Living Maintenance - Maintainers Chat: Week Of October 19 - 25

Brr! Is it cold where you are? It's 31 degrees here and the cats are all plastered up against the heat vents and the little one is sleeping on top of the modem.

After working the stretch of 15 out of 17 days, I finally had a weekend to try to catch up. I still feel tired but at least I got a lot done. We have a family dinner here next weekend and a dinner party on Halloween, so there will be lots of cooking in the next two weeks.

After the gym this morning, I get to run the Halloween candy gauntlet at the grocery store. Honest to goodness, no wonder we have an obesity problem in our country! The stuff is cheap and everywhere. I remember going through several bags of PB cups before Halloween and having to restock ... !! Wonder how many calories are in one of those bags? :crazy: I've stuck to our no Halloween candy pledge so far and intend to keep it!!

Funny, I realized that if I overeat, it's on my usual healthy food (typically carbs, of course!) Instead of donuts or cookies, these days it's Ezekial English muffins, oatmeal, or Kashi GoLean. Regardless, too many calories still equal weight gain but it's interesting that I go for the "good stuff" instead of the sugar, white flour junk I used to live on. I can't decide if it's because my tastes have genuinely changed or if I just have such a huge NO sign on a lot of foods that I can't mentally allow myself to eat them. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

My week is going to be work and cooking. The freezer is pretty empty and I like to have lots of meals prepared. It's definitely soup and chili weather!

What's going on for you this week? :)

Holy cr*p batman! Don't know why I looked that up on the calendar but the new year is fast approaching.

This year was a "holding pattern" year for me as far as weight issues go. Next year will be different.

I'm going to decide, before the end of October, whether I will push down to 130 lbs. or change my goal to 135 lbs. and then healthily maintain between 130 and 135.

I was thinking that 135 was an admission of defeat but now I'm not so sure. I'm going to eat healthily for the rests of October but not diet and see what weight my body wants. My brain has already checked in with the unrealistic 125 lbs. so now I'm going to let my body choose.

Then I will average out the two numbers and strive for that as my "official" number.

Have a great week everyone!

Dagmar (no more candy :badbat:)

Good morning, guys! I am solo this week; my husband is freezing his tushie off in Boston. It's not exactly warm here, either. Anyway, as soon as I get the kids on the bus I am hitting the gym. It's going to be a crazy week.

It was cold here last week but it's supposed to be warmer this week. Last we we had lows around freezing and highs in the 40's, but today's low is supposed to be 45 with a high of 60.

Meg, PB cups are evil! They taste so good, but they are so bad. 232 cals for a 2-pack with a whopping 14g of fat. I could probably eat like 10 packages without blinking.

Dagmar, 10 weeks! Geez. Have fun at your reunion BTW!

Hi Ward!

More later, I'm scatterbrained this morning...

Good morning! Cold here today - had frost on my car for the first time this season.

Meg - I love peanut butter cups... On the healthy food overeating, I've been doing it more the last week, too. Kashi, decent trail mixes, fruit, things like that. I was trying to sort out my overeating triggers last week,thought it was interesting that I was following old patterns just with healthier food.

Dagmar - 10 weeks... wowza.

Ward - have fun at the gym. Did you make your run yesterday? It was cold in the morning...

Jessica - I think we are supposed to get to 64 here today, too.

Ever since Saturday night everything I've eaten has been making me sick. I had a chargrilled & fruit salad from Chick Fil-A Saturday night for dinner, and noticed as I was eating that I felt unusually full really fast, uncomfortably so, and a little nauseated. It faded after a few hours, I figured it was just gas. The next morning my pb&j did the same thing. After that I had some plain popcorn, a white turkey hotdog, a small amount of macaroni and cheese, half of a cup of coffee, a mango another salad for dinner and some yogurt. This morning I had a small smoothie with yogurt and almond milk, some frozen fruit. Same symptoms from every item. Sudden gassy feeling, almost immediate bloating, mildnausea and some discomfort in that part of my abdomen just under the rib cage but above the belly button. I've had problems in the past that resulted in a gall bladder ultrasound, but they didn't find anything, and the problems stopped. I'm not doubled over like I used to be, but am in some pretty decent discomfort. Any suggestions as to what might be going on?

Good day everyone!

Hmmm. It's cooler here, cooler than 'usual' but it's still going to hit 89. I love this time of year!!!! We eat dinner outside (lunch when we are home, too). It's something that the rest of the country does most of the summer but it is out of the question for us. So October and November become our BBQ months (although we don't limit our BBQ's to this time only).

The other day I bought my Halloween candy--several packs of full sized Reese's PB cups. I bought it and put it in the fridge in our garage. As I was loading it in the garage my DS says to me "are those Reese's?" to which I replied "no." So he asks "then why do they say Reese's?" (I guess you can't pull the wool over a high schooler!) I replied that they were for trick or treaters of which we get very few and that when Halloween is over, the stash belongs to him. He was quite pleased! Now for me and DH to stay away from them!

Interesting weekend. We went to see the Jaguar I want again on Saturday and talked numbers with the salesman. I sat in "my" car, too. Still haven't driven it, but that's beside the point. Now to ask the CPA for advice on the numbers and we'll be one step closer to getting it (as long as no one buys it before me--oh, and it's RED!).

Allison, red equals cop magnet!! I'm sure you will not ever go over the speed limit in your red Jag, right? :)

Meg, I, too, find myself overeating on the "good" stuff and not touching the "bad" stuff. It's nice that I don't eat sugar or sugary carbs, but a handful of walnuts here and there adds up as does an extra serving of homemade refried beans (without a flour tortilla).

Dagmar, figuring out what your body wants sounds like the way to go. Sometimes the number we want is too hard to maintain in a healthy manner.

WardHog, hope your crazy week is a good one!

Jessica, a high of 60 sounds pretty good compared to the 40s.

Shannon, I have no idea about your stomach problems. Wonder if it's what you eat as opposed to just eating? Hope you can figure it out.

Got all the garden residue out of my raised beds. Sadly, I finally had all the tomatoes I could wish for, but they were all green. So I have to wait another year to use my canning jars, although if I can get my kitchen put back together before the apples go away, I could can some applesauce. It's almost 9:30 and the handyperson said he'd be here at 9:00. Since this is the only morning during the week I go out for coffee, I'm not happy about having to wait around for him. Edited: Aargh, I called his house and his wife said he was planning to be here at noon. We settled on 1:00 pm. English is their second language so we sometimes have a communication gap, but he does great work for a great price.

Happy Monday to you all! It's spitting rain here, and a little colder than usual. Perfect for the soup I'm making in the crockpot using the last of the veggies I picked over the weekend (minus the green tomatoes, of course).

Shannon, could it just be indigestion/sour stomach? If you take tums or some other antacid, does it help? It could also be some kind of stomach virus. Failing that, any chance you could be pregnant? :p

Allison, good luck with the car!

Sheila -- DH picked the green tomatoes off the plants before pulling them out and set them on the counter, and they are actually ripening (slowly, but about half are ripe now). We also made cooking light's "unfried" green tomatoes with them which was good.

I overeat on healthy foods too. I'm pretty sure I gained up to where I am now by taking seconds and thirds at the dinner table, not by eating a lot of junk food.

Actually speaking of weights and body composition, I think I've built up enough muscle that 130 may not really be a good goal for me anymore. Right now I'm fitting into all of my cute little "goal" skirts with no problem, despite being more than 10lbs above goal. My jeans are still a little tight when they come out of the dryer, but that's kind of always true. I still have a couple skirts my mom bought me that I've never been able to wear (she bought me 6P instead of 6 regular, and 6P is a good bit smaller), so right now I'm thinking if I lose enough to fit into those skirts, I'll probably make whatever weight that is my "new" goal. If it's 135, that's fine.

