Well, here goes...


Day 1

Unfortunately, had big junk food binge last night, whoops I think that was my body preparing for its new regime. Consequence was shocking BS this morning...11.8

Didn't feel hungry for breakfast this morning, hardly surprising given what I stuffed last night, so had some fruit about 10am - 2 oranges BS 7.0, 3 units Novorapid, one for each orange and an extra for being too high.

BS 4.1 before lunch 12pm, ate a banana and a HUGE salad (poor colleagues at work listening to all that chomping ) with alfafa sprouts, romaine lettuce, celery, red pepper, raisins (not strictly raw but never mind) and some mixed pickles (even less raw, but this is day 1...and they need using up!). 0 units NR

BS 7.6 at 4pm, ate a punnet of blueberries and a date truffle (dates, sunflower seeds, pure raw cacoa and lemon juice, yum). 2 units NR.

Shopping after work, hypoed 2.5 at 5pm, oh no! Ate a banana to correct.

7pm dinner BS 3.3, two tomatoes stuffed with mashed courgettes flavoured with mustard and lemon juice, chinese leaf (tried watercress but it was disgusting, yuck), punnet of physalis fruits. 1 unit NR.

8pm 4 units Levemir

Will let you know bedtime reading tomorrow...

bye for now

Day 2...

Yesterday bedtime BS: 6.9
Woke up this morning a bit low, BS 4.1. HUNGRY!!!!

Breakfast: pint of veggie juice...1/2 large cuspamber, 4 sticks celery, 1/2 small carrot, couple handfuls spinach, couple handfuls kale, handful string beans, juice of half a lime. GOOD!!!! No insulin.

Really busy at work, didn't even think about food until 10:30, BS 4.4, ate four lovely oranges, took 4 units NR.

Started getting detox headache mid-morning But I guess that's good because my body is cleaning itself out. Also spent half the morning in the loo for the same reason!!!

Lunch 1pm BS 3.6...guess I needed one unit less with the four oranges. Ate a huge tomato salad, love tomatoes at the moment.

3pm BS 3.3...ate 3 bananas, was really hungry. Think I needed more for lunch, will try more tomorrow.

4:30pm 1 hour at the gym, weights/cardio, burnt off all that banana sugar nicely

Dinner 8pm...BS 4.6 Things went a bit wrong at this stage. Had all good intentions but the smell of curry when I was STARVING kind of got the better of me lol. Had a side dish of cooked chickpeas and spinach along with a bhaji and green salad. Well, at least I kept off the poppadum and naan bread! Was very nice but did feel very heavy and bloaty compared to what I had been eating during the day. No insulin - I often find I don't need any for a while after the gym.

8pm 4 units levemir

back tomorrow...

Day 3...

Got the curry wrong yesterday - bedtime BS 12.9 Thought about doing a correction, but often when I do that I hypo during the night and I really hate it when that happens. So left it and woke up not too bad at 5.9.

Shock, horror, opened the fridge at 6am and there was no fruit left and not many veggies. Decided to bike up to town (25 mins each way) to the 24 hour Asda to get in supplies - well, I was planning to do some exercise before work anyway. Stopped halfway at the gym to do some weights. Partner thought I was mad. Don't care

Was hungry when I got back but really had to get to work and in the end didn't have time to eat until 11am. Ate two nectarines that I got at Asda, what a rip off it cost me £2 for four just because I wanted something ripe rather than rock solid BS 4.6, 2 units NR

Think I have a cold - first one as a diabetic. Hope it goes away or at least doesn't mess with my BS too much. Or maybe it's detox?

Lunch 12:30, BS 4.8 Had a sharon fruit, yum, with a big salad of alfafa sprouts and whatever was left in the fridge. Was not sure whether to bother with insulin seeing as I had exercised, but sharon fruit is usually quite insulin-demanding so had 1 unit NR.

Mistake! 3.5 at 3:30pm - had a bit of a fruit feast Remaining two nectarines and six little yellow plums that I have had for two weeks waiting for them to get ripe. And a handful of almonds. Decided on 2 units NR once the hypo had gone.

Wrong again! 3.5 at 5:30pm right in the middle of the supermarket doing the weekly shop. Had three sugar tablets, very raw! Bought lots of yummy fruit and veg at the shop, could hardly get it all in the fridge. Very frustrated again at the amount of produce which isn't ripe - had to get lots of melon to keep me going in the short term while everything else is getting ripe.

Dinner 7pm BS 4.8. Really grouchy because I felt ill and did not feel like chewing, so decided to make a big veggie juice - few handfuls of kale, 1/2 big cuspamber, few brussels sprouts, half a small carrot, half a lime, few handfuls spinach, 4 stalks celery. Nice and quick to make and eat.

Will have my 4 units Levemir at 8pm then probably head off for a very early night...

Claire

Day 4...

Yesterday bedtime BS 7.4
This morning BS 3.9...thought this was a bit strange as went to bed quite reasonable. But I do get up a couple of hours later at the weekend so often find my am readings are lower than during the week. Ate one small yellow plum to correct then went back to bed.

Also tested my body pH with a urine test strip (just like the ketone testing strips). 7.0.

Not sure whether I have a cold or not! Streaming nose and lots of tiredness yesterday, but felt better this morning. Still more tired than usual, though. Partner woke up full of cold...there must be bugs in the house!

8am breakfast: pint of veggie juice - spinach, green beans, brussels sprouts, cuspamber, celery, half a lime and one green pepper. That was really good, must have been the pepper that made it so good. Will have to juice more peppers! Veggie juice is the best. Takes a while to get used to the taste but then it is so amazing to think of all those vits and mins in a glass. [] Also ate a banana. No insulin as I was planning to go out for a walk.

9am walked to the park and back, 6 miles total. Was going to go out on bike but a bit stuffy after all and couldn't breathe properly! Guzzled a load of sugar tablets halfway as I forgot to take an extra banana. Those sugar tablets are starting to taste bad to me, SO artificial and sicky-sweet. Once I have used up all the ones I have I would like to use dates/bananas to correct hypos in a more natural way. Anyone else do this?

12pm lunch BS 4.9 - STARVING!!! Made beetroot and fennel "rice" - raw beetroot and fennel whizzed up in the food processor with spring onion, lemon juice and pepper. Ate that on a bed of spinach with a slice of raw carrot cake which I made (carrots, dates, coconut, cashew nuts, agave syrup...let me know if you want the recipe). Was still a bit hungry but was going to my parents' later and knew that Mum had got in stuff especially - didn't want to arrive full!

4pm tea BS 5.1 - well, raw took a bit of a back seat here [:p] This was birthday tea for my Mum and brother which meant lots of yummy things [] Did manage to stay off the cake, which I was very pleased about, but ate way too many nuts, some pringles and a whole load of wholegrain pumpkin seed crackers with salsa and hummous dip which Mum had got in just for me. 4 units NR

Did not eat the rest of the day as so bloated from tea. Lots of nuts definitely don't agree with me. Also feel very dehydrated now. Have noticed this when I eat cooked/processed. I guess the water content of raw foods is much higher so I don't need to drink so much with them. Feel really thirsty now. And quite grouchy and lethargic [}]. Raw gives you much more energy. But it was worth it at the time, enjoyed my tea!

Have also been wondering about this "cold" of mine...my nose initially started running after my curry on Thursday and continued on Friday. Was basically OK today until I had tea and now I feel coldy again. Maybe it is connected with detox or the effects of cooked/processed foods?

8pm 4 units Levemir

Won't be posting tomorrow evening as going to Brighton for the night, lucky me!

Claire

Day 5...

Seems a long while ago now, not sure I can quite remember!

Did my urine pH again this morning - wondered what the effect of yesterday's nut and wholegrain cracker pig-out would be. Came out at 6.25 Really bad! So, was it the nuts or the crackers, or both???

Breakfast 7am - veggie juice, usual kind of ingredients and a banana. No insulin.

