Chicken… For The Soul

Nope, I’m not talking soup.  It’s chicken fried steak for the soul.  Yeah, you heard me.

I’ve been having a rough time lately with food.  It’s kind of odd, because I was doing really well with the whole gestational diabetes diet.  And then something happened.  Really, I’m not sure what – a mix of aching body, severe emotional distress (caused by some wacked-up hormones), monstrous heartburn from anything, and food getting boring.  Yes, boring.  I got so tired of counting carbs and protein and eating snacks and eating the same thing over and over that I sorta… quit eating.

Weigh in Tuesday – I lost 2 pounds in 2 weeks.  I’m supposed to be gaining a pound a week right now, so that’s not exactly the best scenario.  The doctor’s not worried (yet), but if I keep it up he will be.

Andy’s pretty darn worried about me.  I guess it’s kinda hard to watch your spouse crying about every little thing, getting angry, and preferring no food and a soft bed.  I think he checked out my food/blood glucose logs.  He says he doesn’t think my blood sugar levels are high enough most of the time (they have been pretty low lately), and that I’m seriously stressing myself out over the whole thing.  Granted, he’s no doctor or nutritionist, but he is a paramedic who deals with diabetics on a fairly routine level.

So I decided to follow the paramedic’s advice.

Where did that lead me?  Laura’s Bistro – an all gluten-free restaurant and bakery in Plano, TX.  I’ve blogged about Laura’s before.  I had the same thing today.  I’ve actually been craving it – chicken fried steak, onion rings, mashed potatoes, and a caesar salad with croutons.  This time, I threw in one of her homemade oreo-ish cookies (but are sooo much better).  I was so excited to go there, anxiously awaiting my food.  This is why chicken fried steak is good for the soul (at least today).  I needed food to mean something more than that annoying thing I had to stuff down my face 6 times a day.  Now, I am ready to get back into the kitchen and make something.  I am ready to count my carbs and protein, and make something delicious for myself and my family, that I actually want to eat.

What about my blood sugar?  Yes, it did go up – higher than it should have been, but not crazy high (mine never did).  I think Andy’s right; I am stressing out way too much over this.  But, I do still need to pay attention and keep the sugar levels down (but perhaps not as low as they were last week).  I have one more time planned to blow it – that’s my baby shower, lol.

On a more fibrous note, I have been doing really well with drinking my orange sugar-free Metamucil.  I wanted a change of pace, and bought some of the berry kind.  Whoa!  Earth to Metamucil – cut down on the aspartame.  This stuff is sickeningly sweet.  I rarely have aspartame, but made an exception for the Metamucil because this baby requires I eat more fiber, if you know what I mean.  I spent $10 on this container, though, so I can’t just throw it out.

I found that it actually flavors a bowl of yogurt quite nicely (provided you don’t use too much).  It also thickens the yogurt and makes it more like a pudding (kinda cool).  Once I’m back to making smoothies, I’ll probably try sticking some in there, too.  Just remember you need 8 ounces of water with each serving of Metamucil, so drink up while you eat your thickened yogurt.   🙂