Hey everyone!

Just realized that I don't post in here, but have NO idea why. So I'm going to start!

I also tend to overeat my healthy foods - and when I do have something less healthy, one is "enough" (except a few limited trigger foods). Isn't it strange how things change?

Shannon - I also thought about taking an antacid. Sometimes if my stomach gets sour, I just have to take something to break the sourness cycle, and then I'm good. Something to consider (as is the pregnant thing, if that's a possibility).

It is raining here - seems like I went on vacation and it became Fall while I was gone. I have some planting to do, so hope the rain lets up...otherwise I hope to can some mustard today (Fat Tire Ale Mustard...mmm). Still canning like crazy to line up Christmas gifts...the canned goods (several jams, dill pickles, two different mustards, salsa) will supplement the cookie baskets we do annually. We're also going to make an "un-marmalade"...marmalade without the peel, because most people I know like orange flavor, but not the actual peel part in a marmalade.

Jessica - I'm a Mylanta or Pepto person normally, and neither of those help much. Alka Seltzer has helped. Hm. Maybe it is just some weird gas quirkiness and the fizzy alka seltzer settled it out. There is always the chance that I could be pregnant, though I'm on birth control pills and am very specific about taking them so I would say it isn't as likely! If I didn't have some history of similar symptoms I would be planning a drugstore run right now to find out, though, and now I'm going to have that in my head. :dizzy: Not wanting to be pregnant, by the way, so hopefully that isn't it.

An additional symptom has popped up in the last few minutes - hot flashes. I just had to take my sweater off down to the tank top under I am so hot. The other two women in my office are using their space heaters right now, so they think I am totally insane. The thermostat on my space heater says it is 66 in my office. Might be a doctor day...

Allison - the car sounds great!

Jessica - I also find I'm still fitting all of my skinnier clothes with a higher weight. It is all about the strength training, I think. I actually bought another pair of size 2 pants this weekend, and I currently weigh 5 pounds more than I did back in January.

Dagmar - find what works for you that you can maintain. Don't make yourself crazy for a number that is really too low for you. :hug:

Sheila - I was going to say the same thing about the green tomatoes, my grandmother had a bunch of them and left them out on a warm spot of the counter and the are turning red.

COLD??? I wish! I'm ready to break out my sweaters but we're still in the 90's. It's supposed to drop to the 80's later this week. I remember being really excited about this when I moved out here but after only a year I'm sick of it already!

Dagmar, I can't believe 2009 is ending already. I'm also toying with what my goal weight should be... but I think next year I am going to focus more on weight training. I just want to be... firmer. =)

Ward, good luck this week!

Shannon, no idea what's going on, but I hope it ends soon. Sounds miserable! Yikes, I just read your second post - hopefully it's not pregnancy.

Allison, test drive it! :devil: It will make the decision much easier! I test drove a BMW (their new 1-series) last spring and almost got it because it was a dream to drive... but I'm glad I went with my car instead. The beamer was a tiny little 2-door and I need a bit more space because I am moving around a lot and will be for several more years.

Sheila, the soup sounds wonderful! One of these days I will get a crock pot.

Jessica, I agree - I'd definitely move my goal weight up 5lbs if i was more muscular. As of now I've just gotten a little.... soft. ick!

Hey Amanda! Welcome to the weekly thread =)

This morning I could not drag myself out of bed to save my life. I had very noble plans of getting to work early (I set my own hours), working diligently all morning, then going to class and finishing an assignment before hitting the gym and coming home to make dinner. Great in theory if I could just get my bum out of bed. Really, I need to work on this. It is a recurring theme in my life!

Sheila~can you believe that I'm 46 and have NEVER had a ticket? Well, nothing worse than a parking ticket anyway.

Iris~I don't think I need to test drive it. I've read owner reviews on Edmunds.com and everyone compares it to the BMW 5 series (my 2nd choice car was a BMW 650i convertible--but they START $30k more than the Jag!).

Amanda~I wondered why you never posted here! Fat Tire Ale mustard--that sounds really good. Is it your own recipe?

Jessica~when you're muscular you can weigh more and still look great and fit into smaller sizes. Isn't it wonderful? Now if only I could get there!

Shannon - that's the sort of thing I had last week. It happened with anything I ate. In the end I decided to eat very, very small amounts for each meal/snack (I have 5 a day) and to drink huge amounts of very weak tea. It made me re-evaluate everything I eat & improved my sense of taste.

So sorry you've got this. I promise I do wash my hands before using the computer for 3FC!

Birch - I did have some iced tea last night that didn't make me ill, now that I think about it.

Amanda - I had wondered why you didn't post in here. Welcome!

Iris - I couldn't get up again this morning either. I have memories of getting up in the morning to exercise for about six weeks beforey surgery in January, only sporadically since then. The one common thing is that when I get up I'm glad I did, yet I still can't make myself do it... And, I wore a sweater this morning and now it is 61 out and I'm dying...

Mystomach settled after Alka Seltzer so I tried a sandwich of plain toasted wheat bread and grilled chicken for lunch. Bad idea - halfway through the forster half I started to feel sick again. So, at the doctor now, an pretty miserable. I weighed 131.4 on their scale, which is 8 pounds higher than mine at home on Friday, 4 pounds higher than last time I was here. Rationally, I know I'm fully dressed, wearing boots and was full of liquid where I drank water for the inevitable urine sample request. Emotionally, it almost made me cry. The poor nurse was trying to reassure me that it wasn't really much different than last time I was here in shorts and a tshirt, all of the above things. I got worked up enough that I'm fully expecting the doc to come in an talk to me about eating disorders and body issues. :( I'm a little stressed too because my boss was in the restaurant when I left and I figure he must think I have the plague or something - I've had more doctor visits in the last year than in the last ten. Blah. I hope she tells me something instead of the "we don't know what is wrong" of the last time I had these symptoms. I can bet I won't exercise when I get home, and all I want right now is a milkshake. :(

Hi all,

It's chillier here, too. On Friday a front came through and the temperature went from 90/75 and very humid to 65-70/45-50 and much less humid over the weekend. I had to dig out my sweatshirts but am enjoying the change! BF and I built bonfires at his place in the woods Friday & Saturday night and sat around the fire enjoying quality time together. We also got a lot of yard work done Sunday, since it was pleasant to be outside again! He mowed/weedwacked my extensive lawn and I finally got around to clearing out my garden beds that have been sitting neglected in the heat of summer, preparing for my fall/winter garden. I got a lot of bathroom and kitchen scrubbing done as well. Other than that BF and I just relaxed and hung out, so we had a really nice and rare free weekend together.

PB cups were definitely created by the devil. They are too yummy. :devil:

Allison, you'd better be knocking on wood right now! I got pulled over and given a warning for speeding once, but nothing worse. :o Your potential new car sounds very nice!

Amanda, I'm also curious about the Fat Tire mustard. I like Fat Tire in general, when I can get it this far East!

Hi everyone! Off to work, ho hum...

Shannon - :hug: Maybe whatever is wrong is what's causing the weight gain? I know how you feel though, the doctor's scale always shows at least five pounds more than any other scale I ever use. :( Let us know how your appointment goes, I hope you're okay! Even if you don't want to exercise, maybe you could just go for a walk or something instead? It might take your mind off things.

Shannon - it always sucks to have (however explainable) scale trauma when you're not feeling well. I had the same thing post cortisone shot...don't CARE that cortisone causes water weight, I was MAD about it because I felt crummy. Hopefully they can figure it out soon for you...keep us posted.

