Learing I Have Diabets

I was pregnant with my 3rd child at age 37. I went in for my normal check up. As I stepped on the scale and noticed I had a 10 pound weight gain. I simply could not believe my eyes. The nurse softly said do you have diabetes? I said NO!! She then started quickly looking through my chart and said that is weird I can't find your blood work from your gestational diabetes test. She then went on to say she would give the Lab a call. As she walked back towards me looking down I felt something wasn't right. She said I am so sorry to let you know but your test came back positive. I asked why I was not notified and she said somehow my test results did not come over from the lab.

She sent me right over for a 3 hour blood glucose test and I again tested positive. Knowing I only had 6 weeks until my due date I needed to work fast and learn all I could to know how to eat and what to do to better my health for myself and my baby. She gave me a load of paper work to read on gestational diabetes and also gave me food guide lines to follow. I followed the food guide and when I returned each week for testing my test were in range. I felt much relief.

I ended up delivering my baby 3 weeks early so I only knew I had diabetes for 3 weeks of my pregnancy. I had my post glucose tests after my son was born and the nurse said that there was no diabetes showing. I got one more my test the day we went home. Again I was told I could return to regular foods that the diabetes gone.

My son was very sick his first year of life. I was up with him nightly and was at the Doctor office many times to find out he had bronchitis and ear infections. It was really hard on my body because I wasn’t feeling well myself. I could not drop a pound no matter how hard I tried and I was having really bad headaches. I wanted to go to the Doctor to see what was up but my son was so ill I just kept putting it off. Finally I could not take another day of the headaches and I called my Doctor.

Dr. Rick Robert's over at Seltzer medical group. He got me in the next day and did a bunch of tests. He also ended up sending me home with a blood monitor. He taught me how to use it and said now don't get worried I just want to see how your blood sugar test's out. When I get the monitor in a few weeks we will discuss the results. He went on to talk about the different types of diabetes than he said with a smile I see you back in a few weeks. A few weeks past and I went back in to see Dr. Roberts; He asked how I was feeling? I told him I was not feeling any better. :-(

He took the monitor back and had it hooked up to his computer that printed out the results. He came in and said Well, Jill you do have diabetes. I froze and then began to cry. He said listen, I am going to give you a diet plan that will help allot and the pounds will start dropping off. He then said I need to do some type of aerobic program, machine or walking will do but you need to do it faithfully 5 days a week for the next month and then let’s have you back in and see your progress. He then went on to say that he would like me to test my blood before I eat and 1 hr after I eat 3 times a day.

Well, my next visit brought Joy as he told me your numbers look great so I can tell you have been eating right. I stepped on the scale to see a there was a 13 pound loss. I remember the feeling of relief that came over me. I knew what I had to do to get myself better. It was such a pleasing thought to know that I could act upon what my Dr. said to do and I will continue to get good results and that is exactly what I did.

It’s been about 3 yrs since I found out I had diabetes and I have lost a total of 80 pounds.

I feel great and the best thing of all is sharing my story with others and being able to help others educate themselves with the risk factors of diabetes and start now to live a better healthier life so they don’t have to go through what I went through.

I want to thank Doctor Roberts for being such a great Doctor and teaching me so much about diabetes and what to do to change my life. I also want to thank my family for being there for me though this very big trial and standing by my side cheering me on though my successes.

Canyon County Festival of Trees

As a contestant in the Mrs. Idaho pageant I get to attend a lot of great events in our community. On December 2nd I was able to help out at the festival of trees Gala and Silent Auction. What a great night. The night was to help Meals on Wheels. A big thanks to Marcie Messmer and Amy who were so kind to show us what we were to do to how help with the auction. The night was well organized and I am sure they worked very hard to make the night memorable.


I have a soft spot in my heart for this organization because I had a very ill mother who suffered from Arthritis and was bed ridden the last 10 years of her life. I was very young and I felt so blessed that she was able to get meals on wheels because my siblings and I were not always home to help her out. I know that she made friends with the people that showed up daily to drop off her meal. Rain or shine they were always there and I know it helped brighten her day.

Columbia High School Sports Fund Raiser

I was able to attend the Columbia High School Sports Fund Raiser.
My sweet neighbour Niclole is on the Dance Team. It was fun getting a picture with all of these great dancers.
Good job Nicole on the Dance Number. You did great!

Dress A Child

On Dec 6th our Local JC Penny's had dress a child day where you help a child find clothes,coats and other items they want or stand in need of. They have a cretin amount of money to spend and about 40 min to spend it in. Miss Teen Nampa Taylor Lybbert and Miss Teen Canyon County, Devin Storrs and I got to assist some great children with wonderful sweet personality's.

We all had so much fun doing this. I got to know the Miss teen ladies better and am thankful I got to be apart of dress a child day.

Emotional Eating: Feeding Your Feelings

When you are happy, your choices for food could be steak or pizza, When you are sad it could be ice cream or candy and when you are bored it could be potato chips. Food does more that fill our stomachs. It also satisfies feelings and when you feed those feelings with comport food when you you are not even hunger and your stomach is not growling that is "Emotional Eating"

I was very guilty of being an emotional eater until I took the proper steps to get help and stop the cycle. It was not until I went to that I I started to realize the seriousness of the problem. I attended meeting's for about 1yr in 2002. My realization of what a support group could do was revealed. I than found a wonderful support group called
and have belonged ever since. What a great group of woman I have blessed to have for support. They love me no matter what but are always their to cheer me on with my successes.
Below are some great ways to find out if you are an emotional eater and some great Ideas how to help you if are you. I hope they help you. If you are looking for a support group both and are a great help and help you to find your inner strength to help you change your life style and eat right. You can click on the words to go directly to their web sites.

