It's a quiet day in mommyhood today, at long last. Travel - even a short road trip, like we had last weekend - can throw things off a bit. I love to travel - I did a lot of it when I was younger - but now, it comes at a much bigger cost. Potty training got set back for a week. My glucose levels were, thankfully, stable. Good thing, as I spent most of the past week running up and down the stairs so many times, to get the necessary new clothes, etc., that I'd get to the top or bottom of the stairs, and forget which way I was going. I briefly considered going back to diapers (for H, not me!) - but that's a big no-no, apparently. I'm sure H's pride would have suffered, too. She may seem like a happy-go-lucky kid, and she is, but she's also hyperaware of what's going on around, and to, her. That still-forming ego of hers is fragile. Going back to diapers would have made her feel like a "bad person," as she told me once this past week after having had three "accidents" in an afternoon. Ouch!
We seem to be back on track now, so I'm glad we stuck with it. Diapering 37 pounds of wiggling and giggling is too much work! Sometimes I wonder where I get the energy to be a parent. Mostly, it comes from watching H. I get to eat a lot of extra carbs, too, I think. I snack almost as often as she does. I only hope that my regular eating isn't making her eat too often; any time she sees me eating, she wants what I'm having. I try to keep it healthy and low-fat, and limit amounts. I also try to keep H's activity level higher than mine. We go to the playground a lot, so all I have to do of fret over whether she'll fall of the high structures while she runs around like a nut.
It was maybe even harder to deal with this setback because we'd finally made it out of the woods, so to speak. (As in, does a bear...?) We'd just started coming out of a bad rut we'd fallen into because of the potty training. Not only would H want a "special treat" after using the potty - every single time - we also couldn't stray far from said potty, so trips to the playground became rare. I could tell both she and I were on the wrong track, healthwise. The treat would be a cookie or sometimes even a cupcake - that was what I had on hand, left over from what someone else brought to our house, at the beginning of training, so that's what she started demanding. Now, you may say, so what, a not-yet-three-year-old girls "demands" shouldn't be hard to handle. But then, you don't know toddler girls, and you don't know my H in particular. Sure, I could ignore the demands, or try to persuade her in another direction (here, have an m-and-m instead of a cupcake), but a full-on fit would ensure - followed by a nice puddle on the floor. See, parenting is this funny thing where your ability to control situations is always being challenged, if not out-right threatened.
But all was not lost. I switched to giving her a treat only after at least a half day of good potty use. I also made her play more in the yard, and started heading to the playground as soon as she uses the potty after arriving home from daycare. This last part isn't always easy, because once home, H settles into a routine that often involves TV. It's hard to get kids to switch gears. But she's old enough that she can hold a reward idea in her head for a decent while - so waiting a couple of hours for a cookie is usually possible, and the idea of the playground manages to lure her outside eventually, if I keep reminding her of the reward that's coming.
I'm not even sure how we got into the routine of the "special treat." When potty training started, I didn't want to use sweet rewards; I tried just praising H, and also giving her stickers and, a couple of times, bigger, non-food presents. She really liked all of this. But at one point we had those cookies and cupcakes in the house, and I let H have one and said it was a reward. I guess that was a mistake. (Ya think?!) I was partly horrified (all that sugar!), partly pleased that she could actually eat the stuff without any apparent immediately bad effects (like I would have), and partly desperate to make potty training work. But oh, the back-tracking! And yes, maybe the lure of the treat was that much greater because we hadn't allowed it before - because I just don't eat that stuff, and don't have it in the house.
Still, as I started out saying, things seem to be settling in well, we're down to one cookie a day, and I am breathing a lot easier. Motherhood is a symbiotic relationship, in that your daily routines are intimately intertwined. Anything that affects one person in this relationship deeply affects the other - and diabetes makes that even more true, or maybe just makes it more noticeable.
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Let's get moving - or, when do I get to stop?
Here's to Karen for getting us all moving in the blog world, at least. My second day of Diabetes Blog Week (most people's fifth), and the topic: Exercise:
Let's get moving. Exercise . . . love it or hate it? Do you have a regular exercise routine? Or do you have trouble finding your exercise motivation? How do you manage your insulin and food to avoid bottoming out during your workout? Today is the day to tell us all about your exercise habits, or lack thereof.
