January 2014 Chat

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  • Mad, I have always been a big veggie eater, but I never tried greens. They are not popular in the northern part of the US, but are really big in the south. In the Eat to Live book he specifies eating mostly veggies and rates them according to the micronutrients per calorie and recommends them in large quantities. Most veggies are low calorie, and he rates greens as number 1 having the most nutrients per calorie. Cruciferous veggies are not far behind, and I love all of them. The problem is, my husband is not jumping on the bandwagon. He is still wanting a typical american dinner, and I am still eating that with him because he wants me to. I don't know if he's trying to sabotage me or what. I know he does not accept change very well, so that might be it. I just have to cut back on the amount of meat and carbs I'm eating, gradually so he won't notice. He has commented that he thinks all these greens I'm eating are helping me, but he won't try them. I cook them til they are wilted down, and he says they look like seaweed. LOL He WILL eat the cruciferous veggies. I think putting greens in soup he will not notice as long as I don't overdo it.

    Rennie - I still have some kale and collard greens left, and yesterday I found turnip greens, so today I will have the 3 mixed together, with onion, garlic, mushrooms sauteed in olive oil and a sprinkling of feta cheese. I love the combination of the warm greens and the cold cheese. I have liked all that I've tried so far and still have to try the mustard greens. Which ones do you like the best? I think in the south they are prepared with fat back pork. I did try it with some bacon fat and crumbled bacon once and it was good, but I'm trying to keep it healthy. The onion and garlic flavor it nicely.

    Trish - I like Arbys but DH doesn't like it much. I like a small plain roast beef sandwich. I think the one you got with the sweet bun is the new one they are advertising with the Kings Hawaiian bread. I've never tried it and I don't know if it's really worse than a regular bun. I doubt if you did much damage since you didn't eat it all. They always told me the weekly points are there to use and you are still within the plan. I never figured in my exercise points either. You are being very diligent and that's good. You will succeed.

    I am not a big salad eater. I can only eat salad once in a while. Eat to Live says you should eat both raw and cooked veggies, but I prefer cooked. I seem to like my food hot, or warm, not cold or room temp. If I eat out, I usually order a cup of soup instead of a salad with my meal. I usually eat my large portion of veggies at lunch, as DH and I eat lunch separately. After eating all those veggies I am not very hungry at dinner. This plan would work well for me if I could get DH to accept that I'm not going to eat much at dinner. I guess it will take time.
  • Trish, I just googled Kings Hawaiian buns and they are 7 points each.
  • Carol Sue Thanks. I figured about 4 oz of roast beef and counted 11 pts for the sandwich so that makes the 7 pts I estimated for the Hawaiian bread accurate. I appreciate your help on that.

    I love doing WWP+. I decided that if I'm going to lose weight so slowly then I might as well do it with the WWP+ and enjoy the foods that I really like. I'm eating the way we learned from IE... eat what I really want, eat as much as I need to be satisfied and enjoy every bite. I am having a ball even with the exercise. I actually upped my bike riding to 32 minutes to ride 4 miles today and did some Tai Chi that I could remember to do from the dvd. Next week I will get the dvd out and learn another step and practice it until I get it down. Maybe in a week or two I can start learning the routine.

    I am a true southern girl because I love my greens and I used to cook them with bacon before I learned to cook them with coconut oil. My aunt always used salt pork, but I can't handle the salt. Mixing the 3 different greens will be really good as that is another southern way of doing them too. In fact, I used to buy cans of mixed greens, but I quit buying any canned greens because someone decided to use special seasoning and to me they taste awful to me. I haven't seen frozen mixed greens although I'm sure there may be some available somewhere.

    We have to go pick DGS from the train station tomorrow in Charlotte. I hope it stops raining before we have to go. We will probably eat out. As much as I used to love eating out, I really don't like to much now that I'm OP. I just have to estimate in some places where you eat. I'll get my new books tomorrow so I hope I get them before I leave so it will help with decisions of what to eat. I think going smaller sizes or even child plates will be helpful.

    I'll try to check back in tomorrow evening.
  • Aw Trish wish I lived near Charlotte I'd come meet you . My cousin lives in Charlotte we went to church function there Sunday before last, it took us 2.5 hours to get there. But it was pouring that morning so we probably could have knocked off a few minutes had it been dry. I don't like frozen or canned greens way too many stems. My daughter buys them because she doesn't want to take the time to pick and clean the greens.

    Carol Sue I use low sodium chicken broth in my greens or maybe turkey necks (which I haven't done in a very long time). The kids don't eat them. My husband will eat them if I put them on his plate but he will only eat them with the meat which I can do without. I preference is turnip and mustard greens mixed or just plan turnip greens are fine Most will cook them with a ham hock, not fat back

    I have had lots of temptations in my way and I am grateful and thankful that I have had the will to pass over each of them.

    bs is good weigh is steady
  • DGS home and safe. He moves back to the dorm after church tomorrow. God my Weight Watchers books and the Veggie book has 2 or 3 recipes with Kale so I'll have to find time next week to post them. I'll put them in the Diabetic recipes and let you know when I've done it. I can't wait to try them. We took DGS out to eat at Steak 'n Shake and had a double steakburger and small order of fries for a total of 18 pts. Not bad. Came home and exercised 25 minutes 3 miles on stationary bike. Exercised before I left so earned 5 pts total for the day. So far, I haven't used all my daily pts so probably won't use many if any of the weekly pts today. It has been a good day.
  • Trish glad you had a good day. I love your enthusiasm with your plan

    I had a good day also. Went to the gym burned 527 calories. Calorie intake on point and I got all of my water in … hoping to see a move on the scale finally
  • Hello! Just thought I would drop in and say hello to fellow diabetic dieters. I usually post in the Jenny Craig thread but looking around the board I saw this thread so thought it might be fun and inspiring to join in.

