Wed, Aug 25th and Thurs, Aug 26th

Not that it really matters, but when I do a blog for Thursday, August 26th, that is the day of the my morning blood sugar, the day of eating to build up to that reading was actually the day before, which would have been wed.
I digress.....
Tuesday Addison and I went to MAMA NEMS' Comfort food for the soul. Our friends Desiree and Angelica were talking about it one day and we said we wanted to go there, and finally we did.
Delicious!
Corn Bread, Meatloaf, Mac and Cheese, Green Beans, Fried Green Tomatoes, Cheese Grits and for dessert we split both a Peach Cobbler and a Banana Pudding!
Heavenly and Decadent!
I took quite a bit home with me in a "to go" box.
I was so full that I really didn't want anything else for awhile.
Later that evening Mark came over and we went to Smokey Bones, where I ordered Chicken Fingers, but I only ate two of them and brought the rest of them home as well.
Morning Blood Sugar was an amazing 84!
Wednesday I got up and finished off the Chicken Fingers with a piece of Cheese and some Honeydew Melon.
Then off to work out with Lynn.
Then before work I finished up the Mama Nems'
I was doing OK until after work, when Addison and I went to Steak and Shake. I had the Bleu Cheese Bacon Burger and a cup of Chili. We always have the same waitress when we go there and we must treat her pretty good, because after our meal a couple of Chocolate chip cookies appeared on our table.
At this point i was still doing OK
Until our post-Steak-N-Shake Wal Mart trip was coming to a close and we were in that Checkout Line
Magically a few Candy Bars ended up in our basket, and I am pretty sure that we inhaled them in a matter of seconds while driving home.
What was I doing?
Was all of this work for nothing?
Did I have guilt? Absolutely.
Will I try to control myself a little better? Absolutely
Morning Blood Sugar....122
Not terrible, but still a couple of points above range.
Food can definitely be a struggle for me.
Smarter food choices are coming my way!

Sun Aug 22 - Tues Aug 24

Ok, I've been away from my computer for a couple of days, so I figured that I would put three days in to one blog.
Saturday I cooked for Mark and Nicole.
The challenge was that I could make whatever I wanted to, providing that my protein was fried.
Normally I stick to baking and it is usually Chicken, so this time I decided to be different then the norm and go with a theme.
Country Fried Dinner!
I looked up some recipes and made the following: Country Fried Steak with White Gravy, Cornbread (probably the most delicious that I have ever eaten) Creamed Spinach, Tomato and Onion Casserole and Pumpkin Maple Bread Pudding.
Was it the healthiest? NO
Was it delicious? YES
So saturday I basically snacked on that throughout the day.
Sunday morning blood sugar 116.
Sunday morning off to Tampa for a show that night.
There were no complete meals the whole day, just a package of Cheese and Crackers here, an uncrustable PB&J there, and a few Chicken Fingers, and so on.....
Also in the mix were a couple of Vodka drinks, so I was a little worried about mondays sugar, which turned out to be 113.
(Maybe the all day snacking, and never too much food at one time helped)
Then monday lunch was at one of my favorite places.... Acropolis in Ybor City.
I had the usual GYRO platter with Greek Salad and Greek Fries.
So Delicious!
a couple of the people that dined with me didn't want there leftover Moussaka and Pasticcio, so I took them home with me, along with my Gyro and Salad leftovers.
Perhaps I had too big of a portion late at night, along with the rest of the Bread Pudding, and I was so full that I knew I was going to be out of range, but somehow I still weighed in at 117.
So far, being without insulin has been agreeing with me and I have managed to stay under 120.
Today my fridge is empty, so not only must i shop and refill, but I am also excited to see what culinary adventures will come my way.
Thanks for reading.