Where do I start? I've blogged on this topic before (exercise schmeksercise - I was in a perverse mood). Please take a look, because I basically said it all there, so I don't want to be a bore. But, brief recap: I don't do gyms. I used to, but I never really liked the repetitive, sweat-it-out thing. Then I got migraines and couldn't do a lot of strenuous exercise. In fact, if I was in the migraine "zone" (typically, there are periods where you're more prone to them, if you're a person who gets them), exercise would trigger one, and it would also make my BG shoot up - even when it was fine to begin with. (You know, probably, that if you exercise when your BG is somewhere around 250 or higher, that can just make it go even higher - a stress response. But with migraines, my BG would shoot up with exercise even if it started out around 150. Not a plan.).
So I downshifted from running and aerobics to walking and hiking. I've found this is actually all I need for BG control, and if I do it often enough, it's better than the occasional, big spurt anyway. I do miss running sometimes. I used to use exercise for stress relief. But these days, I do so much running after my toddler, I miss the couch even more. What more motivation do you need to do a short sprint, than hearing that little voice from the other room, "I'm up here!" and knowing it means she's half way up the stairs - on the outside of them, dangling over the lamp?
The exercise I do now for stress relief: Yoga. I do video tapes, after H goes to bed. That's in winter. In good weather, we often pop the stroller out and go for a winding walk to the playground (as winding as we can make it before H nearly throws herself out of the stroller in the direction of the playground). Sometimes we're defeated by Elmo. But we're working out the various sneaky techniques that all parents devise - out of desperation - to get their kids to do anything. Bribe? Sure. Reverse psychology? Yup. When all else fails, sometimes I just let Hubby take over and I go for a walk myself (and sometimes he does the same).
Even though I don't get migraines anymore (if you want to know the "cure," it'll cost you! Kidding - I'd share it with anyone who's interested) - I still follow the more mellow exercise routine. I don't have time for more, and it seems to be working. My HDL cholesterol is even really high! Please don't be jealous - you know all the rest of what I deal with. But I like to have some health thing I can be proud of.
Oh, and what do I do to avoid bottoming out? Lots of things. Sometimes I use a temporary lower basal on my pump, sometimes I eat something beforehand, during, or after. I also keep in mind that, if I really exert myself, it can affect my BG many hours later - typically in the middle of the night. So I eat a decent snack before bed (ice cream, anyone? ;)). Still, sometimes I do go low anyway, of course. But when I treat those lows, it's less likely to rebound than the run-of-the-mill low. (Oh, and I missed the day on how I treat lows. I love chocolate, but I tend not to eat it for a low - it takes too long. The ole glucose tabs work best, but juice is sometimes more palatable. Pregnancy made me boring on this score. I get my kicks watching my kid now.)
So now I'm curious about what y'all else do for exercise. I'll take a little stroll through the blogs...
Let's get moving. Exercise . . . love it or hate it? Do you have a regular exercise routine? Or do you have trouble finding your exercise motivation? How do you manage your insulin and food to avoid bottoming out during your workout? Today is the day to tell us all about your exercise habits, or lack thereof.
Where do I start? I've blogged on this topic before (exercise schmeksercise - I was in a perverse mood). Please take a look, because I basically said it all there, so I don't want to be a bore. But, brief recap: I don't do gyms. I used to, but I never really liked the repetitive, sweat-it-out thing. Then I got migraines and couldn't do a lot of strenuous exercise. In fact, if I was in the migraine "zone" (typically, there are periods where you're more prone to them, if you're a person who gets them), exercise would trigger one, and it would also make my BG shoot up - even when it was fine to begin with. (You know, probably, that if you exercise when your BG is somewhere around 250 or higher, that can just make it go even higher - a stress response. But with migraines, my BG would shoot up with exercise even if it started out around 150. Not a plan.).
So I downshifted from running and aerobics to walking and hiking. I've found this is actually all I need for BG control, and if I do it often enough, it's better than the occasional, big spurt anyway. I do miss running sometimes. I used to use exercise for stress relief. But these days, I do so much running after my toddler, I miss the couch even more. What more motivation do you need to do a short sprint, than hearing that little voice from the other room, "I'm up here!" and knowing it means she's half way up the stairs - on the outside of them, dangling over the lamp?
