Sobey's Whole Wheat Croissont

This is my new alternate breakfast. I've never seen whole wheat croissants before! I was really pleased to see these ones! The label reads 'Whole Wheat and Honey Croissants', and they have that touch of sweetness I associate with croissants. Taste wise, these really stand up to the white version. With some products, I find the whole wheat version good, but the white better. These I like just as well as the white, and they feel like far less of an indulgence.

They come in a pack of eight, and are 190 calories and 22 carbs each. I've been eating them plain, but I'm sure a touch of butter and honey would make them extra special. I'd even use them for some sandwiches - the sweetness isn't pronounced enough to interfere.

So now I've found whole wheat cheese buns and whole wheat croissants. What's next? Here's hoping it's whole wheat garlic bread!

Burger Inn Bison Burger

I'm back! Recovered from my cold and finally feeling like I have some energy again. Here's hoping I get back on a regular posting schedule again.

I had a ferocious day today, so we ate out as a treat. I had a buffalo burger at Burger Inn. It's a local Calgary chain that specializes in a variety of burgers. They've got beef, but why eat than when you can have bison, elk, wild boar, salmon, pork, ostrich, lamb or turkey?

They offer the burgers on white, wholewheat, or bunless, along with the standard toppings. You can also add ham, mushrooms, pineapple, friend onions, cheddar swiss or bacon. Yum!

They also have excellent poutine - fries with gravy and cheese curds, which I also had tonight. Definitely a treat item - I don't even want to think about the carb count! But it was the perfect indulgence for me today.

One day I'm going to try their milkshakes - they've got great flavors, including root beer, which is one of my favorite milkshake flavors. They've also got raspberry, blackberry, banana, peach and mango in addition to the standard vanilla, chocolate, strawberry.

I don't eat burgers often - but when I'm in the mood for one, I'll pick Burger Inn! Same price as any fast food place with far better quality.

iTest / Keynote Meter Followup

Back in April I posted my first-impression review of the iTest or Keynote Meter. I meant to follow up at the end of the month, but work exploded and it got put on the back burner.

But have no fear! My follow-up review is here. I've actually been using a Freestyle Lite for the past few weeks, but I'm going to save most of my commentary on that for another post.

Accuracy
On my first review, I was fairly concerned with the accuracy level of the iTest due to what I considered 'random high numbers'. After a month's use, this really amounted to about 5 tests in a hundred. 4 of these were in the first couple of weeks of using the meter, so I'm inclined to blame some kind of user error for these. As well, several of these were the second test on the same drop of blood. I found a mention somewhere - curse me for not bookmarking - that testing the same drop twice can sometimes lead to wonky results, so this may be another cause here.

I did run into several bad -low- results. About three or four times, I didn't get enough blood on the strip (the little fill window was not full) and the meter processed it but showed a low number, like 4.5 (81). A retest on a new blood drop would give me a more expected value like 6.5 (117). So I think there may be issues with under filled strips not being properly recognized. These were the only times I saw numbers in the 4's on this meter, so I sure noticed when this happened!

Overall though, I'm pretty confident personally in the accuracy. There's one big reason on this - the Freestyle Lite, which I'm testing now, was rated as the most accurate meter in a recent study of meters. They tested the Freestyle Flash, but as far as I know the Freestyle Lite is the same meter or the Canadian edition. In any case, my iTest results are nearly identical to my Freestyle results. They agree within 0.3 (5) points. That's pretty amazing consistency across brands.

All in all, I did end up re-testing a few times, but it got pretty predictable when I needed to - usually when I didn't get quite enough blood.

Lancets
I was really impressed with the lancets when I first started using the iTest. However in the long run, I won't keep using their device. Painless? Yes. But my skin is just a bit too calloused to work well with it. Typing all day long must really toughen up my fingers. Even on my easy to bleed pinky fingers, I need to massage it to get enough blood with those tiny tiny pinpricks. This leads to more bruising - an ultimately sorer fingers.

