[Wannabehealthy]

Mary I googled and read some things about why I can't open these links. There was a lot I didn't understand, that some program on my PC is set to disable links, but someone said they hold down the Ctrl key when opening the link and that overides it. So I tried that and I guess that's how I have to open links, now. I read the story about the woman who runs at 100 years old. Amazing! I also read the one about the nighttime hypoglycemia. I did not experience any of that. I woke up and felt fine. I had to go to the bathroom. After that, I started to feel very shaky and weak, like I feel sometimes if I don't eat for a long time. That prompted me to check BS and it read 44. I instantly sat in my recliner so I wouldn't fall down, and yelled for DH. I asked him to give me a piece of hard candy. I sucked on that for 15 minutes. I felt much better, checked BS again, and it was back up and I went back to bed. My step-son's father-in-law gets much more severe episodes and has ended up in the hospital. They might be more like what was described in the article. He is on insulin, not pills. It might be like that for other people, but it wasn't for me. Maybe if I hadn't woken up when I did it might have been worse. It's scary. Now anytime I don't feel right I check BS. Never been low again, but has been high a few times. In those cases I usually felt very sleepy, like you can get sometimes after a large meal.

I wanted to make another comment about Home Depot, Sandy. We have a friend who worked there for a while after he retired. He told us that they were trained that if someone asked where to find something, they were to take you to the item, not point, or give verbal directions. Also, if they were on their way to or from break or lunch and a customer asked a question they were to stay with the customer until their needs were satisfied, not say they were at lunch, or pass the customer off to someone else.

[maryea]

Not sure what the kids are bringing today. I missed a couple calls yesterday from my son but wasn't able to connect with him when I called back. I didn't sleep well and at 2 am took Tyl pm...still only slept 4 or 5 hrs I think and didn't get up until 9:30 but still no more sleep.

Carole Sue - I'm wondering whether you might have a virus. I'd run a full scan at least once. I hope you can get it figured out. Try to move a little more each day..and esp work on your balance and core strength to help prevent injury. When we sit too much we lose strength. I do too much sitting too. I think that's why my dh is so strong for his age...he keeps moving, yet when he really needs to, he rests. I was a bit concerned about lows when I increased the Amaryl but so far no real change each way. I usually take my bs at bedtime because going to bed and dropping as you describe is my biggest concern.

Well, I'd better get busy...hopefully I'll hear from my son soon. I figure he slept in too.

ETA: I am continuing to declutter. Yesterday I went through my handbags, got rid of one and moved three to the spare bedroom for traveling. If I don't use any of them by next year, I'll toss. Also went through my shoes...kept them. Probably should get rid of one pair but didn't. Still need to do the seasonal clothing under the bed and the hall closet. Not even sure what I have there. I am only doing my clothes, not dh's.

[maryea]

We had a very nice day yesterday...noisy and tiring but fun. I prepared mashed potatoes and heated up a jar of chicken gravy, made a bagged salad, and set out a fruit bowl, set the table. The kids did all the rest. They brought fried chicken, a little mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits, and pizza, breadsticks and pizza sauce and birthday cake. Our son insisted on putting all 81 candles on his dad's cake so that wa fun watching him lighting all the candles trying not to burn himself I suspect next year he'll do just the number candles. But it was really fun. Dh made a show of needing to use his inhaler before blowing out all the candles. After dinner we sat out on the patio and chatted. He also got to FaceTime with his sister in CA. So very special day. He got a Trail Blazer t-shirt and cap plus GC for a sports store as gifts.

I woke up with achy legs again so didn't go to church but listening online. I've never done that before and it's great except it easy to get distracted by other things. It's my first time to do it. Dh didn't go to church either as he has a guy working on our old car and this was the only day he was willing to do it so he went there to be sure he does a good job.

I'm fixing roast salmon and veggies with rice today for lunch whenever he is ready for it. I just had breakfast but he ate breakfast much earlier.

Hope you're all having a good weekend.

[Wannabehealthy]

Mary, sounds like a very nice birthday party for DH.

