Low Carb Life: Progress Update

Yesterday I came home from the Doctors office with some amazing news. All the hard work over the last few months has paid off!

Weight...January 173...March 166...April 160...August 146
I am extremely happy to see some of the weight gone, but my biggest goal is not necessarily with myself although it is an important step...I want to break this cycle so that my children don't have the same issues in their adult years. My hope is that if I can beat this and give them the tools they can understand that it isn't something you just accept.

A1c 9.8 in April...Today A1c 6.1
(A1c is a protein marker used to diagnose the severity of diabetes...a normal range is between 4 and 5; at risk range is between 5 and 7; above 7 is diabetic. At a 9.8 I was told that I should have been on Insulin and at least two oral medications...maybe three...That would have been a death sentence for me. I knew I would not have followed it right and that wasn't good enough)

Fasting Blood Sugar March 230/ Fasting Blood Sugar August 130
(Normal fasting blood sugar is between 70 and 90; between 100 and 125 someone is at risk of developing diabetes; and anything above 125 is diabetic)

That means that I am no longer in diabetic, but still at risk...so there is still a lot of work to do...but it is a good start. I did have a bit of a back slide during the month of July, but it wasn't horrible and I am going to begin again...

In three months it all gets checked again and a cholesterol check. I have to say the cholesterol numbers bother me even more than the diabetes numbers...I really do not like the threat of a statin in my future, and that is what is coming.

Carrying around extra weight and having unhealthy issues with food have been a struggle since I was a child. Going through life I always had the idea that one day I would deal with it and that there was plenty of time in my life to fix the issues before I got to an age where it would be too difficult. I had moments in my life where I was healthy and in very good shape, but it usually didn't last long and I would slip back into old bad habits that have lead me to where I am today. I'll be 45 in a couple of months and I always promised myself that I wouldn't let myself be unhealthy at that age...so I'm determined not to...We'll see what happens.

Over the years I have watched several of my family members develop and struggle with diabetes. My Grandmother, some of my Uncles, My husband's Mother, recently my Mother and my Brother. Knowing that there was also a history of it in other family members on my Father's side it was something that just seemed to loom in the future...especially my children's future. My brother and my mom have been a huge inspiration. They have both turned their eating habits around and made huge progress in the right direction. 

I have had gestational diabetes with every one of my kids and "knew" it would catch up to me. Every single pregnancy put me one step closer to being diabetic. Each time I had symptoms worse than the previous first I controlled my diet, the next time I still controlled my diet but was warned that a subsequent pregnancy would probably mean that I would be medicated...I was. With that pregnancy I was at the edge of needing insulin and warned that another pregnancy would probably mean that insulin injections would be necessary...and that is exactly what happened. The last pregnancy was still controlled by insulin, but seemed to go easier...but unlike every other time I went home with higher than normal blood sugar that just didn't go away...I ignored it because I didn't want to continue to deal with it. Fast forward four years and now I have to deal with it because ignoring it is not an option anymore.

All of what has been accomplished up till now was because of elimination and diet modification, not much in the way of actual consistent exercise. Recently we(mostly the older kids and Matt) are training(Couch to 5K) and I have switched my diet from paleo to Keto, I expect that the next 3 months will be even better.

Farm and Garden: Blueberries!

Recently we went to a friend's house and picked some blueberries. It was a really fun day the kids had a great time picking...and eating fresh blueberries straight off the bushes, got lots of outside time and sunshine, and we came home with lots of lovely sweet blueberries.

 

With so many blueberries, we decided to put some of them away. One thing we are trying really hard to do is remove a lot of sugar from our diet and eat more natural. So I am trying to change my usual practices and make jams and jellies with as little refined sugar as possible or none. The first thing we did was to make a topping for cheesecake, other desserts, and maybe pancakes using the whole berries and a little bit of maple syrup for sweetness. The other was to use my berry smasher and remove the skins to make a jelly with some of the berries again using a little bit of maple syrup and a low-sugar pectin to help gel. The last thing we did was to smash the berries and put them in jars to start fermentation in order to make blueberry wine. I am trying the method of using natural yeast. I will probably start a new post to update the happenings of our wine journey.

Low Carb Life: Chocolate Coconut Candy

Candy is of course one of those indulgent things that isn't at all good for anyone, and yet it is so very good. If you look at the ingredients on a bar of chocolate it is loaded with stuff that we shouldn't eat. When you begin a restricted diet, you start to want those things even more just because you have to avoid them...I began researching how to make chocolate and found it to be very easy and if you are on a paleo diet that isn't highly restrictive, making your own is actually okay in limited quantities and dark chocolate that isn't full of sugar and other additives has beneficial properties.

The recipe that I have come up with does have a small amount of maple sugar, to cut the bitterness of unsweetened chocolate, but not enough to make it sweet.