I did dial up the lancet device - and accidentally hit a nerve! I think that's what I did anyway - my entire finger stung for a day and I was anxious not to repeat the experience. While it's still leaps and bounds over the Contour's lancing device, it's not a personal pick for me.

However, as far as lancing devices go, I'd recommend trying this. This would be my 2nd best lancing device - and one I'll keep around for backup for sure. I have a feeling that even though it's not perfect for me, it'll be a huge improvement for other people.

Software
One big reason I had for trying out the iTest / Keynote Wave was to try out their shiny shiny Zero Click software. However, it turned out this was not to be.

If you go to the http://www.itestglucose.com/ website, and click on "Discover iTest" you'll see a screen that extols the features of the meter.

It lists the "Dynamic Electrochemistry" feature, the "Extreme Accuracy" feature, the "Screen Settings" feature, and the "Zero-Click Data Management" feature. Click on Zero-Click, and you get:

"World's only Zero-Click System now available in Canada!" and "Just plug the meter in, and Zero-Click does the rest!". I guess I was being a little too optimistic when I interpreted this to mean the software was installed on the meter, and came with it.

So I found a USB cable with the right ends - we have a ton lying around, and plugged it in. No go. As far as my computer was concerned, the meter wasn't even attached. I decided to do some more research. I re-read the page, looking for a download link. Nothing - just a pdf brochure. No mention of the software on the list of products on the left side either (the meter, the lancets, the strips).

I went to the US site - often US companies will have a considerably different site for US customers. WaveSense /AgaMatrix is no different. The Zero-Click software is at least listed as a 'product' there. I knew I had to buy it, but didn't know how much. If I could recommend a single update to the AgaMatrix websites, it would be a 'SOLD SEPARATELY' notice on the Zero-Click pages.

Checked the website of the pharmacy chain (London Drugs) where I bought the meter, but couldn't find it listed. This is undoubtedly the responsibility of London Drugs and not AgaMatrix, but it was another annoyance. After more googling I found it listed at the DLife Store. $40 US, Regularly $45. And that was the end of that story. I'm doing this new-meter-every-month thing because it costs me nothing. I'm going to be shelling out $75 for strips no matter which meter I choose, so I might as well make use of the free meter offers that abound in Canada.

But I'm not paying $40 for results software ON TOP of that. Not when there are amazing free software apps like Sugar Stats that will manage my results. Even Ascensia / Bayer didn't make me pay for their (pretty sucky) software - it's a free download on their website. Bayer did sell me a 'cable & software kit' for $20-30 ( $24.99 on their website right now), that turned out to be a generic USB cable I could have bought for a lot less at my local electronics store, which annoyed me to no end.

I think a lot of us feel we're being bilked by these companies - 75cents per strips works out to a considerable profit margin I am sure. And anecdotally I've heard that while meter prices have decreased, strip prices have gone up - I haven't been testing long enough to see price changes yet, nor can I find a chart online to prove this, so perhaps I'm wrong. But in any case, we're spending a LOT of money on these things and it can hurt to pay even more for extras.

So, long rant and story short, I'm just not willing to pay for the software. I don't analyze my results enough now to pay $40 on the chance that it'll be useful enough to pay for itself. If you're a user that does depend a lot on stats, this software could be useful for you.

For more details on what the software can do - the product description pages are pretty scanty - I suggest you download the user manual here. I tend to always check out the support forums and user manuals of software before I buy - I learn more about what it actually does from those than any brochure. From a quick skim, the software uses a special USB cable - so you won't be getting a generic cable for an upgraded price at the very least.

You'll be able to adjust all your meter settings, break your day into 8 chunks to represent meal times, set your target numbers, and view, print and email 6 reports such as log book and trends. There is also a 'backup database' feature, but no details on what format the backup takes, so I have no idea if it will allow you to export the results in a format that would allow you to bring them into other software. The import feature appears to only read backup files made by Zero Click, so I'm not sure how you get your backlog of data into the software either. You also cannot delete bad results (from testing someone else or having something on your hands). There is no way to enter medications, exercise or notes on any of your readings.