Went out on my bike for an hour at 8am - very, very cold but nice and white in the park! Meant to stop at the gym halfway to do some weights but forgot to take my bike lock with me . Didn't want to take the risk of my bike disappearing so just went home. Just as well really, took ages to get my hands and feet warm again

12pm BS 5.1 handful of pistachio nuts and macadamia nuts, yum. With a big salad and a couple of small yellow plums. No insulin.

3pm went for a walk along the seafront in Brighton. Ate a big purple plum (am into plums at the moment!) which was SO delicious to keep me going til dinner. No insulin.

Dinner 7pm BS 4.5 Went to Wokmania A HUGE all you can eat buffet - fruit, salad, all kinds of Chinese dishes, chocolate fountain, cake, jelly, ice cream... This was a bit of a dangerous moment. Last time we went at Christmas I stuffed myself stupid and actually felt quite disgusted with myself afterwards. Was really pleased that I managed to be disciplined this time - ate two big plates of salad, some orange quarters and a small portion of cooked stuff..two mini spring rolls, a mini samosa and a spoon of spicy potato. 2 units NR

8pm 4 units levemir

Bedtime reading 8.7. Not too bad...

Day 6...

am reading 4.8. Has to be the best next-morning reading after Wokmania yet!

9am breakfast at the hotel. Was surprised that they were doing really nice bowls of fresh fruit - melon, kiwi, orange, redcurrents, blackcurrents, strawberries. Had one of those, could really have eaten two, so filled up on a couple more of those lovely big purple plums. Wasn't too sure how much insulin to use as find it hard to gauge when the fruit is all chopped up. Decided on 2 units NR.

Mistake! 11am BS 3.9. Ate a banana as we decided to go for a long walk down to Brighton Marina - I would guess a couple of miles each way.

1:30pm lunch. Ended up in McDonalds!!! Didn't want to spend a lot of money on another restaurant meal, but there didn't seem to be anywhere cheap to get something quick. Being veggie I am tempted by very little in McDonalds, luckily, so found it quite easy to be restrained. Ordered two side salads and added a banana, three plums and some tomatoes on the vine which I had in my bag. Strangest McDonalds I've ever had, but actually very good. Rip off though...spent £3 pounds on those two stingy salad bowls and a bottle of water. Why is healthy food in such small portions in these places and why is it so expensive??? TOTALLY FORGOT TO MEASURE BS . Realised straight after eating but guessed by the loud rumbles in my tummy and the walk that I was probably on the low side, so no insulin.

Walked a couple of miles back into town to pick up the car.

5:30pm BS 3.9 Just got home from Brighton and was starving after all that walking, so had an early dinner. First thing I could find in the fridge was the left over beetroot and fennel "rice" so had this with romaine lettuce and two big slices of fresh pineapple. Also had a handful of almonds. Decided on 3 units NR as generally end up too high when I eat pineapple so wanted to be on the safe side.

Wrong again! 8pm BS 2.5 Fed up with all these hypos today, have not done a very good job really. Just wondering - I think I read somewhere that hot baths can bring on a hypo, has anyone else read that? Was in the bath and did not notice any hypo signs until after I got out. Or could just have been that I did a lot of exercise today. I'm sure that last time I had pineapple 2 units wasn't enough and that's why I tried 3. Ate a couple of sugar tablets and a banana to correct. Not happy - I was still full from dinner

That "cold" disappeared in one day - but my partner still has it. Am wondering whether those little bugs got attacked by all the vits and mins I have been eating and decided not to mess with me.

Back to work tomorrow

See you later

Claire

Just got back from my appointment with the dietician.

All in all, not bad. I had quite expected to get the standard "base your meals on lots of starchy carbs" that we all get at the dietician.

She said that raw foods are not for everybody as some people find it very hard to digest raw and are much better off with cooked. Luckily I don't fall into that camp, although I have heard that some people get a lot of indigestion from raw veg in particular.

We went through what I am eating and she said I was doing very well on the vits and mins front but she would like to see some more beans for protein. Also I should not be scared to have quite a lot of nuts and seeds. We talked about whether I was eating enough given that I do quite a lot of exercise and decided that I could eat more if I wanted. I was weighed and I have only lost 2 pounds since my last visit in November, so that was OK and we though I must be getting pretty much what I need calorie wise otherwise I would have lost more. Am currently BMI 20 (5'4, 54.2 kg).

She felt that sugar tablets are better than bananas for hypos. So I will go with that although I have to say I am not convinced!

Then we discussed BS and agreed that I have been a bit on the low side (lots of hypos!). We agreed that I should use a ratio of 1 unit NR to 1 carbohydrate portion and that I should take my levemir down another unit to 3 units daily.

I guess in the light of this I still feel happy to continue with how I am eating. As I was aiming at 90% rather than 100% raw I will look at including some beans in my 10% cooked. I do like beans, although I have to say I have not missed them during the last week.

Will be back at the dietician in a couple of weeks for carbohydrate counting group.

Day 7...

I was hoping to celebrate the end of my first entire week on 90% raw...but it was not to be

I am not even going to post what I have eaten today because I am too embarrassed!

Started off OK with a nice veggie juice for breakfast, melon and blueberries mid-morning, bananas and salad of grated carrot, turnip, sweet potato and iceberg lettuce for lunch.

Then the junk bug attacked and got the better of me this time Really not too sure why. I am a very emotional eater and there must have been a trigger, but still trying to work out what.

I guess the important thing is to use this as a learning point - it takes a while to transition to raw foods. I can honestly say that none of the junky foods I have eaten today tasted as good as a piece of ripe fruit, and that my body is giving me clear signals that it prefers raw - I ache, especially in my calf which is healing from a tear caused by running, my nose is bunged up, I have a headache, I feel very sleepy and I have a bloated, sore tummy. Even if I eat way too many nuts I do not feel anything like this bad. I did not enjoy the taste of what I ate today or the way it has made me feel, but I guess emotional eating is a habit which needs time to unlearn.

Interestingly, I usually crave sweets/chocolate but today I craved starchy junk. I am with fergusc on the starchy carbs - I also don't believe they belong to our natural diet. And also the kind of junky starch I was craving does not contribute anything nutritionally to the body so it can't be that my body needed something from it. Maybe starch is another habit which needs time to unlearn.

Did a search on dealing with starchy junk food cravings on the raw food forum and there seemed to be two main opinions - the first was eating more carbs from fruit and the second was including more fat. I'm not sure I can eat more fruit, but I could try some more nuts/seeds/avocado. Apparently detox can cause cravings as toxins acspamulate in the bloodstream waiting to leave the body. You can end up craving whatever it is you are detoxing until it is totally flushed out by the body. That idea makes sense to me.

Have also done no exercise today - was my rest day as I have done quite a lot in the past few days.

Did debate whether to post at all today , but I guess part of the point of doing this was to review the effects of diet on BS/health and share my findings honestly with you all.

I will be back tomorrow, new and improved

I feel though that I can still draw some conclusions about the good things and bad things regarding raw at the end of the first week:

Good things

- tastes very good
- looks very good (very colourful)
- don't feel heavy, bloated or sleepy after meals
- more energy, especially for exercise
- reduced levemir by one unit this week
- less washing up
- less time "cooking"
- fewer mood swings
- no more puffy face in the mornings
- sleeping better...not waking in the middle of the night and more able to get up early

Not so good things

- seem to be in the loo a lot! (water-rich foods and water cravings!)
- quite difficult to eat out raw as salads come in very small portions and always have meat/dairy in them.
- healthy foods seem to be very expensive when eating out
- too many nuts in one go make me feel bad, constipate me (sorry!) and make me acidic

See you tomorrow for the start of week 2! A bit of junk is not enought to defeat me

Claire

Day 8...

Back to raw!

Yesterday bedtime BS 7.7
8pm 3 units Levemir

Felt like someone had stamped on my head when I woke up this morning, not helped by getting up at 3am to sleep on the sofa due to partner's beer-feast induced snoring Also looked very white, puffy and had big dark circles under my eyes. So all in all that nasty junky food left my body in a bit of a state. Yuck. Also had huge cravings for jam doughnuts!