I ran a scan and everything came back good. It's only on 3FC that I cannot open links. I can open them on other forums. I can't even open my own ticker link! I typed a question to the administrators but haven't received a reply. I looked through my personal setting several times and I don't see anything that says I have links blocked. I use Firefox. I wonder if Firefox is blocking the links. If so, why? I don't want to change browsers because DH is used to this one and hates when I change things. Like I said, I CAN open them, if I hold down the Ctrl key, but it shouldn't be that way and never was before a few days ago.

[maryea]

Carole Sue, if the problem is only with your browser, you don't need to delete the browser you dh likes, just install another one. I use Chrome mostly but also have two more on board in case I need them.

ETA: Also you might try checking for settings for selection that says something about disabling some links. I can't understand how that would suddenly change however so am doubtful that you will find it but it's worth a try. Thats about all I can offer not seeing your machine.

[love2garden]

Computers and their ways drive us nuts!!! I phone is even worse. I have none of the fancy programs on my phone, but DH does and loves them. I simply use his.

Mary When we three get up at different times, we at least eat supper together about 6:00 PM. DH cleaned up the grill this morning and will fix his extra special burgers for supper with whole wheat buns, sweet onion, Romaine lettuce, and tomato. We'll eat on the patio because it will be in shade by then. I haven't had a burger in ages, and as a kid never ate any. I love hot dogs, especially Hebrew or Nathan hot dogs. We had that with a IBC root beer on patio Friday before the rain came. Good memories!!!

Glad you got eye checked and hope your other pain issues stop.


CarolSue Your very low blood sugar was really scary. Is it a good idea to keep a bit of hard candy in each room just in case you are alone when you need it? I should carry a bit or DH, he has occassional low blood sugar attacks and at home he just grabs an apple that not only stops the spell, but also is healthy.

So glad our sweet banana peppers are in ground with bone meal, Osmocote for long term fertilizing, and mulched just before we got 2 days of good rain. DH planted Italian parsley in every available spot among flowers and front edge of 2 squares of Daylilies.

Scale refuses to go down!!! I'm trying very, very hard to change my ways but at least I've learned to Maintain.

Sandy

[maryea]

Just noticed I've been spelling your name wrong, Carol Sue! Sorry about that. I hope you can get your computer problems fixed. Since it's just this site you might try contacting the administration. Also, Carol, have you tried just closing out your browser and opening again, or even shutting down your whole computer and then restarting? Just to make it forget whatever settings might have changed perhaps. I almost never shut down my computer. Usually if I have a browser issue just closing it and then reopening will do the trick, but sometimes it is good to shut down the computer for a few minutes too. But I was thinking you said you always shut down your computer at night or was that someone else? ETA: Oh I see you said you had tried to contact the site administrator.

I didn't get much sleep last night. Was kind of achy esp my shoulder but a little everywhere, just mild but annoying Also my eyes hurt all night. Guess I could have gotten up and put drops in but I didn't. They don't seem to help anymore anyway. Then about 2 am the neighbors dog started barking and it barked for over an hour. After about 30 min of it, Halo woke up and barked too but at least she was inside. After a few min of barking, Halo came into our room and lay down by our bed. She didn't whimper or anything like usual. I think she was scared and just wanted to be near us and knows our bedroom is sorta off limits. Dh got up about that time and I warned him about her so he wouldn't stumble over her. When he went back to bed he told her (nicely) to go back to bed and she did and was fine the rest of the night until late this morning.

I sure didn't get much housework done last week. I got distracted with the decluttering. I'm still working on that. Last night I tried folding my socks a different way in hopes to get more in my little drawer. I kind of have a thing about socks. I like the ones I get from Costco and wear them almost year round and always get more when I see new colors. I didn't get much done last night so am planning on working on that more today. May have to buy some dividers but am going to try using things I have for now. At least I got rid of a couple more pairs of socks last night.

Yesterday's dinner was a success ---One Pan Roasted Salmon and Vegetables. Usually dh doesn't care for roast veggies but he did this time. I served it with rice. Tonight I'm planning on making Baked Honey Sesame Chicken with stir-fry veggies and rice. A little more carb with the honey but this is a dish I know he has liked in the past.

