Day - 19

I didn’t put quite enough insulin last night so my blood sugar before breakfast was a bit high. Not too worry, it was still under 10 :-). 

I went to the doctor again this morning. The doctor thinks that I got asthma that was triggered by a virus. The virus got killed by the antibiotics I took but the cough persists. So I had to get the inhaler to get rid of it.
It’s extremely expensive (€85) for a month worth. A puff two times daily, and I also got another inhaler which was much cheaper (€8) to give a short relief when I get a coughing spasm during my sleep. Lucky the doctor didn’t charge for the service because I just went to him a week ago. If not then I would have to pay another €55.

Unfortunately the drug payment scheme (where a family has a limit on how much to pay in a month for prescribed medicines) has gone up to €120, so I still had to pay the full amount.

I just hope it will work this time before our holiday abroad.


Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 7.5      Novorapid: 6
1 toast with margarine
Coffee

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 4.8      Novorapid: 16
Left over oxtail soup with rice
Tea

Today the blood sugar reading was not so good with over 7 before meal.

Dinner:
Blood sugar: 7.0     Novorapid: 18     Lantus: 30
Vegetarian moussaka
2 sausage mummies (Frankfurters wrapped with pizza dough)
Tea

Day - 18

I’ve had a long enough break now. Not that I gorged myself with food, it was just that I didn’t really avoid fat (which is the most important part of this diet).
Saturday was our wedding anniversary so we ate out the whole day. Strangely at both lunch and dinner I couldn’t finish my meal. My stomach must have shrunk, even though it seemed unlikely because it was only 2 weeks.
I’m not complaining, I think it is a very good sign :-).

My blood sugar mostly was still in good control because I increased the insulin dose back to what it was before I started the diet but I felt bloated and uncomfortable. Last Monday I weighed myself and was still 61kg but I know it will go up quickly enough if I don’t go back to the diet food again. I bought a digital weighing scale today so I can weigh myself more precisely.

I still have this cough, even though my stronger antibiotic will finish this evening. Maybe I do have some kind of allergy. I’m not sure if hayfever can come out as cough too, not just sneeze or runny nose and eyes, because my cough gets worse when the weather is very dry and warm. In a fresh cool breeze I feel much better.
Anyway, I will go back to the doctor again soon and see what he says. I might have to get that expensive inhaler …*sigh*.

Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 9.8      Novorapid: 10 units
1 toast with margarine
Coffee

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 2.8      Novorapid: 14 units
Meatballs in tomato sauce with rice
Tea
10 cashew nuts
Few slices of mango



Dinner:
Blood sugar: 12.0       Novorapid: 18 units    Lantus: 28 units
Chicken and (cream style) sweet corn soup
1 apple
Tea
10 cashew nuts
1 tsp dry roast peanuts




I should not have been tempted to eat the mango. Even though there was not much, mango is high in sugar and when I ate it was very late in the afternoon when my insulin had been used up already. The result was that my blood sugar was quite high before dinner.

Today is a good example of how my blood sugar can go all over the place. I have to try to find the right dose of insulin again after a few days of letting myself go.
Hopefully it won’t take too long before it’s all back to normal again.

Day 14 - 17

I missed Sunday to Wednesday. I was really not in the mood and didn’t have the energy to do anything beside the routine (if only I could avoid that too). My cough is still very bad and I didn’t sleep well.
I will start to write again when I feel better and try harder to get back on track.



Note: I had this for dinner on Wednesday.

Day - 13

Saturday was our wedding anniversary. We left the kids with my sister in law and then on to my mother in law for the night, so we were free from the afternoon until Sunday morning.
We went out from lunch time and I had lunch in a pub down in the country waiting for my husband to collect his new toy – a second hand Range Rover.
I had to wait quite a while, so from planning to just have a main meal, I ended up ordering dessert and a huge pot of tea as well to avoid the questioning from the waitress.

