5 Days In

Woohoo!  Five days in on this gestational diabetes diet and the world hasn't stopped spinning.  I will be the first to admit that I overreacted to this diagnosis.  It hasn't been as terrible as I thought it would be.  Of course, I am only five days in so I guess there's still some time for the proverbial shit to hit the fan. 

Anyway, for any gestational diabetes mamas who find this blog in a panic, here is my schedule/meal plan:

• Wake up and take blood sugar before eating/drinking (Fasting Number)
• Breakfast - 30g of carbs (approx. 2 servings) and 1 protein serving
• Blood Sugar - 2 Hours after Breakfast
• Snack 1 - 15g of carbs and 1 protein.  [Nature Valley Protein Bar has exactly what I need]
• Lunch - 45g of carbs (approx. 3 servings) and 1 protein serving. 
• Blood Sugar - 2 Hours after Lunch
• Snack 2  (same as snack 1)
• Dinner (same as Lunch) 
• Snack 3 - 30g of carbs and 1 protein  

It works out to be way more than I can eat.  I have not yet been able to eat the third snack.  The idea behind is that your body will work overtime during the night and so your sugar levels will be out of control when you wake up.  But so far, my fasting level has been great.  So I'm not stressing about eating the third snack.

I am struggling with getting enough protein. Especially at breakfast.  I don't eat eggs or cheese. And a girl can only eat so much peanut butter.  The carbs aren't a problem. :)  The idea behind the protein is that by pairing it with a carb, it slows down your body's digestion of the carb so you don't get a huge blood sugar rush.  But even with only eating carbs, my sugar levels have been okay.

I can't say enough how much the exercise seems to help. They recommended 30 minutes of walking 4-5x a week. I haven't been super diligent.  But today, I realized its effect.  Last night, I had a big salad and slice of homemade lasagna for dinner. Then I went for a 2 mile, 30 minute walk.  My sugar level was 78. Today, for lunch, I had another slice of lasagna and a small salad, but I couldn't take 30 minutes to go for a walk in the middle of the work day.  My sugar was 85.   So a 7 point difference even though my portion at lunch today was smaller and I used a healthier, carb-free dressing too.