Well I need to transfer my laundry. I'm washing our bedding today so I'll be at it most of the day. Hope to get other decluttering and daily type tasks done between loads.

Talk later....

[maryea]

Interesting article on the The Biggest Loser contestants who lost so much weight. It's discouraging yet hopeful because the scientist are working on figuring it all out plus it makes me realize why I find sticking to a diet to hard. Why their situation is extreme, it's the same for all dieters to some degree I think.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/he...mwrsm=Facebook

[Wannabehealthy]

Maybe I should have sent an email to the 3FC administrators instead of posting it in the Help section. 298 people have viewed my question but no one replied. It is only in 3FC that I cannot open the links, and I don't really know when it started. I noticed it when you posted those 2 links, Mary, which everyone else has been able to open. I can open them if I hold down the Ctrl key, so I will just do that when any don't open. I shut my computer down completely every time I get off. I did a refresh on Foxfire. All that did was make my font a little smaller. Just what I needed. LOL I'm not going to worry about it anymore. My computer seems to be fine otherwise.

Sandy, I have some glucose tabs I bought, but since I have only had that 1 low in 8 years that I've been diabetic, they are probably too old to be any good. I was told to use a small piece of hard candy as the sugar works quickly, and wait 15 minutes and then check to see if it works. Some people use orange juice. I think it's fine as long as you have something that does the trick, but don't over do it. Give it time to work and don't give yourself too much sugar as you could go too far the other way.

Mary, I doesn't matter how you spell my name. Carole is a very common spelling for the same name. It seems they both come from the 1940s. I used to always call you Maryea, to differentiate, in case there was another Mary posting. Some people just call me Wanna, and that's OK too. I know they mean me.

I saw that report on TV about Biggest Loser, and also read about it online. When I watch that show, I always wished they would show the people 5 years later to see if they maintained. They said that there is only one contestant who has maintained her loss and even lost a little more, but she was not a winner, and lost much less than the others. Someone said that this was because she lost slower than the others. She even has a Facebook page about it if anyone is interested. Her name is Erinn Egbert.

[maryea]

Resting after the gym workout. I finally got a pretty good sleep. Got up once but don't remember being awake much otherwise. I'm now using the anti-steroidal eye drops. I think they help a little.

Carol Sue - I don't care either what you call me..maryea or Mary. Maryea is just my name plus middle and last name initials.

On the Biggest Loser thing...I have my opinion ... I think over dieting which by that I mean drastically limiting calories suddenly and for a period of time and then going back to your usual eating causes the metabolism drop. Done enough (or maybe anyway) it never recovers. I also think the same thing about increasing exercise a great deal beyond your usual and maintaining it for a period of time and then decreasing to a more normal level has the same effect. I think the body gets used to whatever you are doing and then it takes less food and more exercise to maintain the same weight. This is why I have never done either of these two things. I'd rather stay the way I am or lose very slowly than experience that. Age alone has lowered my metabolism enough. And my metabolism started slowing down in my 40s at a time when I was actually moving more than ever just naturally in my life. I noticed a big drop then. I could actually feel it! It is possible at that time if I had worked out in addition to my busy life and maintained it, I might have revved up my metabolism some for a while I don't know.

I even think the very healthy type dieting I have done in the past has also added to that slowing down. Now I just try to focus on eating mostly healthy and in normal portions and try to exercise some every day. I esp try to eat smaller portions of carbs like rice but I do eat them. I hope that will do it.

One thing I know I still could do is stop the occasional eating of sweets or keep them to very very small portions. It's not a daily thing but It would be healthier for me to completely eliminate foods (mostly the occasional snack or dessert) that contains a lot of sugar. I could cut out salty foods but other than popcorn, I don't eat a lot of them. I don't care for really fat foods. In fact a lot of restaurant food turns me off because it is so fat.