The beer mustard is from the Ball Complete Book of Home Canning - I haven't actually tried it but I figure, I have some mustard seeds and Fat Tire, so I'll go with it.

Done at the doctor, not pregnant, have a sample of an acid blocker and an order for an abdomen and pelvic ultrasound. Came home and ate some whole grain saltines with peanut butter and am sick all over again. I exercise, I eat mostly healthy, I haven't had a hot pocket in almost two years, it isn't fair! I did feel like the doctor (haven't seen this one before) heard where I worked and immediately went to the 'bad diet' place. She kept telling me to avoid greasy food, and made several comments about it not being a wonder i have stomach problems where I work. I finally stopped her and listed everything I ate this weekend, particularly the meal where the symptoms kicked in and after. Not a single fried, greasy or spicy food in the bunch. I think she was a little surprised...

Just woke up from a nap - I went to sit down on the bed with my cat after my last post and fell asleep. Amazing how a short nap with your purring cat curled up against your legs can make you feel a little better. :)

Shannon Sounds like you might need a new doctor? Hope whatever they gave you works and you feel better. Getting sick to your stomach from everything you eat is not a good weight loss/maintenance strategy.

Dagmar :sklol:

Ah, don't you hate it when people make assumptions about your lifestyle/food choices? Hope you feel better soon Shannon.

I had a lovely 4 day weekend at the quilt retreat. No TV, no internet, no housework, no cooking. Ahhhhh. Oh, and no men! :rofl: I thoroughly enjoyed myself. TOday is hard to be back at work....

Shannon, I hope the ultrasound shows something useful. :hug: The only things I know of to eat when you're queasy are saltines and flat ginger ale.

Pat, welcome back!

I'm kind of annoyed at my dog. All week he has been waking us up in the middle of the night. Last night he woke me up at 11:30 (I go to bed at 9:30) by sticking his head on the bed right next to me and whining until I woke up. Usually if he does that he just wants to be petted and will go right back to sleep, but the past few days he just whines and whines. Finally he went back to bed, only to wake me up again at 3am the same way. DH has tried getting out of bed to let him out in case he had to pee or something, but he never has to go. Maybe tonight we'll leave the bedroom door open -- we just started closing it recently (because he kept wandering off at night, the finding something to bark at at 2am and waking us up) but I know in the past he has liked to go downstairs to get some water during the night. Maybe he was just thirsty?

Morning all, :coffee2:

I planted all of my fall/winter garden seeds yesterday! Now I get to do what I do every single spring and fall. Every day when I get home, I race from my car to the garden, squat down, and...stare. Stare some more. Followed by watering every 2-3 days. This goes on for at least two weeks until things start to sprout. Then I stare... to check for bugs. Is that a good bug, or a bad bug? I get so excited about it but I'm not very patient with my garden, lol. :D

Shannon, I'm sorry to hear your dr's was so traumatic! I wasn't ignoring you yesterday, I just wrote my post at the same time you were and missed you. :p It's hard to think about how many patients doctors must see that do follow poor diets, given the obesity epidemic in our country, but maybe she'll pay attention to you in the meantime. I would give her another visit or two to see if she believes you and you feel that she's really listening to you, otherwise, new doctor. I hope you feel better soon.

Jessica, if your dog is whining in the middle of the night, doesn't need to go to the bathroom, doesn't need water, is in good health... maybe he just wants attention. Maybe you should try shutting him out of the bedroom if he persists in this behavior, responding negatively so that he'll learn it's "bad" to wake you up in the middle of the night and stops doing it. <Ducking to avoid the objects being thrown by all animal lovers - I'm one too!> Of course I'm no expert... is Dagmar around?

Off to work on a presentation... have a good day all!

I planted all of my fall/winter garden seeds yesterday! Now I get to do what I do every single spring and fall. Every day when I get home, I race from my car to the garden, squat down, and...stare. Stare some more. Followed by watering every 2-3 days. This goes on for at least two weeks until things start to sprout.

:lol: sounds like me!

Shannon, how are you feeling? I hope things get better soon.

Jessica... don't know about the dog. Maybe you could try putting a dish of water for him in the bedroom?

I still can't get out of bed in the morning. Even when I put my alarm where I have to physically get out of bed and walk across the room... I still hit snooze and re-set for a later time. Grrrr. I need to work on this!

Good morning.
Well, afternoon now I guess. :)
Still icky on the stomach front. So far, in the last three days the only things that haven't made me sick have been a banana Sunday night, fresh mango Sunday afternoon, Cherry Garcia frozen yogurt last night, and this ginger ale I'm drinking right now. Too bad I can't live on just those four items for the next few days! I'm taking the acid blocker, trying to decide if I want to spend the money on the ultrasound right away or if I want to give it a few days to see if it gets better on its own. Urgh.

The internet went down at work while I was trying to submit payroll online, so I came home to finish it up. Of course, I get a call that it was back up ten minutes after I left... Too late, already here.

Jessica - I had to start shutting my cat out of the bedroom during the night because she was waking us up several times per night for no reason. I hate it, because I like her sleeping on the bed with me... :(

Iris - I did the same thing this morning. Reached over at 4:15 when I went to the bathroom and turned the alarm off, knowing I would wake up when DH got up and could reset the alarm then. dangit.

Megan - I would do the same thing in a garden, I think that is why I haven't planted one yet! Too impatient! :lol:

Pat - welcome back! Sounds like a great weekend!

Amanda - that mustard does sound good. DH would love it.

Good day everyone!

Morning all.

Last night, my stomach decided it was going to have some sympathy pains for Shannon - and I VERY RARELY get sick, but boy, did I. And this morning I felt fine, but now I'm sort of nauseous again after breakfast. I wonder if there's a virus going around or something? This is quite unlike me. And icky!

I'm having a problem with having all the wonderful canned goods around for Christmas...they're too good and I keep cracking jars open. Peach jam! Apple butter! At least one jar of peach jam is going to be sacrificed when my yogurt maker arrives (fresh creamy yogurt + homemade peach jam = breakfast perfection). Oh well - we'll just have to make some more. I'm particularly looking forward to marmalades and more apple/pear butter. The mustards and pickles are good too. I have a feeling I'm going to have to can a lot more next year to keep up with our personal needs if I want any to give away.

I've got my fall planting to do, too, Megan. I'm behind because of vacation! What are you planting?

Amanda - sorry about the stomach ick! I know it isn't very pleasant! My doctor did say that there was a virus going around, yes. I don't know if mine feels like virus or not, but I would rather it be that than a troubled gall bladder...

How many calories do you count when you are sick after every meal, hmm? :dizzy: Just looking for the silver lining....

ETA - so, FYI, it is nearly impossible to find replacement globes for ceiling fan light fixtures without having to replace the entire light kit...

I was going to post yesterday but didn't have time. Just came on a for a few minutes now as I'm off to my second job. I cannot wait for Friday when I have my first day off in I don't know how many days-- I'm going to visit dd in Spokane, WA for the weekend. It is parents' weekend. She and I are planning some great bonding time....

Shannon-- I hope you feel better soon!! It still could be a virus... I know I've had weird stomach bugs that eventually went away but lingered for a long time. I sure hope it gets resolved for you one way or the other.

Allison-- can't wait to hear about your new car soon. Do you know when you might get it??? My new car is red but it isn't a Jag!!

Jessica I think Megan is completely right about your dog. You don't have to shut him out of the bedroom - jsut ignore all the middle of the night stuff. If he really gets persistent start squirting him with a waterbottle if he whines. Harmless and usually effective for most dogs.