How to know if your are eating to feed a feeling:
1. comes on suddenly, Physical hunger occurs over time.

2. When you are eating to fill a void that is not related to an empty stomach, you crave a specific food such as pizza or ice cream, and only that food will meet your need. When you eat because you are actually hungry, you are open to many options.

3.Emotional hunger makes you feel like it needs to be satisfied right away with a food you crave; physical hunger will wait.

4. Emotional eating can leave behind feelings of guilt; eating when you are physically hungry does not.

5.Even when you are full, if your eating to satisfy an emotional need, you will more likely keep eating. When your are eating because you are hungry , you are more likely to stop when you're full.

When emotional hunger rumbles, one of the distinguishing characteristics is that you are focused on a particulars food, which yes, you know it is more than likely a comfort food.

Comfort foods are foods people eat to obtain or maintain a feeling. "Comfort foods are often Wrongly associated a negative moods, and yes people will often consume then when they are down or depressed, but interestingly enough, comfort foors are also conumed by people to maintain a good mood.

Ice cream it the first on the list for comfort foods. After Ice cream, comfort food breaks down by sex: For woman it's chocolate and cookies; for men it's pizza,stake and casseroles.

"We all eat for emotional reasons sometimes,"
It's when eating becomes the only or main strategy a person uses to manage emotions. Epically if a person is choosing unhealthy foods to satisfy their emotions.

If you eat and you are not hungry chances are you body does not need the calories. If this happens too often, the extra calories will get stored as fat and to much fat storage cause one to be overweight, which may present some health risks.

Instead of eating your feelings away you can call a friend, take a walk, or clean a room or something productive that will take your mind off the craving.

I know I was an emotional eater it took allot for me to finally admit it but I am so glad I did and was able to stop the bad behaviors and replace them with good ones. Now when I feel like I want to eat because I am stressed, sad, or board I feel those feelings and write them in a journal if I have to take a walk or call a friend I do but most of all I don't give into the craving I identify what is going on and I know how to stop the trap.

Grab a journal or something you can write in. Keep a food journal and write down what you eat. You can also write down the feeling you are having when you are eating. This way you will better understand why and for what reason you are eating. Do this for a minimum of 2 weeks and you will come to know if you are an emotional eater or not. If you are come to find solution's that work for you and you will find that your eating habit's will change.
Good Luck!! :-)

If I just want to munch I pull out the veggies and feel no guilt for eating them.

Yummy Healthy Smoothies

Orange - Blueberry SMOOTHIE

12 oz. frozen blueberries, unthawed

or 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

8 oz. vanilla low fat yogurt

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup 1%milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 scoops of vanilla protein powder of your choice

For a healthy twist add 1/2 teaspoon of flax seed oil. You wont even taste it.

Blend all ingredients together blender until smooth. Serve right away.

STRAWBERRY - BANANA SMOOTHIE

1 banana 4 strawberries

1/2 cup 1% milk

1/2 cup apple juice

2 scoops of vanilla protein powder of your choice

For a healthy twist add 1/2 teaspoon of flax seed oil. You wont even taste it.

Put all ingredients into blender. Blend until smoothie consistency is reached!

PEACH SMOOTHIE

1 cup frozen peach slices

1/2 banana, sliced

3 Tablespoons nonfat vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup orange juice or apple juice

sugar or splenda to taste

2 scoops of vanilla protein powder of your choice

for a healthy touch add 1/2 teaspoon of flax seed oil. You wont even taste it.

Put all ingredients into the blender and chop and then puree for a few seconds until it is delightfully smooth

Here are my picks of Tips that can aid in loosing weight.
1. Diet for the season
'Get up earlier in summer and later in winter, in line with natural sunlight hours. Don't eat late at night or before you are fully awake.' This can case weight gain and you will have a harder time keeping off the weights once it's off.
2. Stay hydrated at the gym
Your gym may have drinking fountains but they won't help you keep an eye on how much you drink. Make sure you take a bottle of water with you to the gym and keep it to hand whenever you are in class or on a machine.'
3. Shake things up
'Though there's not much scientific proof that it works, some dieters find that changing some of their meal plan selections from week to week seems to help break through a plateau. Simple changes like switching some of those chicken portions for fish or having a egg salad instead of an chicken salad at lunch could make a difference for you. Not to mention ensuring your taste buds stay interested.'
4. Reward yourself with a massage
'Cool-downs are your first line of defense against lactic acid build up and muscle soreness, but you don't have to fight this on your own. Massage is a great way to help your metabolism recover from the effort and trauma of your gym sessions. A good massage can also help reinforce the sense of reward.'
5. Accept who you are
'The key to getting over your idea of a perfect body is to accept what you have been given. If you hate your body, it won't work with you. If you accept your body - and even learn to like it - you can achieve peace with your food.'
6. Stay off the scales This is the biggest one for me and one I share with everyone I know who is trying to loose weight.
'Don't assume that the scale is always a true measure of what is going on with the body. If exercise levels are adequate (5-7 days a week), you may be putting on muscle but losing fat, there for losing inches even if you are not losing pounds. weighting your self many times a day only tells your mind you can't do it. So ditch the scale and only weigh once a week at your Dr. office or if you belong to a weight loss club.