This weightloss battle is not easy. A lady and I were talking about this at the gym today. She has lost weight but still has a big tummy and she is always at the gym when I'm there. My dh is not really overweight, just kind of at the high end and probably ideally should lose 7-10# but even when he does his tummy stays about the same. At 145# I had nice slender legs but still had a large tummy. I think some of it is genetics, and some of it is part of the aging process more than anything. Again JMHO.

[Wannabehealthy]

Mary, I agree that the contestants on BL lost too fast and exercised too much, but always took into consideration it was a reality show, and not real life. Those contestants would get so sick and fall off the exercise equipment and all the trainers did was scream at them. It was for entertainment. I was diagnosed as diabetic while in the hospital when I had my open heart surgery. They put me on a diet that really worked for me. I got all food groups (except sugar), and that's how I learned what a portion was supposed to look like. It's not the portions that we learned to eat! I continued to follow that for a while after I came home and lost the first 20 lbs. I have maintained that loss since 2008. Gradually, I stopped following that diet. I remember I could have 1 slice a bread at each meal, but didn't always choose it. Also, I ate a bit of fruit at every meal, but it would be a tiny bowl with 2 pear slices in it. Not a whole piece of fruit. If they gave me potatoes, it was 3 or 4 chunks of roasted potato. And I had milk at every meal. Some say that milk is good for weight loss, other say never drink milk. I remember I could choose a hamburger if I wanted, but it was tiny, like a slider. It was enough food that I was ready for the next meal when it came, but didn't feel like I was starving. This is what I would like to do again, not really limit anything, but keep my portions small. I rarely eat sweets, though, and I'm thankful that I don't desire them. I would take a second helping of food before dessert, every time.

I am starting to agree with those who say the body does not want to be at that lower weight and will fight to gain the weight back. When I lost that 20 lbs, I was struggling to lose more, and I think that's how I got a new set point and now my body is comfortable at that weight. I think you have to slowly lose a bit and then maintain that weight for a while, while the body "resets. Right now I think my biggest problem is that I have quit exercising and am having a big problem getting back to it.

When you think about it, if you look on a chart that shows how many calories your body uses at your current weight, it is a much lower number for a smaller person. So as you lose, your body naturally needs fewer calories. You work so hard to lose those pounds and then you're punished for it.

[maryea]

When you think about it too much, this weight loss thing sounds pretty hopeless, doesn't it?! I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing, maybe I'll lose maybe I won't. Guess that's probably not what I'm suppose to say on this site. but that's the way it is for me. I prefer to start at the highest amt of calories I can lose at and then drop it down as I lose and I suspect that keeps your metabolism up better/longer, but the truth is I have trouble keeping to whatever number I set. I am not even tracking calories or carbs at this point. I'm sure I will go back to it but I needed a break. I think you are right Carol about allowing your body to reset at a weight before pushing it on to lose. Unfortunately my body seems to have reset at the weight that Amaryl pushed it to!

I do wonder whether if I can get rid of Amaryl I can lose the weight it put on. Not sure If I can get rid of it completely though...will see how well the new med works. I figure if I start getting lows I'll cut back on the Amaryl one tab at a time. I'm taking 3 1/2 right now. I tried 4 for a while but couldn't see any difference so cut back 1/2 tab. My bs before lunch yesterday was only 99, which is very low for me, but at other times it was high. When I remember to take the Amaryl before my meal, it works much better. If I could get rid of the weight that drug put on me, I think it would inspire me more to work harder at dieting.

I've been continuing to declutter and organize to the expense of my housework I'm afraid. I've gotten through all my clothes now and the way I'm folding them is leaving a lot more room in my drawers. I also realized just how many pairs of socks I have even after discarding a few. This made me rethink my storage methods. I have now put my socks in my longest drawer and still have one tote of them left in my tee shirt drawer! I love socks and am not about to discard anymore! Perhaps if I hadn't put them in shoe boxes I might have been able to squeeze them into the one drawer but they look so much neater this way and I have very few tees right now that I keep in drawers. I hang all the new Lularoe tees and my closet looks great right now. It's not crowded at all.