If he really has to go to the bathroom he'll go somewhere downstairs. You'll have a bit of a mess to clean up in the morning but a good night's sleep.

I'm betting it's just attention/control he wants. Isn't he the one who won't let you touch his feet? That's a sign of dominance, as is the whining to make you do what he wants. Nip it in the bud or eventually he'll take over the house - not good!

Dagmar

Hard-core lurker here nosing in on your conversation in with a couple of quick comments for Shannon. First--your stomach problems sound a lot like what I dealt with last year. Some of my symptoms were atypical for gallbladder problems, and the doctors didn't think that's what it would turn out to be. But an ultrasound showed small stones, and the zillion other tests I had done didn't point to any other source for the problem. The doctor was still scratching his head a bit, but thought the gallstones probably (but not definitely) were the source of the problems. I decided not to have surgery, at least for now, and wait and see if the symptoms continued. I've had no attacks in the last 8 months (and even my worst attacks weren't as bad as lots of people w/ gallstones have described) and no more strange bouts of nausea either. One thing I did discover during this period was I could no longer take my multivitamin on an empty stomach. I'd always done that, and it had never been a problem before, but now it causes low-level nausea for me. If I take it after breakfast, there's no problem. Don't know if that is an issue for you, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

And for your ceiling fan issue: try eceilingfans - dot - com (I don't think I can post links.) I needed a replacement shade for a Home Depot Hampton Bay fan, and they had the exact one I needed. They carry parts for lots of brands.

Cotinga - thanks for coming out of lurking for me! I am suspecting that this might be gall bladder related somehow. All the tests I had a few years ago showed nothing, that same doc scratching the head thing... My mom still swears low functioning gall bladder with occasional flare ups... (she is a nurse.) You know, I've had trouble with my vitamin before. I take it now just before I eat. I'll move it to after tomorrow and see what happens. And will definitely check out that fan website. Really don't want to spend $50 on a new light kit. Thanks again!

Weird! I'm consuming about 2000 cals per day and I'm steadily losing a little weight each day :cp:. About 1/4 to 1/2 lb. per day. I was starving :drool: at 1400-1600 cals but with this I'm fine. Didn't even want my fruit last night.

I'm avoiding the binge eating :barf: in the evening by not watching TV (DH is off on courses or at band camp 4 night a week until the end of Dec.).

Curious to see how low my body wants to go. Maybe I've accidentally found the answer to getting to goal :dizzy: :p

Dagmar :sklol:

Shannon, I'd say, follow through on the ultrasound. Need to see what's there. It's not typical for anyone to be sick upon eating at every meal.

Vitamins on an empty stomach practically make me hurl every time! :p

Docs make the greasy foods assumption because that is the main cause of indigestion--people's crappy diets. It was good to list your foods for the doc.

Gall bladder problems usually occur some time after a meal, not during or close to the end... Another reason to follow through with the tests. And consider seeing a gastroenterologist if your doc isn't that kind of specialist.

I hope you feel better soon and get some information!

Jay

I had a great workout yesterday that turned my mood from bad to good. Food is not great right now. Eating too much and munching. Must. Stop.

Amanda, my mom's apple butter is one of my favorite comfort foods. Luckily I can portion it out pretty well and it tastes delicious on protein pancakes! Unluckily I've been out for a few months now. I've put in my "Christmas order". I would make my own, but here in rural Florida I just don't have a good apple source. Spending lots of money on mediocre supermarket apples to make it seems wrong. I made a bunch of different pepper jellies this year for Christmas gifts.

I planted sugar snap peas, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, onions, green onions, and also am trying beets, cauliflower, and spinach for the first time. I tried to be good about researching cold weather crops that could take a the minor frost or freezes we get here, and I believe all but the spinach and lettuce will take it. I was also given a bunch of older seeds so I planted extra, and if things don't come up then I'll plant something else in the next few weeks.

Shannon, yuck, how frustrating. I hope you can figure out what's going on, and that you feel better soon. You too Amanda!

Dagmar, you must have your metabolism revved up. Whatever works (healthily - this sounds healthy!), right?

Iris, would a louder alarm help? Multiple alarms? Are you getting to bed early enough? Sleeping well?

Pat, I'm glad you had a nice retreat.

Have a great Wednesday all.

Shannon, FWIW my mom had her gallbladder out about 10-15 years ago and has been fine since then. OTOH she had the kind of gallstone attack where she felt like she was having a heart attack and had to be rushed to the ER. :p In any case I think it's worth getting the ultrasound. Better safe than sorry! You could also try just not taking your vitamin for a few days. Multivitamins make me sick too. :p I'd rather just eat food that has vitamins in it!

Dagmar, glad to hear the scale is cooperating! I had to increase my calories for the last few pounds too. Thanks for the advice about my dog. He did it again last night and I tried to ignore him. Yes, he is the one with the foot issues, but since we bought a muzzle for him we've been able to handle trimming his nails (he doesn't even growl with the muzzle on). The weird thing is that I always have to go to the bathroom when he wakes me up, and usually if I get up and go to the bathroom, he will go back to bed. I don't get it, it's like his whole goal was to get me out of the bed. I will put a water spritzer by my bed tonight and spray him when he whines again, thanks for the tip!

While I'm on dog behavior issues, here's another one. My dog acts aggressively toward people who are afraid of him. When we have company over, if people walk in, aren't afraid of him at all, and pet him, he's fine and lets them pet him and they're his new best friend. Recently someone came in who was afraid of him, and he snapped at her hand when she came in and tried it again later in the evening. This seems to be a trend with him -- if he senses someone is afraid, he'll try to dominate them. (He did this when he first met my sister, who is a dog lover but has been bitten before.) All we've managed to do is to correct him when he does it and put his gentle leader on when people are arriving to keep him under control.

Megan, you could consider putting in a cold frame for your spinach and lettuce to keep the frost off. DH keeps talking about how he wants cold frames but our homeowner's assocation wouldn't like it. That reminds me that I need to harvest our brussels sprouts and chard!

Good morning everyone! Took the acid blocker from the doctor again last night and kept dinner where it was supposed to be last night, good so far on breakfast. Going to make an appointment for the ultrasounds. Thanks for all of the advice, I appreciate it. I've been struggling with my annoyance over the tests a few years ago and getting no results, which made me pretty negative about having them again. I do know that these symptoms are a little different, like Jay said, last time the symptoms didn't pop up for several hours, usually at about 4 in the morning. The sudden onset this time is alarming. And, I have to admit, part of my hesitation is the $1000 deductible on my health plan... :( Better to know, though.

Dagmar - whatever works! I have had people suggest to me that if I ate more I might go back into a losing pattern with my exercise level, but I've been afraid to test it! :) Maybe you were eating too low before and hanging on to calories? Dunno.

Jay - it doesn't help my doctor to hear me tell her I work at a restaurant that is know for onion rings and fried pies... :) I did realize I need to cut her a little slack, it was the first time I had seen her. I had several conversations in the past with the PA I used to see, who is gone now, and she knew a lot about my diet, exercise, etc. I can't expect the new doctor to know all of that just because the other one did. Especially considering most people's diet! Just looking at my family, they have pretty serious stomach issues, all of which I attribute to food.

Megan - good job on the workout!

Jessica- - my parents have a Rottweiler that does that same thing. If you approach with confidence you are fine, but any hesitation and she goes after you.

Good day everyone! :wave:

ETA - on the upside, the gray pants I got a few months ago that fit weird fit me great now. Unrelated to the stomach ick, they actually fit well when I tried them on last week before all of this, I just didn't choose to wear them that day to test. :dizzy:

Shannon, glad things are getting a little better. Healthcare costs can be very prohibitive. I just had my "annual" women's health exam for the first time in about 5 years and the midwife asked me why I waited so long... this is the first time in 5 years I've had health insurance. And next year at this time good chance I will be uninsured again.

