Healing Type 1 Diabetes

Friday - Rawvolution Meals Continued

Last night I ate the Broccolini Salad and Nut & Vegetable Pate Wrap from my Rawvolution box. I liked them both pretty well. My kids complained about the smell of the broccolini salad and they don't normally complain about the smell of broccoli, so it must have been the spices used on it. I think it might have had garlic, but it tasted good to me - just ground up broccoli coated with oil and some spices. The wrap was good too. I think it was a kale leaf with nut pate and some vegetables wrapped inside. The only thing is that the greens don't keep too well in shipment. First I ate the Big Matt and the Pizza because they had a lettuce leaf in them. Now the wrap with a kale leaf. The moisture of the food kind of wilts the greens, but there is nothing they can do about that. It was still very good.

Then I ate my last Snackraw bar for dessert and it was very yummy. I think my favorite is the one with the hazelnut filling.

I tell you though, I am ready to get back to some lighter eating when I done with this box. Good stuff (except for the soups and Big Matt, to me) but you don't want to live on it.

I have been blowing my nose a lot though today and major bms, so despite my bad garlicy breath and some stomach gurgling, it doesn't appear to have stopped my body's detox.

• 6:45 am - 221 - I guess that's the after effect of all this rich eating - 1 1/2 units
• 9:30 am - 83 - I didn't get enough sleep last night so I got hungry early - 3 1/2 bananas - 7 units
• 1:30 pm - 123 - 1 apple - 1 unit

Thursday - More Gourmet Raw Foods

Last night I ate the Tomato Basil Soup and Pizza Italiano from my Rawvolution box. I made a nice salad of romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, broccoli sprouts, mushrooms, red bell pepper & 1/2 an avocado squished into the salad beforehand in case I didn't like the soup. Remember my disclaimer from yesterday, about how I have weird tastebuds and you may love this raw food. Well, I hated the soup - tasted like vinegar to me again. So, I put a bite of salad in my mouth and then took a bite of soup and chewed them up together. They include 2 soups in each box and I am glad I am now done with the soups.

Then I ate the Pizza Italiano. I loved it! Yeah! I think it was onion bread again, with a lettuce leaf on top, then seed cheese, and chopped onions, tomatoes, and olives. At least I think that is what the ingredients were. It was yummy, but if I was ever to eat in the restaurant I would ask them to hold the onions and add more olives. The onions weren't as overpowering as in the Big Matt but with onion bread, I could do without them. But every bite was absolutely delish!

I ate a Snackraw bar for dessert. I bought one of each of their bars just to try them out. I loved it!! It was actually better than the Coco Joy bar from yesterday. Which surprised me since Mounds and Almond Joy used to be my favorite candy bars. This one had more flavor to the filling.

• 7:30 am - 174 - 1 unit
• 11:00 am - 117 - 3 1/2 bananas - 7 units
• 1:00 pm - handful of nuts - 2 units
• 2:30 pm - 130
• 4:30 pm - 128 - handful of nuts & apple - 3 units
• 6:00 pm - did some Christmas shopping with my daughter
• 9:45 pm - 341 - how'd it get so high? :-( maybe the stress of Christmas shopping or else I needed more insulin for the nuts and apple I ate earlier - salad, broccolini salad, nut & vegetable pate wrap, snackraw bar - 10 units (including 3 units for being so high)
• Midnight - 96 - looks good! - 10 units lantus

Wednesday - I Hate Some Raw Foods...

Last night I opened my Rawvolution box of goodies (a Christmas present to myself) with great anticipation. I have heard people rave about their food and the convenience of already prepared raw goodies sounded wonderful. There are no raw restaurants where I live, so this was the next best thing.

I tried the Watercress Cucumber soup and the Big Matt with Cheese last night.

First off, I need to say that my tastebuds might be weird in some respects. Even when I ate cooked food, I never liked anything with vinegar in it - I hate mayonnaise or anything with mayonnaise in it and all vinegar based dressings. I also hate caramel colored sodas, coffee, black tea, and beer. I feel like candy is a waste without chocolate, etc, etc. So, what I am saying, is that even though I don't like these particular raw foods, it doesn't mean you won't love them!