I didn’t finish all the food I ordered. From the looks I got from the staff I must be strange for not finishing my meals.
The food was good (except for the mash of orangey colour stuff that tasted awful, I couldn’t even make out what it really was, so I left it be) but I just couldn’t bring myself to eat all the chips and dessert in one sitting. I’d feel like I’m killing myself :-D

We went out again in the evening for dinner in a Lebanese restaurant. That was the first time we tried that restaurant or food from that part of the world. My starter was deep fried fillo pastries with spinach filling, followed by a main course of Lamb meatballs in tomato sauce served with fragrant rice (it must be cooked in ghee because it was so tasty by itself but the waitress didn’t really know when I asked). We had some red wine as well which was very nice (it was Lebanese wine which I had never tasted before, it’s worth looking out for in the future) but we couldn’t finish it (I usually drink only a glass every time we are having wine) so we asked to take the half bottle home.
From dinner we went to see a film. Overall we had a good night and I really enjoyed it.

Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 5.9       Novorapid: 4 units
1 toast with margarine
Coffee

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 7.3      Novorapid: 18 units 
Corned beef with parsley sauce, cabbage, mashed something and chips
Tea
Apple pie with cream





Dinner:
Blood sugar: 2.9     Novorapid: 18 units   Lantus: 30 units
Spinach in filo pastry
Lamb meatballs with rice
A glass of red wine
Coffee

Day - 12

I was very tired and sleepy on Friday. The night out really exhausted me. I’m still not well and staying out until very late didn’t help. That was why I didn’t write my diary.

I still have to do the routines though, but after I picked up my eldest I couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to go to a doctor, but not our usual family doctor. I just wanted to change and see if this new one would be better. I’ve been prescribed stronger antibiotics to get rid of this annoying cough, hopefully it will work this time or I might have to go to hospital to get an x-ray. The doctor said that I might have some allergies too and suggested an inhaler but it costs €60, so I said I will try with the antibiotics first. If the cough still persists then I will go back and get the inhaler.

I really had no energy, not even for cooking, so I sent my husband and the kids to eat at McDonalds and I stayed at home.

Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 2.9      Novorapid: 4 units
1 toast with margarine
Coffee

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 5.3      Novorapid: 16 units
Stir fry chow chow with rice
Tea



Dinner:
Blood sugar: 7.9      Novorapid: 16 units    Lantus: 30 units
Sticky black rice with light coconut milk sauce
Tea



Before bed time my blood sugar was quite high so I injected 5 extra units of Lantus to bring it down.

Day - 11

It seems that reducing the slow release insulin works on keeping my blood sugar steady. It was a bit high before lunch but I think that was because of the banana I ate last night. It’s still nothing to be concerned about.

As you know I went out last night (that’s why I had no time to post the diary). I knew it would be a problem. I checked my blood sugar at the usual time at around 6pm. It was 4.9, so I was doubtful about putting the slow release insulin like my husband suggested. I had to pick up some of the other mothers and drive to the restaurant, so I don’t really want to get lows and risk other people’s lives.
The thing was supposedly for 8.30pm but like I expected, some people were late so we didn’t get our main meal until after 10pm. My blood sugar was up to 10.4 even before the starters. I skipped the wine because I had to drive and no dessert either.

I didn’t get home until after 1am and extremely tired. I had a good night but it would have been better if I could have left when I wanted to but alas, couldn’t do that until the bill was settled. The good thing is that it’s only one or twice a year .


Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 4.4      Novorapid: 4 units
1 toast with margarine
Coffee

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 7.6       Novorapid: 18 units
Stir fry rice with left over Japanese steak and soy beans
Some non caffeine diet coke



1 apple

Dinner:
Blood sugar: 10.4      Novorapid: 25 units (total all evening)    Lantus: 30 units
Mix starter, which was not my personal choice
(chicken satay, spring roll, spare rib, fried wonton)
Chilli and basil prawn with steamed rice
Tea

Note:
I had to put 3 units of Novorapid before the starters came to bring my blood sugar down, and then another 20 units when the meal came.

Before I went to sleep I checked again and it was 8.9 so I put another 2 just to be sure it wouldn’t be too high the next day.

Day - 10

The last blood sugar check last night was 2.6 but I didn’t eat anything after that so this morning it was a bit low, but still above 3 so I was not too worried.

All day today my blood sugar reading seemed good, maybe finally I have got the correct insulin dose. I will try to change the evening one because I still got under 3 after meals and I don’t think that is right.