Chocolate Coconut Candy

Coconut Layer
2 cups of unsweetened coconut flakes chopped super fine
1/3 cup of coconut butter
2/3 cup of coconut oil
1-2tsp of maple syrup (if wanted not really necessary)

Melt the coconut oil and butter in a pot. Stir in the maple syrup if using. Add in chopped coconut. Stir until combined and pour into a parchment lined pan. 9x11 seems to work great. 9x13 will make a thinner candy, but you will get more pieces. Put coconut layer in the fridge to harden while you work on the chocolate.

Chocolate
2/3 cup cocoa butter
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 cup of high quality unsweetened cacao powder(cocoa powder can be used but it has less nutrients)
1-2 Tablespoons maple syrup honey or other sweetener (more if you want it sweeter, but I don't recommend it if you are trying to get the sugar out of your diet)

Melt the cocoa butter and coconut oil heating it to about 100 degrees. Stir in the maple syrup and unsweetened cacao powder. Stir the mixture until all of it is incorporated. The mixture will have to be tempered in order for it to work right. Personally I am still working on getting this right but there are many tutorials on the internet. Tempering the chocolate is a way of realigning the crystal structure of the cocoa butter so that it has the correct texture and feel.

When the chocolate is ready and the coconut layer is hardened, gently pour a layer of chocolate over the coconut and put back in the fridge until it is all solid an hour or two. I usually pour a thin layer of chocolate over the coconut and prepare another pan for the rest of the chocolate either to save for another batch of coconut, or to have on it's own.

After it is hardened use the parchment to remove it to a cutting board and break it into pieces. It needs to be kept in the fridge or freezer(if you find it difficult to resist).

Other things can be added to your chocolate, be creative...
If you can have nuts try different kinds depending on your mood.
Add a few drops of mint essential oil
Zest some orange and add it to the top
Dried fruit if you can eat it
Cayenne Pepper
Candied Ginger
Sea Salt
Caramel(if you are not diet restricted)
pumpkin seeds

What would you put in your chocolate?

Farm and Garden: Bees

We finally got bees. On Saturday we drove out to Red Belly Bee Farm and picked up our first two packages of bees and brought them home with a mixture of anticipation, excitement, and a little anxiety. It has been a very long wait, but we can finally strike it off our list of things that we would like to try learning to do.

Bob packaged the nucs by stapling a piece of screen across the access hole and duct taping the top down so that they didn't bounce off on the drive home. I was very grateful that they were securely packed for the drive home, and we made it all the way back without incident.

Nathan(hesitantly) and I gently took the boxes to the back of the property where we will be placing them for now hoping that they are in a good place to take up residence.

The first box was really easy to settle in. I put on protective gear-hat, vale, and gloves-and carefully removed the staples and took of the screen. The bees slowly peeked out took a small flight around and quietly settled in for the evening.

The second box was a little bit different. I haven't had very much experience with bees, but with the little bit of exposure that I have had, I've quickly learned that a mashed bee means that there will possibly be trouble. I was optimistic though that the two smashed bees may not still cause too much excitement after a whole 40-ish minutes ride home...looking at the opening that was blocked with the screen quickly made me realize that this one was going to be a challenge. I puffed a bit of smoke hoping it would help and gently began undoing the staples. The closer I came to releasing the screen the angrier the mob seemed. I told Nathan to stand a good distance back and released the flood. They were really angry and poured out of the opening to inspect the "danger" quite a few of them surrounded my area and I calmly smoked around me in hopes of distracting them, and then carefully walked toward Nathan to gently smoke the ones that were inspecting him for possible signs of "danger".


After a few minutes they lost interest and surveyed their area and then settled in for the evening.
We didn't panic, and we didn't get stung. I counted that as an extremely amazing and encouraging first encounter with our new bees. I am sure going forward there will be stings...probably quite a few, but for today we avoided that possible tragedy and move forward into the world of Beekeeping.


So...so far so good. Yesterday and today both hives seemed to be busy as...well...bees. Tomorrow we will try to open up the hives and see what's going on inside and attempt to move them into their new residence.



Here's to continued adventure of Our Handmade and Homegrown Life.

Hope you are having a beautiful beginning to your summer.

Landscaping: Drainage/Erosion Fix

Our house has many, many areas that need work. We knew this going in, but over the last few years we have come to find out that the longer it goes the more issues we find, and with that also comes increasing age of the house...and more issues to address. Such is one of the pains of home ownership.

This particular area has been an issue since we moved in, but I put it off because I wasn't sure exactly what direction I wanted to go. In putting it off it has also become more of a problem over time so I decided to let it side track me from other projects and begin to take care of it. More work still needs to be done, but its a start and already making a difference at least from an erosion standpoint.

Our house has a brick wall across the front with a small patch of ground that doesn't grow anything because of the deep shade. There is also has a drip-line area that is constantly washing away dirt from the front of the house and around the corner where it is eroading away and will eventually cause issues with the wall and the foundation. The kids also cause issues because it is a great place for digging and getting muddy, so I really need to remove that temptation also.

