Some of My Faves from Heidi

In no particular order, here are some of my favorite pictures from Heidi's camera.

We went to the cafe at least once every day. They had pizza, cookies, and sandwiches 24/7. They also had a coffee/tea bar. I always got lemon tea, and Heidi just got hot water. I told her that everything was free, but she said that she wanted to get warmed up without any flavoring.

This was the first day of the cruise, and I am pasty white. The only reason I'm showing it to you is because the people in the background are Geordies, and they're from about 10 miles away from where I live in England. I heard their accent and I thought, "There is no escape from the Northeast!"

Breakfast was my favorite! The buffet had every breakfast food imaginable from around the world. I ate so much pineapple that after a few days my tongue was swollen, and I had to cut myself off.

This is the view from where Heidi and I sunbathed. There are two pools and two hot tubs on this side of the deck, and there are more on the other side just for adults.

Heidi and I really enjoyed sharing our table with Alice and Sue, granddaughter and grandmother, who were from South Carolina. We loved their accents! True Southerners...

Heidi took this picture from the ship of Labadee, Haiti. It was beautiful!

This is the water in Grand Cayman. Gorgeous! 

We found this flower growing on some bushes in Grand Cayman.

The view of the cruise ships in Grand Cayman

Jamaica! These guys were on stilts all day. I even saw them chatting on their cell phones while taking pictures with people.

One of my highlights was eating at Johnny Rockets on the ship. I had the best burger there, and I just had to give a shimmy of love to my milkshake it was so tasty!

My dear friend Katy (college friend/bridesmaid at our wedding) was such an awesome hostess. I loved being at her house and hanging out with her family in Fort Lauderdale.

This is a view of our room. Outside the window is a view of the promenade. I told you these pictures were in no particular order.

Me and our ship

Me and our ship's anchor

I think that's it! Are you sold on cruises now? You should be! I had a fantastic experience and just can't wait to do it again!

Cinco De Mayo En El Primer De Mayo

How crazy is this? I found this random post in my "drafts" file, and I guess I never published it! We had some Mexican food to celebrate Cinco De Mayo last year, but we ate it on May 1st instead. I remember Kristine and I tried to make our own tortillas, but in the end we agreed to just buy some from the store. 

Love and miss my fellow California friend, Kristine, who's now living in London. 

Enjoy these pictures taken a year ago today!

Wrapping Up

Last day on the ship! 

Heidi and I got crazy and drank some virgin peach daiquiris poolside. 

When I got back to Florida, I got to spend 10 hours with my dear friend Kristin. She drove four hours round trip from Naples to hang out with me in Ft. Lauderdale. What a time of blessing and encouragement! We shopped, ate, got treats at Starbucks, went to the beach, walked the mall, bought a dress for $6 (marked down from $132!) and talked each other's ears off.

Great to see my friend...

Mexican food time!

A few last bites of heavenly Mexican food...

Extra special thanks go to Kristin's husband Dan, who watched their four kiddos while the girls had hang out time. You're awesome, Dan!

Operation Get Healthy

Warning: This is a long post. Like... really long. I started it about a year ago. Additions I've written tonight are in bold.


Disclaimer: I am not a doctor.


However, I am a woman who just hit 30. About to hit 31.


I live in a cold climate. This May is supposed to be the coldest on record for over 100 years.


I love to bake chocolate chip cookies. Mmm...


I would like to think that I can still fit into my wedding dress, but I probably can't. This was confirmed over the Christmas holidays. Tear...


I am twenty pounds over my ideal weight ("my ideal weight" being the weight my doctor puts on all of my medical papers as "ideal weight"). 


I have Type 1 Diabetes, which makes it very, VERY hard to lose weight.


Here's why:


Insulin is a hormone that helps you process carbohydrates and gain weight. The more insulin you produce (or inject or pump) the more you gain weight. That's why people who cut carbs lose weight. I'm not saying that everyone should cut carbs, I'm just stating facts here.