Today I deviated a bit from the full Japanese diet and I will try to change it bit by bit and try to find the right portion that suits me to keep the weight down. I know it won’t be easy but as long as I’m disciplined and determined I think it will work.

Tomorrow I will go out with other mothers from my first daughter’s class for a get together before summer break. I just hope my blood sugar won’t go crazy. I will try to find the best strategy to keep my blood sugar right even if the main meal comes very late. If not I will just have to do emergency insulin dose.
I think I have to learn to enjoy a night out without getting too nervous about my blood sugar. One bad reading won’t kill me (I hope :-)).

Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 3.6      Novorapid: 4 units
1 toast with Brussels pate
Coffee



Lunch:
Blood sugar: 6.7       Novorapid: 16 units
Rice with left over Bolognese sauce
1 mochi
Tea

1 Apple

Dinner:
Blood sugar: 5.6      Novorapid: 14 units    Lantus: 26 units
Japanese steak with new potatoes and sprouting broccoli
Tea
1 mochi



1 banana

Note:
I checked my blood sugar at 9.30pm and it was 2.0 so I ate a banana to bring it up. Hopefully it won't be too much.

At the moment my husband is torturing me by eating popcorn, oh the smell is so tempting, but I will be strong strong strong….:-).

Day - 9

Before I went to bed last night I checked my blood sugar as usual and it was 2.7 so I drank half a small glass of apple juice, but because I had used a lower dose of Lantus than usual my blood sugar was a bit high for before meal.
I will still try to keep the low dose of Lantus but be careful not to add more calories before bed time.

Today my body has started screaming for spicy food. I don’t usually eat the same flavour of food every single day, now I’ve started to feel the effect of doing it.
Maybe this is how an alcoholic feels when they do rehab, the body is screaming for a fix :-).

I have to admit it is getting harder and harder, especially when my family eat fry or pasta and I have to sit there watching them. I love fatty food and for me that’s the hardest thing to avoid. I don’t mind to skip dessert or alcoholic drinks but avoiding juicy chicken legs with the skin on or big fat sausages needs a strong will.

When I first got diabetes while pregnant it seemed easier to eat properly. My concentration was on my baby. It continued through breast feeding and then my second child. I lost so much weight after each pregnancy that I ended up even lighter than before I got pregnant. After my second girl passed her toddler age my discipline slacked. I didn’t watch myself as much as before. Cheeses and sausages are my biggest sins.
Even though I still eat in moderation, the constant fat supply to my body takes it toll.

Hopefully after I reach my desired weight I can maintain it. I will start back eating the way I used to just maybe in much smaller portions. I can’t wait to get back into my old clothes again :-).


What I ate today:

Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 7.2       Novorapid: 6 units
1 toast with margarine
Coffee

1 fat free Vitalinea yoghurt

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 4.9      Novorapid: 14 units
Noodles with spinach and baked fish cakes
Tea
3 teaspoons dry roast peanuts



1 Magnum Classic
1 apple

Note:
Extra 2 units of Novorapid to cover the ice cream.

Dinner:
Blood sugar: 3.4      Novorapid: 14 units    Lantus: 26 units
Soya bean and crab meat in sesame oil and Tuna sashimi with rice
3 teaspoons dry roast peanuts

My kids are proof that parents can train their kids to eat a good variety of healthy food. If you’re not afraid to give them stronger flavours, you’ll probably find that they take to them pretty quickly. You have to catch them early, though, otherwise they’ll get stuck with a very narrow range of tastes, and it’s a lot harder for adults to learn to like unfamiliar foods.

Day - 8

I still feel like I have no energy today even though I had lots of rest over the weekend. My cough is still there and I can’t sleep.

I got hypoglycaemic again last night. It was 1.8 and I had banana and some apple juice. While waiting for my body to absorb the sugar and get back to normal again I had a chat with my husband about why I have been hypoglycaemic several times since I started the diet.
The food that I’ve been eating during this diet contains almost no fat at all. I think this is part of the cause of the lows. Usually the fat helps to slow down the absorption of calories, but without fat and the amount of insulin I take, I think the calories get used up too quickly.