I have not actually used the software, so this is all from the user manual. I'd suggest reading the manual yourself, talking to someone who has actually used it or checking with AgaMatrix before making a decision to buy or not to buy.

Meter Charts
Another feature I was really interested in on the iTest / Keynote was the built in charts. In addition to 30,60,90 averages, they have little built in graphs to show you trends over the same time periods. These turned out pretty useless for me. My blood sugars stay in such as small range (5-8 or 90-144) usually that they don't even make a bump in the chart. I just get a straight line on all three. This tight range is not the usual for diabetics - but I'm pre-diabetic so it's something I can maintain. I'm not sure at what point the chart starts showing something other than a straight line, but I would assume that the average PWD would see something different.

Company
I've been impressed with AgaMatrix as a company in the last month and a half. They are the only meter company that I am aware that actually spends time on diabetes sites. They've commented on a discussion about meters at Tudiabetes.com, posted on my blog, and they have an employee who blogs about diabetes, even though he isn't diabetic. That kind of online presence is really important to me. It makes me feel a lot more connected and valued as a consumer than any other company has.

Final Impression
This is a good, solid, accurate meter. Once I'm finished testing various meters, this will definitely be on my short list for a meter to stay with. While there is room for improvement, as with all meters (check out my initial review for my wishlist) they do very well in other places. And for any meter, accuracy is KEY. Actually, precision is even more important, but accuracy is a huge deal. Seeing how it's results compare closely to known-to-be-accurate the Freestyle Flash really elevates my confidence in the meter.

I recommend the iTest / Keynote, especially over the Ascensia Contour or Breeze.

Zeer - Food Reviews

I ran across Zeer.com recently. It's a food review site currently in Beta. It looks like a combination of food review site / social network. You can add friends, post reviews, rate products and join communities.

It caught my eye because one of the communities they have is 'diabetes'. The idea of reading reviews of products by diabetics appeals to me - it's one reason I like blogs like Glucoholic. Anyone in the diabetes group can classify their review as belonging to the group, so they aren't forcing any constraints on what products are 'diabetic', which I like.

It's a beta site, so obviously it's in early stages. I think it needs to grow a bit to become really useful - there are only three reviews in the diabetes section as of today, including one on a persimmon has no nutritional information and reads, in it's entirety 'no sugar'. If the community grows and more useful reviews are posted, I can see it being a strong resource.

The biggest problem I have on the site right now is finding products. They have a huge database of items, and a number of ways to search them. It's really easy to find a product if you know the brand and product name. I found a few specific products really easily, as well as finding they don't have my local brand of Omega 3 milk.

However for non specific searches you can get thousands of results. For example, a search for all products that have less than 5% of the daily recommended allowance for carbs returns over 4000 pages of results! I could add additional search terms, but I'd rather browse through the list.

I'd love to see 'drill down' links on search results that allow you to refine your searches quickly without having to remember the name and brand of various products. I'd also love to be able to limit by location - there are a ton of brands available in the States that aren't in Canada, and vice versa.

I think they'll need to provide a little more information for consumers as well. From a programmers standpoint I can see why searches for carbohydrates and other nutrients are done in Recommended Daily Amounts, but I have no idea what the rda for carbohydrate is, so the carb search isn't that useful for me. A link to a table of data would really improve this feature. I did try searching for items with 100% of my daily rda for carbs - but this gave me Kibbles 'n Bits with an carb count of 0. I'm not ready to go no-carb!

I'd also love to search on an ingredient level - so I could load up all products sweetened with splenda, or avoid all the ones using asparatame. They have an ingredients search box in their advanced search, but I couldn't make it work.

For a beta, I think it's a pretty good site with a lot of potential. I'll keep checking back to see if the diabetic section is growing, or if they add more tools for finding products. It's still early days so there is a ton of room for them to expand and improve.

Belmont Diner French Toast

We went out to lunch at the Belmont Diner today. Neither of us wanted to cook, and the place had an excellent review in our local restaurant critic, John Gilchrist's new book My Favorite Cheap Eats. We've tried a few places from the book so far, and they've all be good.

