Skip to main content

Listening to Your Body

Let's talk about listening to your body. I've been tested a few times throughout my 20's for diabetes because I had Gestational diabetes during my first pregnancy plus it runs in our family. Each time the numbers came back great. There was no reason to think I was struggling with my blood sugar. 8 months ago, I walked into my doctors office with complaints of dry skin and being itchy. At first she was going to treat me for psoriasis. As we were getting ready to finish up I jumped up and said, "OH YEAH! Before I forget the skin on the back of my neck seems to be darker than the rest." She looks at it and said, "You're not leaving without a blood test, this is a sign of diabetes." So as it turns out my sure sign of eating something that spiked my blood sugar is my skin itching. 

The last week I have been watching what I eat and limiting my carb/sugar intake. I even passed up a bunch of candy that was being handed out. I've felt great with little to no issues with my skin itching. That was until last night. I've been told by multiple people how great sweet potatoes are for diabetics, and I'm sure for some they have no issues with eating them. But I'm reconsidering them for my own diet because within 30 minutes to an hour I started itching like crazy. It turns out sweet potatoes actually land in the middle of the glycemic index. They do have a lot of health benefits, but I think I am going to air on the side of caution. 

It's important to listen to your own body and its needs. If eating that hamburger from a fast food joint makes you feel like a slug within an hour of eating it that's a pretty good sign. A calorie is a unit of energy. We don't need to consume too much or too little it has to be just right. A Google search of "Average calorie intake a person needs" will tell you it's about 2,000 for women and 2,500 for men to maintain their current weight. If we are getting good calories and the right amount you should feel energetic and ready to take on the world. This means you also need to watch your nutrients in the foods you eat as well. You can look up recommended daily doses of nutrients, but I recommend consulting your physician for what works best for you. 

If you're interested in tracking your nutrients and calories I highly recommend using an app on your phone. The two I am familiar with is My Fitness Pal and Lose it(Feel free to comment below on what apps you use). Both apps allow you to scan the barcodes on each of your foods and select the amount in which you ate. This can be tricky as you make homemade meals but once you get in the habit it works out well. It also allows you to track exercise and calories burned. Allowing you to adjust your calorie intake as necessary. When I used to work out 4-5 times a week, I required additional calories to keep my energy up. And yes I still lost weight with the additional calories because I was burning anywhere between 400-500 calories a workout. So I needed the extra calories for energy.

*Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian or a medical doctor. The information provided here is just ideas and thoughts to think about as you embark on your own journey. Always consult a physician before starting a lifestyle change or a new diet.*

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Long Covid, POTS, and Restricted Lung Disease - Rehab Update

 Hey everyone!  It's taken a little longer to post than I would have liked. We had a couple colds and the stomach flu plague our house last month and I'm just not starting to feel more human. So a lot has happened since my last post. My primary doctor figured out that I had covid at some point. I've always felt like this is why all my symptoms and everything got worse but I didn't have proof. If I had to pinpoint when I got covid it was in March of 2020. That's pretty much when things went downhill. If you've had covid or think you might have had covid and are having crazy symptoms I implore you to look into dysautonomia. It might be a huge piece of the puzzle you are missing. I was diagnosed with POTS which is a form of dysautonomia and by bringing my HR down to a more reasonable level the brain fog lifted and I've felt much better. I still fight hypertension 10-14 days a month but I was fighting issues 100% of the time. I was just glad to get somewhat of a
Post a Comment
Read more

Living with Chronic Illness(POTS/Dysautonomia & Restricted Lung Disease) & General Life Updates!

It's been a while huh? I just went through the worst couple of years of my life. Gosh, I really think I could write a novel but that's not really my thing. Haven't even done a great job of keeping up on this blog. So I'm not going to make some promise that I'll be posting more but what I can promise is that when inspiration sparks me I'll be here to let you all know. I can also say I finally officially bought my own domains so if you ever want to get right back to this blog just type in totallyjen.com or totallyjen.xyz . I actually found out the hard way Facebook doesn't allow for .xyz domains which is just silly but that's a rant for another day. So first let me tell you where you can find me at: Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube - I don't use this one as often. I haven't really gotten much into video blogs but who knows maybe? I guess stay tuned.  Okay, now that we've got that out of the way. If I had to guess why you've clicked on t
Post a Comment
Read more

It's been a year?!?!?

I totally can't believe it's been an entire year since I made my last blog post. I did create my FB Totally Jen page and have been posting short updates on that! Please go out and like my page for the most current updates and inspirations  https://www.facebook.com/TotallyJenH/ . So let's see to get this blog updated real quick... I found out I was pregnant in July of 2018, and we are expecting our little boy Ethan James about mid-March. The original due date is March 31st, however, due to complications with the pregnancy and prior issues the doctor wants to go at least 2 weeks early. Wish me luck as I head into the home stretch! We've almost lived in our house for a whole year, and we love it! The holidays were so nice having all the extra space for friends and family. We have added two new additions to our household. The first one is Sadie our standard poodle. She is very pretty and full of energy. She's been giving me a run for my money that's for sure.
Post a Comment
Read more