back, from outer space

I returned to work this morning after a two-week vacation. Part of the reason that I didn't post here during that time was that I just needed a break from this too. Now, it might seem a little cheeky to take a break when I really hadn't been posting much recently but I needed to do some work on my head and quite frankly, sometimes this blog is distracting to me.

While we were on holidays, my hunny was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. While this was upsetting to both of us, it was not a total shock. His mother and his fraternal grandfather were both diabetic. It's always surprising though, to hear it "officially" as it's not nice news. I've remained upbeat about it because, frankly, I think he's been "pre-diabetic" for a while now. His body has never processed large amounts of sugar well as long as I have known him (almost 7 years).

Over the past few days (he found out on Thursday and is awaiting an appointment with a nutritionist) we've both been reading up on it. I explained to him that if we follow the same eating plan that we were on back in 2003, it's pretty much perfect for what he needs: low fat and good carbs only. Yesterday, we hit the produce market and, in addition to picking up stuff for healthy meals, we stocked up on all kinds of stuff that we had let fall out of snacking situation: celery, carrots, apples, blueberries... Good stuff, yummy things that we both love and that are good for us.

So the past few days were transitional. We've been planning out our meals again and have reduced our portions significantly. The funny thing about this is that I haven't been feeling starved or deprived. I allowed myself one last "kick at the can" so to speak, over the weekend. I indulged in some really fresh bridge mixture. That should do my chocolate cravings in for a good long while. My hunny was good; he treated himself to some smoked almonds. He's adjusting to the new situation.

He's still feeling a little shell-shocked and numbed by the news. I keep telling him, and his doctor told him this too, that by this time next year, he could have it totally under control with diet and weight loss. We both have set a goal of 2 pounds loss per week for now. We know that this is realistic and achievable. The next step, now that we have our heads around the nutritional aspects of the plan, is to figure out a fitness regime. While we were on holidays, we purchased a small inflatable pool for our backyard. Last week, we were in a lot and while we did float around on an air mattress for part of it, we also did things like push-ups (the water is only 30" deep) in the water and other little exercises. Walking is something that we will do together and I am thinking about investing in an exercise ball. We still have our recumbent bike and that will definitely play a roll but I really think that we need to mix it up a bit and to figure out stuff that we can do together. Riding that bike can get boring but if we keep things fun, we'll have a better shot at sticking to things.

So yeah, I'm back here. Back for the long-haul. Back on plan again and planning to get back to my weekday posts right here.