Saturday, August 21st

Day two without insulin
With yesterday's news of a "in range" blood sugar I wanted to start the day off right.
My first meal of the day was simple, some honeydew melon, a piece of string cheese, and a cracker that I stuck in my pocket from Jason's deli. I knew that the next day i was going to cook "big" and I wanted to have something to munch on while I prepped for the next day (today) so I also purchased a Salad with Grilled Chicken, Dried Fruit, Nuts and Goat Cheese which was my dinner before work.
During work was a Granola Bar, and after work i was propositioned by Bobby to go to Bananas.
I thought about declining, because I have eaten there several times over the last few weeks and there isn't really anything "Healthy" on the menu, however I decided to go, eat what I wanted, and see what my morning blood sugar was.
If it was high, then i would have to really tighten up on my late night eating.
Nicole, bobby and I all went. We shared an order of homeade Potato Chips (good thing there were three of us, because I could have easily eaten the whole bag - So Delicious!) and then I ordered the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup.
a little worried this morning as I took my reading, I was pleasantly surprised that it was 115!
Even better then the previous day.....

Friday, August 20th

So yesterday was when I was going to the Doctor to find out my results.
Prior to my appointment I had a granola bar, then I went in and found out the good news....
NO MORE INSULIN
So afterwards Mark and I went to Jason's Deli, where I had my tried and true Tomato Basil Soup and Salad Bar.
It hasn't let me down yet!
Then later that evening i met my other friend Marc at Thai Thani out by Sea World.
We started with the summer rolls (Yes, I ate shrimp) and then I had the Pineapple Yellow Curry Fried Rice with Chicken.
Once I got home I didn't know what to have as my final meal of the day, of course i wanted something good and greasy, however this was going to be the first night in almost a year that I did not take insulin before going to bed, so i heated up some green beans and tomatoes and figured that i would play it safe (and it ended up being delicious anyway)
This morning's blood sugar....
Was it going to be high?
Is my body ready for this without the insulin?
The Doctor said between 80 and 120, would i be in range?
Yes!
117
Now lets see how tomorrow goes

A DAY TO CELEBRATE

Thursday, August 19th!
Just had a follow up Doctor's appointment.
Last time she raised the amount of pills that I take daily, but she reduced my insulin down to 10 units a day.
Well, the results were excellent!
So good, in fact, that she took me off of insulin!!!!!
My glucose is in range at 99
and my Hemoglobin A1c is down to 6.0.
I am thrilled!
No more sticking myself every night before bed.
I feel a great sense of accomplishment.
I am down a few pounds too!

I would also like to Thank all of you who have supported and encouraged me.
I couldn't have done it by myself.

I am eating and photographing delicious food today, so I plan to get back in the swing of blogging!

Seattle

Four Days in Seattle.
It has been a long time since I enjoyed a new city so much.
The weather was perfection and I loved the lack of humidity (Florida can be so gross in the summers)
Great restaurants, great times with a friend from college who i haven't seen in 13 or 14 years, beautiful produce at Pikes place Market, and lots of good seafood (as many of you know, I hate seafood and will only hesitantly take small bites of it, but I can still appreciate it, and find enjoyment in how delicious other people seem to think it is)

Just a couple of highlights...

The breakfasts from the Local Yoke across from out hotel in Lynnwood, with biscuits the size of baseballs.

The lunch we had with Leslie at the Bite of Seattle.

a delicious cobb salad at Salty's.

and the Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwich at the Urbane before we headed to the airport.

Mt. Rainier

Two days at an amazing cabin at Mt. Rainier national Park was an incredible experience.
Not only were the views breathtakingly beautiful, but I didn't think that I would enjoy going for three hour hikes as much as I did.

Foodwise the area was limited, but there were a couple of nearby restaurants such as the Wild Berry Restaurant and Bakery where I had my first ever piece of Huckleberry Pie.

But our favorite place was the Copper Creek Inn where one night for dinner I had Hawaiian Chicken Cordon Bleu with Asaragus, Baked Potato, Salad and Garlic Cheese Bread (so hungry after hiking that I ate every bite) and the next morning we stopped back by for breakfast before we headed to Seattle.