Am BS not too good either, 7.4, but that was to be expected.

Was supposed to get up early and go out on my bike, but couldn't be bothered to get up due to food hangover. Getting up late also meant I didn't have time to do my yummy veggie juice, so grabbed a couple of nectarines instead. 2 units NR, allowing for bringing my BS down a little bit extra.

Managed to make the journey to work as long as possible by raiding the chemist for more test strips (was down to last two, emergency situation ) and then stopping at Sainsbury's to get more supplies. Raw is a good excuse to go shopping lots because you can't buy too much in bulk - you end up with manky veggies come the end of the week. Managed to spend £8 on not much. That is a very expensive shop! Will stick to Morrisons in future as I am a cheapskate.

Managed to find my way to work eventually. 10am BS 3.9 three quarters of a whole galia melon! 1 unit NR Always find that I am hungrier the day after I eat too much junk...

12:30pm BS 4.4 one banana, two little yellow plums and a big salad with the rest of my carrot, turnip, sweet potato mix from yesterday, iceberg lettuce and a handful of flageolet beans for the dietician 2 units NR

3pm BS 3.1 one sugar tablet, two small bananas, handful of walnuts and a green pepper. No insulin.

7:30pm BS 5.9 Went to Wetherspoon for dinner. Lots of raw options on the menu as you can imagine and had forgotten to bring fruit with me, so went for a tomato soup instead. Tasted good but definitely had gunk in it because I felt really bloated afterwards and my nose bunged up again. My nose is starting to be a good indicator of whether something is good for me...Came with some brown baguette which I tried and intially decided tasted fake and yucky. Then I went back and ate it for some reason, really don't know what is wrong with me. Am definitely addicted to starch and I DON'T WANT TO BE. Evil starch 4 units NR

Am feeling quite dubious about this 1 unit NR to 1 carbohydrate portion thing. I personally think I need more like 0.5:1. Will keep an eye on this...

8pm 3 units Levemir

Having spent most of my working afternoon looking into serotonin have decided I need more of it and bought a 5-HTP supplement at H&B after work! Thanks to everyone who posted on my thread.

Am also considering getting a colonic after a tip from lacombe. He mentioned that candida gives you cravings, and I quite definitely have candida overgrowth - have not managed to get rid of thrush since I was diagnosed, no matter what the doctor gives me. Anyway, lacombe said that he had a couple of colonics and it actually cleared his system of candida. Can't say I like the thought but would pretty much do anything to get rid of this constant thrush...hmmm will have to look into it at the natural health place in town.

See you tomorrow, sorry my posts are getting so long. I enjoy writing!

Day 9...

Yesterday bedtime BS 10.8 Too high! Got that Wetherspoon meal wrong. Gave myself 1 unit NR correction.

This morning BS 6.7 Too high again! Don't like it when my BS is high, much prefer to be on the low side

Had the day off work so went for a nice long bike ride at 8am. Ate a couple of dates beforehand to keep me going. No insulin. Stopped by at the Natural Health Centre to ask about colonic hydrotherapy treatment...£62 a session!!! That is expensive. hmmm...will have to think about whether it is worth it. It is supposed to be very good for you, but that is a lot of money Especially as you are likely to need a couple of sessions at least to get a good clean out.

Also stopped off at the gym to do some weights.

Was starving when I got home, so ate three more dates. I love dates! Gave myself 1 unit NR - would usually do 1 unit per date but I seem to gobble up BS after exercise.

Lunch 1pm BS 8.0. Could have done with another unit of NR with those dates after all! Had a bit of a feast on the train to London - big bottle of veggie juice (cucumber, lots of spinach, celery, a big red pepper, bit of fresh ginger, half a lime), a whole box of physalis fruits and a nectarine. Thought I would try out the dietician's 1:1 thing. So...veggie juice 5g carbs (for the red pepper), physalis 20g according to packet, nectarine 15g = 4 carbohydrate portions. Plus a little extra for correcting the high BS. So minimum 4 units insulin -50% to allow for exercise = 2 units NR.

I really don't think that insulin:carbs ratio is right for me! Had a massive hypo at 2:45pm, right in the middle of a museum! BS 2.2
Ate four sugar tablets and a banana to correct.

Felt like I was hypoing again at 4pm, but wasn't after all BS 6.2. But ate a nectarine, a plum and a head of romaine lettuce anyway because I felt hungry.

Spent the afternoon wondering around Covent Garden, Leicester Square and Chinatown and ended up in Pizza Express for dinner at 7pm. BS 4.7 Had a "Bosco" salad with extra avocado instead of the mozzarella. Was very nice, not quite raw though because there were cooked mushrooms and tomatoes. Didn't eat the breadsticks although I have to say they were very tempting! Was a bit worried when it came to the table that it wouldn't fill me up, but actually felt quite stuffed afterwards, must have been all that avocado. No insulin

8pm 3 units Levemir

Felt really tired on the train home - hope I am not coming down with anything. My partner has been ill all week so I am waiting for it!

Bedtime BS 6.2

Will be back with day 10 (wow, ten days already!) later today...

Day 10...

Yesterday bedtime BS 6.2

This morning BS 5.1 A bit higher than I would have liked...I like it when I am in the fours when I wake up. I have to say I am really noticing the difference in my BS now I have reduced the Levemir from 4 units to 3. Everything seems higher now. I think it must mean that I am getting to the right dosage now, though, as every time I have changed my dose before (started out at 12 units levemir!!!) I have not really noticed any difference at all. I always had to aim for 8 or higher before bed to allow for the big drop in BS overnight, but now I think I need to adapt for going to bed at around 5 or 6 so that I wake up at a nice level. That's good, though, never was comfortable going to bed so high.

I had so much fun on www.fitday.com this afternoon It tells you everything - a total breakdown of nutrients, % carbs/fats/proteins, number of calories needed and calories burnt, really fascinating. And I noticed a couple of nutrients I need to target if I am to stay healthy on raw vegan. Found that today's food was really very low in niacin, zinc and selenium and that good foods to raise my intake of all three would be nuts, seeds, mushrooms and dried apricots. So I really need to make sure I get a good handful of nuts and seeds everyday. Also found out that sprouted beans have more protein than cooked, and they're raw, so I will increase my intake of those to keep the dietician happy rather than go back to lots of cooked beans.

Also noticed when played around on fitday.com that greens/veg are the most important for getting all the vits/mins, but fruit is really important for getting calories. My calories seemed very low, especially given that I usually do quite a lot of exercise, which could explain why I have been having cravings. Will try to get more fruit and nuts/seeds for calories in addition to the veg. Surprisingly, there is actually fat in fruits and veg too!

Anyway, back to today...

Breakfast: no surprises here to those of you who read my posts pint of veggie juice (cucumber, spinach, red pepper, celery, broccoli, fresh ginger, half a courgette, half a lime). Had to drink in the car as I spent so much time this morning preparing a gourmet lunch No insulin

10 am BS 8.6 bit high...ate 5 oranges because I am still worried about getting this cold my partner has had. Woke up this morning with a sore throat and bunged up nose. 5 units NR taking into account a correction for high BS.


12:30pm BS 3.9 Really enjoyed this: ate one banana with a lunchbox full of veggie slices ...beetroot, sweet potato, cuspamber, celery, carrot cut with a crinkle slicer so they looked nice and pretty. Dipped these in a courgette "hummous" - 1 courgette, bunch of fresh parsley, tablespoon of tahini (not raw, though you can buy it raw), paprika, black pepper, water all whizzed up in the food processor. No insulin Looked very green and slimy! Had to put up with an ignorant colleague at work commenting "WHAT is THAT??? Does it taste as bad as it looks?". But that's pretty normal really. Will make a point of sniffing round her when she gets out the same old cheese sandwich which she has had for lunch every day of the three years I have been working there and making some rude comment about it. I am finding the negativity of other people quite draining. What really bugs me is that if I sat there eating chocolate, crisps and drinking coke no-one would bat an eyelid because that's "normal"

Be prepared for a lot of stick if you eat healthily in public!

