You feel jittery inside first. It’s kind of like a shaky feeling on the inside of your body. Of course, it becomes the shakes on the outside of your body, if you don’t act fast. The confusion sets in and is annoying and sometimes scary. It’s that time of year that some diabetics start having more hypo events.
Your blood sugar seems to drop like a stone more often. It’s probably because the weather is getting better. We tend to get outside more. We move around more naturally and get more walking exercise in the warm weather.
I’ve discussed how to control your blood sugar with diet by controlling and reducing sugar and starchy carbohydrates at meals. How do you keep up with how much you exercise? Definitely schedule an appointment with your endocrinologist if you are having more hypoglycemic events because you may need to reduce your medications. Next, I recommend a fitness watch. Make sure to do your research. Not all fitness watches are the same.
I really don’t like to spend a ton of money on a watch. Smart watches have been out a while now and started coming down in price. I definitely don’t go for the I-watch. Still, I've found smart watches are very useful.
A basic smart watch usually tracks: blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygenation level, and footsteps. Some have extra bells and whistles like: phone answering, text messaging, alarm, remote photo control, stopwatch, timer, and breathing. It has to be waterproof or I will drown mine. Oh yeah, they actually tell the time, day, and date too.
Unfortunately, I found some drawbacks. My first watch had a screen that went bad. It started looking like the 1970's TVs that went bad, a screen full of many colorful, vertical lines. It did have some positive benefits. One I really liked was the remote control for my iPhone camera. Just add a tripod and a ring light that holds iPhones; and you can do a lot of interesting photography.
My current watch is holding up better. I just really struggle to stop and download the information from it onto the app on my phone. It barely stays charged a week. Of course, during the time I haven’t charged my watch, I don’t get any data about my exercise. I'm leaning towards trying an I-watch now.
The footstep count is very important to me. After I download the information to the app on my phone, it helps me see how much exercise I’ve gotten on a particular day. Over time, I’ve gotten used to translating that into what my blood sugar may do just by seeing the number of steps on the actual watch without the phone app. Sometimes, I can even predict a hypo event and stop it before it starts by eating some good food.
That leads me to this week’s recipe. It’s not for everyday use unless you are getting a lot of steps in. If you are, this recipe is perfect for you. The bananas give you a little pick me up immediately. The sugar gives your body time to absorb the protein/carb mix from the almond flour. As the mini sugar spike goes away, the more nutrient dense almond flour kicks in. It takes longer to get into your blood stream preventing a 200+ blood sugar surge that goes sky high. Please remember to eat responsibly, only one muffin at a time please.
Banana nut muffins
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup almond flour
1 1/4 cup flaxseed, milled
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
2 large bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon liquid Stevia
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
Butter spray
Directions:
1.) Preheat the oven to 350°.
2.) Combine the almond flour, flaxseed, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.
3.) In a larger bowl, add the two eggs, cooled melted butter, vanilla extract, and Stevia. Mix all the ingredients up thoroughly. Add the mashed bananas and work them into the mixture.
4.) Work the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to mix. Don’t overmix. There should be some dry mix showing for the next step.
5.) Pour the pecans in and mix. There should be no more dry mix showing.
6.) Coat a muffin tray with butter spray and spoon in the batter.
7.) Cook for 14 to 17 minutes.
8.) Allow the muffin pan to cool on the drying rack for five minutes.
Thanks, G, for requesting this recipe! It's the perfect time of year for this recipe. Of course, I'm headed back outside to work in the garden or exercise. I'll make sure to eat another one of these just before my blood sugar drops.
If you have a favorite dish, you would like to be diabetic friendly, just let me know by leaving a note below. It may take a week or two, but I love the challenge. Please comment, like, share, and come back next week for more recipes, ideas, and tips. Subscribe to the website, if you would like weekly email reminders to add more recipes to your recipe book.
Disclaimer: This is not medical advice, but a compilation of research from medical sites. Make sure to see your doctor and have up-to-date lab work.