You can probably guess what I am going to say now... I hated the soup and the entree that I tried last night. I felt like I was eating a bowlful of vinegar and then eating a mouthful of onion. But I paid all that money, so I was determined to eat every bit and I did. I added avocado, flax cracker crumbs, mushroom pieces, and sprouts to the soup to help choke it down. The Big Matt was on 2 slices of onion bread. I tried a couple of bites of the onion bread by itself and I loved that. The burger itself was soft and squishy (I thought it would be a dehydrated burger) and it tasted oniony also. Then there seemed to be a slice of onion (as well as some tomato and lettuce) on top of the burger. I love onion, but not that much! My breath was really bad later that night and this morning and I had to keep popping Mint Asures to sweeten it up.

I know I must be weird because the Big Matt is their most popular item at the restaurant. So, if anyone wants to post a comment saying how much they love it and why - feel free. I am beginning to think I would not enjoy the meals at raw restaurants even if there were any around here. If I had started out eating gourmet raw food like this, instead of my salads and fruit smoothies - I might have given up on the raw food diet.

I plan to try the Tomato Basil Soup and Pizza Italiano tonight. I hope they agree with my picky tastebuds better.

• 7:45 am - 293 - Yep, just as I expected (see yesterday's post). - 2 1/2 units
• 11:10 pm - 85 - 2 1/2 bananas - 5 units
• 2:00 pm - handful of nuts
• 3:00 pm - 75
• 4:30 pm - 90 - hmmm, the nuts didn't raise my blood sugar. That's a first. Unless it kept me from crashing because I need less of my 24 hour insulin. I need to test that theory soon by not eating until 2:00 in the afternoon on a day where I start with a good blood sugar.
• 8:50 pm - 114 - salad, soup, raw pizza, and snackraw bar - 2 units (I should have taken more)
• Midnight - 303 - 2 1/2 units + 10 units lantus

Tuesday - Signs that my blood sugars are off

The longer I eat raw foods, the more my body sends me signals when my blood sugar levels are even just slightly high or low. These symptoms don't happen everytime and I don't feel all of them at the same time. But whenever I feel one of these symptoms, it is a good sign that I should check my blood sugar.

High bs:

• get hyper and chatty
• find people annoying and irritating
• nausea
• legs & arms get heavy
• headache
• sugar cravings
• more emotional and prone to crying & screaming
• tired.

Low bs:

• sweaty, clammy, feel hot
• dizzy
• feel my energy level plummeting
• can't focus or make sense of things, get confused
• a buzzing in my head.

If I check my blood sugars often, I can usually bring my levels back down or up before symptoms happen. Also, the longer I am on the raw food diet, the more my bs levels are normal - at least it seems that way. My next A1c blood test in February will confirm whether or not that is true.

• 7:30 am - 139
• 10:30 am - 126 - 2 1/2 bananas & some stuffed tomatoes - 5 units
• 2:45 pm - 49 - I felt my energy dropping - 1 apple
• 4:30 pm - 204 - I guess that apple did it - 11 stuffed grape tomatoes - 3 1/2 units (1 1/2 for being high)
• 6:00 pm - small piece of flax cracker with raw walnut butter
• 8:20 pm - 84 - I ate a soup & entree from Rawvolution. Didn't know how much insulin to take so I guessed 3 units
• 10:30 pm - 50 - I felt myself getting confused. So, my guess was too high. I ate a Coco Joy bar without insulin. I'm sure my bs will be too high in the morning, but I am tired of crashing (twice in one day) so I am not going to take anymore humalog insulin. 10 units lantus

Monday - Tonya Zavasta

Last Tuesday night, I took a half day off from work, prepared some raw pasta & sauce, and drove 2 1/2 hours to a Hallelujah Acres potluck & talk by Tonya Zavasta. The Hallelujah Diet is a high raw diet so there was a lot of cooked food at the potluck. It was also hard to gauge my insulin even with eating only the raw dishes and since I was driving 2 1/2 hours back, I didn't want my sugars to crash. So, if I ever do something like this again I think I will pass on the potluck and just attend the talk.

It cost $25 to attend the talk and I think it was well worth it! I wasn't positive that Tonya would have a message that I would be interested in, since all her books seem to be about beauty. But it was well worth the long drive! She was a great speaker and used humor as well as science to make her points.