3pm BS 4.6 felt quite hungry, so ate 3 oranges, 2 sharon fruits and a handful of brazil nuts (good for selenium!). 4 units NR.

Haven't eaten anything else because that really filled me up.

8pm 3 units levemir

Am going to a "pamper event" tomorrow. Hopefully I can get an aqua detox treatment to speed up my detox, I'm so excited

Day 11...

Didn't get to my pamper event for my detox treatment as something else came up Will go next month...

Yesterday bedtime BS 7.2

This morning BS 5.3

Tried out OIL PULLING before breakfast! Was a bit strange but not unpleasant.

8am walked up to gym, did some weights, walked back. Ate a banana to keep my BS up. No insulin.

10:30am BS 6.3 Pint of veggie juice (cucumber, lots of kale, handful string beans, celery, ginger, half a lime) and 3 dates YUM. that really gave me a lot of energy. 2 units NR

1:30pm lunch BS 3.8 half a bag of sprouted chickpeas/lentils/aduki beans/mung beans, 5 plum tomatoes, 3 dates, half a romaine lettuce, handful of almonds. 3 units NR

3:30pm BS 2.7 whoops, got that lunchtime dose wrong! Ate two sugar tablets to correct, then a banana, a sharon fruit and a big purple plum. No insulin

7pm BS 4.8 Went out for curry! Have eaten out so much this week as it has been half term, will have to cut back again now Ate a side dish of spinach, yum, one and half little bhajis and a big green salad (chinese leaf, peas, tomato, cucumber, onion). That was really good, but oily. Debated whether to have some pineapple for dessert but was actually pretty full. don't usually have dessert anyway. No insulin.

8pm 3 units levemir

Bedtime BS 7.8

Typed all my food into fitday.com again to check the nutrition. It's so much fun! Did better today on my zinc and selenium, but could still do with some more. Will do this everyday for a week then get it to calculate the average levels of all the nutrients - that should give me a good idea of whether I'm doing OK. Did it for my partner as well, that was funny! He eats as differently to me as you can get - lots of meat, crisps, snacks, very few fruits/vegetables. He was also low on several nutrients. Just goes to show that people who eat "normally" need to keep an eye on these things as well as the "normal" diet is not necessarily nutritious.

Back soon for day 12...

Day 12...

Have to tell you first that I have just this minute found out something really interesting...typed in my day's food into fitday.com, and my partner's as he is also keen to see what nutrition he is getting, and our average carbs/fat/protein % for the days we have entered so far were EXACTLY the same. 63% of calories were carbs, 24% fat and 13% protein. So I am getting the same amount of protein from plant foods as my meat guzzling partner!!! Found that very interesting indeed. Also puts to rest all the questions people have been asking about where I am going to get my protein from. Doesn't seem to be an issue.

This morning am BS 6.7 Way too high, again! The reduction in levemir that my dietician suggested does not seem to be a good move, in my opinion. Will put the dose back up to 4 units tonight as I am not happy waking up with these kind of readings.

8:30am ate a banana for fuel then biked up to the gym to do some weights. No insulin. Forgot my bike chain AGAIN, did that a few days ago as well, but the receptionist was kind and let me keep my bike in the staff office to stop it getting pinched.

10:30am veggie juice - 100g spinach, handful of green beans, some broccoli florets, half a cucumber, few sticks of celery, half a lime. Also made a cool, very pink, orange and watermelon juice for my partner (good way of getting vitamins into him without him noticing!) No insulin.

12:30pm felt starving so ate some lunch. Disappointed to see that my BS was 6.0 . Had a big salad with two large mushrooms, a handful of brazil nuts, a handful of sunflower seeds, couple of dried apricots and half a romaine lettuce. Also two large purple plums. No insulin.

1pm walked into town (3 miles) with partner to look round the shops and read the Sunday papers in the pub. Only started walking in recently but both really enjoying it.

3:30pm BS 5.3 Ate two bananas and a sharon fruit. And a handful of my partner's peanuts (very raw , and ADDICTIVE!) 2 units NR

4:30pm walked back home again. Thought I had enough BS to fuel it but went to 3.2 ten minutes from home! Ate three sugar tablets to correct.

7pm dinner BS 4.6 finished off the courgette dip I made for lunch on Friday and ate with celery sticks, cucumber pieces, carrot slices and sweet potato wedges. Also ate a punnet of blueberries. No insulin

8pm 4 units levemir

Schools are back tomorrow So I'll have to be at work earlier and will have to be a bit more efficient with my food preparation!

Day 13...

Yesterday bedtime BS 8.1
2am this morning BS 3.1
6am this morning BS 4.2

Woke up quite grouchy this morning after having a nice night time hypo. Not sure whether that was the increase back up to 4 units levemir or the long walk in the early evening. Will try 4 units for a couple more days and see what happens.

7am breakfast - veggie juice...100g kale, cucumber, celery, broccoli, half a lime. No insulin.

8am breakfast part 2 (always hungrier when at school, probably because it is freezing cold and generally depressing ) lunchbox full of watermelon and honeydew melon. 1 unit N R

My body launched into detox about an hour afer the melon...will try to spare you the gory details but let's just say I made quite a few trips to the loo and it was very GREEN!?

11am BS 4.9 2 small bananas...2 units NR

1pm lunch BS 5.7 - little bit higher than I would have liked, but OK. Ate two of those big purple plums which I have fallen in love with, a big salad of chinese leaf, handful of pumpkin seeds, lots of sprouted beans, cucumber...and a slice of raw carrot cake. A feast! 3 units NR

Went down to the market near school at lunchtime to get in more supplies Bought some dates, a bunch of bananas, some tomatoes, a big pineapple, a cabbage, a cucumber and a couple of celeries (is that a word???)...oh, and some rock hard nectarines that I can have in a a few days when they are ripe.
3:30pm hypo! BS 2.8 ate a sugar tablet to correct and then four dried apricots (not strictly raw, but yummy) and a handful of walnuts.

Dinner 7pm BS 5.2 Made a really delicious raw tomato soup. Put 8 tomatoes, 2 dates and a bunch of parsley in the food processor and whizzed up with some water. It made 3 big portions. Crumbled in some raw mushroom at the table and it was GOOD. No insulin.

8pm 4 units levemir...let's see if I make it through the night tonight!

Have noticed today that I have not had so many cravings, yippee

Back tomorrow for day 14 - TWO WEEKS!!!

Also, having done some maths today, will be making more of an effort tomorrow to use a concrete insulin:carbs ratio to work out my NR. It WON'T be 1:1 like the dietician said...will try 0.5:1 as I think that is more accurate.

Day 14...

Much better am reading today BS 4.4

Decided I would cycle to school today (10 miles each way) now that I have had my bike a couple of weeks and am getting more used to cycling on the roads. So...set off at 6:20am as I had no idea how long it would take and wanted to be in plenty of time for 8am meeting with deputy head. Wanted to have a veggie juice before I went but didn't have time to make it, so just grabbed a glass of orange juice instead.

Made it OK! Was quite hungry when I got there, so ate half a pineapple. Am trying to be much more precise with my insulin dosage today, so worked out that usually half a pineapple needs 3 units NR, and then took off 50% to account for the exercise...so 1 unit NR.

10am BS 5.7 Ate two bananas and a handful of almonds, gave myself 1 unit NR as I would usually give 2-3.

1pm lunch BS 3.4...nearly got it right! The student I was seeing would NOT stop talking. That's the problem with the job I do (one-to-one work with teenagers who have a lot of problems to deal with)...can't just say "oh, sorry, you'll have to stop telling me how your Dad abuses you because I need to have my lunch to avoid a hypo" lol. Ate a sugar tablet to correct, then had a FEAST (was v. hungry after all that cycling ). 5 oranges, a bowl of the raw tomato soup I made yesterday, half a bag of spinach. Was pretty full afterwards. 5 oranges = 75g carbs = 3ish units - 50% for exercise = 1.5 ish, I knew from yesterday that the tomato soup needed 1 unit, and after a hypo I need less insulin...phew...so after all that decided on 2 units NR.

