Tag Archives: diabetes

Recipe!

July 25, 2012 – 7:21 am

Sunday mornings in Baltimore mean, among other things (church?), the Sunday morning Farmer’s Market. It’s one of those wonderful urban farmer’s markets that’s tucked into a gritty little piece of downtown. In this case, under the elevated part of the expressway, a few scant blocks from City Hall, the Courthouse, Police headquarters, and about 15 strip joints. Only in a place like Baltimore could Police headquarters be across the street from all of the nudie bars. But I digress.

In all seriousness, this market provides a valuable service to many who live in the area. In a city that has about three or four big box grocery stores for about 650,000 residents, this market gives thousands a chance to get fresh food from the source. In many cases, it’s the only access to fresh produce, meat, and dairy. What? This is America! But I digress.

So Sunday morning we went, and came home with a week’s worth of eggs, corn, beans, blackberries, hummus, and more. Even a bouquet of flowers for my honey:)

Sunday night we made this recipe. I have to give credit to Sara Moulton for this one. It’s in her book Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals. My version is quite different from hers, but the gist is the same. It works in an oven or on the grill outside. Here goes:

Preheat your oven (350 degrees farenheit) or your grill (on high)

Start with a good-sized Eggplant
Get a good, fresh Tomato
Find a block of Feta or Mozzarella cheese (we used Mozzarella here)

In a big bowl, whisk together a mixture using 3 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar and 1/4 Cup Olive Oil

Chop up some fresh herbs (we used Oregano and Sage)

Add in Salt and Pepper to taste (I also added Old Bay seasoning)

Don’t forget to peel your Eggplant

Now, slice your Eggplant, Tomato, and Cheese… about 1/4 inch slices. Dump your Eggplant and Tomato slices into your vinegar/oil/herb mixture. Then start your stacks! Stack them any way you like, but start with the Eggplant on the bottom. In our case, we went Eggplant, Cheese, Tomato. And we topped with fresh Basil and shredded Parmesan.

Cook in your oven or on the grill for 10-12 minutes, but keep an eye on them. They go from looking good to overdone in no time.

Since we used mozzarella in this recipe, it was a little gooey at the end. But oh, so good. Hope this makes a nice meatless meal for you!

Total estimated carb count: 5 grams (only the tomato has measurable carbs)

Carb counts are estimates only. Check with a registered dietician to find out what a healthy carb count is for you.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Recipes! | Also tagged , | Comments (0)

July DSMA Blog Carnival. The DOC.

July 23, 2012 – 8:02 pm

Cherise at Diabetes Social Media Advocacy was kind enough to let me guest post for the July DSMA Blog Carnival. This, and a lot of other super posts are out there at the link at the bottom of this post. Cherise, sorry I couldn’t get the timing right. But thanks for the kind words and the opportunity to participate!

July’s DSMA Blog Carnival touches on a question from the June 13th DSMA Twitter Chat, talking about the Diabetes Online Community, and asking us to fill in the blanks:

The diabetes community has taught me how to _______ and _______.

I remember saying then that the Diabetes Community has taught me how to tell my story and that the future counts more than the past.

This photo is a small, but good, example of the kind of impact that the DOC has made on me.

I’m going to tell you a secret: I’m a pretty smart guy, but sometimes, I miss the most obvious things. For years… for decades, in fact, I kept my glucose meter at home. With few exceptions, it stayed in the kitchen all the time. I couldn’t take that thing out in public, could I? Actually, it just didn’t occur to me to check my BGs in the truck, at work, on a day trip somewhere. I never saw anyone else doing it, so I didn’t either. Stupid, right?

I have to admit: I just didn’t think about doing something that comes so naturally to almost all of you reading this.

Enter the DOC. Now I’m reading about glucose checks on the beach, in school, at work, at the mall, in a restaurant, in a restaurant at the mall… you get the idea. I was like: What? You can do that? Get outta here! My eyes were opened.

So in the past year (almost) since I’ve discovered this cozy community along the Information Superhighway, here are some of the places I’ve conducted my own personal blood glucose screenings:

– My truck (pictured)
– On the subway (not the restaurant)
– At the grocery store
– On the bus to New York
– On the bus from New York
– On the beach at Ocean City
– At the gym
– On my 100 mile bike ride (no, I can’t check while riding– yet)
– At the airport
– At the Washington Monument (in Baltimore– look it up)
– At the Washington Monument (actually in Washington, DC)
– In a restaurant (not at the mall)

Hey, I realize this sounds silly. But honestly, there are so many meaningful things I’ve learned from D-Veterans and D-Rookies, D-Wives and D-Husbands, D-Moms and D-Dads. Product reviews, tips and tricks, even relationship advice (don’t tell the Spouse). I often think about people who were like me, living this life alone, lacking information and support, with no sense of how full their lives can be.

Mostly, I’ve learned how to tell my story. Okay, I’m learning to tell my story. Honestly and without pulling punches, without shame. And thanks to the Diabetes Online Community, I feel like there’s a lot more story to tell. The best is yet to come. Rock on, DOC. Keep the information coming.

This post is my July entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2012/july-dsma-blog-carnival-2/
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in DSMA Blog Carnival | Also tagged , | Comments (2)

A Hall of Fame Worthy Speech.

July 22, 2012 – 8:36 pm

Disclosure: Even though I’ve lived in Baltimore for almost 18 years, and in Columbus, Georgia for a couple of years back in the 80’s, I was born in, grew up in, and lived many years in Cincinnati, where I became, and remain, a HUGE fan of my hometown Reds. So I tuned in to MLB Network Sunday afternoon in anticipation of watching the Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech of Barry Larkin, who will likely be the last Reds player inducted in my lifetime (Dave Parker? Dave Concepcion? Anyone? Bueller?).