She's 50 years old but looks decades younger than that. She has survived numerous operations to correct a hip deformity from birth and has exceeded what traditional doctors predicted she would be able to do physically. She ate high raw for 3 years before transitioning to a 100% Rawsome Diet (as she calls it), just like Angela Stokes did. She ate sprouted grains at first, but gave those up 8 years ago. She eats two raw meals a day and her last meal is over by 2 in the afternoon. Matt Monarch also eats 2 meals a day.

A lot of what she says jives with Matt Monarch's approach, so I can't wait to buy and read her new book "Quantum Eating". Sounds like she put a lot of hard scientific research into this book.

She said if your diet is too pure for where you live, then you become a 'sucker' for the toxins in the environment. Matt's latest book "Raw Success" talks about this too. She very much believes in juicing, like Matt, and likes green smoothies also. She shared with us her recipe for green pudding, mangos and kale (no water) and her husband blended it up and provided us samples. It was yummy! She believes in colonics when you are new to raw foods, but she said the last time she went for one they couldn't get anything out. She agrees that switching to raw can cause gas but she disagrees with Matt as to why. She believes it is because our bodies are acidic and then when you add alkaline it produces gas - like when you combine baking soda and vinegar.

Her husband started eating raw 8 months ago and has lost 70 pounds and she said he was a work in progress (her husband joined in with the joking around). She said, ladies, don't throw away a perfectly good husband just because he won't eat raw food. All you can do is set a good example. She talked about beauty on the inside as well as the outside - showing pictures of healthy and unhealthy colons, blood vessels, and blood. Very interesting!

As to my journey - all that deep breathing has worked, my left side no longer hurts. In fact, I have even sneezed without any pain and it used to be very painful. I think I am going to continue deep breathing when I think of it since the universe led me to it in that painful way. ;-)

I didn't record all the food I ate and units I took this weekend. I did have a yummy fruit smoothie for a late breakfast both mornings. I had a wonderful chiropractic treatment & massage on Saturday morning. Saturday night I made stuffed tomatoes for a caroling/snack party and they went over well. There was a veggie tray & some orange slices I was able to snack on. But my blood sugar did get a little high that night as I had trouble gauging how much insulin to take and I hate for my sugars to crash at a party. That would be very embarassing.

Sunday morning I had trouble gauging how much insulin to take with my smoothie and it took awhile for me to bring my sugars down. I had lots of stuffing left over and made myself some more stuffed tomatoes last night for supper and sprinkled some sprouts over the whole thing. I wish I had a digital camera to show it off, it was so pretty! And very yummy too! I am bringing some more tomorrow to work for snack day. Maybe I will use up all that stuffing eventually!

Saturday:

• 9:40 am - 63
• 11:20 am - 156
• 3:50 pm - 173
• 5:00 pm - 128
• 7:30 pm - 144
• 8:30 pm - 195
• 11:10 pm - 233

Sunday:

• 11:50 am - 201
• 3:30 pm - 237
• 4:20 pm - 207
• 7:30 pm - 75
• 10:45 pm - 115

Today:

• 6:30 am - 222 - I ate a sweet snack late last night and didn't take enough insulin to cover it. - 1 1/2 units
• 11:30 am - 88 - 2 1/2 bananas - 5 units
• 2:00 pm - my blood sugar started crashing because part of the bananas were bruised so I didn't eat enough - 1 red delicious apple
• 5:20 pm - 128
• 7:00 pm - 1 flax cracker with a little raw walnut butter & 20 raw green olives
• 9:00 pm - 176 - stuffed tomatoes (I am trying to use up that stuffing, I made way too much), broccoli sprouts, & mushrooms & 1 square raw chocolate - 3 units (1 for being high)
• 11:45 pm - 89 - 10 units lantus

Friday - The Universe Works in Mysterious Ways

I injured myself awhile back - see Feeling Refreshed! and it still hurts when I breathe deeply or try to use my left arm for something that requires a little muscle. I visited the work health clinic about a week after the injury just to see if there was anything that I could do. They said I had either pulled a muscle or tendon or possibly even broken a rib, but they all require rest to heal. But they did refer me to a physical therapist at the clinic for the next week for possible ultrasound therapy that might help to heal it.

