Welcome back to my kitchen!

Thunderstorms rolled all night and into the morning. A welcome sound in our drought—hearing the raindrops pitter-patter on our roof. I walked out into our kitchen living area. The Hubs was already up, sitting on the couch drinking his morning coffee. I said, “I’m going to wait on my jog today.”


He replied, sitting up, “What? You can run.” His response made me silently pissed off and offended. He continued, “You are in-training.” I should have just bit my lip—but I didn’t. Who was he?

“Excuse me? You want me to go right now when it’s– this wet? I’ll slip.” I replied. Then mumbled, “The Folks wouldn’t ever say such a thing to me.” To The Hubs’ credit, he did correct himself and remarked fast, “I was kidding.” Good save, not really, I thought to myself. However— I did reply, “Thanks—you just gave me a new blog topic!”

Exercise has never been “fun” to me. I hate how my breath gets winded. I sound like I’m two minutes away from an asthma attack coming on. That has always shattered my spirits. On doctor’s appointment one with Doc Lopez, he insisted I do “some exercise” for twenty minutes, 5 days a week. I told him; I walk. He replied, “Perfect.” I gave up walking three months before I got sick—the humidity and air was tough breathing.

Now, even as a forty-five-year-old—I’ve learned that my body needs “some exercise.” These past six months, I’ve also learned “about nutrition” and my old trends of fad diet after fad diets– really suck. As a teenager and law student, I’ve tried them all, in search of the magical pill. Lo and behold, nothing ever seemed to work. Then, Doc Lopez came into my life.

Every “body” is different. I like to say—every “body” has its own formula or recipe for good health. I’ve learned mine. And, I’m still learning more-and-more about my formula/recipe every day. It’s not the same as The Folks, Em or The Hubs—you can’t compare your formula to theirs or vice versa. I get very annoyed if The Hubs doesn’t believe my body needs food. I know, now, when I need to eat. It might not be what he needs at the time, but I need something. It’s a different reality for me—a new reality.

Since I’ve been medicine free, about three weeks, my daily blood glucose level is more important than ever. I promised Doc Lopez I would watch it and alert him, if anything earth shattering was happening. He told me, when we together made the decision, I should expect a slight weight gain and that my glucose levels will increase a bit.

My formula/recipe—which works for me—might not work for you. Again, every “body” is different.

EXERCISE: I need to do exercise, twice a day for 20-minute periods to keep my levels around 100-115. If I exercise, once a day for a 20-minute period, my level will be 120-125. If I skip exercising all together, my glucose will be 130 or higher.

NUTRITION: I’m still 100% following Doc Lopez’ guidelines. I drink half my body weight in water (ounces) daily; I eat less than 20-25 carbohydrates a day (not net carbs); and I fast from 7 pm – 7 am. I eat on a clock schedule. If I don’t, say I skip a meal or delay eating a meal, my blood sugar levels drop significantly. I’ve had recently, two episodes of low blood sugar causing confusion, dizziness, extreme emotion and my thought processing is destroyed. Em witnessed it once—and that was enough for her—she now watches the clock with me—“mealtime!” If I don’t follow Doc Lopez’ rules and get off track by slipping up and mistakenly eat sugar or decide to cut a corner (cheat), I get sick and it’s not pretty, either.

FAITH: I won’t get into the gritty details here. I do believe every “heart” needs a belief in something. For me, I’m Christian. Lutheran. I don’t have the need to vocally proclaim my faith or sit in the front pew for others to “see me sitting in the front pew.” It is what I believe, an especially important factor in my formula/recipe.

After the rain let up, I went on my morning jog with my wrist weights on. My formula requires it. On my jog, it started to rain again. I didn’t quit. The distance I can now jog has nearly tripled since I started—three weeks ago—running! My lungs are stronger. Let’s still face reality–I’m no way a “runner,” or even, “a jogger.” I’m doing it for me—for my formula.

I might be “in-training,” per The Hubs’ lame remark. I loved seeing other “die-hards” out like me, today. From dog walkers to aggressive runners, who are we to judge? Just Be You. Do it for yourself.

Before I went for my exercise, I ate a slice of my freshly baked pumpkin pecan chocolate bread. Not only did our house smell cozy, the bread was filling……and played its role in my “body’s” recipe! Plus, it tasted great.

We’re on a roll. Life is sweet.

All this made with LOVE!
Jayne (aka The No Sugar Baker!)

The No Sugar Baker’s Pumpkin Pecan and Chocolate Bread

Ingredients:

2 1/4 Cs. Almond Flour (Don’t use coconut flour)
½ t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
¾ C. Swerve Granular
1 ¼ t. baking soda
2 beaten eggs
½ C. butter, melted
1 ¼ C canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
¾ C. chopped pecans
½ C Lily sugar free dark chocolate chips

Easy Directions:

Blend together: flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, Swerve, and baking soda in large mixing bowl. Add eggs, butter and pumpkin puree continuing to mix until smooth and combined. Add pecans and chocolate chips. Pour into a standard sprayed/greased bread baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool. Serve and enjoy.

P.S. I did make a cream cheese frosting with Swerve Confectioners, cream cheese and a tad bit of heavy cream. It was a bit rich for this bread, butter on this treat is delicious!

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