I hate wasting rice

We had lunch yesterday at the food court in T&T Supermarket (Guildford) yesterday. T&T is an Asian supermarket so all the food stalls there sell either Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Indian food. No Filipino stall, unfortunately.

Food at T&T is relatively cheap, although we paid $27.95 (or Php1,118.00) rin, so hindi masyadong nakaka-guilty (we've been eating out a lot and that takes up so much of our monthly budget).

But I really felt guilty for not eating all the rice.

Growing up in the agricultural-country Philippines where "rice is life," it really breaks my heart to see this much rice going into waste. Just like what all Filipino mothers say to their children, "maraming ibang batang/taong nagugutom." Nakakahinayang talaga.

But what can we do now? My husband and I are diabetic -- and white rice is our number one opponent! As Pinoys though, we cannot totally give up rice, of course. We just watch our intake, making sure that we don't eat beyond 1-2 cups a day (1 cup per meal). At home, we eat brown rice because it has lower glycemic index than white rice and doesn't cause blood glucose levels to rise as rapidly.

Kaso most Chinese restaurants here serve a lot of rice in their meals. I think that's one of the reasons why I gained more weight din when I lived here. Malalaki talaga ang servings nila dito, be it pasta, burgers, pizza, etc. As a wife and mother, naging role ko na rin ang magsimot ng pagkain kasi nga nanghihinayang akong magtapon. Pero sabi nga ngayon ng asawa ko: "Sayang o patay? Nanghihinayang ka sa pagkain pero sa sarili mo hindi?"

Oh well, may point naman siya.

I just wish there could be a way para lang maiwasan ang wastage. Sana pwedeng umorder ng half cup noh? Even in Filipino restaurants, malaki ang cup nila ng rice eh.

As much as possible naman, hubby and I share na lang sa isang rice meal. Tapos magdadagag na lang kami ng ibang ulam/side dishes. But there are times din naman na magkaiba kami ng preference sa gustong kainin (that's why we often eat sa foodcourt) kaya ang dami-daming rice na natatapon. I am tempted na nga sometimes to tell the vendor na bawasan ang rice, kaso sobrang hassle naman because most of them are Chinese who cannot understand and speak English well. Matagal na diskusyon pa. Saka siyempre style nila ang maraming rice para magmukhang marami ang isang order.

Hay rice! I love you but I hate you at the same time. Pero kahit may love-hate relationship tayo, ayaw pa rin kitang nasasayang talaga.

My Sugar Pouch

Meet my sugar pouch. Ang cute noh haha. My husband has been teasing me, aliw na aliw daw kasi ako sa pouch na ito.

I bought this pouch at Daiso for $2 (plus 12% tax)

You see, hypoglycemia or low blood sugar is a common yet scary effect of diabetes. In my case, there was this certain medication (Glyburide) that throws my sugar off balance. Simula nang inumin ko yun every morning after breakfast, ayun palagi na akong nanginginig sa gutom, nagpa-palpitate at pinagpapawisan. During one hypo attack, I tested and my glucose level was only 2.2 mmol/L or 39.6 mg/dl (normal must be at least 2.9 mmol/L or 70 mg/dl)! I literally ran to the refrigerator to get a regular pepsi! I was so nervous, nakakatakot sa sobrang baba. And to think na hindi pa ganun ka-severe ang pakiramdam ko noon ha (kaya nga nakapag-test pa ako). There were days na hindi na talaga ako makapag-isip nang tama at parang magko-collapse na ako.

Hence, I never leave the house now without my sugar pouch. Mas mahirap kasi kapag sa labas naabutan ng hypoglycemia, hindi laging may access sa food lalo na sa fast-acting carbs like candies and chocolates.

I always have something to eat naman dati pa sa bag ko but I just put them on the pockets, or minsan sa diaper bag ng anak ko. Ang problema, minsan nagkakadurog-durog o napipisa. Kumakalat pa sa bag. I also change bags often kaya ang hassle pa maglipat. So this pouch is the perfect solution. I like that it's transparent pa for easy viewing.

A small juice will fit pa nga in this pouch kaso ayaw ko ng beverage na hindi malamig kaya wag na lang.. 

Aside from chocolates (I wasn't able to buy candies yet), I always make sure too that I have crackers with me. Again, ang hirap kapag nasa labas at hindi ka makakain sa tamang oras. Kailangan ng pantawid-gutom.

And just today pala, I also added Twin Sugar (calorie-free sweetener) in my pouch. I realized na dapat laging ready just in case may gusto akong kainin/inumin sa labas na kailangan ng sugar, like coffee or mais con yelo.

So there, I guess I'll have a sugar pouch for the rest of my life.

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NOTE: I finally found the courage to stop taking Glyburide, since last Monday (October 9) pa. Thankfully, my numbers are still good. =)

Guilt-Free Pasta

I cheat when it comes to my diet, but I never cheated with carbs. Takot talaga ako dyan. I still eat a lot of protein because it doesn't raise my blood sugar level pero talagang maingat ako sa carbohydrates. So far, so good. My numbers are now very normal, normal for person without diabetes na nga.