Anyway, when a healthy person decides to diet, her pancreas just adjusts the levels of insulin secreted by the pancreas, and that's it. Boom. Done. I have to fiddle with my rates manually, which can be frustrating, annoying, and potentially dangerous.


I can explain why if you can hang in there for about one minute of science reading. If you want to read on, read on. If not, I understand.


You're continuing on? Thanks, friend!

Background for Understanding Basal and Bolus Insulin

When food is eaten, it is digested and converted to glucose(sugar) so it can be used for energy. Virtually every cell in the body, including your brain, needs glucose to function properly. The hormone insulin is needed to carry that glucose into cells in all parts of the body so that it can be used for energy.

Some of this glucose is stored in the liver as a reserve fuel (called glycogen) that is released when glucose is not available through food. So, between the glucose that is consumed through food and what is gradually released from the liver, the body gets a constant supply of glucose. This also means that there needs to be a constant supply of insulin in the body to keep the amount of glucose in balance.

Since more glucose is produced after a meal, the pancreas secretes more insulin. When the amount of glucose is lower, such as between meals or at night, there is less insulin needed -- but there is always at least a small amount of insulin present in the body at all times.

Defining Basal and Bolus Insulin

Basal insulin is the background insulin that is normally supplied by the pancreas and is present 24 hours a day, whether or not the person eats. Bolus insulin refers to the extra amounts of insulin the pancreas would naturally make in response to glucose taken in through food. The amount of bolus insulin produced depends on the size of the meal.

In the person with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas no longer automatically makes insulin regardless of the intake of glucose. The beta cells that produce the insulin have largely shut down. Both the basal, or long-term background insulin, and the bolus, or quick bursts of insulin needed at mealtimes, must be obtained through injections or an insulin pump in order to process all of the glucose taken in through food or released by the liver.

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I'm not sure why the science-y bit is formatted all crazy, but I can't fix it. Sorry.


So basically my blood sugar has to be within a safe window. Too high, and I get tired, emotional, and my limbs feel like I have Chinese jet lag. Long term complications from too many highs include eye problems, kidney problems, poor circulation leading to loss of limbs, etc. Too low, and I get dizzy, faint, shaky, and sweaty. There are no long term complications from being too low because if you get too-too low, you go into a coma and die. Don't worry. That won't happen.


Anyway, besides adjusting my levels for healthier food choices, I also have to factor in exercise. Exercise, exercise...We already talked about how I hate it. It definitely affects my levels. It's extra scary because I'm afraid I'll go low and then have to eat or drink sugar and cancel out my entire work out in 30 seconds. Frustrating!


And that's where I stopped writing. I just couldn't finish because I didn't know what else to say.  


I'm revisiting this post because I've recently started (April 23rd was my first day) a new eating plan. I'm not calling it a diet on purpose. It's called Whole 30, and you can read more about it here. It's kind of like a jump start for my body. A detox. A cleanse. A new beginning. It's for 30 days.


The main purpose for me doing Whole30 is not weight loss, but if that happens I will definitely not complain - especially after all of the rich food on the cruise. I just really need to get my diabetes back on track. According to my doctors, it's been just fine (my last A1C was 6.7 if you must know), but I am not happy with it (I'd like it to be around 6.0). They've had to bump up my insulin basal rates the last two visits, which, in an attempt to get blood sugar numbers down, has led to more weight gain. 


So, what do I eat on this Whole30 plan? I get to eat meat, fish, eggs,vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds. Doesn't sound too bad, right? The hard part is that there are no grains, dairy, legumes, sugar, fake sugar, or processed anything allowed. I cleaned out our pantry of the no-no foods. Two big boxes went upstairs to the guest room. Grits, cornbread mix, chocolate chips, taco seasoning, ranch seasoning, refried beans, mayonnaise, granola bars, Altoids, peanut butter... and on and on. Do you know what was left after the big clean out? Two cans of tuna. That's it. Yikes.