3:30pm BS 4.5. Was starting to think about going home, so drank a carton of orange juice and ate another orange.

4pm set off for home...took 20 minutes less than this morning. Think that was because it was much more downhill on the way home, also my bag was nowhere near as heavy because I had eaten all my food lol.

7pm dinner BS 4.8 Made a pepper salsa (4 red peppers whizzed up in the food processor) and poured that over a plate of chinese leaf, pumpkin seeds and raisins. Not sure the raisins went so well with it! Ate three dates for dessert. 40g carbs, so normally 2 units NR, minus 50% for the exercise = 1 unit NR.

8pm Decided to reduce my levemir by one unit as whenever I have exercised late afternoon/evening have hypoed in the night. So 3 units levemir

Had an early night as was quite tired from all that exercise. BS 7.6

Was glad I took the time today to be more mathematical with my insulin. Seemed to work much better.

Two weeks done!

Observations from week two...

1) my clothes are fitting better - not sure that this is "weight" loss as such as I have noticed that I am far less bloated than I used to be. Also no more puffy face in the mornings

2) My skin is a much better colour. The only times since starting raw vegan that I have woken up pale/"pasty" have been when I have eaten a lot of cooked food or junk the day before.

3) My body has been at work chucking out rubbish this week. Don't want to go into too much detail but my bowels have been much more efficient My tummy is flatter now!

4) Raw food takes a lot more chewing than cooked! I always used to finish dinner before my partner, the past few days he has been finishing LONG before while I am still chewing away.

5) I have come to the conclusion that you need to eat a LOT of fruit on this diet, for the calories. Looking at fitday.com I wasn't getting enough calories for the exercise I do, but I have been trying to eat more fruit and this has helped to bump up the energy. Dates and bananas are really good for me at the moment.

6) Getting nuts and seeds every day is the way to go at this stage. A lot of raw vegans advocate 10% fat, which I had been trying to achieve at first by limiting nuts/seeds. Using fitday has shown me, however, how many nutrients are in these foods and I feel I will run the risk of deficiency if I restrict them too much. Also, I have had fewer junk cravings this week which may be down to more fat, or maybe just more calories in general.

7) Sprouted beans are really important, too. They are quite calorie-dense, which is good, and contain more protein than cooked beans, so they help out with protein levels, too.

The only disadvantage I have found this week has been the amount/cost of food I need to buy. Veggies are nice and cheap, but fruit can be expensive, especially when I am trying to eat a large variety of fruits for different nutrients. I'm not a huge apple fan, but I think I will start bulking out my fruit intake with apples as they are nice and cheap. I don't really mind spending a lot on food though - you really can't put a price on your health.

Day 15...

Made the right decision to reduce my levemir to 3 units after early evening exercise...yesterday bedtime BS 7.6, this morning BS 3.7 - imagine what that would have been if I had had 4 units levemir.

Ate a sugar tablet and half an orange that was in the fridge and then went to the gym. Only did a few minutes walking to warm up and then some weights as I got up too late to get a proper workout in before work. Never mind, at least I got something done!

8:30am breakfast BS 4.7 Veggie juice - half a cabbage, celery, cucumber, handful of green beans, half a small carrot, half a lime. No insulin. LOVE my veggie juice in the mornings. Works much better for me than a fruit breakfast, seem to have sugar cravings all day long if I start off with fruit.

10:30am BS 7.1 3/4 galia melon. I would usually give 1 unit NR for a whole melon, but decided to stick with 1 unit insulin anyway to bring down the 7.8 a bit before lunch.

Am thinking that detox has finished for the moment...didn't spend all morning in the loo (yippee) and also am not so thirsty.

12:30pm lunch BS 4.8 Slice of raw carrot cake, and a huge salad with 100g sprouted beans/lentils, a handful of brazil nuts, iceberg lettuce and pepper. That was really good, very filling. Decided on 1 unit NR - carrot cake is 20g carbs, and dietician said not to count carbs from pulses as they are so slowly absorbed.

3pm BS 4.2 hmmm...could really do with my mid-afternoon readings being a bit higher. Thing is, if I am going to get cravings for junk/sugar, they always hit around 3pm, and having low-ish BS at that time is not helping. Maybe I can "take" 20g carbs at lunch without insulin? Ate two bananas. 2 units NR

4pm...sugar cravings big-time...wonder why?

6pm dinner BS 3.2 Ate a sugar tablet to correct, then 3 dates and the last portion of my raw tomato soup....and a handful of brazils. Dates = 28g carbs and last time soup needed one unit, so decided on 2 units NR.

8pm 4 units levemir

Still had sugar cravings and was grouchy because I was tired, and caved in finally at the pub (went to quiz night at Wetherspoon). Ate a big blueberry muffin. 2 units NR. Very cross with myself as it wasn't particularly good and I was doing so well. Also it had quite a bad effect on me, I suppose because I haven't had anything processed for a while. I got a HUGE sugar rush in my head within about 5 minutes of finishing it which made me just want to lie down, and I started getting bloating/indigestion in my tummy a bit after that. I was really shocked at the way my body reacted, I mean no-one feels particularly good after eating junk but I have never had such an extreme reaction after such a small amount. On the positive side, however, feeling so yucky afterwards stopped me wanting any more, and that is an achievement for me. Usually once I start on something like muffins I really don't stop. So I was quite pleased about that, and also I'm not sure if I want any more muffins if that is how they are going to make me feel.

Bedtime BS 4.1 Was intially bit confused as didn't think 2 units NR for a whole big muffin would bring me this low. But then remembered that fatty foods can delay the release of glucose into the bloodstream and guessed that my BS would probably rise again. I felt like my stomach was still digesting it and so there would be more glucose to come. Ate a sugar tablet and went to bed very, very grouchy Am not looking forward to tomorrow morning...I know there will be repurcussions, probably in the form of wanting jam doughnuts for breakfast which is what usually happens the night after junk . The more healthily you eat, it seems, the more the problems you get when you eat rubbish

See you later for day 16

Day 16...

Good decision not to eat before bed last night when BS was low...this morning was BS 5.7, so not too bad.

As expected had some muffin side-effects. Really struggled to get up (getting up has been much better since going raw), woke up with a puffy face and swollen tummy (tummy is much flatter in the mornings these days).

Drank breakfast in the car as was running late for work..good old veggie juice with cucumber, celery, green pepper, half a bag of spinach, half a lime. And got a big headache and some nausea from it. My theory is that it prompted my cells to start their dumping muffin-toxins into the bloodstream, as I never feel like that usually with veggie juice and it tasted fine so it can't have been that the produce was off. No insulin.

Got to school and some kid had been sick in the corridor (in school AND been sick already by 7:55am!??) which didn't help my mood!

Nibbled on some watermelon before my first meeting - 1 unit NR - and again at break...10:30am BS 4.7, 1 unit NR.

Have noticed that the body does its cleaning in the mornings, hence the frequent loo trips I have been enjoying since I have been raw. . This morning I swear it was cleaning muffin out with great enthusiasm judging by the amount of times I needed the loo and what came out....also was super-thirsty. I noticed that I was really thirsty in the mornings last week, but that has been better lately. I guess the more toxins, the more water is needed to flush them out.

12:30 lunch BS 4.4 a nice ripe mango and another huge sprout salad with pepper and mixed seeds (pumpkin, sesame and sunflower). Enjoyed the last one so much had to have another! Decided to take less insulin than I thought I needed to see how that would affect mid afternoon BS...have been a bit low lately. Would usually have given 1 unit for mango (20g carbs), so this time no insulin.

