In Wigan

This morning I had to get up at half past five as I was working at a doctors' surgery in Wigan, which is seventy miles away. I loved the work though!

And I ate:

porridge

small sandwiches (those little triangular things you get for some corporate lunches):
small ham, prawn, cheese
a few grapes

half a tin of baked beans with one and a half potato cakes and a Marks and Spencer cheese and onion crisbake thingy
peach slices in fruit juice (tinned) with evaporated milk
an orange

Verdict - - - well, it could have been better but at least there wasn't too much of it for such a loooooooooong day!

At the University all day

Today I was at the University for most of the day.

I ate:

porridge

banana

baked potato with butter and grated cheese and lots of salad
fruit scone with butter

small apple pie

pasta with tomato and basil sauce and grated cheese

orange
apple

Verdict: if it wasn't for butter I expect I'd be two stone thinner. I blame the cows.

Foggy Day

Dull, grey, cold, rainy, foggy. I went over to Huddersfield today and I ate:

porridge

a piece of oat and honey bread

a small tin of baked beans with three potato cakes with butter

an orange

four digestive biscuits

a bowl of cornflakes

half a melon

another orange

Verdict: I had lunch late, at three, and that messed up the whole day - a tricky day anyway with an actor missing at the start of a roleplay - - turned out he was there, but had arrived late: but the constant phone calls about it were annoying as I was trying to have a bit of time off to see my friends. Hey ho. Still, at least I didn't grab the Penguin biscuits!

In the Office

A quiet day of working in the office - and just as well as I was very tired.

Today I ate:

a bowl of Shreddies

a banana

carrot and coriander soup with two slices of bread and butter
an orange

beef in a pot ready meal with carrots, peas and potatoes
half a melon

another orange

Verdict: not bad, could have done with more different fruit! Just fancied another orange and not an apple!

Busy Day

A really busy day today - the morning in the office, the afternoon facilitating for second year medical students, and the evening at the pantomime in Bradford.

So I ate:

porridge

four Crisbake thingies with butter (like dried bread!)
a banana

carrot and coriander soup
two slices of bread and butter

a vanilla ice cream in the theatre

a bowl of cornflakes after we got back

Verdict: if it's got butter on it, I like it. Hmmmm.

The Wellington

Today I took my mother and old friend Connie to The Wellington for lunch, to visit their excellent carvery.

Today I ate:

a bowl of Shreddies with semi-skimmed milk

turkey with roast potatoes, cranberry sauce, Yorkshire pudding, gravy, sprouts, peas, swede, carrots, cauliflower

three crumpets with butter and sugar-free raspberry jam
stewed rhubarb, no sugar (made with Canderel) but a bit of evaporated milk.

Verdict: Plenty of veg, at least, today, and not much sweet stuff. Still on the butter kick though!

Visitors for Lunch

My cousin Colin, his wife Cath and their daughter Helaina came round for lunch today and it was good to see them. I raided Marks and Spencers and did a buffet-type meal: Olli and Gareth and Mum and Stephen and me - - total eight so quite a few of us but it was fun.

Today I ate:

porridge

lots of green salad, no dressing
2 sausage rolls, falafel, gefilte fish balls
three bean salad in vinaigrette dressing
new potatoes
French bread and butter
apple juice
lots of fruit salad with a bit of ice cream
two profiteroles (look, they were on the table!! And they were only small!)

(yes, it was a big lunch)

a piece of French bread with butter and peanut butter
fruit salad and evaporated milk
an orange

Verdict: Well, plenty of fruit so I won't get scurvy, but still too high in fat and sugar, Daphne! Could do better!

It all started so well - - -

Today an old friend called round unexpectedly - - so we had fish and chips for lunch, which I wouldn't have done otherwise - - enjoyed them though of course! AND she brought me chocolates because she doesn't believe I'm diabetic, or just isn't having any of it, or something - - she is nearly 88 after all.

So today I ate:

porridge
fish and chips
three chocolates
two hot cross buns
an apple
an orange
stewed rhubarb with no sugar but some evaporated milk - - one of my favourite desserts!
two kiwi fruit

Rather a strange diet today - it got very bad in the middle and then improved mightily towards the end.

At Leeds University

I was at Leeds University all day so had lunch in the canteen where they do excellent baked potatoes.

I ate today:

porridge
a baked potato with grated cheese and salad
a bottle of strawberry, raspberry and banana smoothie
a hot cross bun
Chicken Kiev with roast potatoes and peas
an orange
an apple
a bowl of Rice Krispies (because I have a cold, and want comforting)

5 fruit and veg, I notice - - and I didn't check my blood sugar because I have a cold, did I mention that?

All Over Yorkshire

A frustrating day when I drove all the way to Huddersfield and back without finding anywhere to park!