There was a line out the front door so we had to wait for 20-30 minutes for a table. We'd been warned about the line from the book, so it wasn't a surprize. When we left the line had grown to a dozen people. I think the restaurant only seats a couple dozen, it was a tiny place.

I'm a sucker for diner breakfasts, especially hash browns, pancakes, french toast and waffles. They have a tiny little notice on the menu that smaller portions were available, so I downgraded my order to a single slice of french toast. It arrived perfectly cooked with a mess of crispy bacon and a serving of their bottomless hash browns.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't made with white bread. In fact, I didn't see a single slice of white bread in the place - even the toast was made with some kind of brown bread. The waitress thought it was whole wheat, but I couldn't tell for sure. It was very flavorful bread - I'm sure they're either making it themselves or buying it from a good bakery. In any case, it was really nice - not soggy, plenty of egg, and I topped it with butter and the real maple syrup they stock at each table. I don't mind fake syrup, but the real stuff was very tasty, and I didn't need much with the cinnamon sprinkled on the toast.

I'd been smelling the bacon while we waited and it did not disappoint. I think I had five or six rashers on my plate - too much for me so I passed a couple on to my husband.

I finished off with soft fluffy hash browns. Next time we go back I think I'll order eggs just so I can nibble more than a couple of bites of the hashbrowns. I love hashbrowns in all their incarnations, but these were really excellent, with a great flavor. I have no idea what they spiced them with, but it was great to enjoy hashbrowns that don't rely on salt for taste.

In any case, it's great to know there's a place to go and get a whole wheat grilled cheese or really tasty hashbrowns the next time we're having a treat for brunch.

True Lemon Hot Lemonade

I'm fighting a nasty cold right now. I hate being sick - don't we all? The fatigue, the sneezing, the runny nose and watery eyes. But the worst has been the sore throat. It's been waking me up at night. Every few hours I'm awake and trying not to swallow.

I broke down on my aspartame avoidance and bought some sugar free lozenges. I've been gargling salt water - not nearly as bad as I thought, though it only helps for a little while. I've been spraying my throat with Chloraseptic when it gets really bad.

And I've been drinking lots, and lots, and lots of Hot Lemonade. It what we were always given as kids when we were sick. My mom would mix up mugs of powered lemonade with hot water instead of cold. Lemon scented steam always makes me feel better. I avoid all those powdered lemonade mixes now - way too much sugar. I've been using True Lemon to get through this cold.

I heard about True Lemon last year as a drink flavoring substitute. Each packet is the equivalent of 2 squeezes of lemon or lime. It's made with crystallized juice - no calories, no carbs. I usually carry a few packets in my purse so I can flavor water when I go out - tap water can be pretty unappetizing at times. I'll also dump it in Perrier or Club Soda if I want some 'pop'.

And when I'm sick, it dump it in hot water and drink it down. It dissolves far more easily in hot water than cold, and I enjoy it without needing to add any sweetner - the lemon flavor is enough on it's own. Plus it's so soothing for my throat.

I'll be so glad when this cold is over with. But the Hot Lemonade is making it easier to get through.

Blood Sugar 101

After much anticipation, my copy of Blood Sugar 101 by Jenny Ruhl arrived this week. It did not disappoint. The book is full of the best tips, techniques and information from Jenny's site, BloodSugar101.com. I've loved Jenny's site since I first encountered it, so buying her book was an absolute must.

Despite the somewhat alarmist subtitle - "What they don't tell you about Diabetes!", the book is very straightforward and to the point. I think this should be a standard 'Textbook' for diabetics. It's got so much useful information on diabetes itself - all backed up by actual medical studies - combined with information on insulin, oral meds, supplements, plus useful techniques for lowering your sugar levels and A1C. I would have never realized chest pain is a Metformin side effect without her detailed analysis.

She asks and answers a lot of very critical questions: Does Diabetes have to progress? (No), At what blood sugar level does organ damage start? (140-160 [7.8-8.9] post meal levels), What should you eat to reduce your blood sugars? (Fewer Carbs).