3:30pm BS 5.2...experiment successful! will have to remember that in future. Ate two bananas with 1 unit NR. Would usually give 2 units, but was expecting to do some walking and a long time til dinner

Went shopping after work to get my weights for my "home-gym". It's so exciting! Have been a member of the gym for a couple of years now but have decided to stop wasting £40 a month on it. Bought a (push)bike for £80, a weights bench for £35, an exercise mat for £4 and now some weights for £16 (good old Argos!), to go with the mini trampoline I already had...and hey presto a home gym in my garage. Will pay for itself in no time. And when the tear in my calf has healed will be back out running which is what I like best anyway. For the moment I'm really enjoying my biking and walking workouts.

Also did the food shopping. Am getting a bit fedup with having to keep going out for more supplies during the week, so really went for it! This is what I bought...

2 celeries
2 cucumbers
2 romaine lettuces
1 iceberg lettuce
4 little gem lettuces
2 bags spinach
bag of mixed peppers
half red cabbage
courgette
fresh root ginger
bag of sping greens
pack of vine tomatoes
fennel bulb
bag of lemons
bag of limes
1 whole watermelon
1/2 honeydew melon
10 red apples
2 small punnets blueberries
3 plums
bag of oranges
1 whole pinepple
bag of bananas
bag of RED BANANAS can't wait to try them!
punnet of nectarines
bag of pine nuts

You should see our kitchen..has been totally taken over by fruit. And I bet I'll still need to go out mid week for more!
Still need to get some sprouts - Morrisons doesn't do them . And I forgot the dates. Can't not have any dates all week.

Dinner 6pm BS 3.6 thought I was actually going to get through a day without a hypo! Maybe tomorrow. Ate a sugar tablet to correct, then a bowl of fresh pineapple and plate of butternut squash and fennel "rice" ( all whizzed up in the food processor), with mashed avocado on the top. Yum! Forgot to weigh the pineapple, so guessed at 1 unit NR.

8pm 4 units levemir

Got dinner wrong! Bedtime BS 12.9 Thought about doing a correction, but felt like the meal had digested and there wouldn't be any more glucose to come. Know from experience that if I give a correction in this situation I hypo in the night. Decided to leave it.

If I get through tomorrow OK, am going to order some raw chocolate online as a treat. It is SO good, and has no sugar as it is all from raw ingredients (usually cacao/coconut oil/nuts/agave syrup to sweeten etc), so nothing to feel guilty about!

See you tomorrow...

Day 17...

Good decision not to do a correction last night...this morning BS 4.3

Forgot to say yesterday that I measured my pH to see whether the muffin episode had affected it - and it had, I was acidic again (6.5). Was back up at 7.0 this morning. Would like to be more 7.2/7.4 though...

Made a veggie juice - cucumber, celery, half a cabbage, one and a half carrots (sugar for my exercise!), half a lime, ginger. No insulin

7:15am cycled to school, 7 miles. Am starting to feel a bit inadequate in my old bleach-stained jogging bottoms and baggy T-shirt...everyone else on the roads seems to be in lycra AND they're super-fit...it's quite embarrassing being overtaken by other cyclists!

8:30am breakfast BS 5.2 1 mango No insulin

11am BS 7.7 some fresh pineapple. No insulin

12pm lunch BS 5.2 2 red grapefruits (yum), with a big salad...pine nuts, celery and butternut squash and fennel "rice" from yesterday. No insulin

3pm BS 5.6 Starting to think about cycling home again, so ate two bananas for fuel. No insulin

Oh no, it's raining! Was a lovely morning when I decided to go by bike!!! Got totally soaked on the journey home.

While I was putting my bike back in the garage decided to try out my new bench and weights in my "home-gym". Cool!!! Didn't do much though, as I felt a bit low, so did a test and I was BS 4.2. Ate a couple of plums to keep me going til dinner. No insulin

Dinner 6pm was STARVING so thought must be quite low again, but actually I was BS 6.8, so a bit high. Had a really nice dinner...two punnets of blueberries and the last lot of the butternut squash and fennel "rice" with half a grated courgette and some raisins and pumpkin seeds sprinked on top...oh and a mustard/lemon juice dressing. Really good. Was not sure whether to bother with insulin but decided on 1 unit NR as blueberries can sometimes take me a bit high even though they say they're low in carbs.

8pm 3 units levemir (one unit less for early evening exercise)

Went on www.totalrawfood.com after dinner to order a couple of bars of raw chocolate as my treat for doing so well this week Got one bar of orange and one bar of mint. Expensive but worth it, can't wait for it to arrive.

Bedtime BS 4.1...oh no, got that wrong! Really didn't feel like eating as pretty stuffed from dinner, so had some orange juice instead.

No hypos today, hooray!

See you tomorrow...

Hi Claire!

Wow - looks like things are going great. I am getting hungry reading about all the good things you have to eat. Looks like you guys have a completely different way to measure blood sugar than we do in the USA.

Enjoyed reading!

Angie


Me (30), Joseph (24 mo.) Jeremiah (4 mo.)

We are enjoying spring and being outside!!!

Hi Angie...

thanks for your message, nice to hear from you again! How are things going for you?

Yes, we measure BS on a different scale, it's millimols per litre. Not sure how this converts to the US system, but as a guide...

am/pre-meals should be between 4 and 7

two hours after meals should be under 8

before bed should be 6-8

under 4 is a hypo

I did think about the fact that most people on here are American so it would probably be confusing, but I don't have a conversion chart! (Didn't think about posting a message like this to make things easier lol)

See you soon, always nice to hear from you

Claire

Slept badly last night Lad next door had his 16th birthday party. He was polite enough to come round and warn us, spent about ten minutes going on to my partner about how there ARE nice, considerate kids around after all (we both work with stroppy kids all day!) but changed my mind about 10pm when I was trying to get to sleep and chants of "let's go f****** mental (or more like men'al, this is South London), la la la la" were coming through the wall at top volume. "No, let's not", I thought...must be getting old!!!

Anyway, the bad sleep didn't seem to do me any harm, was up and bouncing at 6:45...unheard of at the weekend! Before I started this raw diet, I would usually get up about 7am to have some breakfast because my tummy would be growling, but then I would ALWAYS go back to bed for another hour or so. Am just not as tired in the mornings these days.

am BS 4.3

Breakfast: veggie juice, couple of carrots, few handfuls of spring greens, cucumber, celery, half a lime, ginger. No insulin

Decided to get some exercise while partner was still snoring (he doesn't usually make it out of bed until 11 ish at the weekend; he is not a raw foodist, more of a beer-and-snack-ist lol). Went for a walk (45 mins) as was such a nice day, then came home to do some weights. Love my new "home-gym! Felt a bit low after the walk so did a test...BS 4.9, so ate a banana to keep me going.

10:30am BS 5.8 two red grapefruits. No insulin

12:30pm lunch BS 7.3 whoops! Got that wrong! For lunch I ate a 1/4 of a whole watermelon, with a salad of grated turnip, grated courgette, romaine lettuce a handful of walnuts/brazil nuts and 4 dried apricots and a lemon juice and mustard dressing. Yum! Then went on a bit of a dried apricot trip...for some reason having got the taste of them my body just wanted MORE!!! Ended up eating about 20!!! Oh well, they are nutritious (not raw thought, so I will probably pay for it later) and a good thing was that I DIDN'T eat the whole packet, I ate until I didn't want anymore then stopped. Generally when I start eating like that I eat the whole packet of whatever it is, doesn't matter how big the packet is, then I go looking for something else until I've "finished". I really am finding that the raw diet is helping me to stop at sensible amounts, yippee! Did wonder why I wanted so many apricots, though...either there is a nutrient in there that my body wants, or another thought I had was that I didn't eat much after my exercise. Often find I can't seem to get enough calories at lunch if I don't "re-fuel" properly. Must remember to eat enough after exercise. Decided on 2 units NR

3pm BS 3.9 Oh no!!! Couldn't understand why had gone so low, when I worked out the lunch dose really carefully including taking into account exercise. Then remembered that I seem to need about a unit less than I think at lunchtime! Drank a little bit of orange juice and ate a banana.