The exercise I do now for stress relief: Yoga. I do video tapes, after H goes to bed. That's in winter. In good weather, we often pop the stroller out and go for a winding walk to the playground (as winding as we can make it before H nearly throws herself out of the stroller in the direction of the playground). Sometimes we're defeated by Elmo. But we're working out the various sneaky techniques that all parents devise - out of desperation - to get their kids to do anything. Bribe? Sure. Reverse psychology? Yup. When all else fails, sometimes I just let Hubby take over and I go for a walk myself (and sometimes he does the same).
Even though I don't get migraines anymore (if you want to know the "cure," it'll cost you! Kidding - I'd share it with anyone who's interested) - I still follow the more mellow exercise routine. I don't have time for more, and it seems to be working. My HDL cholesterol is even really high! Please don't be jealous - you know all the rest of what I deal with. But I like to have some health thing I can be proud of.
Oh, and what do I do to avoid bottoming out? Lots of things. Sometimes I use a temporary lower basal on my pump, sometimes I eat something beforehand, during, or after. I also keep in mind that, if I really exert myself, it can affect my BG many hours later - typically in the middle of the night. So I eat a decent snack before bed (ice cream, anyone? ;)). Still, sometimes I do go low anyway, of course. But when I treat those lows, it's less likely to rebound than the run-of-the-mill low. (Oh, and I missed the day on how I treat lows. I love chocolate, but I tend not to eat it for a low - it takes too long. The ole glucose tabs work best, but juice is sometimes more palatable. Pregnancy made me boring on this score. I get my kicks watching my kid now.)
So now I'm curious about what y'all else do for exercise. I'll take a little stroll through the blogs...
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Exercise shmeksercize
I...am..too..tired. A rainy winter day doesn't help. But overwork, undersleep, two travelling weekends in a row, and too many other worries and activities to count, on top of the usual strenuous schedule of work and childcare, add up to - too much! I've tried to keep some balance by sleeping as much as possible and exercising. I don't go to a gym. I don't like them much, my schedule isn't that conducive to going (even if they had childcare; daughter H is in childcare enough as it is), and I wouldn't be sure my blood sugar is at the right level (neither too low nor too high) at just the right time to fit it into my schedule. I also like to exercise pretty late at night.
Instead, I go for walks as often I as can. I can be pretty flexible about the timing, and eat as much as I need to right before heading out (in addition to using a lower temporary basal rate on my pump). This time of year, that's tough, so I follow a yoga video when I can't get outside. Years ago (before migraines set in for their 14-year visit), I used to run and do aerobics videos. I've gotten in the habit of doing lighter exercises (the heavier stuff would trigger migraines, when I was prone to them). I do occasionally do the aerobics workouts, now that I can, but I find that quick walking is strenuous enough to get my heart going, and it's so much easier to motivate for that. The yoga is great, too. I just did tonight, it at the point where I was tooo exhausted, and it actually gave me a little energy. It's a really easy program, which I think is key for any nighttime effort, especially at the end of a long day!
I also really do get a workout during my time with my daughter. I spend a lot more time standing, leaning over, getting up and down, carrying her (a not insignificant load!), etc. As I've mentioned (oh, maybe once or twice), I actually have to be careful not to go low when I make that sudden shift from sitting on my duff all day for work to my more active time with my daughter.
I've always been suspicious of research that looks at the benefits of regular exercise but only looks at specific activities like running, swimming, and biking. I can tell from my blood sugar levels that so many other activities give at least as much of a workout - especially house cleaning! Today, I can gloat about this opinion: The latest news on this was in the New York Times. According to the article, it doesn't matter whether you jog every day if you sit the rest of the time; but standing up a lot is actually a really good workout. Granted, I sit much of the work day. But even there, I take the stairs and get up and down a lot to talk to people or go to the printer. And then I go home and get the special toddler workout.
Still, I need another form of exercise. Walking outside does a lot besides give my cardiovascular system a (light) workout: It helps me destress, gives my legs a stretch, and, if my husband and I get to walk together, gives us a chance to reconnect. These are all things I don't get from playing with my daughter (much as I love that time with her!). For anyone, but especially a diabetic, all of these aspects of exercise are important.