She explains how to use your meter to find out what foods you react to - no one size fits all diet plans here - as well as coping techniques to stay on your diet. One of these I really like is the idea of 'off plan' eating instead of cheating. How you think of things, the words you use, have a huge effect on how you feel about them. "Cheating" brings a lot of guilt and shame, but "Off Plan" eating brings the focus back on the fact that it's your choice.

It can be a very scary book at times - Jenny is very straightforward about how the disease progresses and the risks of various complication. But it's enormously hopeful too, because it gives practical techniques for avoiding them by keeping your blood sugars low. There's a very simple progression of techniques - Adjust your diet, adjust/add meds, adjust/add insulin - to help you find the right balance of techniques to meet your own goals. She really promotes the least expensive and invasive techniques (diet) before medication and insulin, without pretending that a diet solution is going to work for everyone.

If you have questions about the different types of diabetes, how insulin and glucose are managed by the body, what causes diabetes, how effective different drugs are and what side affects they have, what supplements actually work, and what your doctor should be doing to help you manage your disease, you'll find answers both in the book and at Jenny's website.

I'd recommend this book for anyone with diabetes, and anyone who knows a diabetic. It's available from Amazon or through Jenny's site. But don't just stop at the book. Be sure to visit BloodSugar101.com for even more incredibly useful information, plus Jenny's blog critiquing the latest published studies.

Jelly Straws

The import foods aisle at the Real Canadian Superstore is always filled with strange and interesting things. Most of it eye with astonishment and skepticism. Dried Squid? Corned Mutton? Wasabi Peas? Grass Jelly (Jello)? No thank you.

I do run across something I like now and then though. Jelly straws are now a staple snack in our house. It's a pretty simple product - assorted flavors of Gelatin in a tube. We don't have Jello in our house much, as it seems impossible to find sugar and aspartame free varieties, at least up here in Canada. These are a great alternative.

Each straw is only 4 carbs, so they're a great quick sweet snack. I find the flavoring fairly subtle - each pack has a mix of grape, pineapple, lychee, apple and strawberry. I wouldn't recommend them for lunches because I've never been able to get a tube open without scissors.

Gelatin has always been a treat for me - I never had it much growing up, so I appreciate being able to have it anytime I want.

Glamorgan Bakery - Whole Wheat Cheese Buns

This is a whole wheat cheese bun. I've finally found one! I love any kind of cheese + bread combination but try to avoid all the white bread.

This one was discovered at the Glamorgan Bakery. We'd been told they had good sausage rolls and cheese buns and decided to check them out this weekend. The cheese buns did look good, and exceptionally cheesy. I didn't spot the brown ones on display, but they had a sign up so I knew to ask.

For me, about half of one of these is enough. They're really packed with cheese, both inside the bun and on top, so it tears apart in cheesy layers. I did find them a little salty for my taste, but still something I'll buy again. I don't eat a lot of salt so I find I don't have much tolerance for it.

I'll be having cheese bun for breakfast all week!

The iTest (Keynote) vs The Contour

As a reward for my shiny A1C, I bought a new toy - the iTest meter, aka the Keynote Wave in the States. I was almost out of strips anyway, and since I have to buy some more, might as well get a new free meter to try.

This is the third meter I've tried. The first was a Breeze 1, which I didn't care for. The Breeze 2 is undoubtedly better than the 1 (smaller size, faster), but I just didn't like the packet of test strips concept.

My usual meter is an Ascencia Contour. It's a good meter, with a small sample size and nice speed. The iTest is supposed to use a different, more accurate calculation for blood sugar, which is one reason I chose it.

The Case:
My first thought when I saw it was 'wow, that's smaller'. The I Test carrying case is in standard black, and smaller than my Contour case. It looks less bulky as the fabric is a bit thicker. I'm not sure this photo shows off the difference well, but it's thinner and not as wide.