Dagmar, awesome if upping your calories works! That is always a very pleasant surprise!

Jessica, dogs are really interesting in what they can sense about people! My BFs dog is the same way, if you are afraid of her she'll bark and nip, but otherwise she's as sweet as can be.

Megan, you can beat the munchies!! =)
Thanks for your thoughts on my getting out of bed - admittedly I may not be getting QUITE enough sleep, but this inability to get up in the morning is an issue even when I am. I do set multiple alarms if I need to be somewhere important - but you know I think part of the issue is that I set my own work hours and I don't NEED to be anywhere in the morning, so I'll keep hitting the snooze, even if I told myself I'd go in at a certain time, I change my mind pretty quickly when that alarm goes off!

Iris - I find myself rearranging my entire day in the morning. "I don't need to be up to exercise, because I can get it in when I get home before DH gets here" or "I don't need to get to work at this time, I can get there a little later ad stay late or eat at my desk". Don't have any great advice on how to fix it - it doesn't matter how much sleep I get, and it is sometimes actually easier to get up if I get less sleep. Good luck! :)

Wow Shannon, that is EXACTLY how I am! Good to know I am not a total freak of nature!

Iris, just an FYI, Planned Parenthood offers low-cost annual exams and PAP tests for people without insurance.

Glad to know my dog's not the only one who goes after people who are already afraid! Now I just need to figure out how to make him stop it. :p

Shannon, it's great that the acid blocker worked! Check the name of the drug on the label, a lot of the time prescriptions are just higher dosages of OTC products. When I had a stomach issue several years back the doctor told me to buy OTC Zantac and just take two pills instead of one.

ummm... just want to share that I bought "no salt added" cottage cheese... not sure how I'm feeling about it - VERY bland!

PS - thanks, Jessica!

Iris - I can rearrange my entire day down to minute by minute details at 4:15 in the morning. And it all makes so much sense then. Also glad to know it isn't just me. :) Though really, in the time it takes me to rearrange the day and reset the clock I could just get out of the bed, but do I do that? Nope. :dizzy:

ETA - I have a hard time making myself try cottage cheese at all. What do you eat it with? I always flash back to my mom eating it with celery and talking about how terrible it was as she fussed about being too fat at 95 pounds when I was in junior high... I think I avoid it on principle. :)

Cottage cheese without salt? Eww. But OTOH, regular cottage cheese is so salty that I don't eat it often. Shannon~my favorite is cottage cheese with pineapple mixed in. Heavenly!

Regarding the car, I'm not sure when we'll get it. DH said he wanted two jobs under our belts first and so far we've only landed one. The other job had some architectural changes so we're reworking our bid. And to top it all off, DH has to go to court on Monday and a lot will depend on that outcome.

Shannon~I sure hope your ills subside soon and that everything just goes away. I, too, have problems with vitamins on an empty stomach. For that reason, I take all my supplements at night when I go to bed. Rarely do they bother me when I'm sleeping, except sometimes if I'm not sleeping well, I'll wake up with a niacin flush that will ruin the rest of the night's sleep.

Yay on the pants fitting! But sorry you're not feeling well still, Shannon! Hopefully the acid blocker works and, even more hopefully, that you can find a good OTC substitute!

Today is crazy busy so I'm off to the first of a series of MANY meetings. Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

Jessica-- have you done much dog training with your dog? I seem to remember you taking him to some classes? I would recommend some really good one-on-one training for his behavioral issues. ANY aggression whatsoever is too much and needs to be seriously addressed before it escalates or he hurts someone. I would ask around, ask your vet, etc., for a really good recommendation. You have to be very careful that you get a good trainer, but good trainers can do wonders on behavioral issues. I'm assuming he is neutered? I seem to remember that too. If not, the hormones can definitely add to aggression.

Shannon-- glad you are feeling a bit better. I hope you continue to go in the right direction.

I'm very excited about my new "reward" system for myself. I have been buying a charm for my charm bracelet each month (Pandora) that I am at or below my goal. It has been great fun and motivating but now the bracelet is pretty full. I was trying to think of something else similar... I kept eyeing these beautiful watches and when I found out the brand, I had to have one! They are "Michele" so they have my name engraved on the back! But they are frightfully expensive depending on which one you get. I can't justify spending the $$. I decided instead of buying a bead each month, I'll put $$ into a savings account and will buy myself a watch when I save enough. I'm going to tie it to my weight AND exercise. I think I'm going to pay myself $3 for each workout and then deposit the $$ into the account once a month. It may be a year or two before I get the watch but I don't mind waiting....

Shannon-Glad you are feeling a little better.
I can't eat the cottage cheese with salt. Every one of the salt free brands tastes salty to me. I eat it with everything! salsa, fat-free yougurt and fruit, nuked apples and cinnamon, oatmeal and cinnamon.... It's definitely a staple of my nutrition.

Michele- too funny about the watches! I love that brand but would go bankrupt if I started buying them :eek: They really are lovely. Do you have a maintenance anniversary coming up?

Megan- the vegies garden sounds wonderful. We had our first frost last night :(

Shannon - I like cottage cheese on a toasted english muffin and topped w/ cinnamon for breakfast... mmm... but it's also very good with fruit!

Morning all,

I did much better dealing with the munchies yesterday and hope to continue! My knees were bothering me, though, so I stopped working out after walking 2 miles on the treadmill and doing a warm-up set of squats. I was going to do a heavy legs day but didn't want to injure my knees. I needed to go to the grocery store and to a improvisation theater workshop anyway. Had more fun at the workshop than I thought I would! We were pantomiming activities and having everyone guess what we were doing. I pulled "fishing" out of the hat and thought, how appropriate!

Cottage cheese (with or without salt) = blech! I cannot stand it, and I've tried so hard - with sweetener, pineapple, apples and cinnamon, even my mom's magical apple butter can't make it better. I used to think it was textural but it just tastes sour to me. I do bake with it in protein pancakes & muffins. I love yogurt so I'll stick with that! It's ok that there's one healthy food I don't like. ;)

Michele, if you're willing to wait for it, the watch will be a lovely award! I just googled "Michele watches" and they are really beautiful!

Shannon, how are you feeling today?

Iris, my local health department also offers semi-low-cost exams. My friend w/o insurance went and I believe she had to pay a few hundred for an exam and a year of BC pills (had to get the pills all at once for the year, no other option for what they offered, but it was a "normal" brand and I remember thinking that was less than what I pay with insurance for a non-generic!). I'm not sure what it would have been w/o the pills, but there are low(er)-cost options out there. I didn't have insurance for 3 years so I feel your pain! It really, really stinks, and thank goodness nothing really bad happened.

I've got another day at my desk to look forward to. Tomorrow I'm going out in the field, but I'm not excited about that either b/c we'll have a film crew following us around. What? The office is getting a new building and they're shooting footage to play in the displays. I just know I'll say something totally idiotic that will loop over and over ad naseum for a decade in that display! Have a great day everyone!

Shannon, I can only stomach cottage cheese if it's mixed with sweet fruit. I like to mix it with frozen fruit, then let it defrost, so that when I stir it up the fruit gets all smushy and mixed in. Straight up cottage cheese tastes gross to me. I also had to throw out a whole container of salt-free because it tasted really nasty.