I’m still trying to find the right dose of insulin while I’m dieting. It’s not easy. The more often I get hypoglycaemic the longer it will take to lose weight because it means I have to eat/drink (calories) to return my blood sugar to normal.
My husband suggested to reduce the Lantus (slow release insulin) and see what happens.
So far I had just reduced (quite a lot) the Novorapid (fast release insulin) and it hasn’t solved the hypoglycaemic problems. Maybe if I combine it with reducing the other one as well it will.

I’m starting to feel bored with the food (not bad considering it is over a week). Usually I cook different carbohydrates (pasta, rice, potatoes, bread etc) each day, and now I have rice all the time except at breakfast. I used to cook with consideration of texture and colours beside the flavours. I miss all of those.

I weighed myself this morning. On the first day of my diet I weighed myself, it was 65kg and this morning was 62kg. It feels like it’s not quick enough for me but maybe this is what healthy dieting all about. Slow but more constant weight lost. I’m still not giving up yet. I think I’m on the right track.
My next appointment with the doctor is in August so I have plenty of time :-).

Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 4.6 Novorapid: 4 units
1 toast with margarine
Coffee

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 5.1 Novorapid: 14 units
Left over Okonomiyaki with rice
10 pork crackers
Tea

1 fat free Vitalinea yoghurt
1 teaspoon dry roast peanuts

Note:
I tried fat free or light yoghurt from other brands before but they were not good. They might be fat free but definitely not sugar free or they gave me diarrhoea (I have a mild intolerance for dairy), but this Vitalinea fat free one is really good, it’s not only fat free, it’s got no added sugar too (it uses fructose which is sugar from fruits).

Dinner:
Blood sugar: 5.2 Novorapid: 16 units Lantus: 26
Cap Jay (Chinese influence mix vegetable dish) with rice and grilled fish
Some mango
Tea



Note:
I reduce my Lantus and we'll see what will happen tomorrow.

Day - 7

Last night I knew I didn’t eat enough at dinner time but when I checked my blood sugar at 10pm it was 6.8, so it was still pretty normal after the meal. Within an hour I didn’t feel right, so I checked again and it was only 1.7.
So I had a banana, 1 mochi, and 3tsp of dry roast peanuts.

My problem in the past when my blood sugar went very low was that I tended to gobble whatever food I could find and then my blood sugar got very high. It seems my brain kept telling my mouth to keep eating. It could be scary.
A long time ago I found myself in the middle of the night standing in front of the open fridge chewing food. I don’t remember how I got there or what I had eaten until I gained consciousness again.
I was glad I could walk down the stairs without falling and eat something even though I don’t remember doing it.
It never happened again (touch wood). I think I have more control over my body now. I can even eat just enough to bring my blood sugar back up to a normal level again.

Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 6.2         Novorapid: 6 units
1 toast with no added sugar apricot jam
40g Bika Ambon cake
Coffee

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 2.2         Novorapid: 14 units  
Miso soup with rice
3 teaspoons dry roast peanuts
1 cornetto classic icecream
Tea



Dinner:
Blood sugar: 3.4      Novorapid: 16 units       Lantus: 28 units
Okonomiyaki with rice
1 Chipolata sausage
3 teaspoons dry roast peanuts
Tea
A small glass of Malibu and Pineapple



I feel I’m starting to lose willpower. I know a treat now and then won’t hurt but I haven’t reached my desired weight so I have to be strong. I will have plenty of time to treat myself on holiday (which is soon) so I promise myself I’ll be more disciplined from tomorrow onward. Maybe I’ll ease up a bit this Thursday because I have a night out with the mothers from my daughter’s class. I can’t bring my own chopsticks to a restaurant :-).

Day - 6

Oh I was quite tired yesterday and still couldn’t sleep well because of this cough. I might need to go to the doctor again if it’s not clearing up. At the moment I just get cough medicine from the chemist. There aren’t many over-the-counter cold medicines that diabetics can take. Mostly they contain sugar or are sugar coated. Even losenges like Strepsils only have one sugar-free flavour.

