense of it) diet that involved exchanges etc. I had NO CLUE. To actually be diagnosed with hypoglycemia was just unusual since so few people actually have it and it is so hard to diagnose. I went in for a GTT because I actually thought I had diabetes. I was wrong.
The test itself is simple. I went in for the four hour test. I drink this horribly sugar filled drink (which actually doesn't taste too bad). Then I go through a series of having my blood drew every thirty minutes for the first hour and then every hour. Well, the first half hour test I was fine. The second half, I was starting to droop. By the next hour I was asleep, in a stupor. I set my alarm on my cell phone and slept. Then I would wake up, go have my blood drawn and before long, I'd be asleep. My blood sugar, as I found out later, dropped to about 20-25. That is SUPER LOW. I would spike, then plummet (the sleep part). Then I'd spike a little bit and plummet. SO that explained quite a bit. Sundays were the worst. I'd have a sunday lunch and I'd be awake for maybe 45 minutes, reading or whatever and before I knew it, I would be sleeping and it would be difficult to wake me up. I could easily have slipped into a coma. It was horrible. Finally I had an answer. If I could just figure out the friggin diet. After doing a bit of research, I pretty much deduced pretty quickly that I was just TOO ANAL to understand it and I gave up.
I was also a bit overweight. So I started looking for ways to lose weight. I happened upon Weightwatchers. A friend of mine had started going and was losing weight. I decided to try it online. I lost 12 pounds. And I was finding that the points system worked well. I decided to try my hand at meetings. I needed the accountability. I won't say what I weighed but at my first weigh in at a meeting I was 30 pounds above the highest point in my healthy goal range. That wasn't good. And they didn't count the 12 pounds I lost online. (I count them in my totals though)
I found that I enjoyed the points system. I also found that it alleviated my hypoglycemic symptoms. The healthier I ate (the lower points foods), the better I felt. I was winning the losing battle! A few weeks after starting to attend meetings, I had a pretty hefty knee surgery. I was on crutches for a month. I was watching my points very closely. I was not very active but I managed to not gain one pound during that time. I was impressed. And so was my physical therapist. She said the average weight gain for a surgery like mine was 30 lbs! I felt fantastic!
Over the next year I lost up to 37 pounds. Then I developed problems with my back. After a series of steroid shots etc. I had gained twenty of that back. Finally, after six months of treatment, I was able to start exercising and the weight came back off. Slowly at first. Then I started to enjoy wearing those clothes I had worked so hard to get into. Just as I was getting close to goal, I lost my mother. Her death did something to my metabolism. The stress combined with everything else kicked things into gear and the weight started coming off. I'm now up to 49 pounds (that is including that initial 12lbs). I'm extremely happy.
I have curves! I can fit on my husband's lap easier than I've ever fit. (I've always fit mind you but it was uncomfortable) People are making comments about my weight loss. Someone said last week at church that I looked like a different person! I love it. I feel so much better. I rarely take a nap on Sundays anymore (I'm sticking to my points which wards off those sugar spikes and plummets). If I do it is not because my blood sugar is out of whack. I have gone down 6 sizes in clothing and I pick most of my clothes from the junior department! I'm ecstatic! And I'm so pleased. My husband has noticed more than once and he is starting to get more and more excited with every pound that comes off!
He gets comments from people too! People often tell me they dont think I had 40 pounds to lose. I appreciate it but I did. I'm glad I didn't look bad before. That is a relief. I find myself wanting to dress nicer too.
Anyway, J., I wanted to share this with you. I finally won the Losing battle. Praise the Lord!
posted by Unknown | 1:58 PM
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