Before the therapist appointment, I had a prescheduled appointment with my chiropractor/acupuncturist/massage therapist and I told them about the injury so that they could work around it. The massage therapist was careful, but did work in that area and I didn't feel any pain at the time. I did injure myself when I tried to move around on the massage table using my left arm, ouch! Then the chiropractor checked me out and determined that my rotater cuff was not injured, which was good, and had me do some ulstrasound therapy at their office. I felt great until later that day when it started hurting so bad. It hurt under my left arm and in the front and back area of my left chest area. It ached and it hurt to even breathe shallowly. It hurt the next day for about half the day also and then it seemed better.

By the time I saw the physical therapist on Monday morning, it was back to just hurting when I breathed deeply or tried to use my left arm muscles. So maybe the massage and ultrasound caused some short-term pain but got the blood circulating in that area for healing, I'm not sure. Anyway, the physical therapist checked out where I hurt and didn't think ultrasound would do anything. He said it would just take up to 6 weeks to heal. He emphasized that I needed to breathe deeply to exercise that area, to the point of a little pain, so it didn't heal up tight. He recommended breathing in deeply, holding for a count of 10 and exhaling and repeating that 10 times.

I understand what he is saying about maybe healing with a limited range of motion. I broke my left foot (why is it always on the left - where my pancreas & spleen is?) and I had to keep stretching out that foot to the point of a little pain, after it was out of the cast, to help get back my full range of motion. It took almost a full year before I got that full range of motion back and I could no longer find that point of pain when stretching.

So now, whenever I am thinking about it - when I am driving, walking, sitting at my desk at work - I deep breathe and stretch my ribcage to the point of a little pain. I started on Monday and this is Friday and already I am able to breathe deeper before I feel that pull and the pull is less and less.

I think the Universe works in mysterious ways because sometimes I get referral pain in my left upper back (right where my back pain is right now) from my pancreas. Usually this happens when I am eating really healthy and I think it is trying to come back to life. Well, maybe this injury was to force me to help myself heal with deep breathing (which I have read in many articles is very healing and good for you), the ultrasound, massage in that area, etc. It has also helped me to live more in the moment, with the pain for one. ;-) But also with the focus on my breathing.

• 7:30 am - 196 - 1 unit
• 10:00 am - handful of nuts - 2 units
• 1:15 pm - 186 - I think I must have taken 1 1/2 handful of nuts ;-) - 1 red delicious apple - 2 units (1 for being over and 1 for the apple)
• 3:00 pm - nuts & apple - 3 units
• 5:30 pm - 150
• 8:20 pm - 153 - large salad - 2 units
• 11:10 pm - 104 - 10 units lantus

Thursday - Chiro & Acu & Massage, Oh My!

I want to talk about a new group of alternative practitioners that the Universe has led me to and brag on Preston Family Chiropractic today. I got a free session from them somehow by signing up at some booth. I went, thinking I wouldn't really switch to them, but they do massage (deep medical massage like I like), acupuncture, and chiropractic adjustments (but no popping adjustments and they do pay attention to the upper cervical connection which I think is good) - all three in one convenient location.

They also file the insurance and I only have to pay the difference at the time of the appointment. Instead of me paying it all up front, like I have been doing for years for my massage, acupuncture, and chiro, and waiting for my reimbursement from insurance.

The one hour massage was first and it felt great! I chatted with the massage therapist and turns out her children get hyper from red food coloring, just like my son does. She also told me about a Krogers that has an organic section, that I didn't know about. I shopped there the next day and it was great. A little cheaper than Whole Foods and a good selection. The chiropractic adjustment was next and it felt good also. No popping or cracking, which I like.

Last was the acupuncture. The acupuncture diagnosis was fascinating. She explained how it was done by touching this instrument to different points on the body (she said very experienced Chinese practitioners can do this by just checking the pulse in those locations) and then the computer showed what organs were low on energy, over stimulated with energy, or just right. My kidneys were great, which is good considering that diabetes often affects them. The only one very low was my spleen and the spleen and pancreas are on the same meridian. I have heard from other practitioners that my spleen is affected, it is probably still fighting an Epstein-Barr virus. Then other organs are over stimulated and using too much energy that is needed elsewhere. They were supposed to give me a printout but they forgot, so I will get one next time.

