Hi everyone! As some of you may have noticed I have been AWOL for quite some time on social media and although I am trying to keep up with my diabetes activities I'm finding it a bit of a struggle. The main reason for this is the sudden and (currently) unexplained lack of energy I have been experiencing which has left me with little to no "get up and go" to do the extra work that I used to do on my blog. I say it's unexplained, but there are a few reasons which stand out to me such as being unwell with gastroparesis which had caused me to vomit almost daily for around 3 months now, sometimes up to 4 - 5 times a day. Sexy, right?
In the last 2 weeks the nausea and vomiting have thankfully started to ease off but sadly my energy levels are still at an all time low. My friends call me "Old Lady Laura" because I'm slightly older than them but my god do I feel it at the moment! I would say that for the last 6-8 weeks I have felt so tired that I've napped every day for up to 3 hours at a time; I find myself coming home from work and getting straight into bed for a nap, then going to bed at around 10pm and sleeping straight through until the next morning, still waking to feel that I haven't slept at all.
This has obviously left me worried and last week at my diabetes appointment I had bloods taken to see if there are any underlying issues such as anaemia, under-active thyroid or coeliac disease. Fingers crossed it's none of the above but I'm interested to figure it out. If I get the all clear then it could be that I'm just bloody lazy.
Something else that has been bothering me is that my weight has slowly crept up over the last few weeks, despite me not eating the portion sizes that I would have in the past, and also eating a much healthier diet. If you follow my instagram feed then you will see that I'm mostly quite healthy with the occasional treat, and if you saw my fridge right now you will only find fruit and veg, so this increase in weight has got me stumped. Before any of you put weight loss and vomiting together, no there is not a baby ninja on the horizon.
The weight gain something that I'm working on though by going to the gym regularly and continuing with my healthy eating but here are more changes to be mad. I don't know about you but when it comes to diabetes and weight loss I do find it difficult to shift those extra pounds. One of the most frustrating issues I have is having hypos after a gym session and having to consume fast acting carbs to bring my blood glucose back up. This is something that I;m working on though and I have been making what I hope are the right adjustments to prevent them, but it's a work in progress as each day seems to be so variable!
As you can see from the images in this post I have started juicing, this is mostly to help manage my gastroparesis as liquids are far easier to digest than whole foods which seem to sit in my stomach for hours on end and cause me to become nauseous and vomit. My new consultant made the suggestion and at first I was unsure about the idea as I do like eating but I have decided to give it a go and to replace one meal a day (to start) with juice. My main issue is vomiting in the morning which suggests that my evening meals are the most difficult to digest, now I just need to get into the habit of juicing at that time to see if it aids my digestion.
Something that I do love about juicing is seeing how much fruit and veg I can consume in a day compared to previously. I'm unsure what the government recommendation for fruit and veg intake is these days. I believe it changed last year from 5 - 8 which is difficult for most people, but juicing makes that intake so much easier! I can easily get over half of that intake down in one glass. Something that I am mindful of is not to cause my blood sugars to spike with too much fruit so I tend to only add one apple or orange for example and the rest is all veg. I have to say that since juicing I have found that in the morning I feel more energised that I did previously, despite reducing my caffeine intake and replacing it with juice. My skin is starting to glow a bit more too. Skin wins!
I shall try to keep you all updated on my napping, nausea and juicing life and if anyone has any tips on how I can stay awake for a whole day then they would be much appreciated!
Laura xx