I woke up at around 2.30am feeling funny and checked my blood sugar. It was low so I drank a small glass of apple juice.
My doctor once told me that he was worried about my lows, especially during my sleep, so he reduced the dose of my slow release insulin (Lantus). It didn’t sort the problem, it just makes my blood sugar quite high in the morning.
I told him I get used to the feeling now so I usually wake up if I get hypoglycaemic. I just hope that I will always do anyway. I can’t imagine what will happen if I don’t.

I really think this Japanese diet is very good for my health. It shows immediately how good my blood sugar readings are since I started. Like yesterday I just needed to put 4 units of insulin before breakfast. I’ve never took insulin that little since I got diabetes. It’s just amazing.
How lucky Japanese people are. They don’t need to make an effort to eat healthily, it’s just what they eat everyday.
I should thank my Dad for my love of Japanese food. I was introduced to it when I was little because my dad worked for a Japanese company for years. We used to be invited to his colleagues’ houses for real Japanese dinners. At that time there were no Japanese restaurants in my hometown.

If only Japanese food was more wide-spread in the world than American burger/deep fried food chains, the world might get lighter and healthier :-).

Breakfast:
Blood sugar:3.4         Novorapid:5
2 slices of toast with margarine
Coffee

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 2.0       Novorapid: 14
Gyoza with rice
52g Bika Ambon cake
4tsp dry roast peanuts
Tea


Dinner:
Blood sugar: 11.7      Novorapid: 18 units      Lantus: 28 units
1 Rice paper rolls (Lettuce, cucumber, carrot, prawn, shirataki noodles, and Kewpie-Japanese mayonnaise dressing)
1 Inari sushi
Prawn+Cabbage balls
Tea



Note:
We called over to our friend Kate, to see her new house and we brought some picnic food with us for our dinner. All were vegetarian-friendly so Kate could eat them too and she seemed to enjoy them.
For the first time since I started the diet I got quite high blood sugar. I think I put too little insulin for the amount of food I ate at lunch time.

Day - 5

Last night I went hypoglycaemic. My blood sugar reading before bed was 1.7. I always consider under 2 to be really bad.
We went out to a shop for a while after dinner and I felt bad and very weak but I thought it was just because I have this bad cough (it’s about 3 weeks now and the antibiotics from the doctor didn’t really get rid of it), I don’t feel well most of the time anyway, so I ignored the signs.
After we were back home again I started doing stuff, got the kids ready to bed etc, etc. Only when I got settled in bed I had time to check my blood sugar and was surprised at how low it was. Usually I’m quite good at recognising the signs of the ups and downs of my blood sugar.
I had to eat 1 banana and 3 teaspoons of dry roasted peanuts to bring the blood sugar back up but still this morning was very low.

It’s quite worrying when diabetics don’t recognise these things because it can be fatal.
Very high blood sugar could lead to a coma and hypoglycaemic result in unconsciousness. I have a glucose shot for emergency if I ever lose consciousness, which I really hope won’t ever happen. It won’t be any good anyway if I was alone or just with the kids. They won’t know what to do. I’m not even sure if my husband could do it. He has needle phobia.
Therefore I have to make sure I’m aware when I get hypoglycaemic.

I heard my dad had that experience once. He was not alone but nobody around him knew what to do. Again it’s lack of knowledge.
Now I’ve told him to make sure he always carries glucose tablets (which I sent from Ireland, I’m not sure if he could get them in my hometown) and to have soda drinks ready at home.

I still feel not so great all day but I had no time to rest. My husband’s dad, brother and cousin came for dinner and as usual I served 3 courses. Prawn gyoza, Miso soup, Tonkatsu (and Teriyaki salmon for me and my brother in law because he’s a vegetarian) with rice and carrots + daikon salad on the side. Followed by Japanese Purin for dessert.
I was too busy cooking and then straight to dinner so unfortunately I couldn’t take photos of the food.

Here is for today:
Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 2.8 Novorapid: 4 units
50g Nestle Almond Oat cereal with low fat milk
Coffee

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 2.6 Novorapid: 14 units
Left over miso soup and rice
5 Javanese prawn crackers
3 teaspoons dry roast peanuts
54g Bika Ambon cake
1 Gyoza
1 Apple

Note: I was on my feet all day and it brought my blood sugar down but the apple sort it out.