The acupuncture itself was only 15 minutes or so (and I was skeptical about this because I am used to hour long sessions) but every spot she used (based on the diagnosis) really tingled or burned for a little bit showing that it was an important location. I had an hour long massage, acupuncture, and chiro for around 60 dollars. Then they recommended a package of 8 visits twice a week with a chiro each time and alternating a half hour massage with acupuncture each time. Paying up front for the package cost only $117 and I have scheduled all the appointments near my lunch hour or on Saturday. They believe my acupuncture diagnosis will improve a lot after these 8 sessions, so we will see. They are also going to give me a free nutritional analysis on my next visit.

So, my message today is to keep looking and be open to the possibilities that the universe sends you.

• A lot of drainage this morning. My nose was running big time right after I got up and I had to blow my nose a lot. Detox is awesome!
• 7:45 am - 109 - awesome morning blood sugar! But, I did get up at 5:40 and my bs felt a little low and then it went up to this level. So, it seems like the only way I can get a great reading a couple hours after being up is to start kind of low. ;-) But maybe that will change as my organs get rebalanced on their energy levels by my new practitioners and with the raw food diet, of course, also.
• 10:00 am - handful of raw nuts - 2 units
• 11:30 am - 106 - 2 1/2 bananas - 5 units
• 2:00 pm - handful of nuts - 2 units
• 3:00 pm - 101
• 5:00 pm - 92 - 2 raw bars - 4 units
• 9:15 pm - 178 - raw zucchini pasta & sauce & on square of raw chocolate - 3 units (1 for the high reading)
• Midnight - 84 - 10 units lantus

Wednesday - Dog Days

It has been over a week since I blogged. I just needed a little bit of a break. Our dog, a lovable mixed Lab of 10 1/2 years, seems to have recovered from Lymphoma with alternative treatments but now has developed intestinal problems - maybe inflammatory bowel disorder. I know, I hate labels for all these diseases too. It means her intestines are inflamed and overgrown with bad bacteria. She also developed a dandruff like skin condition. They said this is because her body is stressed.

The vet gave me a special shampoo that you leave on for 10 minutes. I bathed her over the weekend and she looks so much better and I think it made her feel better too. She wasn't scratching herself, but I wonder if it was just so-o-o itchy that she gave up. Now she probably isn't itching. You wish they could tell you what they feel, don't you?

Anyway, we are trying two more weeks of an antibiotic. It only comes in powdered form, so I am putting it in gel capsules, coating the capsule with butter, and poking it down her throat twice a day. As always, I am still giving her probiotics - but she only gets them if she eats and she hasn't been eating consistently. Although, she's been eating a little better since the bath. I am also putting cod liver oil and Canine Enteric from Standard Process into her food.

Right now I am using a canned food from the vets that is supposed to be easy to digest. I have tried switching her to quality raw foods a few times and it seems to make her worse - more gas. Maybe because of the IBD. If anyone has any suggestions, please email me or post a comment.

Now I am at home tonight and my sweet doggie is not eating and I can hear the gas in her tummy gurgling. Poor thing. I gave her simethicone and now I will do some energy work on her tummy, that usually helps her to release the gas.

• 7:30 am - 199 - 1 unit (I have been up since 5:30. I went to a raw food talk last night and overate on raw food. I will post about that on another day)
• 12:30 pm - 112 - handful of nuts & 2 1/2 bananas - 5 units
• 5:00 pm - 230 - oops, I snacked on some nuts this afternoon and didn't take any insulin. - 1 1/2 units
• 8:30 pm - 97 - raw zucchini pasta from my saladacco & raw pasta sauce & one square of raw chocolate - 2 units
• 11:45 pm - 135 - 10 units lantus

Tuesday - Food, Hair, Soy, & Thyroid

Tonight I am getting a haircut and perm. I know the toxins of the perm are bad, but at least I don't color. My older sister and two younger sisters color because of grey hair. My youngest sister, who is 5 years younger than me and loves Dr. Pepper and fast food, told me recently that her hair is totally grey if she doesn't color. My mother has totally white grey hair, but it is a nice color and it didn't change to that color until she was much older than my sister is now. My hair has a few grey hairs and, hopefully, raw foods will reverse that trend.

