The Jeff R Project

Last night we spent the evening in the Emergency Room of St. Paul’s Hospital. I’m fine. I don’t get hurt.

My boyfriend, Chris, seems to attract pain sometimes. He was working yesterday morning, stood up in the back of his truck to fast, and smashed his head into the refrigeration system. OUCH! Luckily he doesn’t have a major head wound, skull fracture or other visible effect. He does have a very tender noggin and is in a lot of pain. Concussion. Mild, but still. He didn’t go to work today.

Over the last year, Chris has had a much rougher time than me. I don’t tend to get hurt. Lucky me. I consider buying him padded clothes to keep him safe. SIGH… I guess I’ll just have to get used to visiting doctors and hospitals with him… fun!

Last night we learned about counting carbohydrates. It’s not fun, it’s not that easy. That said, it’s not that hard either. Previously the diabetes “diet/lifestyle” used exchanges but now they’ve stopped that and moved to these servings and counting methods. It’s more flexible and easier to keep track of. It’s not much different in the end.

My target carbs is 4-5 servings per meal. That’s 60-75 grams of carbohydrates per meal. What does that mean? 1 serving is 15 grams of carbs.

1 slice of bread is 15 grams of carbs, 1 serving. So I could have 4 slices of bread. Not that you’d probably want to, but it means that a sandwich, plus a small apple and glass of milk is a “good” meal. I get 1 or 2 protein servings, so my sandwich gets to have meat or something on it too. 1 serving of fat means I could put a bit of mayo on it, mustard is free, so is lettuce and 1 slice of tomato.

Why is this bad? Because when you actually REALIZE what this count means, what you can have and how much of it, you realize the limits. Sometimes it’s better to be blissfully unaware of this.

This new method means that you can have most anything as long as you account for it. Want ice cream? No problem, 1 cup of ice cream is 3 carb servings!!! (1/3 cup per serving) but it’s allowed.

Tonight we learn more about reading labels on food to help understand what they mean to us. Fun.