Dinner:
Blood sugar: 3.7 Novorapid: 16 units Lantus: 30 units
Gyoza
Tofu + seaweeds miso soup
Teriyaki salmon with rice
Carrots and Daikon salad
½ portion Japanese purin (steam cream caramel pudding)
Tea
3 teaspoons dry roast peanuts

Day - 4

The fourth day and I’m being naughty already. Yesterday I baked Bika Ambon cake (which is a very eggy yeast based cake) thinking I could give it to my eldest girl and her friend who came over for a play date today (unfortunately my husband is a coeliac and can’t eat it - I know he would love it otherwise), but when she tasted it she said she didn’t really like it. If my girl who usually eats even the weirdest snacks available from the Asian shop says she doesn’t like something, there is no hope for other Irish kids to like it. I hate throwing away food so I feel I will have to eat it.
Anyway, I will just make sure I won’t eat the whole lot. :-D

This morning on the way back from dropping my girl to school I met our neighbour from down the road, who is a type 1 diabetic too. She has an insulin pump which I’m desperate to get. I heard it makes a huge different to quality of life for type 1 diabetes sufferers. It helps them live a more normal life thanks to the constant low-level feed of insulin throughout the day.

Since I got diabetes I have found it difficult to go out with other people. I have to eat each meal at about the same time every day. If I leave it too late, my blood sugar will be high before I even eat anything and I have to be careful about how much alcohol I drink. I can’t just grab a muffin while having coffee in a café with a friend. Not everyone understands why I refuse to eat anything outside of my eating times because they don’t really know what it’s like to be diabetic. Some people do act like Mrs Doyle in Father Ted…..”Ah go on go on go on”, :-D
I’m so used to planning my daily routine around my meal times to avoid disaster. Even my husband still sometimes doesn’t get it how it can irritate me when I’m late having a meal because it is really upsetting when the blood sugar reading is not right.
But can one really impose one’s problems on others?

After several experiences dining out with large groups of people where the meal has dragged on quite late and the main course mightn’t arrive until 10pm, I now get very nervous ahead of a night out rather than just being happy and enjoy it. In the past lots of times I refused to go out, but I think I can not be like this for the rest of my life.

So it’s a relief to hear stories from other sufferers. I’m not the only one who finds that it’s difficult to live a normal life when I have to plan when and what I’m going to eat. I always feel I complain too much and blame the disease for the inconvenience. But now I know I’m not doing too badly and my complaints are justified.

Here is what I had today:

Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 7.4    Novorapid: 6 units
1 slice toast of mix bread with margarine
40g Bika Ambon cake

Note:
My blood sugar was a bit high but I’m not sure what cause it.

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 3.4    Novorapid: 15 units
Smoked salmon + green salad with sushi rice
46g Bika Ambon cake
8 red grapes
Tea



Dinner:
Blood sugar: 6.0    Novorapid: 18 units    Lantus: 30 units
Mix mushroom miso soup with rice
A glass of red wine
22g Bikang Ambon cake
2 teaspoons of dry roasted peanuts
Tea



I have to say I was naughty today with the cake and wine. I’m just hoping it won’t affect my dieting too much.

Day - 3

I have another good blood sugar reading. Last night before bed was 3.9 and this morning was 3.0.
Only one thing; I shouldn’t have skipped the carbohydrate. My blood sugar went down almost straight away after I finished dinner (the sign was that I got blurred vision while typing my blog :-)), so I ate some mango to bring it back up. 
I drink hot drinks throughout the day but I limit coffee to just one cup and black tea to maximum 3 cups. The rest will be green tea and herbal tea.

Diabetes doctors or Dieticians usually suggest diabetics to have Lucozade (glucose) drinks or soda drinks or glucose tablets ready for hypoglycaemic (low blood sugar) emergencies but I don’t like the taste of any of those. I prefer to eat fruit to bring up my blood sugar. Apples are the best, not too much sugar but enough fibre. For immediate sugar intake I like fruit juice, again apple juice is my favourite.