For a quick fix, we began piling stones, concrete, and bricks inorder to build up and reduce the washout and that has slowed things down, but it isn't very attractive. It is however on the side of the house and not very visible so for now is stays exactly where it is because it is useful and it is working until I can put something better in place.

In the area at the corner and across the front, I dug a slight trench and filled it with pea gravel. Then I placed some large stones on top starting with the area around the downspout and working my way out and around to give it a good base for the water to hit and run off. Then I filled in with medium pebbles and larger pebbles so that the spaces between the rocks were better filled in and the pea gravel was completely covered.

It is only got partially complete with the rocks and gravel that I had on hand, but it looks a whole lot better than the bare ground and mud. When the weather is dry it will look like a dry stream, when it is wet it will serve as a French drain and hopefully divert water without continuing to erode the dirt.

Soon I will begin filling in areas with native plants that are also perennials so that it is easy to keep up with. So far I have put in a couple of Rosemary and Lavender plants. Next week I will dig up a few ferns and probably some mosses from the front woods. Like so many other things here it is another work in progress.

Gutsy Chewy Review

Disclosure: I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meet program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet Blogger. I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my Blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Moms Meet, May Media Group LLC, or the manufacturer.

Yes, we all do it from time to time, some of us more than others. Overindulge in a meal...just one more bite you say, and then I will save the rest for later before you know it there is only one bite left and you wish you had saved room for dessert. Or maybe its a forbidden food, you know the one that leaves your tummy twisted in knots...but it is so good that you just can't help but try it again hoping that this time your tummy will say yippee instead of ugh! Now you have to deal with that tight, bloated, Queasy, Uneasy, Refluxy Feeling®...

So what next? Tums, or one of the multitude of other antacids? Yes, you could go there, but have you read the labels, do you wish that there was something else out there that fit better into your lifestyle? Something maybe that wasn't chemical laden and you can't read or understand the ingredients. Gutsy Chewy may be the answer. 

Cool Facts About Gutsy Chewy

This all natural supplements are an American born American made product invented by gastroenterologist and dentist, Dr. Doug Haghighi

Gutsy Chewy supplements are safe, gluten free, vegan, and lactose free.

These supplements contain a proprietary blend of apple cider vinegar powder, licorice extract and papaya extract(GiGs®...GiGs® has been shown to be effective in treating GutBurn™ and GutBloat™.

Xylitol is used as an added benefit in the formulation for aid in oral health

The supplements also contain calcium and magnesium to help fortify the body and help add important, necessary minerals.

Gutsy Chewy comes in two flavors: Wild Berry and Citrus

Gutsy Chewy comes in a handy 8-pack tube that is convenient to pack for on the go.

The retail price for Gutsy Chewy ranges from $15.99(2 tubes) to $79.99(12 tube value pack) +$4.99 Shipping.

My Thoughts on Gutsy Chewy

Gutsy Chewy works, which is very important. Unlike a lot of the huge bottles of antacids that you can buy at the store, and take all day long like candy. After taking one, within 10 minutes there is a noticeable difference within 20 minutes there were no ill feelings at all.

Gutsy Chewy is all natural. That is awesome. The ingredient list is short. Not only does it help sooth upset bloaty, refluxy feelings fast, it has added calcium, magnesium, and xylitol, which are all there as added benefits to you.

Gutsy Chewy comes in two flavors, Citrus and Wildberry. Personally I prefer the Citurs flavor. The wildberry just seemed too sweet which was a little more difficult for me to eat when my stomach wasn't feeling well.

Beyond flavor, Gutsy Chewy was a little odd the first time I tried it, but it has grown on me. As you chew it has a bit of a chalky texture, which goes away pretty fast then it becomes a little fizzy which I thought was kind of fun. So overall they are not bad.

Gutsy Chewy is all natural and has healthy ingredients, that help to promote health. It adds minerals to you body that help you feel better. It uses xylitol for added oral health and can be used as a daily supplement to help oral and digestive health if you choose. They come in little tubes that are handy for carrying around with you. After trying them I would have to say that I definitely recommend them and will definitely be following this company in the future for future products. 

To learn more or to try Gutsy Chewy yourself, you can find them at the following online locations:

gutsyproducts.com

facebook.com/gutsyproducts

twitter.com/gutsyproducts

youtube.com/user/GutsyProducts

   

*Disclaimer:  Always check with your physician before starting any supplement product and specifically Gutsy Products. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare professional prior to use if you are pregnant, nursing, taking any medication or have a medical condition. This product contains papaya and should not be used by people with a latex allergy. Keep out of reach of children. - See more at: http://www.greenmomsmeet.com/2014/03/for-bloggers-only-gutsy-chewy-supplements/#sthash.nFRARf6Q.dpuf