This reminds me of a study I heard of a while ago that compared people's blood lipids (the artery-hardening stuff) after a low-fat meal without exercise and after a really high-fat meal (8 strips of bacon!) followed by about a half hour of strenuous exercise. Guess what? The bacon-plus-exercise won out! That study really made me realize how important exercise is - and how much it can help make up for other willpower weaknesses!
Sometimes I wonder whether I'm getting enough really strenuous exercise to keep fit. But on the rare occasions when I go hiking in Acadia or cross-country skiing (which I took up years ago to get more daylight in winter, and which I love, but rarely get to do these days), I'm pleasantly surprised to find I can climb, sometimes at steep angles, at a good clip without getting winded.
The one hiccup in my routine now is that, when I pick up my daughter and get home, all she wants to do is watch Elmo. No amount of cajoling from me or hubby can get her out. We used to plunk her in the stroller and head out regularly; now we have to take turns walking so one of us is home with daughter H at a time. It makes the walk time shorter and less fun. I'm hoping we can get her back out there soon!
So that's my own real-world routine. What are your exercise strategies? If you have kids, how do you work around that - or work them in - to get your workout?
Instead, I go for walks as often I as can. I can be pretty flexible about the timing, and eat as much as I need to right before heading out (in addition to using a lower temporary basal rate on my pump). This time of year, that's tough, so I follow a yoga video when I can't get outside. Years ago (before migraines set in for their 14-year visit), I used to run and do aerobics videos. I've gotten in the habit of doing lighter exercises (the heavier stuff would trigger migraines, when I was prone to them). I do occasionally do the aerobics workouts, now that I can, but I find that quick walking is strenuous enough to get my heart going, and it's so much easier to motivate for that. The yoga is great, too. I just did tonight, it at the point where I was tooo exhausted, and it actually gave me a little energy. It's a really easy program, which I think is key for any nighttime effort, especially at the end of a long day!
I also really do get a workout during my time with my daughter. I spend a lot more time standing, leaning over, getting up and down, carrying her (a not insignificant load!), etc. As I've mentioned (oh, maybe once or twice), I actually have to be careful not to go low when I make that sudden shift from sitting on my duff all day for work to my more active time with my daughter.
I've always been suspicious of research that looks at the benefits of regular exercise but only looks at specific activities like running, swimming, and biking. I can tell from my blood sugar levels that so many other activities give at least as much of a workout - especially house cleaning! Today, I can gloat about this opinion: The latest news on this was in the New York Times. According to the article, it doesn't matter whether you jog every day if you sit the rest of the time; but standing up a lot is actually a really good workout. Granted, I sit much of the work day. But even there, I take the stairs and get up and down a lot to talk to people or go to the printer. And then I go home and get the special toddler workout.
Still, I need another form of exercise. Walking outside does a lot besides give my cardiovascular system a (light) workout: It helps me destress, gives my legs a stretch, and, if my husband and I get to walk together, gives us a chance to reconnect. These are all things I don't get from playing with my daughter (much as I love that time with her!). For anyone, but especially a diabetic, all of these aspects of exercise are important.
This reminds me of a study I heard of a while ago that compared people's blood lipids (the artery-hardening stuff) after a low-fat meal without exercise and after a really high-fat meal (8 strips of bacon!) followed by about a half hour of strenuous exercise. Guess what? The bacon-plus-exercise won out! That study really made me realize how important exercise is - and how much it can help make up for other willpower weaknesses!
Sometimes I wonder whether I'm getting enough really strenuous exercise to keep fit. But on the rare occasions when I go hiking in Acadia or cross-country skiing (which I took up years ago to get more daylight in winter, and which I love, but rarely get to do these days), I'm pleasantly surprised to find I can climb, sometimes at steep angles, at a good clip without getting winded.
The one hiccup in my routine now is that, when I pick up my daughter and get home, all she wants to do is watch Elmo. No amount of cajoling from me or hubby can get her out. We used to plunk her in the stroller and head out regularly; now we have to take turns walking so one of us is home with daughter H at a time. It makes the walk time shorter and less fun. I'm hoping we can get her back out there soon!
So that's my own real-world routine. What are your exercise strategies? If you have kids, how do you work around that - or work them in - to get your workout?
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