P90X, Gestational Diabetes, and Meal Plans OH MY!

         My life is getting too complicated. *sigh* had a Pre-Natal checkup with Stork yesterday. I was somewhat expecting another lecture on not drinking enough water, however Stork said we were all go in that department. As a result of NOT (apparently) being dehydrated, I was not throwing ketones anymore, AND my liver enzymes were apparently "not wonky" anymore. YAY ME! However, since I'm now 30 weeks, we decided to test my blood-sugar levels - needless to say, a simple pin-prick and a tiny amount of blood on a test strip can seriously screw up a diet plan. 

           For the last 3 weeks, I have been following (mostly) Lion's P90X Diet - 1 (serving of) carbs, 2 fruits, 4 vegis, 2 dairy, and a freaking TON (his is 8-10 servings, but I was cutting back to between 5-7 servings) of Protein (he also gets 4 snacks which include protein bars and "recovery drinks" which I did not need and simply ignored). In order to keep Lion on HIS diet, I have been working off of a meal plan and cooking his meals in advance so that he would never have to resort to fast food (ie FAT food). I thought that by going on a extremely low-fat and low-carb diet, I would help my chances of not developing gestational diabetes (I had it with Vixen in the last trimester - but not for any of the others). I was seriously bummed when the blood-glucose screening came back with 155. :/ And that was an hour and a half after having had nothing but my (granted heavily sugared and creamered) coffee. Bummer.

       SO! Stork sent me home (after much talk on local politics, Giggle Family News, and the marriage of her son over the previous weekend) with a Blood/Glucose Meter and requested I test my Blood/Glucose Levels (hereafter BGL so I don't have to keep typing it!) first thing in the AM and 2 hours after each meal. Unfortunately, the BGLs I have been getting all day yesterday and today have not been promising. Of course, I haven't changed my diet yet either. All day yesterday, the BGLs stayed above 135. My fasting BGL this morning was 105 (good news there) but it spiked right back up to the 150s after each and every meal today. So apparently, a diet change will be necessary. Google here I come!
      Here is what I have learned: Baby Koala and I *do* need carbs and (can you believe it?!) FATS! Whodathunkit? "It is also helpful to get 45 to 60% of your calories from carbohydrates, 15 to 25% from protein, and 20 to 30% from fat."   :/ I guess the extremely low-carb and no-fat P90X Diet will simply have to be thrown out for me. ARG! That means I must work up *2* different (!!) meal plans! *sigh* what a pain in my backside. ***Mama Roo tells herself: It's Good for you, good for Koala, and Good for Lion, you can do this, you can do this, don't get pissy, you CAN*** So, here goes: this is roughly what I need: link source here

2200 CALORIE SAMPLE MENU A sample of a 2200 calorie gestational diabetic diet is listed below.

Breakfast: 3 carbs (2 breads: 1 cup bran cereal or 1 cup cooked oatmeal and 1 dairy: 1 cup skim milk, 1% milk, or nonfat sugar-free yogurt), 1 ounce meat or protein (like 1/2 cup scrambled egg substitute or lowfat cottage cheese), & 2 fats (like 2 tsp margarine) **I DON'T eat margarine!! - no way no how**

Morning Snack: 1 fruit (1/2 large banana), 1 oz. meat substitute (2 Tbsp peanut butter) - **Peanut Butter and banana?? What Am I Pregnant?**

Lunch: sandwich with: 2 slices whole wheat bread, 2 ounces meat or protein, 1 vegetable (2 lettuce leaves with 2 slices of tomato), & 1 fat (1 tsp mayonnaise or 1 Tbsp salad dressing) PLUS 1 fruit (like 1-1/4 cups fresh strawberries), 1 vegetable (like 1/2 cup vegetable soup or 1 cup carrot sticks), & 1 dairy (like 1 cup sugar-free nonfat yogurt) **that's a lot of freakin food!! - I usually don't eat much for lunch!**

Afternoon snack: 1 starch (like 3 squares (2-1/2 inch) graham crackers

Dinner: 5 carbs (1 lg baked potato or 1 cup pasta, 1 dinner roll, 1 Fruit, 1 dairy), 2 vegetables (1 cup steamed asparagus and 2 cups tossed salad), 3 ounces meat or protein (grilled chicken breast or fish), & 2 fats (1 tsp margarine and 2 Tbsp lowfat salad dressing)

Evening Snack: 1 carb (1 slice whole grain bread, 6 whole wheat crackers), 1 meat or protein (1 ounce lowfat cheese or 1 ounce lowfat ham), & 1 dairy (1 cup skim milk or nonfat sugar-free yogurt)

Totals For The Day: About 2180 calories: carbohydrate about 47% of calories, protein about 23% of calories, & fat about 30% of calories.

I foresee a few small problems with this diet: I don't eat that much food! Maybe without the snacks... but everything I read says that I need to eat between meals to maintain BGLs... don't know if I can eat that much. Also, this food is expensive!! On top of the crazy amounts we are currently spending on Lion's P90X foods, this is just plain lunacy. *sigh* I'll give it a spin and see how it works with what I've got for the week. If the BGLs don't normalize, then I guess Stork and I are gonna have to get together to figure out what to do. And I need to test the paradigm of regular exercise helping to normalize BGLs. I haven't been able to do my Yoga for several days due to getting other necessary things done in the house (laying flooring in the Spare/Craft Room, installing the ballisters  on the kids' room porch, massive amounts of laundry, running errands etc). 

              OH!! Before I forget!! All Photos in this Post were taken and edited by Aunt Penguin!! I gave her discs today so that I can get copies of both the originals and her edits of my maternity pics, and the pics of all by beautiful Giggle's Zoo Babies, so look for an up-and-coming post with all of those pics!!!