Genetically though, I was unlucky in that I got my dad's thin, fine hair. All three of my sisters have always had thick beautiful hair. Hence the need for perms as my hair does not hold a curl and looks so flat without some help. I do go to a hair stylist that believes in as natural & organic stuff as possible. She eats healthy, exercises, uses organic makeup, and looks great! We talk about health & nutrition a lot while she is working on my hair.

When I ate too much soy for a few months in the form of hi protein bars shortly after being diagnosed with diabetes, my hair got much worse. So bad that my hair stylist refused to give me a perm for fear that my hair would all break off. My chiropractor/kinesiologist of the time said the soy was damaging my thyroid so I quit eating those bars. My thyroid & hair took a few months to recover.

My hair is now healthy, although still thin and fine, and my hair looks healthy and curly after the perm I got tonight. I need to post a picture of myself soon. I guess I can't stay hidden forever ;-). I bought my daughter a digital camera for Christmas. Maybe she will help me to post a picture of myself on the web.

Based on this experience and much reading I am anti-soy unless it is fermented to remove the toxins like in tempeh or miso. Also, I had my son tested twice for food allergies through Immuno Labs and soy was the only food that he was shown as allergic to both times. Dr. Mercola has some articles on soy that are very good at explaining why soy is bad for your health.

• 7:00 am - 200 - I've been up since 5:40, so the rush of getting ready has probably brought my bs up. 1 unit
• 11:20 am - 140 - 2 1/2 bananas - 5 units
• 2:30 pm - 172 - 9 mango slices - 2 units
• 4:10 pm - 85 - 1 golden delicious apple - 1 unit
• 6:00 pm - snacked on a handful of raw olives at the hair salon.
• 7:00 pm - fed the dog & cat & did my chores like the wash & setting out vitamins for tomorrow.
• 8:30 pm - 76 - finally ready to eat. I was tired so I ate 2 raw bars. - 5 units
• 11:15 pm - 113 - 10 units lantus

Monday - Weight Loss

One of the comments I have received asked me about weight loss, so I am going to answer that question today.

I released 10 pounds from my peak by eating high raw. Check out Angela Stoke's story and learn how she released lots of weight on a high raw diet for 3 years before switching to 100% raw.

Then I released another 10 pounds while eating 100% raw. I am now below the weight I was at when I graduated high school, at 52 years old. When I graduated from high school I weighed 105 pounds, but I always felt better and had less of a tummy when I weighed around 100 pounds. I am fluctuating between 101 to 104 pounds nowadays and I don't worry about it. Whatever my body decides is right is fine with me. This morning I weighed 102 pounds.

• 4:00 am - I woke up feeling a little low on my bs, but I was tired so I ignored it and went quickly back to sleep.
• 6:50 am - 104 - I think my body pulled my bs back up - yeah!
• 11:00 am - 82 - I have not eaten yet and my blood sugar is still good, so I believe this verifies that my 24 hour dosage is correct. Although, to really be sure I would have to fast until 2 or 3 this afternoon, but I am hungry so I am going to eat. I will try to fast some other day and check this out. It's possible I would crash by 2 or 3 and my 24 hour insulin level needs to go down 1 unit. - 2 1/2 bananas - 5 units
• 2:00 pm - 82 - wow, now this is rare! The exact same bs as 3 hours ago. - a bowl of fresh pineapple chunks - 3 units
• 4:00 pm - I wasn't sure whether to take 2 or 3 units for that pineapple and now I wish I had taken 2 units. I crashed big time! Now I am reminded of why I would rather underestimate than overestimate my dosage. I started sweating, got dizzy, and my stomach hurt. I forced myself to take a bite of a banana despite my upset stomach (I felt like I might throw up) and then laid down on the floor of my office and waited for it to pass.
• 4:15 pm - 69 - I finally felt better and ate the rest of the banana without insulin. I may go high but I don't care about that right now, I just want to avoid crashing again especially on the drive home.
• 8:00 pm - 210 - 1 1/2 units for being over + 5 units for 2 raw bars and olives. My side still hurts and after the crashing at work I didn't feel like making a supper.
• 11:15 pm - 228 - I need to start taking 6 units for those bars and olives. 1 1/2 units + 10 units lantus.