Michele, we have done training with our dog. We hired a private trainer when we first got him, and as a matter of fact his behavior (in terms of reactions to people and other dogs) is vastly improved from when we got him. This is just the last lingering issue. Yes, he is neutered. The main problem I think is that he is a mix of multiple guard dog breeds (German Shepherd and Doberman) and is extremely protective of our house. When we are out of the house he usually lets people pet him with no problem, and if he's afraid then he barks at them but doesn't snap. This behavior only crops up when a stranger who is afraid of dogs is entering our house (once they're in the house, he's okay with them, and if he knows them, he's okay with them).

I was thinking about calling up the trainer again, but I kind of already know what she is going to say. If we get his basic obedience to be 100% reliable, then if he looks like he is going to do something bad we can put him in a down stay and he will calm down. Currently he's 100% reliable when there are no distractions, 80% reliable with medium distractions, and about 30% reliable when there are a lot of distractions. The problem with training him is that when there are a lot of distractions, he is not interested in the food rewards we use for training. Also we have to use meat to train him because he is not interested in dog treats, which makes it kind of a pain. I tried working on training with him at the dog park once (where there are so many distractions), but all the other dogs could smell that I had chicken and crowded around so that it was extremely difficult.

In other dog news, I used the water bottle to spritz him last night when he woke me up. It did get him to go back to bed faster, so I left it next to my bed so I can use it if he acts up again tonight.

Just spent an hour at the health department with DSS to find he couldn't get the H1N1 inhaled vaccine yet because he got a seasonal flu inhaled vaccine on 10/9. They require a 30 day wait between two live-virus vaccines. At least I got my own seasonal flu shot, my doctor was out when I went on Monday... Of course, I was starving when I got to work so felt like it made perfect sense to drink some chocolate milk... :eek:

The acid blocker seems to be working, starting to get a little icky last night as it wore off, but kicked back in pretty quickly after the next dose. No exercise again last night - DH was late at work and had to stop by WalMart on the way home, so had to give DSS his bath and time just got away from me after that. I brought my running stuff today to go to the park after work.

Jessica - glad the spray bottle helped! I have used those on my cat before with some success...

Megan - :high: on handling the munchies and getting in some exercise yesterday! Your workshop sounds like fun.

Michele - never heard of that watch brand, but going to look it up! ETA - just looked them up, they are really pretty!

Thanks for all of the cottage cheese suggestions everyone!

:wave: to any I missed! Have a good day everyone!

Shannon, I'm glad the acid blocker is helping you.

Megan, thanks for the point about low cost exams. It's funny how somewhere in my mind I knew options existed but I never really thought about it! I don't know if our health dept. does them but we DO have a planned parenthood that does.

Iris - your avatar is making me want cupcakes today for some reason... :dizzy:

I really hate cottage cheese. It makes me gag. So I don't eat it.

Went to the ortho this morning. Was basically told "Cortisone and PT didn't work? They should have. Weird". Switched to a new muscle relaxant and a new anti-inflammatory, as the pain meds I was on previously I think were a big contributor to the stomach-ick and throwing up going on. Am ridiculously frustrated...just want my shoulder to stop hurting! Doc thinks MRI is just going to come back normal because shoulder function is fine...I just hurt when I do anything, but I can still DO everything.

Ugh. So busy today and hurting, and now need to find time to get new prescriptions picked up. Also need to cook dinner and bake a cake for my grandpa.

Jessica-- it certainly sounds like you are on top of things with your doggy then. Yes, dogs do definitely smell fear. I can imagine how the dog park was when you had meat in your pocket!! My Great Dane, Jozi, is fairly submissive and when we go to the dog park, if there is a dog that is very submissive, she will try to play with it. This usually results in growling and snapping from the other dog as Jozi is 125 pounds. I think she is only brave around dogs that are less brave than she is. Dogs and their personalities are so funny. I also have a Doberman, Ozzie, and while he will bark at home, he only barks if he hears a noise. He isn't the least bit protective though strangers see him barking and back off. At the dog park, he is pretty antisocial and will run around by himself but doesn't try to play with anyone else.

I am leaving tomorrow morning to go see dd at college for parent's weekend. I'm going by myself and looking forward to it! I have a million things to do before I leave so I may not get back on this week. I have a 6 am flight so I'll be leaving my house by 4 if not earlier. That alone will be a challenge foodwise....My weight is up a couple of pounds which is making me nervous as I know I might make some off plan choices this weekend... I will do my best and deal with it next week.

Early weekend wishes to everyone! Hope it's a great one!

Dog are funny. My yellow lab prefers playing with little dogs but the dog parks here are segregated--big dogs and little dogs are separated by a chain link fence. So he stands by the fence and whines. My black lab, who is a total fetcher and loves tennis balls more than anything will completely ignore all attempts at fetch at the dog park--he'd rather play with all the other dogs and run around.

It's a quiet day here at work so I'm trying to come up with an excuse to leave at 3 PM.

I was at the dog park yesterday with a friend who has two Great Danes. The 11 mo. old Great Dane puppy, who is the size of a small pony, badly wanted to play with a Chihuahua, who was behind the fence in the smaller dog area. The Chihuahua wanted to play with the Great Dane, too, but I could tell that his Mom was quite happy there was a fence between them. They did look pretty amusing chasing each other up and down the fence line.

Have fun at parent's weekend, Michele!

Mandalinn82, I'm sorry you're hurting so much. Hopefully the docs will find something they can cure or at least a change of medicine that won't leave you with an upset stomach.

So what excuse did you come up with, Alison?

Beautiful day here and I really hope this is the last time I have to mow the dang lawn. And I really wish people wouldn't let their dogs poop on my front lawn. How rude is that!

Segregated dog parks - interesting idea. We have everyone running around on the beach in my area and it's mostly big with big and small with small.

I tend to police the over excited big ones if they are roughing up a small guy. Most owners are pretty oblivious to the signals their dogs are sending out.

And dogs pooping on your lawn Sheila is too rude! I pick up all "orphan" poops I see on the street, in the park, etc. and I make sure I carry at least 3 bags per dog for all my guys.

Jessica Glad the spray bottle helped. Try another trainer if the one you had isn't helping much any more. Many trainers use many methods and sometimes it takes a while to find one that is a good fit for your dog.

I have a book to finish tonite - gotta go!

Have a great night all!

Dagmar

TGIF! It's been an crazy, busy, stressful week at work and I'm so glad it's over. Actually, it makes today's house cleaning seem like a vacation!

We have a front desk computer at the spa that contains the lifeblood of the spa: the service providers' schedules for the next two years, wedding party info, client info, gift card info, where we check people out etc. And it crashed under a storm of virus attacks on Wednesday afternoon, so we were computerless for more than 24 hours (it was promised back to us late last night, but I don't know if that happened). Which means that yesterday, we had no idea who was scheduled for what, when. I was able to kind of reconstruct the day's schedule but as for today onward, no one has a clue, so I hope things are back to normal!

Kind of makes me long for the days of paper and pencil! And least a paper schedule can't crash and disappear.

So ... take one computer disaster and add in a client bringing in a box of chocolates for everyone ... and I succumbed. :( And felt horrible for the rest of the day, of course.

I figure that a good elliptical session this morning will be just the thing for destressing!

We have family visiting for the weekend, so there's a lot of cleaning and cooking to be done. What are everyone else's weekend plans? :)

No eating in front of the TV this week. That hasn't happened in a while.

Despite having the reunion coming up (tonite actually) and DH's mini-meltdown (same as last time, time before, and before that) re where we live, he's trapped, etc. I haven't had an anxiety/bingeing episode all week.

And I've lost 3 of the "candy bloat" lbs. I put on in the previous two weeks.

Off to lift the weights!