Unfortunately, the case doesn't have a belt loop, which is a small detail that I appreciated on the Contour case. If I'm not carrying a purse, it's nice to have the option of attaching it to a fanny pack or belt. However, the smaller size will make it far nicer to tuck into my purse.

The Lancing Device
The lancing device on the iTest is pen shaped, and I already like it better than the Contour lancet. It's far more natural to hold and push the button. The needle is definitely thinner, and it has depth settings going from 1-8, while the contour has 5. It makes a far smaller pinprick. I find on my fingers these means a lot more stretching/massaging to get enough blood to test. My fingers have lots of familiar smudges. If I prick closer to the nail it flows better, and this technique is helping me avoid bruising. I think as I continue to practice, it'll get even better. I haven't picked up my Contour lancing device once since I tried the iTest version.

The Lancets
The lancets are visually very different, and you get 100 with the iTest. Both are equally easy to handle and load.

I prefer the lancet cap on the Contour meter. The cap lays straight before I take it off, and sideways when I push the needle into it after use. I can instantly look at a lancet and know if I've used it or not, even if I've jumbled them together or dropped my case and sent some flying. I keep my sharps container at home, so it's not unusual to have a mix of lancets in the case.

On the iTest, the lancet cap goes on exactly the same way after you've used the lancet, so there's no way to really see that it's already been used. I tried pushing the cap on backwards, but it falls off pretty easily. The tiny needle just isn't strong enough. I've been mashing the lancets against the nearest hard surface to bend the needle. Once it's smushed, I'll never confuse a used one with an unused one.

The Strips
The iTest strips are smaller and seem more flimsy than my Contour Ascenscia strips. I accidentally bent the first one I picked up, so now I handle them more carefully. They slide into place without a lot of feedback. On my Contour, there's an audible beep when you insert a strip. On the iTest, you have to watch the screen, or bent strip! I'm sure once I get used to the new meter, it'll become a habit, but for now I'm really having to watch what I'm doing. At my pharmacy both strips are the same price.

The iTest also requires coding, which the Contour didn't. This hasn't made any difference to me. The number that automatically pops up has always matched the number on the vial.

I've also run across 1 dud strip so far (Error 1, "Wet, Used or Damaged Strip" on the meter), which has never happened with Contour strips. Maybe I dented it without realizing, or maybe it was just a bad strip.

Testing
The iTest uses 0.5µL and the Contour 0.6 µL. Somehow it feels like the iTest uses a considerably smaller amount. I think it's the smaller strips and smaller display window.

I also like the countdown better on the iTest. It's actually a second faster - 4 seconds instead of 5, but instead of a simple number countdown, it fills part of the screen with lines. Because there's always something moving on the machine, it feels faster. A second can seem really long when you're waiting for a number to flip. I really like that animation.

The Results
I expected the iTest to read higher than the Contour meter. Nearly every mention of this meter I've found online has talked about higher numbers. My meter is no different.

Here's a sampling of the differences I'm seeing:

iTest	Contour	Difference
6.0 (108)	5.5 (99)	0.5 (9)
5.6 (101)	5.3 (95)	0.3 (6)
8.7 (157)	7.5 (135)	1.2 (22)
7.9 (142)	6.0 (108)	1.9 (34)
5.4 (97)*	5.0 (90)*	0.4 (7)
5.9 (106)*	4.4 (79)*	1.5 (27)
5.7 (102)	5.4 (97)	0.3 (5)
*These four were taken at the same time.

Almost half the time, the iTest was more than a point higher than the Contour. Without a lab to verify, it's impossible to say which readings are correct. Certainly the much higher iTest readings aren't what I'm used to seeing, and my low A1C would support lower readings as well. And hey, we all want to believe lower numbers over higher ones, right? I'm out of Contour strips now, so there won't be any further comparisons, but I'd love to see this meter in a mixed meter clinical trial to see how it really lines up compared to other meters.

Another feature I am missing on the iTest is the 'bad reading' indicator. If I'm testing someone else (which happens occasionally), or I know a reading is crazy off, I can immediately mark it as invalid on my Contour, so it doesn't affect my average. The iTest does not have this feature.