Was starting to find out what 20 non-raw apricots would do to me...had indigestion and massive bloating all day Won't do that again!!! Interesting, though, that I didn't get a sugar rush in my head like I got from the muffin a couple of days ago. Just goes to show that fruit sugar really is so much better for you than refined stuff.

4pm Decided we would walk into town (about an hour's walk at our pace!).

Decided to go and see a film ("The Bank Job"...very good). Faced a bit of a dilemma...only on at 6:30 or 9pm. 9pm is too late for me as I can't last much beyond 10:30, sad I know , so it had to be 6:30...but that meant eating about 9:30. Wasn't too sure how to manage this, really. Was aware that my BS would be falling quite quickly due to two walks and some weights during the day, so decided to get it quite high before we went in to prevent hypoing during the film. Ate two bananas, and BS at 6:30 was 10.7.

8:45pm 3 units levemir

That worked! 9pm dinner BS 4.4. Went to Zizzi's, and I tell you, I could have eaten the biggest pizza they had I was so starving. And I rarely have pizza!!! Thought about it, but having seen the reaction I get now to non-raw decided it really wasn't worth it. Am taking Mum down to Brighton for Mother's Day tomorrow and she always scrutinises me to see whether I "look well". Also she is in her fifties and still has a better figure than me! So didn't fancy being all bloated and fat and puffy and grouchy. So went for the best option I could find. It was quite difficult, I have to say. Saw a nice salad, but it was served with chicken and ciabatta bread with goat's cheese. Couldn't really ask for "that chicken salad, but without the chicken, and the bread and the cheese...oh and without the gunky dressing, too, please"!!! Decided on a plain mixed salad (cucumber, lettuce, spinach, tomato, pepper) together with a starter dish of marinated olives. Tasted good, though the olives were not raw and very salty. Happened to have bought some mung bean sprouts during the day, so bunged a load of them on top as well. Though my partner was going to die of embarrassment. Oh, well, should be used to me after nearly five years No insulin.


bedtime BS 8.1

Bye for now!

Day 19...

Well, something I ate yesterday definitely didn't agree with me. Don't know whether it was the dried apricots or maybe the olives at the restaurant as they were very heavily marinated and certainly not raw in any case. Felt just like I used to in the morning - pale, pasty, puffy, groggy for ages after I got up. Had wanted to do some exercise before taking my Mum out for lunch for Mother's Day, but couldn't be bothered.

Am BS 5.8..a little high. Breakfast - veggie juice with spinach, cucumber, celery, red pepper, ginger, turnip, half a lime. No insulin.

10am BS 7.1STARVING ...ate two bananas and two big purple plums. That filled me up! 3 units NR

12pm Stopped just outside Brighton at a petrol station so decided to do a test to see whether I'd be OK til lunch (and driving) BS 6.4 Guessed that would be fine.

12:30pm Just arrived in car park and felt odd BS 2.9 What a drop in half an hour, bearing in mind I was just sitting in a car!!! Ate two sugar tablets and a nectarine.

12:45pm lunch. Ate a huge salad in the Italian restaurant. Waiter seemed a bit stroppy when I asked for a Greek salad but with avocado instead of feta cheese...tough! Anyway, what are they doing serving GREEK salad in an Italian??? Must have issues, if you ask me .

Spent the afternoon walking around Brighton and ate a couple of sugar tablets as I didn't really feel hungry but knew that I didn't have many carbs at lunch.

Stopped at 3:30pm for a drink BS 5.2 Ate a Larabar that my Mum bought me (marketed as raw food bars but I'm a bit sceptical! Anyway, they just contain fruit and nuts and taste quite good, you can get them in Sainsbury's and some health food shops). 1 unit NR

Had quite a bad journey home with the traffic and got back very tired and drained from lots of driving spending the whole day with my Mum. Obviously my Mum is the best and we had a nice time but we don't always get on and I feel drained afterwards every time I see her....bought a pizza from the petrol station for dinner (hang my head in shame!) A classic example of emotional eating, that. I ALWAYS want junk after seeing my Mum. Even as I picked it up my brain was saying "you want to put THAT in your body???" but yes, actually at that moment I did! It tasted OK, wasn't great wasn't awful, but it knocked me out for the rest of the evening and I went to bed early. 5 units NR Must make a conscious effort next time I see my Mum to have something healthy with me to eat afterwards so I don't go looking for junk.

8pm 4 units levemir

Totally forgot to measure bedtime BS as was in coma-like, pizza-zombie state! Will have massive sugar cravings tomorrow morning now...

See you tomorrow!

Sorry, didn't get time to post yesterday so have two days to enter today...

Day 20


am BS 5.1

Decided to bike into school today (10 miles), drank a glass of orange juice to fuel the journey. No insulin. Stopped halfway as I felt like I was getting a bit low and wanted to check it out...4.5. Had a couple of sugar tablets to keep me going.

8:30am Breakfast: very large chunk of watermelon, DELICIOUS!!! No insulin

No time for a mid-morning snack today...too busy!!!

12:30pm BS 4.5 Large salad with bean sprouts, mixed seeds, romaine lettuce, two oranges. No insulin

3pm BS 5.7 half a pineapple to fuel the journey home. No insulin

4pm realised as I tried to set off home that my knee was quite painful Decided to get the bus home instead. BAD decision. Took me two and a half hours to get home (10 miles), could have cycled in just over an hour Good old London transport. And we're all supposed to be leaving our car at home to get the bus???

Was very grouchy all evening due to bad journey home and didn't feel much like eating, so made a green veggie juice instead. No insulin

8pm 4 units levemir

Made a RAW APPLE PIE. Looks so delicious, will have a big slice tomorrow. I made a crust of dates and almonds, all whizzed up in the food processor to make a "dough", which I pressed onto a baking tray. Then I cut some apples thinly and tossed them with orange and lemon juice, cinnamon and raisins and put that mixture on top of the crust. Will let you know tomorrow how that tasted!

Bedtime BS 6.5

Day 21...

am BS 4.2

Had time this morning to do some exercise, so ate a banana (no insulin), went for a quick walk (30 mins) and tried a little bit of running in with it. First time in over a year due to injured calf! Seemed OK, hooray! I miss my running. Will try to do a little bit a few times a week and start to build it back up again. Insoles should be ready soon, which will help. Got back home and did some weights in the garage.

Went to the hospital today for carbohydrate counting group (similar to one-off DAFNE for those people who can't do a proper DAFNE course yet) and had to get the bus there, so was in a mad rush to get out of the house. Didn't have time to make my veggie juice for breakfast, so grabbed a large piece of my apple pie to have on the bus. Felt really naughty, eating pie for breakfast...then I remembered it was only fruits and nuts so nothing to feel bad about! 3 units NR

Got to the hospital 20 minutes late I hate public transport. Carb-counting was quite fun, can't say I honestly learned anything new but was nice all the same to meet some other people with diabetes and get a morning off work . The nurse did everyone's HbA1c! Was not prepared for that, was expecting to get mine done next month at the consultant. Felt a bit cheated as my control has been much better lately and I know I will have a better HbA1c next month, but was still pleased as mine came out at 5.9% That's 0.9 lower than last time and I was the only one in the group under 7.

11am BS 4.4 ate a banana, no insulin.

1pm lunch BS 3.7 ate a sugar tablet to correct. Didn't feel that hungry after the big slice of pie for breakfast, so just had a nectarine and some green salad. No insulin

4pm Picked up my bike from school and rode home (10 miles). Drank a carton of orange juice for fuel. No insulin. Journey nearly killed me, it was so windy I felt like my legs were going round and round and I wasn't getting anywhere!!! Knackered!

6pm dinner BS 4.9 Big salad with vine tomatoes, walnuts, romaine lettuce and red pepper. 2 nectarines. No insulin.

8pm 3 units levemir

bedtime BS 6.7

Raw chocolate parcel came today but was taken hostage by the post office as no-one was in to collect it....will be able to pick it up tomorrow morning, yum.

Day 22...