Hencem I haven't eaten pasta since I got diagnosed with diabetes -- except just a few days ago because we found this nuPasta at Save-On-Foods.

Grabe ha, sobrang low calorie naman nito! Twenty-five (25) calories lang per pack! Parang too good to be true haha. (Please go to their website na lang to know why.)

And when we checked the nutrition facts, WALANG CARBS! Whooaaah!

It actually says 6g of carbs but when you deduct 6g of fiber, eh di zero na. I learned from my dietitian dati na kailangan i-deduct ang fiber (which is a type of carbohydrates) from the total carbohydrate count kasi included na yun dun. Our body can't digest fiber so it doesn't affect our blood sugar level.

This nuPasta is already precooked na nga pala. Nakababad ang pasta sa water so you have to rinse it muna bago haluan ng sauce at initin. Mukha siyang konti pero nararamihan na ako sa kanya (o dahil lang nasanay na rin akong konti kumain?). Half lang muna ang kinain ko (I put the other half in the fridge) so bale 12.5 calories lang. Guilt-free talaga.

Picture taken from nupasta.com

Yun nga lang, sagana naman sa protein lol. I deliberately put a lot of meat para nakakabusog. Dinner ko na yan so pasok pa rin sa calorie/carbs meal allowance ko (kasi may carbs din ang sauce di ba).

Taste-wise, parang medyo crunchy siyang kainin pero ok na rin. Daanin na lang sa sauce lol.

*For the sauce, I just used Del Monte Filipino Style Spaghetti Sauce, ground pork, and Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs

Aside from spaghetti, my fettuccini at angel hair variants din sila (and organic and non-organic)

I am not into pasta naman talaga pero I am glad na meron na kaming option ni hubby everytime mag-crave kami. Sadly, my husband was also diagnosed with diabetes last September (waaaah).

One pack of this pasta costs $4.29, ang mahal kung tutuusin. Pero sabi ng ni Ford: "Mahal o patay? Dun na tayo sa mahal." Ang morbid ng reasonig ng asawa ko kaloka. Pero sa totoo lang, ang pricey talagang magpaka-healthy noh?

Gestational Diabetes Session @ Misericordia Hospital

August 20, 2014 (Wednesday). Ford dropped me off at Misericordia Hospital - Mother Rosalie Building at around 7:30am for my "Gestational Diabetes Class."

The Reception for Diabetes Education Center was still closed. I was asked to come at 8am and I didn't want to be late (I'm always punctual in appointments). I also didn't want my husband to be late for work.

I waited on this 'lobby' nervously. Who wouldn't?

I've been surrounded by so many informational materials on diabetes. I was already disinterested. I've already done my homework on diabetes since last year, when we rushed my mother to the hospital due to very high blood sugar. My mother has been on insulin since then.

A little after 8am, I was called by a nurse for weighing and some additional personal information. I was told that there will be eight of us in the "Gestational Diabetes Class." They don't usually have that many in a class, she added. I felt a bit of relief. Misery indeed loves company.

After asking me several questions, the nurse instructed me to go to the restroom and wash my hands as we will be doing some finger pricking later on.

When all the eight girls have been weighed and interviewed, we were finally directed to the "class room."

Yung mga box agad ng glucometer ang bumulaga sa amin! Nangingig ako. Takot talaga akong magtusok. The good thing though is that the glucometers were given to us for free (ito talaga ang maganda dito sa Canada). We were asked though if we have extended health insurance. Only one out of eight has none and she was given a different brand. I have no idea why. Could it be that the test strips of that brand are cheaper?

Nurse Kristy started the session by giving us some handouts and explaining to us what Gestational Diabetes means. Of course we already knew that. Lahat naman kami nagbasa na online.

Now the most dreadful part was the pricking. As usual, pumalpak ako. We pricked twice and in those two times I failed to put enough blood on the strip. I wasted two strips tuloy.

Pricking though was not that bad. Medyo masakit syempre pero tolerable naman.

By the way, my numbers were 4.4 mmol/l and 4.7 mmol/l. Very normal, yebaah!

We were instructed to do a 6-times-a-day pricking for two days before meeting with the Specialist the following week.

After the nurse, it was the dietitian Benedikte's turn to talk about diet and meal plans. She's given us several reading materials as well.

As expected, most of the foods she's discussed were not applicable to my food preference. I really wished we had a one-on-one session with her. Oh well, magsasariling-sikap na naman ako.

A med tech from the laboratory also came to test our blood sugar kaya tinusok pa rin kami sa braso. They wanted to check the consistency of results to that of glucometer's. Para daw accurate. I was thankful kasi Pinay uli ang med tech. So far, wala pang med tech na kumuha sa akin ng dugo na hindi Filipino. I feel comfortable with them eh.

After the class, we proceeded to the Reception again to get an appointment with the Specialist. I am scheduled on August 28 (Thursday) at 1:30pm.