Going to work on rearranging my purses and totes/canvas bags today. I have lots of canvas type bags...probably should just give many away but always think I may need them for shopping or travel. The truth is though that those bags last a long time so I may never live long enough to use them all so I will continue to think about that. I want to store them in the spare bedroom (they were there before our son moved in), but will have to reorganize that closet before I can even put them there. One thing leads to another which is why I'm getting very little else done. I showed dh my dresser drawers and he was very impressed and said he'd like his that way too and I told him I'd do his too! So I'm going to have to find a way to do it after my other housework is done. He has LOTS of clothes so it will take a long time and first he must discard things he doesn't really care about then learn to fold them a certain way. If he is not willing to go through all his clothes and do this, I'm not going to do the rest. I'm not sure he will maintain it after I do it...I think perhaps it's best to do it yourself. I also got rid of one large grocery bag of books yesterday. I have a lot more books to go through but not today. The ones I'm giving away are the easy ones to part with.

I am really late getting started today and I have a nail appt this afternoon plus we are planning on going to church tonight. We don't go to this night service often because we don't like going out at night but thought since it's light later now we'd try to get back to it for a while, but it's hard to get back into the habit.

I'm going to do my 15 min exercise program now, then get started on housework.

[Wannabehealthy]

Mary, I think I was trying to push my body to lose more and that's why it reset itself. Otherwise, I would have regained. So far the Amaryl has not caused me to lose weight but it could be why I am not losing. I started out taking 1 mg twice a day. I don't always take it. If I test in the morning and my blood sugar is good I skip the Amaryl or just take half since I do not eat any carbs at breakfast. I need it more at dinner time. If I'm going to eat carbs, that's when it will be. I went through a period of time, 6 months or so, when I went back to eating carbs and my A1c went up to 8.5. At that time, the doctor increased it to 2 mg twice a day. I still don't take the full dose in the AM unless my BS is up. Sometimes I need more, sometimes less, depending on how I eat. I am still not where I want to be on controlling my carbs. I eat some things knowing that it's going to spike my BS, like pasta, rice or bread. I would do well if I kept the portions small, but those are things that make me want large portions and second helpings. I don't know what makes me think I can handle them.

I exercised yesterday for 45 min. I hope this is the beginning of a new habit for me. I didn't break any records on intensity, but kept moving. I do it while I'm watching my soaps after lunch and the time goes fast. I'm going to watch the soaps anyway, so why not be exercising rather than sitting in my recliner. It is still something I have to push myself to do. I would like to exercise to the point that I get a little soreness, but not actually pain. I would like to feel like I did something. No soreness from yesterday. I did some weight exercises and if I move my arms the way I did yesterday I feel a little soreness, but not if I'm relaxed. Maybe that's enough.

I have some clothes packed up to go to Goodwill. They are mostly pants. I have finally accepted the fact that I will never fit into them again. I still have some that are too tight, but only need to lose 1-2 inches in my waist to wear them again. I don't usually get rid of anything as long as it still fits me. I could probably wear a different top every day for 3 months without repeating. I've always wanted to try that, LOL but I have my favorites that I wear over and over. The others are just once in a while. Maybe I will do that over the summer...see how long I can go before I repeat.

I took some pictures of our hill behind the house and will see if DH can get them onto the computer so I can show them. The forget-me-nots are in full bloom and it's just breathtaking to me. Once they get seedy, DH will weed whack them all down and they will be gone until next spring. It's too easy for the critters to hide in them.

I'm thinking of getting a hair cut today. That's getting long and seedy looking, too.

[glynne]

Good morning GG's,

Got back from my trip up home (NE Ohio area to see Mom) yesterday. Kind of pooped.

A few weeks back, the nurses where mom lives were worried about how mom was doing. They said they were gonna try holding some of her meds ~ hoping that it was some of the side effects of the meds that was the cause of the change in her condition. I asked if I needed to come up right away to see her, they said to wait and see how the holding of the meds worked. I told my husband that I might need to go up sooner than I had planned (to see her in the fall). He looked for airline tickets and found some for a really good price, so he made arrangements for me to go. Anyway, the holding of the meds helped and mom's condition had improved. I went anyway ~ at her age, you never know, so I take every chance I can get to spend time with her.