And I ate:
porridge
10 Smarties (it may have been eleven. But no more than 12).
French bread with butter, mixed green salad (no dressing)
a hot cross bun with butter
Vegetable soup with barley with French bread and butter
melon chunks - different kinds - from the supermarket
an orange

oooh tooo much butter!

Going Doooooooown

Well, the increased dose of Glucophage seems to be working - just before lunch, after a long morning's medical roleplay, I suddenly realised my blood sugar was low and since I was by now home with plenty of food to hand I decided to check it before I ate anything. FOUR POINT SIX! Blimey. I don't think it's ever been that low and they say that four is the lowest you should let it go.

Still, it makes a change from all the disappointingly high readings that I got till I added the extra tablet - I'm now on two in the morning and two in the evening.

So I had some lunch pronto.

Today I ate:
porridge

a salad sandwich
a large chunk of raw white cabbage (yes, I know, there's quite a lot of cabbage in this blog)
two fruit scones with butter (because I'd let my blood sugar get so low)

then, later
a toasted cheese sandwich
some tinned peaches in fruit juice with evaporated milk
a bottle of raspberry and orange juice
an orange

I think the increased queasiness from the extra tablet is decreasing hurrah - I must be getting used to the dose - so I may even start eating more proper evening meals again soon!

Fish, Chips and Barack Obama

Quite a momentous day really. Barack Obama became President and my blood sugar dropped to 5.5 before tea which is a near-record low - - mind you, I did feel about to crash to the floor!

Porridge
two slices of wholemeal toast with butter and a banana
an apple
fish and chips
an orange
a large chunk of white cabbage (which wouldn't be everyone's favourite snack, but I love it).

Hey, though, 5.5! It shows it CAN go low. I did full justice to the fish and chips though.

Monday - - a strange mixture

I was very busy in the office today so I had a very late lunch and therefore never had a proper evening meal. Didn't even make my five a day. Sighhhh.

porridge
a bagel with tuna and mayonnaise
a large chunk of raw white cabbage
four Dutch crisbake thingies (like dried-out bread) with butter
a banana with custard (so wrong and yet it felt so right - not good for my diabetes but at least the custard was low-fat)
a bowl of cornflakes
an orange

But hey, it could be worse. And my blood sugar was 7.3 before breakfast which is the lowest it's been in ages. It should be below 7 and mine never is.

London

Today I went to London, to the Greenwich Theatre to see Northern Broadsides do Heidi (it was excellent)

porridge
small bottle of orange juice
ham and cheese baguette
Snickers bar (!!!) I don't usually eat such things but for some reason I just craved one
small French pastry thing with cheese and leek
granola cereal with natural yogurst and a few strawberries
pot of fresh strawberrries, orange and pineapple
banana
apple
bowl of Readybrek

It seems quite a lot but at least there's quite a bit of fruit in there.

Hurrah for Peanut Butter

Today I ate:

porridge
parsnip, carrot and coriander soup with two slices of rye bread (and it was delicious! I wouldn't have expected to like parsnip in soup)
a mango
two slices of toast with peanut butter (I love peanut butter! Anyone else remember the Olden Days when you used to have to churn it up before you ate it?)
a banana
an orange
a large chunk of raw white cabbage

Yes, it does look strange when you write it down.

Writing it Down

If you write down what you eat, so the theory goes, you'll be more careful about it.

Now then, I'd like to be thinner. Not that I'm hugely overweight, but I'd like to be not overweight at ALL.

Also, I'm diabetic - type 2 - and my blood sugar's always a bit high and I'd really like it not to be. Nasty thing, high blood sugar - - it basically coats every organ in your body in sugar, and that doesn't do them any good. Diabetes shortens your life by fifteen years on average. I don't want it to shorten mine.

Since I found out that I was diabetic, about five years ago, I have made great changes in my diet, though the occasional chocolate digestive biscuit slips through the net - - or did yesterday, anyway.

One problem I have is that the tablets I'm on tend to make me feel rather queasy, especially in the evening: so I often don't really feel like eating anything "proper" then. But at lunchtime I'm often too busy to eat much.

I usually have my five portions of fruit and veg a day - - but I'm trying to find out what else I eat!

So I'm going to write down what I eat, and see what happens. And I'm not going to lie.

Feel free to comment or to criticise!

Yesterday I ate:
porridge, made nearly, but not entirely, with milk, with Canderel as sweetener
a baked potato with grated cheese and salad with no dressing
a drink of orange and raspberry juice
a fruit scone with butter (I love butter - I usually have the half-fat stuff but this was glorious full-fat)
pasta with tomato and basil sauce and grated cheese on top (it was a bit of a cheesy kind of a day)
two chocolate digestive biscuits
an orange, an apple, a banana, at different times of the day.

My other blog is more interesting. I hope. It's www.mydadsacommunist.blogspot.com