Overall it’s good, but still I’m not sure about the weight. I will be weighing myself on Monday to see if there’s any difference.
My positive thinking will be that even if I don’t shed any weight at least my blood test in the hospital should show a good result. I hope anyway :-D

The problem with diabetes is that it won’t kill but all the complications will. Basically diabetes kills human organs and eventually that kills the person.
My dad has suffered from type 2 diabetes since he was in his 40s but because of a lack of knowledge about the disease in Indonesia he got lots of complications. He had kidney stones, pancreas stone, blocked arteries so he got heart attacks several times (he got his heart surgery not long ago) etc. Luckily he has survived all of those and now after almost 30 years he knows better and the result is that he feels healthier. All my dad’s siblings suffer from the same illness. His youngest sister just died not long ago from kidney failure.
It is obvious my family has a very strong diabetes gene. If we could track back through the generations I believe we could find more signs, unfortunately in Indonesia (that’s where I’m from) doctors don’t usually ask for family health history like they do in western countries, and they don’t encourage their patients to learn or understand more about the disease. I believe that’s the biggest cause of many complications and short lives of diabetic patients over there.

I’m trying to tell, if not warn, my siblings and cousins what their future health could be like. Diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, but I’m still not sure if they really take it in and understand the danger of it.
When I was young and knew my dad had diabetes, I didn’t give enough attention to it. I was so ignorant about the danger. I just hope my siblings and cousins will learn from me and can avoid what I endure. And the most important thing is to teach our next generations to know what lays ahead and to learn to live healthily.
But like the old saying goes; “You can not put an old head on young shoulders”.

Anyway, this is my third days. I started missing creamy French cheeses and peanut butter sandwiches. Yesterday I went to the post office and passed Subway’s food stall and I thought “The punishment for gluttony in Hell must be like this, the smell of food on an empty stomach without the food itself”.
I keep telling myself that I have to be strong and keep going because I want to see my girls grown up, successful, married and having children (well, maybe those are too much to ask. People are leaving it later to have babies nowadays, so I might not see my grand children :-)). Or more immediately, I want to be able to look decent in a swim suit again ha ha ha.

This is what I had:

Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 3.0 Novorapid: 6 units
50g Nestle Almond Oats cereal with low fat milk
Coffee

Note:
Cold milk and cereal breakfast in a cold day is really not my cup of tea. My blood sugar went down quite low before lunch. That must be a good (low sugar) cereal.

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 2.6 Novorapid: 12 units
Left over carrots+daikon salad and grilled bratwurst
Banana
Tea

A small glass of apple juice
3 teaspoons of dry roast peanuts
1 apple

Dinner:
Blood sugar: 6.8 Novorapid: 16 units Lantus: 30 units
Stir-fry soy beans with spicy miso with rice 
Tea



I think I really need to have carbohydrates in every meal. After lunch my blood sugar kept going down. The problem is the more I eat something to bring it up the more calories I get and that's not good for the purpose of losing weight.

Day - 2

I know it’s still early days but I have a good feeling about this diet. I haven’t mentioned that I always check my blood sugar before going to bed to see if it’s too high (extra insulin) or too low (eat more). And last night before bed my blood sugar was 3.6, which means that the insulin and what I ate were in good balance.
And this morning before breakfast the blood sugar reading was perfect too. I’m very pleased :-).

I’m lucky in a way that my husband is very supportive and my kids eat almost anything I put on the table, even though some need more persuasion than others.

My husband comes from a very conservative (regarding food) Irish family and growing up with what Irish people usually eat (in my opinion it’s not enough variety, mostly meat with two vegetables, with potatoes included in the vegetable part). Nothing strange there because Ireland was not really a culturally diverse country until recently.
His food adventures started when he travelled all around the world, but still he would choose something that he was familiar with if he could (lucky McDonalds are everywhere all around the world :-D).
When I gave up my job and started cooking as a hobby he did quite well supporting me. Sometimes he liked it, sometimes it was just too adventurous for him (e.g. squid, liver and chicken hearts, or feet definitely a no-no), but most of the time he ate (or tried) them all. Not only that, buying groceries in Asian shops is not cheap especially the Japanese ingredients, so at the moment our groceries spending is twice than usual (if not triple). I’m very grateful to him.