Like any new change (and I consider overhauling the way you eat a big one) it was overwhelming at first, and I thought about it all the time. However, planning and prepping my food for the week on the weekend before was key. Pinterest was a life-saver. Check out my Whole30 recipe board here. The first grocery shop sticker shock just about made me cry at the check out (a jar of coconut oil is $10!), but luckily we will not have to spend as much every single week because many staples will last a while.  


After only a few days eating this way, I settled in okay. I reached for dried mangoes instead of digestives. I ate every bite of my loaded sweet potato guilt-free. I made my own fruity ice cream for dessert. And you know what? My blood sugar numbers have been perfect. I mean it! PERFECT. And my skin has been awesome. The biggest downside - aside from the cost and the extra time it takes to plan and prepare meals - has been terrible breath. Detox fumes perhaps? Hopefully it will go away soon. Since gum/Altoids are no-nos (fake sugar) I brought my toothbrush and toothpaste to work and just put more mouthwash on this week's grocery list.

A delish loaded sweet potato. Recipe here.

Nathan has been very supportive, and he's eaten everything I've prepared for him. He's always been one to compliment my cooking, but now he adds, "Thank you for working so hard to make our family so healthy." What a pal! He didn't have to do the Whole30 with me, but he said he would (in my presence at least).


We did not start out on the best foot. He put milk in his morning tea on Day 1, and I cried (embarrassing to admit!). I told him that it was really disheartening for him to "cheat" on this 30-day eating plan before breakfast on the first day. We went back and forth about it. I am a major rule-follower, and he is a major rule-breaker/bender. To me, Whole30 was all or nothing, while he thought a tablespoon of milk in his tea was just fine. I told him that I needed him to be fully committed to it - 100% - and gave him another chance to opt out of the plan. You know what he did? He dumped his tea and said he was all the way in with me. He is such a good husband! Now he puts coconut milk in his tea, and he doesn't taste a difference.


Anyway, this is long enough. I just thought I would catch you up on the latest with the Parkers... :)

Haiti

Here we are on our last stop, Labadee, Haiti. It's actually a part of the island that Royal Caribbean owns, so only their ships can dock there. We are parked on the left and the Liberty of the Seas is on the right.

In front of the ships

Lots of wheelchairs needed for the sandy terrain. Cool wheels!

This is the life...

The anchor looked enormous next to the man cleaning it.

My first lobster tail... quickly followed by a second.

These are our neighbors Jack and Jan. They were awesome!

It's a monkey! When Nathan first saw this picture, he said, "Is that George Whitefield?" I guess they kind of look alike.

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Next up, our last day at sea!

Jamaica

Here we are in Jamaica! We were supposed to port in Ocho Rios, but we had to divert to Falmouth. I was actually happy about it, because Falmouth is a gorgeous, brand new port!

In front of the Allure of the Seas

We were originally going to go on the Allure and run the 5K in Jamaica, but we changed ships. How crazy is it that we were in the same port on the same day? We totally could have run it but we got there in our regular clothes right as it started.

A view of the port from our ship

We weren't trying to be twinsies. Promise.

We went to a love and marriage game show, and it was hilarious! It was like the Newlyweds Game, but it was with three couples who had been married for various times: newlyweds, mediumweds, and oldyweds. Question #1 for the husbands (to answer the way they thought their wives would answer): If you were stuck on a desert island with one of your wife's relatives, who would you not want to be stuck with? Yikes...

After the game show was a midnight buffet on the pool deck and some line dancing!

I labeled this a dolphin on my Facebook album, but my dad pointed out that it's actually a swordfish. Noted.

It started raining when were were line dancing. Our favorite was the Wobble. So fun! 

It's a towel bat!

Tomorrow we'll be in Haiti!

56 Up!

The new Up series documentary is coming out next month! 56 Up! YAYYYYY!

Check out a news article about it here.

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If you haven't seen this documentary series. Go get it. Now. You're welcome.

I wrote this post about it when I first got hooked.