10: Joy

Nothing can bring you down when you are in a spirit of joy. But one thing I have learned over the years is that when I'm my happiest, that's when I let my guard down about my diet.

That is what makes dieting so hard, honestly. The ups and downs of trying to maintain an adequate intake that doesn't over indulge or undernourish. As a kid this is not something you have to worry about, and even up to a certain age in adulthood. But once you get past about 25, your metabolism changes dramatically, and if you're not working out consistently, you will pack on the pounds.

When you are in your 40's, the metabolism slows down even more. I typically see that the holidays are the biggest culprit for overindulging. You're happy during that time, and nothing can bring you down from the high of the holiday season. But as soon as the lights come down, the garland is put away, the seasonal depression can set in for many, and despite resolutions, people will often make, they continue to overindulge coming out of the holidays and using the winter as a new reason to eat more.

Excuses abound.

"I really need a pick my up today, a hot fudge nut sundae would do it."

"I don't want my lean cuisine for lunch today. I want a big, juicy hamburger with all the trimmings."

Fried foods increase, or foods high in sodium start showing up, like soups, where we all tend to overindulge because it helps us stay warm.

Because of this, I was seeing my weight start to creep back up again after the first of the year because I was truly happy. As I said, entering 2024, I have a lot more positivity about me than any previous year, but that also means contentment. When you're content, you don't worry about things as much as you did, and eating habits are one place you'll slack off the most.

But there was another reason I began overindulging some for a few weeks in January 2024. I was checking my blood sugar one afternoon before supper and got this reading:

63

That was the first time in the 3 years since I began checking my blood sugars that I had a reading below 70. Before this reading, the lowest had been 71, sometime in 2023. It was also the first time my glucometer registered low, with an arrow over the blue line on the device.

I got panicked and took another drop of blood from the same finger a few seconds apart, and the reading came back 59!

I never had readings this low for blood sugar, so naturally, I started eating anything!

I ate munchkins. Then I ate supper. Then I ate popcorn. I was eating everything and checking my blood sugar about 6 times that evening. No reading after that came close to 63, with it ranging from 89-141.

The next morning, I checked my sugar for the heck of it, and the reading was 101. So, I didn't overindulge too much, but my mind was fixating on the lower reading. So, as you can imagine, I began eating more, and that made my weight go up a little more dramatically. Like, 5 lbs in one weekend dramatically.

I was being ridiculous about one reading that honestly wasn't that low. The 59 was most likely an aberration, and even the 63 was not low based on my provider's standards. As I said once before, they measure blood sugar on a scale of 60-110 for lab work. So, until you are below 60, it's not a huge concern. Most people are not even symptomatic for low blood sugar until they are below 60, so the fact my sugars were fine about an hour later showed there was no real issue.

But the next week, I got a blood sugar reading of this:

69

So, on this day, it wasn't my routine day to check my blood sugar. I only check my sugars 2 times per week. When I got another reading in the 60s, I decided to wait 15 minutes before checking it again. However, I did let my provider know the situation this time. One reading wasn't a cause for concern, but two readings like this could be. 

After the 15 minutes, I rechecked my sugar on a completely different finger this time and got a reading of 76. I didn't eat or drink anything during that 15 minutes. It just went up on its own. Blood sugars don't really do that when they are truly low. Having checked a number of blood sugars, where the person was also symptomatic for it, I can assure you if the sugar is low on a finger stick it typically will be on a lab one too. However, for me I wasn't symptomatic at all, in either situation. So, most likely these were erroneous readings and not authentic for what my blood sugar was actually doing.

But that is how easy it is for something negative to creep in. Remember, negativity surrounds us, and I was letting two blood sugar readings get to me and perpetuating eating more than I needed to. Now, my provider and I agreed, it would be good to check the battery on the device, but it could also mean its time to check my meds to see if I need as much if these readings persist after this. Wouldn't that be a blessing if I didn't need as much Glucophage now.

We shall see how that plays out, but for now, my biggest is thing is not to let readings get to me and instead focus on the blessings I have. After all, you can be joyful and still do what you need to be doing the help yourself.

Tune in next time for the next segment of 10: One Another.