Sunday - Raw Food & Blood Sugars

I appreciate someone who has been posting comments lately on my blog. I wanted to address her concern about my high morning blood sugars. I have a great endocrinologist and she taught me that my 24 hour insulin (which is lantus) should not cover my food (my humalog is for that) but is for covering my hormones, etc during the day. In other words, if I fasted all day my blood sugars should remain steady. So, for instance, if I wake up with a good blood sugar I should be able to make it to 2 or 3 in the afternoon without eating and maintain a good blood sugar. Then she gave me a way to do the same thing to check my afternoon and evening levels. Sometimes I think I need 10 1/2 units of lantus instead of 10, but unfortunately my lantus pen does not do 1/2 units. 11 however, is too much, as I crash and am forced to eat - which is not what should happen.

So, my high morning blood sugars are caused by other factors and I know what they are but, unfortunately, I am not doing things perfectly and these factors still occur. Things like:

• eating too late the night before
• stress of my morning routine
• not enough sleep the night before.

Stress does make my blood sugar go up, unfortunately. Judging how much insulin to take to cover raw food is sometimes difficult to gauge since fruits & veggies vary so much in size and sweetness. So, if I eat a fruit smoothie, for example, late at night and don't finish eating it at least 3 hours before I go to bed, then if I gave myself 5 units (and I'd rather underestimate than overestimate and my endocrinologist agrees that crashing is worse) and I really needed 6 or 7 units my bs will rise during the night while I am sleeping.

I am excited that other Type 1 diabetics are following my blog. That is cool. But, remember we are all different and this diet might work even better for you than it does for me. All my doctors, endocrinologists, nutritionists, and other practitioners think I am a tough case and I just seem sensitive to everything. I mean I have to take insulin if I take Omega 3 supplements, so I don't take them, and everyone is always stumped by this. Before I went on the raw food diet, my endocrinologist shook her head and said I don't know what else to suggest for you. But now she is much happier with how I am doing. My theory with raw food is that even if my blood sugar goes high because it is hard to estimate the insulin to take, that the nutrients in the raw food help to heal damage from the sugar - to some extent. Hence my better A1c numbers. But keep posting any and all comments, I appreciate it. Or email me if you want. Thanks!

I went to a raw food workshop from 10 - 2 yesterday. It was hosted by Christie Kellogg of www.rawinanutshell.com. We tasted a lot of great raw food, including raw zucchini lasagna and blueberry pie. I checked my blood sugar under the table a couple of times during the workshop, but it would have been hard to estimate how much insulin to take or to sneak off and inject it. I definitely didn't want my blood sugar to crash during the workshop, so I was kind of chasing my blood sugars the rest of the day.

Yesterday:

• 9:15 am - 159
• 11:30 am - 135 - eating at raw food workshop
• 1:15 pm - 164 - still eating at workshop
• 2:45 pm - 273 - Raw food workshop ran late, so this was my first chance to check my blood sugar and take insulin. - 2 units - I probably needed more as my blood sugar was probably still rising from the workshop, but I didn't want to crash (my blood sugars, not my car - although it could end up being both) while driving home.
• 7:15 pm - 332 - salad of dandelion greens, green leaf lettuce, thyme, tomatoe, mushrooms, and cucumber with a raw black tahini/water dressing - 2 units for salad + 2 1/2 units for being over (I normally would have taken 3 units, but my pen ran out and I didn't think it was worth it to refill it for 1/2 unit)
• midnight - 191 - 1 unit + 10 units lantus - I didn't finish eating 3 hours ago, so I was afraid that I might not need another unit.

Today:

• 10:45 am - 56 - yeah, I probably didn't need that unit at midnight last night. - 1 granny smith apple - no insulin
• 1:40 pm - 149 - ate a small flax cracker with raw nut butter before driving
• 3:40 pm - 143 - 2 raw bars & some raw olives - 4 units
• 6:30 pm - 246 - made a tropical smoothie of young coconut meat & water, 10 chunks of pineapple, 5 slices of mango, 2 bananas, & 10 frozen strawberries. - 5 units + 2 units for high bs - hard to estimate the insulin, I will probably need more.
• 11:10 pm - 285 - 2 units + 10 units lantus