What a day! []

Must be coming down with something. Woke up with BS at 10.4 and despite pumping insulin in all day stayed between 10 and 19 [:0] Also threw up a few times. Have never had anything like this since being diagnosed, but then again have not been ill yet as a diabetic...quite surprising really given that I work in three different schools and the kids are always ill with something or the other.

Didn't eat much today as my tummy wasn't too happy. Hopefully will feel better tomorrow.

See you later...

Day 23...

Woke up feeling a bit rough still, and BS was still too high...8.8

Didn't fancy any breakfast and anyway didn't have time to be juicing due to getting up late and having to be out of the house by 7am!

10am BS had come back down with bump, 2.3 and I was STARVING. It was like my body suddenly wanted all those calories it missed out on yesterday! Ate a couple of sugar tablets for the hypo, then a banana, half a pineapple and three nectarines! Didn't even feel stuffed afterwards, weird. 4 units NR

1pm lunch BS 5.4 two nectarines and a big salad (which my partner made for me, wow!) with lettuce, cucumber, pepper, bean sprouts and walnuts and a mustard/orange/lemon/lime/olive oil dressing. Very nice...should get my lunch made for me more often! No insulin.

4pm BS 5.0 two bananas. 1 unit NR

Went shopping after work and bought a HUGE amount of fruits and veggies Decided I am fed up with going to the shops to get more supplies every two minutes so am buying in bulk now! Gots loads of melon and oranges, seem to have a real craving for them at the moment, wonder why? Will have to see what nutrients they have in them.

6pm dinner BS 4.2 Didn't actually feel too hungry, tummy a bit dodgy again. Had a banana and didn't really want anything else. Don't like it when I'm not hungry because I like eating so much lol

8pm 4 units levemir

bedtime BS 5.5

Day 24 already tomorrow!

Day 24...

am BS 4.7

Was going to bike into work today but decided to have a lie in instead as I haven't been feeling too good the past couple of days. Regretted not getting my exercise until I got in the car to go and the heavens opened...good decision!

Drank my veggie juice in the car...few handfuls of spring greens, some green beans, cucumber, celery, ginger, red pepper, half a lime. No insulin

10:30am BS 6.2 Half a honeydew melon. Yum! 2 units NR.

12:30pm lunch BS 4.3 One nectarine and a salad with little gem lettuce, mushrooms (not so keen on raw mushrooms but they have lots of nutrients), pine nuts, sugar snap peas and alfafa sprouts. Squeezed over half a lime and half an orange as a dressing. Very nice but not enough! Problem with this school is they only have half an hour for lunch...well these days that isn't really enough for me because I have a lot of chewing to do [] Wanted more but couldn't have it because my student had shown up. No insulin.

3pm BS 5.0 STARVING! Had a fruit feast..two bananas and four oranges. Certainly felt full after that lol. 5 units NR.

4:15pm had a bit of an adventure that I have to tell you about. I work in the school library in this particular school. At 4pm all the librarians went home, but I still had some work to finish so I stayed on. When I went to leave, I realised they had locked the door and I was locked in [:0] Usually I have my own keys to the door, but I realised they were in the rucksack I use for biking. Now, just to put you in the picture let me describe where this library is. It is right on the corner of the building on the top floor. It is up three flights of stairs and it is the only room these stairs lead to. There is a room at the very bottom of the stairs, but that is a conference room which only gets used for meetings and so is generally empty. Hmm. I tried ringing reception, but no-one picked up. I tried again and again, probably every two minutes or so...no answer. Digging around, I managed to find an internal phone list and started ringing random extensions. I phoned the caretaker, got voicemail. Left a pathetic little message about wanting someone to LET ME OUT. Tried phoning the staffrooms, no reply, even tried reception again in case they were just avoiding external calls which at this time on a Friday are likely to be parents giving them aggro...but still no reply. Well, time was getting on, and I have to say I was starting to panic a bit. You don't find many people in a school at nearly 5pm on a Friday night - everyone is out the door by 4pm latest. Phoned my partner who was already home (I rest my case about teachers being out the door quickly on a Friday [:p]) and he suggested setting off the fire alarm. Seemed a bit drastic, but I needed the loo as well, so I was considering it....when I heard the sound of a hoover. Cleaners!!!! I banged and banged on that door, but no-one came, then I realised that was because the hoover was ON and so I was being a bit thick. The minute it stopped I banged again, and after a few attempts this shocked cleaner came running up to let me out at about 5pm. I was SO embarrassed, but also very relieved []

I have found before that when I get really stressed I hypo - totally the opposite from the people who say their blood sugar goes up with stress. Thought I'd do a quick test, and yep...2.8. Very interesting. Ate three sugar tablets to correct.

7pm dinner BS 4.2 Couldn't be bothered with making much of a dinner after my exertions in the school library, so did a veggie juice (kale, celery, cucumber, ginger, carrot, half a lime)..instant food, the equivalent of when I would get a tin of soup before. And then ate a slice of raw carrot cake. 1 unit NR.

8pm had a bit of a weak moment here. My partner went out to get fish and chips for his dinner..and I had a bit of a chip feast. I have to say they still tasted good to me, but boy did I regret it about half an hour later when I got indigestion and a huge headache. My energy also went totally, ended up just vegetating on the sofa. I still don't learn that when I eat junk I pay for it [!] And I'll be puffy and bloated tomorrow, I bet. Oh well. 3 units NR.

8pm 4 units levemir

bedtime BS 12.6 [:0] got that one wrong! Gave two units NR to correct.

Day 25 tomorrow....

Day 25 and 26...

Have got a bit behind with my posting, so two days in one go here!

Well, there's actually not a lot to write...let's just say I fell quite spectacularly off the raw food wagon this weekend and ate probably about 50% cooked. Had a meal at my favourite restaurant, which started up cravings big time for other things.... BS went all over the place, so did motivation to exercise. Diet is really important with me. If I'm not eating well everything else goes to pot.

Then this morning my period started, which would probably explain quite a lot

Well, I feel so rough now that I am very motivated to get raw again, and I have decided for the last five days (I had planned to post every day for a month) to really go for 99.9% raw. Eating a little bit of cooked/junk doesn't work for me. I have an addictive personality and I actually think I'll do a lot better with cravings etc if I'm strict with myself.

Will be back later for the next stage...

Day 27...

Back to RAW

Am BS 4.8

Had my lovely veggie juice for breakfast - lots of spinach, green beans, cucumber, celery, half a lime, carrot. No insulin.

8:30am 1 cantaloupe melon. 1 unit NR

11am BS 6.4 banana-frenzy! Two bananas and two little red bananas. FINALLY they're ripe after sitting in the fruit bowl for a couple of weeks. Tasted nice, a bit lighter and sweeter than normal bananas, but to be honest not so different that they were worth the extra money. 4 units NR

Lunch 1pm BS 5.3 one papaya (delicous, get the tree-ripened ones from Tesco, they are the best!) and a big salad of almonds, vine tomatoes, alfafa sprouts and spinach. No insulin

3pm BS 7.3 two red apples 2 units NR

4pm Stopped off at the hospital to collect my half unit Novopen. It's a kids'pen!!! Very neon and "cool". Am really excited about being able to use half units. A pain because it will need getting used to again, but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.

5pm got home and decided I felt like some exercise. Drank a little carton of orange juice for fuel and then went to jump around on my mini-trampoline for half an hour with the radio on loud. So much fun!!! but had forgotten what a good workout the trampoline was and I know I will ache tomorrow. Also did a weights workout. Very unlike me to want to work out after work.

7:30 dinner BS 6.4 A bit high - was surprised as I had just exercised. Am finding, though, that my BS doesn't start falling until an hour or so after I have finished exercising. And then it REALLY starts falling. Wonder why that is? Had such a nice dinner - butternut squash and parsley "rice" with a salad of romaine lettuce, cucumber, carrot and avocado. YUM! Even though I think cooked and junk food is going to taste good, raw always tastes best. No insulin

8pm 3 units levemir, one less to take into account the early evening exercise.

bedtime BS 6.7

Back on track for day 28