I sure got a wake up call day before yesterday, even though it wasn\’t somebody screaming in my ear.

It was time to get my A1c levels checked again; and they\’ve shot up to 6.6! That\’s even higher than they were in early 2020.

It’s true that I’ve been badly off a proper diet for about three months; and that includes my demolishing a pint of ice cream this past Saturday. I think I relaxed too much after last April, when my A1c had fallen below prediabetes levels. I was rather burned out after over a year of constantly watching everything that I ate; or planned to eat. The disruption caused by Ida of course didn’t help; and too often I got too busy on the web site evenings and weekends. Well, I suppose I needed this wake up call!

So here I go again with my meal planning and food logging. I need to get more vegetables into my diet; and here’s where I really miss the word-from-home schedule. I could ride to the supermarket; get fresh produce; and easily be home in time to log on to my work laptop. Now that I have to work on-site every day, a pre-work run to the supermarket is really pushing it time-wise. But I guess I’ll try it once to see how it goes.

My primary care physician seems to think that I need resistance training to get those blood sugar levels down. But the doctor didn’t mention plain old vigorous physical activity. I’ve been seeing this same doctor for some years; and no doubt I’ve mention my cycling. During the last Monday-Sunday riding week, I put in nearly 102 miles; and that certainly ought to count!

So What Now?

OK, so what now? I need to get my weight back down; and I had already begun working on that. In fact, since Saturday I’ve dropped more than a pound. It’s probably water weight; but I also have begun to be more careful about what I eat. Yesterday’s long ride might have helped, with that bit of weight loss, too.

The doctor also opines that I need to move my diet to meat and veggies; and leave out rice, pasta, potatoes, and bread. I said, I’m not a big meat-eater; and I don’t think I really HAVE to be! After all, I got my A1c down on a diet that included a considerable amount of legumes and brown rice. I’ve seldom eaten pasta in the last 18 months; but I did not cut out bread completely; and with my activity level, I DO need carbs! I don’t think I truly need to go keto; and I don’t want to!

Now that I\’ve had a wake up call, I know I have to be much more careful of what I eat. That\’s another thing I miss about not working from home: when I did work from home; and got a hollow spot inside; I could stop a minute to cut up an apple; or grab a raw carrot. When I\’m at work, and have eaten everything that I brought from home, there are very few option besides junk food if I get hungry again!