When I go to see mom, I like to try to work it so my sister goes with me. She seems to do better with mom in person, than I do. It was nice to get to spend time with my sister too.

I kept up with your posts, but the device I had along with me is hard to make more than just short replys, so I waited until I got back home to post again.

Mary ~ I agree about how dieting feels hopless sometimes. Like you, I am just gonna keep doing what I am doing. I don't feel like I am ever gonna win at this weight loss thing. I guess my thoughts for what I want to do at this point in my life (what seems reasonable and do-able to me) is just to try to make healthy eating choices more often than bad choices and to try to move around more and be less sendentary. I may never lose much weight, my goal I guess is just to feel better. And when I eat better and move more, I do feel better.

Surprisingly, on my trip, I made better choices sometimes and other times the choices weren't as good, but despite that, I only gained one pound.

What you told about Joe's birthday ~ the cake with all the candles and how he made a big deal about having to use his inhaler to blow out all those candles ~ that made me smile.

Carol Sue ~ what you said about working hard to lose the weight, then you are punished (by your own body/system) for it. Reminds me of when I was doing Weight Watchers. I did that for about a year, and it worked if you followed it. I was doing it at the time when it was the points system. The amount of points you were allowed were based on your weight ~ and one day a bunch of us all of a sudden realized that as your weight dropped, so did the number of points you were allowed. Just like you said ~ you felt punished for your success at losing.

Sandy ~ I'm sorry for your frustration with that darn old scale and its refusal to go down. It is good that you are maintaining though ~ I have read/heard that some people feel that maintaining is actually harder than losing. Your burgers and dinner on the patio sounded wonderful.

Karrine ~ thinking of you and Nan ~ prayers continue. How are things going for the both of you?

Carol Sue ~ I was just about ready to post and saw your post for today. One thing you said (together with something I read in that article about the Biggest Loser people) I could realate to. How you said that regarding carbs ~ you didn't know what made you think you could handle them. I have the same problem. I feel like thinking that I should never/will never ever again have another cookie, piece of cake, ice cream, doughnut, candy, chips what ever, is unrealistic. I think that I should be able to have small portions of those things from time to time. I start out with good intentions and try to control the portions ~ like getting just one of those little single serving size bag of chips. And there are places in the grocery stores or some of the convenience stores where you can get just a couple doughnuts, cookies, candy bar, piece of cake or pie, little container of ice cream ~ without having to buy a whole big bag box/container/carton of those. If I do that (buy the regular sized bag/container), I end up eating all of it (not in one sitting ~ but over a few days until they are gone) because if I throw them out, I feel guilty for wasting the money. One of the ladies in the article said that she tired to do that ~ just have a couple little things, and it ended up causing her to have a binge. I tell myself I can handle having just a small portion ~ but I guess I am really just fooling myself. Sometimes, I am able to stop and get right back on track, but not always. I don't know what the answer is.

Guess I will get off ~ I've got to get some things to the post office.

Here's a picture of my sweet mama

goofy computer ~ I don't know why it puts it on here sideways ~ it isn't like that on my computer ~ I tried rotating it on my computer, thinking it would come out sitting up the right way, but it didn't ~ who knows??????

[Wannabehealthy]

Gayle, glad to hear you had a nice visit with your sister and mother.

Ya know, I don't actually care if I ever have another piece of cake, cookies, pie, ice cream candy or chips. They really don't even interest me. It's the starchy carbs like potatoes, rice, pasta and bread that I find hard to give up, but I do know that once I take that first taste I'm a goner. I need to resist that first bite. If I wait a few minutes, the craving goes away, but I usually pop it into my mouth and think later.

I am going to try to post the picture of the forget-me-nots on our hill. I don't know if I can do it since I can't open links.

Here goes. Well, it worked, and I can even open it, but it's upside down. LOL