Then what happened last night for me was quite funny when first I asked him what he thinks about this Japanese diet and he asked back with worried expression, “Will it be fish every night?”
I’m not sure how I answered that. It is suggested to eat more fish or other seafood in the diet book but I don’t think he will be a happy husband if I make him eat fish everyday. I’m glad my kids’ palates are more like mine than my husband’s so they have no problem with seafood or any “weird” ingredients.
Despite all of that I don’t want to impose my diet food on them every single day, even though these are not really strictly diet foods, it’s more like healthy food, but kids do need some fat beside other nutrients in their diet.
It’s good that lots of the dishes in the diet book are quite easy to make so I will also be able to cook a completely different dish for my husband and the kids.

The rice the book suggested is brown rice but I mix it 50-50 with Japanese rice so the kids can still enjoy it.

This was my menu for today:
Breakfast:                Blood sugar: 4.0         Novorapid: 6 units
50g Oat porridge with dried fruits cooked with 250ml water
Coffee
6 green grapes

Note:
I really don’t like the texture of oats, makes me feel like I’m eating horse food :-(. 
My blood sugar went down again even though I reduced the insulin so I ate some grapes to bring up the blood sugar.

Lunch:     Blood sugar: 4.9            Novorapid: 15 units
Mix mushrooms domburi
Tea

Dinner:
Blood sugar: 4.2   Novorapid: 14 units   Lantus: 28 units

Carrots and Daikon salad with sushi vinegar dressing
Grilled bratwurst



Tea & 2 Pandan Mochi

Day - 1 (Prologue)

I'm a 40 year old woman who suffers from type one diabetes. I got it when I was pregnant with my first child on week 14 and it just didn’t go away (lots of pregnant women suffer from temporary diabetes during pregnancy). Maybe it was my age and my family health history that triggered it.

I live in Ireland and over here we measure blood sugar in mmol/L (millimoles per litre). For non diabetic people here are some explanations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes_mellitus_type_1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_sugar

At the moment I have to inject insulin 4 times a day; Novorapid (fast release insulin) 3 times and Lantus (slow release insulin) 1 time.

I'm not particularly overweight. Between 9st-10st (60kg-65kg) with height 5.1 feet (157cm) but my doctor has warned me that putting on more weight would be bad.
I don't have a sweet tooth but my problem is I like food too much and it’s sometimes hard for me to control the portion size.
I love cooking and trying different recipes from many different countries, but I have to say my favourites are Japanese and Mediterranean food.

I've been trying to lose weight for almost a year now to no avail. I find it difficult to balance the amount of insulin with calorie intake. During the dieting my blood sugar was all over the place. Too much food made my blood sugar high, not enough food I got hypoglycaemic. It was really stressful.

I will be due to see my diabetic doctor again in August and now I'm determined to lose weight. My aim is to be between 55kg and 60kg. It seems very little to lose but believe me, it's not easy.
I don't want to lose weight merely for being skinny. I just want to be healthy, so I need a balanced diet. For this diet adventure I decided to base my diet on the Japanese way of eating because Japanese people are famous of being the healthiest people in the world and I love Japanese food.
I won't strictly just eat Japanese food but I will try as often as possible to have it, and to use chopsticks. I own a diet book called "The Chopsticks Diet" and from my experiences with Japanese food, I believe what the author says is true. So now it all depends on me...

This is what I had for today:
Breakfast:
Blood sugar: 3.2      Novorapid: 7 units
50g oat porridge with dried fruits cooked with 250ml water
Coffee

Note:
Too much on the insulin and I went out shopping, it made the blood sugar went down quicker

Lunch:
Blood sugar: 2.8     Novorapid: 16 units
Leftover Spinach pilaf rice with roasted chicken curry
Tea

Note:
Not enough insulin at lunch time so the blood sugar is a little bit more than it should be before meal.

Dinner:
Blood sugar: 7.4      Novorapid: 18 units      Lantus: 30 units
Grilled fish
Asparagus and anchovy domburi
Green tea with ginger and lemon


Pandan mochi and Tea