Dagmar :badbat:

Yay, Dagmar! That's real progress! :cp:

Morning all,

I didn't munch at all yesterday, and am feeling the good 'it' food-wise (you know the one I'm talking about). Knees still feel a little off so my workouts are sort of up in the air. I don't want to use them as an excuse if there's nothing wrong, but OTOH it's always been a sensitive area physically and I don't want to further push it if they've been overused lately. I guess I can do lots of core and upper body, right? Elliptical didn't seem to bother them yesterday. It's so hard for me to not work out, especially when I'm trying to lose! I'm also a bit scared of the weekend, since I always end up munching mindlessly on the weekends, even if I'm feeling "it" Fridays. I need some :dust:

Meg, it's ok, hop right back on the horse (the elliptical?) and back OP. We all slip sometimes. Oof, a computer disaster. Reminds me I need to back up my hard drive to the server soon!

Amanda, I'm sorry your shoulder is still hurting and the doc can't seem to do much about it. Hang in there. :hug:

Michele, enjoy your trip to see DD!

Great job Dagmar! Keep up the good work. :carrot:

I'm off to put the finishing touches on a presentation I'm giving to a class Monday. Have a great day all!:)

That is so funny about the great dane and the chihuahua. Our dog park isn't segregated by size but it does have a fenced-in agility area, so if a dog is misbehaving or is nervous the owner will usually lock them in (I have done it before with Carter). We have a couple pugs who come to the park who are completely fearless and always try to play with the big dogs! Carter just gets annoyed when little dogs try to play with him.

Speaking of which, Carter must be a really quick learner who really hates getting sprayed with water, because he didn't wake me up last night! :cheer: Good dog! I woke up anyway since I had to go to the bathroom, but it's much easier to get back to sleep when you don't have a dog whining into your ear and licking your arm.

Dagmar, great job on not snacking in front of the TV!! :high: I sort of know what you mean about DH -- my DH suffers from depression and when he gets into a funk it's always the exact same things he's upset about: trapped in a dead-end career, will never be as rich as his parents, doesn't have enough money, life is going nowhere, everything is pointless, thinks he's a failure, etc etc. At least at this point he recognizes that when he's feeling that way it's the depression talking, and he knows that his worries are totally irrational.

Megan - yay no munching!!! :woohoo: :high: Can you go swimming? It might be easier on your knees.

Michele - Funny about your Doberman, I wonder if being antisocial at the park is a Doberman trait? Carter loves to play with other dogs at our house or at their houses, but he almost never plays at the dog park. Weird.

Meg, that sucks about the computer! I hope they get it sorted out for you. A paper schedule can't crash and disappear, but it can disappear if you spill something on it!

Sheila~no excuse. I stayed until 4 PM like usual. But today being Friday, I get to leave at 3 PM! And best of all, my DD is coming home for the weekend. Her school has been on furlough Tues, Wed and Thurs, and she would have been home earlier, but she has one class today. I wonder why they wouldn't move the furlough to Wed, Thurs, Fri so the kids would have a 5 day weekend? State budget cuts = brain confusion!

Don't know what's going on with the car now. DH's court date on Monday will be postponed again, so this could happen sooner rather than later! I doubt he'll have to go to court for at least 4-6 weeks now, unless his lawyer can work wonders and get the case thrown out, which I doubt will happen. It's such a mess, but DH isn't going to let it bother him--I just get stressed at the whole thing. Ugh.

Meg~oh, computer woes! I get completely unglued when we have computer issues either at home or work. So far, nothing has been permanent. We backup every night at work, so if we were to lose something, we could reconstruct from the backup tape. But it would be a hassle. I hope they get everything fixed for you.

Dagmar~WTG on losing the candy bloat!

Have a great trip, Michelle!

Oh, Meg! I can just see your jawas when the candy rolled by. One picks it up, puzzled, looks it over, says WTF? in its little Jawa voice. The others crowd around it. What is it?, they wonder. One Jawa says, Let's take it to the old, hermit Jawa. Maybe he's seen one before.

They find the old hermit Jawa, who has a long, white, wispy beard. He pokes the candy with a stick thoughtfully and narrows his eyes, deepset in his wrinkled face. Finally, he says, "I've heard tales of foods like this....from my great-grandfather, when he was a young Jawa....That was many many years ago....He said they were plentiful, like rain.....My own grandfather and father never believed his tales....They could not have imagined a subtance such as this...they had never seen one themselves. Don't fret, my children. Push it on along....It is a once in a multi-generation occurance and we shall only be concerned if it happens again and again. I doubt I shall see the likes of it again in my lifetime."

Candy & Meg= a rare occurance indeed. Good luck with the scheduling snafus. I often think how lost I would be without the computers in my life. :eek:

I may have had a breakthrough on my stomach & headache problems of the last couple of months. Splenda. I learned last summer that Splenda doesn't like me. When I first started counting my calories I was still using six-eight packets of sweetener in coffee & tea, and my sweetener of choice was Splenda. I cooked with it, bought yogurt with it, drank diet drinks with it, anything I could find. I started having headaches, started throwing up every day multiple times, my heartburn came back, I was fatigued, starving all the time. After a few months of this I connected that the nausea hit right after the tea, so I started looking for tea allergies. Googled 'sick after tea with splenda' one day and hit the jackpot. All of my random symptoms had been reported by other people and stopped when they stopped the splenda. I even found it in my protein powder (one of the flavors doesn't have it, all the others do.) I went Splenda free and all was well. Well, in the last two months the headaches have come back, the heartburn has come back, the stomach issues have come back. I've been having the occasional sugar free latte with splenda flavored syrups, because I can have a little here and there without problem. It is when I have a lot that it builds up to what my old doctor called a 'cumulative effect'. I didn't think I was building a cumulative effect.

Yesterday I read something Wendalyn said about artificial sweetener in Arnold's Sandwich Thins so I went home and looked. Sucralose. I tore my kitchen up and found it in at least a dozen products I've been using regularly. All of which I had put on my 'safe' list for one reason or another. In some cases, they have been reformulated in the last year to include Splenda, in others one flavor of item doesn't have it but another does. I found it in wheat bread (not our normal brand, it was sold out), bagels, english muffins, instant oatmeal packets, coffee creamers (only a few flavors here and there in one of the brands), granola bars, South Beach Diet fiber bars, pickles, graham crackers... I knew it was in a lot of diet drinks, juices and yogurts, bought some pudding cups for DSS that we knew had it in it, didn't even think to look for it in breads and oatmeal... So, I'm going to try cutting all of those things out for a few weeks and drinking a lot of water to flush the chemicals before I do the new round of testing. Called my doctor and she agrees it is worth a shot.

I let my vigilance slip and took things for granted. I have to start being more careful.

Anyone make their own bread? I have a bread maker and was thinking I might try it. Pretty disturbed by the sucralose in the wheat bread thing.

I'll be back later to respond to posts, have to run right now.

Good day everyone! ;)

Shannon, glad you figured it out! That is scary that you found splenda in so many products. Were the brands of bread and oatmeal that you bought labeled "low-carb"? A lot of the time if something is labeled "low-carb" it will have artificial sweeteners in it.

Now I'm going to have to check out our bread at home! I buy Pepperidge Farm 100% Whole Wheat bread usually. I kind of assumed it probably had HFCS or sugar in it but I wouldn't expect it to have sucralose. As for oatmeal, I usually just buy the big fat canister of oats where the only ingredient is "oats." It only takes 5 minutes to microwave old-fashioned oats so I don't bother with the instant packet type.

I have tried making my own bread, but unfortunately fresh-baked bread is a trigger food for me. If I make a loaf of bread, I will eat a loaf of bread, end of story. :( It tastes so much better when it is fresh-baked!

