Week 5 review

I have enjoyed doing a weekly review but I am changing the timing of the end of the week.  I had been using Monday as the end of the week for these reviews for this blog.  It made sense as the 100-Day Challenge began on a Tuesday.  However we report some of our results to Traci Heiner weekly and her week ends on Saturday.  This change is mostly due to my decision to take some advice from one of my long time friends, Karen Heard, and only weigh once per week.  My report to Traci includes my weight at the end of the week, hence my change to a Saturday blog reporting as well.  So now for the wrap up of week 5:

1. Lost 1 pound this week.  That feels a bit better.  After no weight loss two weeks ago and gaining 2 pounds last week,  this simple 1 pound was a breath of fresh air.  I am feeling stronger.  I can feel muscle so I do believe some of the weight gain/no loss can be contributed to gaining muscle.  Gaining muscle is a good thing!
2. I am currently on a string of 8 consecutive days of blood pressure readings under 120/80.  In my opinion, this is truly the greatest accomplishment thus far.
3. This week I spent 7 1/2 hours in a diabetes education class that was taught over three nights.  It was very worthwhile.  I now better understand the blood sugar readings.  I understand how the blood sugar levels constantly change through out the day.  I better understand the importance of the consistent carbohydrate diet and how beneficial it is to have three snacks throughout the day, especially at bed time.
4. Eating.  I call it eating, not dieting.  I simply dislike dieting.  After all the first three letters if dieting is die.  Having the snacks has been a nice surprise to me.  I have found that I am not getting as hungry before a meal by having a snack in between.  When eating a meal, I am being satisfied.  Three servings of carbohydrates during a meal are sufficient for me.  My wife and I stumbled on a 9-grain bread that we can purchase with our Bountiful Basket.  This bread is tasty and the best part is that it contains only 10 gms of carbs per slice.  This means I can have a sandwich, with two pieces of bread and it will only cost me 1 carb serving.  
5. The education this week was exceptional.  I now better understand how to work around the "eating budget" that has been given me.  I love ice cream.  Well I had me some Butter Pecan ice cream yesterday afternoon for my snack.  It was a one cup serving that cost me 2 servings of carbs and 1 serving of fat.  It sure tasted good and helped me feel normal again.  By careful reading labels I was able to find a flavor of ice cream that I love that worked with what I was willing to spend from my eating budget.  Thursday's Nutrition Class were we discussed the book Intutive eating I found that I am a bit obsessive in a couple of different things.  One was stepping on the scales every day.  Karen told me a couple of weeks ago to only weigh once per week, but I determined that I needed my instant gratification.  I need to know now!!!  Well when I saw the practice of daily weighing listed as an obsession I decided it is the time to heed the advice of a trusted friend.
6. The exercise is going well.  JD keeps pushing me to new levels.  Higher levels of difficulty, more reps in weights, new exercises, longer workouts.  I can't believe that I am saying this, but I really do like the way I feel after the work outs.  Of course that doesn't mean that I love working out.  I'm not to that point, yet.

Over all it has been a good week, physically and emotionally.  I am beginning to feel like I am in control.