Before Larkin’s speech was the speech from Vicki Santo, widow of Ron Santo, who was also inducted this year. His induction comes mere months after losing a long battle with diabetes at the age of 71. He’s not the first baseball player with Diabetes inducted into the Hall of Fame (the great Jackie Robinson comes to mind). But Vicki’s speech, honoring her husband, and his life with diabetes, was an inspiring wake-up call to all of us. It reminds us that the work for a cure goes on, and that great things can be accomplished in spite of what diabetes does to our lives. She reminds us that Ron Santo helped raise over $65 million for JDRF, and that when you walk, ride, or give to a Victoria Cumbow, a Moira McCarthy, or a Jeff Mather who is Riding for a Cure, you are helping to find a cure too. And she reminds me that I have a long way to go in the advocacy department.

The link to the full video is below, courtesy of MLB Network. A few snippets that resonated with me:

“Ron said that playing the game was easy… that only the diabetes made the game hard”.

“He embraced his gift and his hardship equally– believing that one would not have mattered without the other. He believed in his journey and he believed in his cause. His journey has led him here to Cooperstown. And his cause is finding a cure”.

“…in his legacy let it be known that here is a man who attained the highest honor his sport can give, while playing with an insidious disease”.

The speech starts at about the 1:55 mark in the video. If you can, please take the time to listen. And let this speech inspire you to make a bigger difference.

Baseball Hall of Fame | Ron Santo is inducted into the Hall Of Fame – Video | MLB.com: Multimedia.

 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Additional Inspiration | Also tagged , | Comments (0)

Diabetes, Exercise, Nutrition, and Getting Older.

July 19, 2012 – 7:26 am

So now I’ve finished two events this year: a 100 mile bike ride in early June, and a recently completed 5k run. There are a few thoughts I’d like to get down while they’re fresh in my mind. Things that are different between this year and just a few years ago.

First, the good news. My diabetes has been managed fairly well this year. Notice I didn’t say that I managed my diabetes well. It’s really been a wonderful team effort. The Great Spousal Unit has been both supportive and insightful. Asking the right questions at the right time, and not letting me get away with those half-hearted “I’m okay” answers when I’m really not. A D conversation with her can be difficult, but I always feel better after.

If I can take any credit here, it’s for bringing my endocrinologist in on my training and efforts to continue competing. She’s the reason I was finally able to train and compete while wearing my pump. The results haven’t always been spectacular (see here), but it wasn’t the diabetes that caused my problems.

Second: I need to re-learn nutrition. I’m ashamed at the absolute lack of knowledge I have about nutrition at this point in my life. About what kind of foods will serve me well in training and competition. Granted, I could stand to lose a few pounds. But first, I have to get smart about what I’m putting into my body all the time. Not just on race day. I haven’t seen a dietician since I was diagnosed 21 years ago. That was in the days of diabetic food exchanges. It worked like this: Inject the same amount of insulin every day. Eat the same amount of protein, carbs, veg, dairy, and fat every day. Hope for the same BG result every day. Hey kids– my diet needs an upgrade. Version 2.0. ASAP.

Third: I’m getting older. And yes, it sucks. In just the last year I’ve had to come to grips with the fact that my body can’t recover as fast as it once did. Where I used to be able to work out day after day, now I need a day (or two) to recover after a hard workout. Now, I find myself asking: When will just finishing be enough? When do I cross over from being a competitor to being a participant? I want to be competitor. I need to be a competitor, for as long as possible.

Well, I don’t have all the answers yet. Who does? But I believe in the notion that the real honor is in trying. In the effort. Despite age. Despite diabetes. Champions are made not by overcoming every obstacle, but in recognizing that they’re there and trying anyway.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Exercise | Also tagged , | Comments (2)

Dog Days of Summer.

July 17, 2012 – 6:22 am

I’ve been looking back at my posts in the last few weeks, and it seems that since Diabetes Blog Week the posts have been less frequent. Writers block? Not likely. Not in this kind of forum anyway. I mean, who among us doesn’t like to talk about themselves?

More likely, the culprit is the fact that summer is the busiest time of year for me.

Certainly work is busiest during the summer. It’s the busiest time of year in the group I work in. So much so that getting time off in June, July, or August is nearly impossible. And since the company I work for has downsized in the past couple of years, they really are relying on me this year. And my company has a strict no-posting-to-social-media-of-any-kind-during-the-workday policy. That already limits the amount of time I can spend writing and commenting. Add in extra tasks and staying late to meet deadlines, and my blog time is limited even more.

Another reason is the athletic events that I enter each year. Many of those are during the summer, and that means extra time at the gym. Good for my body, but it doesn’t add to the blogosphere.

Also (and this is the really good part), I was in a class the last few weeks. It’s one of the classes held by the theater that Maureen and I subscribe to each year. It’s an Improv class, taught by one of the theater’s resident actors, and he’s one of our favorites. I can’t tell you how much I stepped outside of my comfort zone in this class. When I wrote earlier about depression and whatever it was I was feeling at the end of last year/beginning of this year, this part was step two in my process of feeling better.

Know what? I really loved this class. I can’t say I’m gifted at improv, but I like the idea of trying something new, focusing on something different. And my classmates were great. Everyone was extremely supportive of everyone else in the class. The time flew by, and we couldn’t wait until the next session. Kind of like the weekly DSMA Chat.

So you can see why I’ve been so busy. Just for the record, I have no intention of giving up the writing, at least for now. Even without a blog, I would still write all the time.

Besides, I’m not nearly as busy as my fellow DOC bloggers who have kids. I have no idea how they do it. I admire them. And I’m a bit jealous too. But that’s a different subject. And I’m too busy to write about that right now.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Diabetes | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (0)