Other Features
The iTest does have a bunch of features I haven't tried out yet, namely charts and graphs. It automatically organizes your results into breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime, and provides an average of each. I'm not sure if I like this or not. My fasting readings are being marked as breakfast, and I'm wondering if my two-hour post breakfast readings will show up as breakfast or lunch. The Contour has a simple post/pre meal flag, which I never used.

The iTest does come with six alarms you can set for any time of day. The Contour has a single alarm that you can set to go off 2.5 hrs after a test once you've marked the reading as 'pre meal'. I didn't use the Contour alarm, though I would have if I could have adjusted the default time frame to 2 hrs. I don't have a predictable schedule for most of my meals, so I'm not planning on using the iTest alarms either. I'm sure there are others who would use these alarms.

The iTest also calculates 14, 30 and 90 day averages, which I'm interested in seeing. The Contour has a 14 day average only. You can flip into graph mode on the iTest to see a simple chart showing your ups and downs, which also looks interesting.

Both meters have high/low summaries, but being a pre-diabetic, I never hit those ranges so I can't give an opinion. They also both count the number of tests you've done.

Finally, the iTest comes with a "Zero-Click" software package via USB cable. I haven't hooked it up yet, but from the screen shots on the website, it looks more updated and shinier than what I downloaded from Ascencia. Once I've got a few more readings in the meter, I'll take it for a spin.

Conclusions

So, my first impression is fairly neutral. There are a few things they've really done well, and a few important details I feel they've missed. I like the smaller meter, smaller case, smaller blood samples and pen style lancing device. I miss the auditory feedback, belt loop and 'bad reading' settings my Contour has. I'm really liking the "waiting for results" animation, but fairly concerned by the higher readings. I don't care for the iTest lancet cap, but that's something I can get used to. Once I've got enough data to graph, I can start evaluating the software.

Once I get close to the end of my strips, I'll post again to give a second opinion.

Sobey's Mini Desserts

We went to our local Sobeys (Grocery Store Chain) today, trying to find something to sooth my sweet tooth without skyrocketing my sugars. We usually go on weekday evenings when the bakery section is a little bare, but it was fully stocked today.

They have an entire section they call 'Assorted Pastries', which is filled with twenty or thirty itty bitty desserts. Chocolate things, mini tarts, cakes.. I was too busy trying to pick out a couple to really register what the complete selection was.



At 50 cents each, I was able to pick up a miniature butter tart (always a favorite), and a mini roll cake, shown here with a quarter for size comparision. The pastry on the butter tart was a bit bland for me, but the filling with one or two raisens was great.

The roll cake is the sort of thing I never buy, because even one slice is way too much and who's going to eat the rest of the cake for me? This one was very sweet, with tons of icing and took about four bites to eat. It was just perfect in size. I wouldn't have wanted any more, and it definitely satisfied the sweet tooth.

We'll have to go back on weekends now, so I can continue to sample selections now and then. For me, this is a much better option than a chocolate bar, or a cake that I'd have to slowly eat over a week before throwing out the remainder.

Major Yays for appropriately sized sweets!

Joe's Goals

I'm trying something new right now: tracking my goals with JoesGoals.com. It's a nifty little website. You create an account, set up a few postive and negative goals, and then track by clicking on each day. It's really nice visual feedback to see all the little checks and xes over a week. There's a live demo on the site (see image below) that lets you test it out without creating an account, which also sucked me in.



I know I forget my lunchtime metformin a lot, and I'm not getting close to exercising daily. This seems a really good way to track that sort of thing, without going to a lot of effort. I get really tired of detailed logging, and this one-click-and-you're-done style will hopefully be more effective.

I'm not sure I'd ever use it for blood sugar logging - I like charts and graphs that break it down by time of day and give me monthly averages. In theory I'll start cross referencing food with blood sugar and actually stick with it in the future. For that, I'll want to use diabetic specific software.

But for simple goals like increasing exercise, cutting down coffee, and remembering pills, I think this will work wonderfully.