I have to agree that fresh bread is a trigger for me, too. Any soft, yummy bread is. I do own a bread machine and have had good results with it, though. It's pretty easy to use as well. I'm glad you were able to figure out what the cause of your ails seems to be.

I'm in the throes of a sneeze fest here. Let's hope it's allergies (although I did take a Claritin 2 or 3 hours ago).

And I can't access my Facebook. What's up with that?

Jessica - I've been on a mission all morning... I've found it in the weight loss shakes DH has been drinking, the whey protein powder he was making his smoothies with, half a dozen different vitamins I've taken over the last few months, sugar free chewing gum, some flavored teas, Special K Protein Drinks (the new ones)... The oatmeal I got was labeled 'less sugar', I grabbed it fast on a BOGO rack and didn't see that. Normally I know that is a flag... I don't usually go for things listed specifically as 'low-carb'.


Fresh bread is a trigger for me sometimes, too, but I also have an anger reaction that I can use here as well. I have been told I am a seriously stubborn person when I dig in. :)

So, only 5 minutes to microwave whole oats? Hm. Can you make it with boiling water? I use the instant at work because I keep 208 degree water in a Panasonic water pot for teas.

Allison - it let me get to your profile page on facebook. Weird that you can't.

There is so much crap in pre-prepared food it's not even funny. International companies make and market products in the US under different guidelines than in other countries because they can get away with it. :( Reading labels is an eye opener. I buy the oatmeal that contains "oats", too. I hope you've solved some of your nausea issues, Shannon.


Facebook is working for me. Probably not at good thing, though! :devil:

Midwife - I've started buying more and more of the organic products, trying to buy cleaner foods. I'm pretty annoyed that I let so much sucralose slip in on things I didn't think of... I've also let DH consume loads of it because it never seemed to bother him. Well, he has had stomach issues of his own the last two months and it is interesting to me that his sucralose consumption has significantly increased in that time period...

So DH and I were talking about the artificial sweeteners in food last night... Products made overseas without as many restrictions, or products made to sell to people trying to diet. Let's be honest... you don't get 8-10 ounces of lowfat chocolate yogurt for 50 calories, or a chocolate pudding cup for 45 calories, without some added artificial flavoring. Most of us know that, some of us avoid them, and some people have no problems with the sweeteners so keep eating them. I wondered aloud last night if these products do so well because they allow us to keep our large portion size and feed our sweet tooth so we don't feel like we are on a 'diet'. I have cut out so many of those 'diet' foods because I've realized when I'm eating better for me things that I just feel better. Case in point the last two months when I stopped paying attention... Now I need to go to the store on the way home and replace my bread and buy real oats in the big jug. And some more Kashi Go Lean because that is a big go to snack for me. :)

Okay, back off my soapbox. Continuing with my regularly scheduled programming. :dizzy:

Shannon, I don't know if you can make old-fashioned oats with boiling water but you can also buy big tubs of "quick" oats which I think you can (they are still just oats, but cut in smaller pieces). To do the old-fashioned ones I put 1/2 C oats and 1 C water in a bowl and microwave at 50% power for five minutes. IMO it's just as good as cooking them on the stovetop and much quicker.

In general I avoid all foods with artificial sweeteners. It's not because of any health reasons for me, just because I absolutely can't stand the flavor. To me any product with artificial sweetener just tastes like chemicals. DH likes to say it "tastes like cancer." :p Half the time the yogurt/pudding with sugar/honey/HFCS is only like 20 calories more than the one with artifical sweetener anyway.

Shannon~I was having FB problems all morning, but they seem to be resolved now. I kept getting a site maintenance error and that my profile was not available, yet I could sign onto my daughter's FB. But it's back and acting normal, so they must have been doing something.

Speaking of reading labels--you may need to do this forever now. I have a friend who's daughter was just diagnosed with celiac disease and she found out that food companies ROUTINELY change their ingredients depending on how much they can get them for and where they come from. So today's bread may be gluten free, but tomorrow's may not. I'm sure it's the same for sucralose and other sweeteners.

Good sleuthing, Shannon. I avoid anything with artificial sweetners, mostly because I can't tolerate the taste - even splenda tastes weird to me. :) And like Jessica mentioned, in lots of products there's not a huge calorie savings. Often I just have a smaller serving of the real thing. I use the old-fashioned oats as well, in the same proportions Jessica mentioned, 2 parts water to 1 part oats (I do 2/3, 1/3, plus a shake of salt). I suspect you could do them with boiling water, just add the right amount to a cup/bowl, stir and cover, then let them sit til the water is absorbed. The quick oats might be better.

I make bread every week - usually for DH. Due to damage to his intestine from side effects of his bone marrow transplant, he can't digest whole grains well, so I make him a white bread. It has 2 eggs in the recipe, so a litte more protein (which he needs - he fights to keep his weight up to 140 - grrr) We don't like the shape/texture of the finished loaf in the bread maker, so I do the dough in it, then take it out, knead it the second time, shape it into a regular loaf pan and let it rise the second time and bake it in the oven. This eliminates all the mess of the original dough, and the first rising and makes a regular shaped loaf with better texture. I don't eat much bread myself, so I keep a loaf of ww in the freezer. I do eat ww bagels and I keep those in the freezer as well, taking out 1/2 when I want it in the morning.

Alison - tell your friend there are lots of blogs about gluten-free/celic cooking. I started reading Gluten-free girl - she is a really good writer, and many of her recipes are for meat and veggies that we can all eat. She does have a number of bread/pastry ones too. She also has a book out, and is in the process of publising a good book.

I'm home this weekend for a change, and let me tell you, my house has noticed that I've been gone the last two weekends. :lol: It needs a good picking-up. DH is good about vacumning and keeping the cat box clean, but I can write my name in the dust (we live on a dirt road so there's plenty) and there's just clutter here and there. We also have to go to the local - hmm, what do you call it, the place that buys up junked/wrecked cars and salvages good parts for resale? Anyway, I need one snow tire as one of mine had a defect and can't be used again. Since all the tires on a car are supposed to match, we're looking for a used one (the others are of course used, having been on my car for 2 winters. :) ) Other than that, no plans - ahhh.

I had a suspicious mole removed from my left breast yesterday. In and out in 45 minutes! It doesn't hurt unless I hit it (it's on the "inside" so protected in a bra :lol: ) or lay wrong in my sleep. I have 5 stitches - which itch - and it's very black and blue - ugggllly! They'll call me Tues or Wed with the pathologist's report. :cross: for good news.

Shannon, if you're switching to regular oats I want to share this blog called Kath Eats Real Food (http://www.katheats.com/). She loves oatmeal and has a bunch of recipes for it listed under the "tribute to oatmeal" tab, if you need any ideas. She posts a lot of recipe ideas and tries to eat only "real" foods, very few processed things. You just need to get a big enough bowl so it won't overflow in the microwave.

Food sensitivities can change over one's life, too. You may no longer tolerate something you used to.

Have a good weekend all!

Shannon - you might run a file on stevia too. (Don't you have that in tea?) Last time I looked it wasn't licensed by the European Union.

Glad you're getting to the bottom of it.

hi Shannon,
weird about the splenda thing!

I had something a bit similar with DD last december, but we thought the culprit was gluten. I had her checked for celiac, but also had her checked for intestinal bacteria. Turned out she did not have anntibodies to gluten, but she dit have a bacterium that does no harm in 60 - 70 % (aka "the majority") of the population. I recognised the name from several years ago when DS had similar stomach problems, and after 2 weeks of vile medicine she had much less problems. Long story short..did you check for intestinal parasites? They are easy to get and especially if DH has similar you may have gotted infected at the same time.