The next thing I did was to spend ages writing up yesterday's diary. As well as the usual explosion of words, I had to do a short version as well as a long version. The long version can now be as long as I like, and contain loads more pictures than before, because each long version is archived separately (and accessed by link from the short versions archived on a per month basis). Trying to keep all the links correct between these versions took a bit of head scratching, and the link to "Site Map" was wrong all day. I only corrected it this morning (I hope). Hopefully today will be more straightforward.

  Once I had finished all my writing, web page editing, and head scratching, it seemed like time for some lunch. Although it didn't really fit with my dietary aspirations for yesterday, I had to use the grilled chicken wings that I had ordered along with my kebabs of new years eve. I have to say they were very nice, and they even came with salad. When fresh it would have made quite a good meal, but the salad was limp and greasy by yesterday afternoon. I discarded most of it.

  I can't really remember how I ended up doing quite an intensive search of my past diaries looking for details of any walks I have done in the past, but I ended up spending a lot of time doing it. Until about 2012, and with a change of phone, I didn't have any way of taking a screenshot of the tracker when walking. A bit earlier than that, and I didn't even have a tracker app, and had to try and measure my walk using a paper map. To add to my frustration, the Cardio Trainer app I used for tracking my walks on my old G1 android phone refused to work when I updated it (if I remember correctly).

  I still have that old phone, and I can see the app on it, but it crashes every time I start the app. Locked up in that un-openable app is a record of many walks. I don't think I have finished yet, but I have filled in many gaps by going through all my diary entries for 2011 and part of 2012. I think there are more records in 2010 to find, but 2009 seems reasonably complete. I think my records from 2013 to the present day are almost complete. Any missing bots are likely to be short walks that I didn't bother to record. Last year I started to record any walk longer than a trip to the shops.

  Today I am due to see the hospital dietician at 11am. In order to make a good impression in what I think will be a poking, prodding, and measuring session before actually seeing the dietician, I was doing my best to moderate my food consumption yesterday. The grilled wings I had at lunchtime meant my blood glucose was a bit higher than I hoped for when I checked it before dinner. My dinner had to be something very light, and something more like I was eating when I was more enthusiastic - when my blood glucose dropped the most (and has basically stayed there most of the time since), and when I was losing weight faster than now.

  It seemed easier to do when the sun was shining, and it was warm, but that was months ago now. To do it last night was rather harder, but I did it. My dinner was no more than green beans (French beans) and two very large spring onions chopped up and cooked in chicken stock. Despite giving in a bit later in the evening, it did the trick, and I started this morning with a nice low blood glucose level. Even my weight has dropped a little, but not as low as it was before mid December when things went wrong for a week or so. If I have another nice sized poo soon, it is possible I might just almost reach that minimum.

  If the dietician is more like the Diabetes nurse, and less like the Cardiac Rehabilitation Nurse, I may be able to get my weight down to a new low when I see the Diabetes nurse on the 14th of January. The difference is that the Diabetes nurse was encouraging, and tried to find anything to praise. That served to encourage me. The Cardiac Rehabilitation Nurse was just a miserable bitch who refused to listen to what I was saying, and just made me want to rebel !!

  I think I went to bed fairly early last night. I may have even been asleep by 10pm, but maybe before 11pm might be more accurate. What I do know is that my sleep patterns were different, and better than what seemed to be normal before. I slept solidly for a good three hours, maybe even four hours, and once I had got up for a pee, I fell asleep for another three hours. I then manage about one more hour of lighter sleep.

  This morning I feel reasonably OK, and as already mentioned, my main health readings, blood glucose, blood pressure, and weight, are all good enough. Now I need to have a good shower, get dressed, and get ready to face the Dietician. i must admit that I have no idea what to expect....well maybe I have. I expect to be told that what I am doing to achieve what I have achieved is all wrong, and I should be doing it this way. I will do my best to listen patiently, pick out any bit that seems useful, and mostly carry on using methods I know work, because they have worked !

  I hope to meet Angela at lunchtime, but if not I can have a beer late this afternoon. Now the holidays are over we resume our late Thursday afternoon drinks. I hope the trains will be running smoothly to Shortlands station !