Job Interviews, Doctors, and other things...

Tomorrow I have second interviews with two jobs. The first at 8:30am (eep!) for a full time receptionist position with Simtek Fence (they manufacture fencing and sell them to Home Depot's and other fence retailers nation wide...) and the second (fingers crossed for this one as it pays more and has benefits n adult things) at 10am for an office assistant position with Fibertel, Inc. (they install fiber optic internet cables for communication companies like Comcast).

I know I'm basically an immature child... but I've never interviewed for a position with 2 rounds of interviews... and somehow it seems very legit. I'm anxious.

I also went to the doctor today for a lil check up on my diabetes. I'll give you the good news and then the bad.

Good news (it's wordy!)... my Hemoglobin A1c test result was better than ever before. 6.9% ladies and  gentlemen. I literally squealed just a bit when I saw it (no, doc was not in the room to witness!) and maybe did a little dance.. I'm not sure...

The HbA1c (for short) test basically measures your average blood sugar over the last 3 months so the docs can sum up how you are taking care of yourself with just one little number. Test results range from 4%-14% and the lower the number, the better. A person without diabetes is in the 4-6% range (way to go, everyone else...).

A person with diabetes wants to obviously be at the same range as a non diabetic... but since thats pretty tough... a diabetic is considered in "good control" if they have a 5.5-7% test result. This little chart (yes I took a pic of it from the doc's office... no he didn't see me) shows it real nice...

So the top of the arrow shows your HbA1c score and the bottom of the arrow shows the average blood sugar you've maintained for the last 3 or so months.

I mean, 6.9% is at the high end of the "in-control" range, but it is WAY better than anything I've had before (in the past, it usually checked in about 8.3%). I asked, and was interested to know that doctors want a diabetic to be at 6.5% or lower before they try to have kids, and when a lady is pregnant, the docs really work hard to have the lady check in at 6%. I mean... that's not in our immediate future so don't get any ideas!  But hey, a sista's gotta be prepared.

Bad news: I cried at the doctor's office (as I previously mentioned, I am child!). He asked if I've been stressed. I said no. Then I cried.

He asked if everything was alright at home with Brent. I said OF COURSE! and then continued crying. So... it probably looked like I was a victim of abuse. Heavens. So then I cried more because I was giving the wrong impression and because I was embarrassed about crying.  All very stressful.

Anyhow. Other news? I weighed in today at 138 lbs. I'm sure it was just water weight... but I'll take it. Lately I've been obsessed with roasting carrots and cauliflower in the oven with cumin, salt, and garlic along with a little (actually a lot of it) no-fat Pam cooking spray-- surprisingly, seriously delicious. Also, unsweetened almond milk has WAY less calories than regular milk. And I like it. Win, win. Also, the doctor said I was low on Vitamin D (he said most diabetics are, but it's not clear why... weird. And he said a lotta new studies are showing Vitamin D does some serious good... for your heart, your mood, and a bunch of other things he rattled off...). So I picked some up. And gee, it's a horse pill.

Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it looked.

Stinted progress.

I joined Gold's Gym a few days ago. And gee, is it beautiful. Its got a great space with lots of machines and classes to take. But let me just say, I took a cycling class last night- and it was awesomely intense. Really hard, really sweaty, etc. But yet... listen to this. I didn't lose any weight this morning.

Losing weight is depressing. I'm just gonna put that out there. PS I thought I ate alright... 1450 calories yesterday. So seriously. Why no change in numbers?

Anyway, its super annoying because I talked to a trainer at the gym (when I joined, I got a free consultation with a trainer- he just got my height, weight, etc. and found out my BMI and body fat percentage and gave me a few toning exercises for my upper body). Anyway, the trainer said the amount of calories my body burns per day, if I just sit all day, is 1900.

What?! Seriously. It can't be true. I keep track of my calories and when I eat even 1700 calories, I never lose weight the next day. Also, trainer said I should keep my heart rate at around 145 to be losing fat. If my heart rate goes up to what he called the "cardio range" of 160 or so, I'm no longer losing fat, but my fat is turning into muscle.

Again, what?! I thought that if you just exercised and lost calories (losing more calories than you eat) you'll lose weight. Anyway, needless to say I'm very confused about how to go forward. Should I only do enough cardio to raise my heart rate to 145? In my experience, that's not working tooooo hard. But will I just have to work out at a moderate level for a long time? Like an hour on the treadmill or elliptical instead of 25-30 minutes? I mean, that's boring... to spend an hour on the treadmill.

I'm just gonna try and eat around 1200-1400 calories a day still, because in my short experience that is the only time I lost any weight.

Also, this is random, but I just entered to win these really cute Minnetonka moccasins from a blog I follow, Cotton and Curls. I just had to blog about them to get an extra entry in the contest... so please indulge me!