Two More

Poems

from Meditation Six by Edward Taylor

Am I thy gold? Or purse, Lord, for thy wealth;
Whether in mine or mint refined for thee?
I'm counted so, but count me o'er thyself,
Lest gold washt face, and brass in heart I be...
Am I new minted by thy stamp indeed?
Mine eyes are dim, I cannot clearly see.
Be thou my spectacles that I may read
Thine image and inscription stampt on me...
Lord, make my soul thy plate: thine image bright
Within the circle of the same enfoil.
And on its brims in golden letters write
Thy superscription in an holy style.
Then I shall be thy money, thou my hoard:
Let me thy Angel be, be thou my Lord.

Diabetes and Dieting

Ah so...well... I got a call Friday as I was up to my elbows in frying flautas for our Missions Conference from my doctor. Unbeknowns to me, she ordered a a1c blood test at my first visit (in a year) last week. My level was 10 (desired in under 7), which told her that my blood sugars for the last three month has been about 275 a day! Yikes. At 9, you are diagnosed with diabetes.

So... I have three goals now:

• 1. Get them down to 8 or below so I can get off the medicine she ordered. I already take synthroid, and will for the rest of my life (even tho I have been off it for a year due to the move/not having a doctor/etc.), and I do NOT want to have to take another pill every day until I die to control my blood sugar level. I am going to retest in three months.

• 2. Lose weight. Toward this end, I am going on the Atkins diet - today was my first full day. And by "Atkins", I don't mean Atkin's diet, proper... rather I am going to limit my net carbs to about 20 per day. No sugar, no flour, no potatoes, peas, carrots or corn, no rice, no pasta, no fruit except some berries. I can do this - I lost 65 pounds doing it once before - but it does get very monotonous. I am going to have to try to find a lot of new recipes and interesting ways to keep motivated. I will be posting my progress here, mainly to help keep me motivated. Atkins also has a page on FB to "like", and I have already found a lot of recipes there as well as general support.

• 3. Exercise more. We joined the Rec Center here in Mustang, and are going to work out five times a week, taking Sundays and Wednesdays off. Some links I want to keep where I can find them:
  A list of carbs levels of 1000 foods: http://www.healthandfitness.com/bbs/nutri/messages/2300.html
  details on the a1c test: http://www.diabetes-blood-sugar-solutions.com/a1c-blood-test.html
  Some Atkins recipes to adapt or use as is: http://www.atkinschefrecipes.com/recipes/almond-panna-cotta
  More Carb Counts incl Fast food: http://www.weightbydate.com/carb-counter.htm (Scroll to bottom of the page - over 11,000!)
  Fit Day - FREE weight loss tracker - tons of tools, I used this last time it's great! http://www.fitday.com/