    I have been diabetic for a few years but just ignored it. Then I went on Metformin ER 500 a day for a A1c of 6.7 last year. Finally in November I decided to stop ignoring it and I saw a dietitian and now I am on my weight loss journey. I incorporate Jenny Craig meals into my new eating lifestyle but only about once a day, sometimes twice if I am lazy. Otherwise, I eat low carb and I exercise now too. I am just learning how to cook, never did it before.

    FBG was 109 this morning which is a new low for me. When I started my diet my morning BG levels were in the 150's.

    Nice to meet you all!
  • Medeis, to the thread . When I first started my fbs was in the 200 so I think the 150's isn't bad as a start, though I know not good. This morning I was at 117, it has never been that low. So I'm making progress :0
  • Medeis You are doing really good. I was diagnosed the 1st time in my early 50's lost weight and got it under control for years until about 2 or 3 yrs ago. I've tried different things even low carb to realize that I was only bouncing between 5 to 8 lbs. I decided to go back to Weight Watchers and am finding that it actually works better for me than low carb. In fact, I am beginning to lean more toward vegetarian although I have no desire at this time to go 100% vegetarian as I still like some forms of meat.

    Rennie You are doing so good yourself. 115 fbs is terrific. Looks like you have found what works for you. That is super and I'm so happy for you.

    My fbs was up today to 172 (still way better than 200), but I wasn't surprised. I've been feeling like something was trying to come on and since my docs office ran out of flu shots before we got one, I really being careful. I took Nyquil before going to bed more as a prevention. We were having a special presentation at church this week and next and I just didn't want to miss today. I knew the medicine would probably raise my blood sugar, but it worked. I not only slept good, but I when I woke up I was wet from having sweat while I was asleep which for me means that I must have had a slight fever. Weight was up .2 from yesterday which is to be expected when eating out plus the fact that I didn't get my water in that I needed to drink for the day plus taking the med... it could have been worse. I never drink enough when on the road because I don't want to have to stop to go potty and didn't stay up late enough to drink it. So I'll be hitting the water pretty good today. WW counts all liquid or at least 1/2 as water (not sure which) toward your liquids for the day, but I've never believed that. I always try to drink my 8 glasses of water plus the other things I drink because I think water drinking itself is extremely important especially for diabetics. So if you go by WW standards I was okay, but not according to mine.

    I read on WW fitness that 30 minutes of exercise a day stops us from gaining weight, 45 minutes helps you lose weight and 60 minutes is for maintenance when you reach goal. So I will shoot for 45 minutes 5 or 6 days a week.

    I am excited and enjoying WW because it does not feel like I am dieting. For me it has just become eating healthy. There really isn't anything that I cannot eat as long as I work it into my allotted points. I make adjustments where I choose to make it fit. And the 0 pts soup is really a treat with the cold weather. The new books I got are going to help me a lot especially the one for eating out. When we go to the Wild Wings restaurant, I saw that I will have to adjust my portions differently to make the points work for me so I can still eat what I really like just less of it. WW has used a yellow marker of the foods that are best choices at the restaurants which helps a lot too although you still have the option of getting the food you want that isn't marked in yellow and either share it with someone else or eat half and take the other half home which DH and I do a lot any way. It is exciting to find something that I know that I actually can live with. It also helps that my sister and her DH who live in TX are attending WW meetings together and she shares a lot with me the things they are doing and learning.

    I would tell anyone who is starting out trying to control diabetes is DON'T GIVE UP!!! If you start a diet plan and it doesn't work for you either because it does work with your body or isn't doable for you emotionally etc, just find the one fits and works for you. There is NOT any one diet out there that fits everybody. So PLEASE FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!!!! And then don't let anyone talk you out of it.

    Have a super Sunday.
  • Thanks Trish and well said, you're doing great. I wish I could afford to do WW. It sounds easy enough and eating what I like within reason really sounds good.
  • Welcome Medeis! Good for you for getting your BS under control. Jump in and tell us more about yourself. We are all struggling with different things here, but we give each other support and share ideas.

    Trish, when I went to cardiac rehab the exercise physiologist told me that it is recommended that you do 150 min of exercise a week for health, but 300 min per week for weight loss. I consider any amount of exercise to be better than none. Aim high, but don't discount what you do. You are doing well with WW and you are on your way!

    I told you I joined that challenge to lose 1 lb a week for the entire year. I didn't get on the scale because I didn't feel that I was losing but I got on today and I am down 2 lbs. If I keep it off until weigh in day on Wednesday I will be on track. I am eating a lot of veggies, but I don't feel as though I doing well on my "diet" because I'm still eating too much of other things. But I am working on it, and I am down 2 lbs. Change is hard. I love the veggies, but the other foods just seem to pop into my mouth! LOL Some of the other foods just don't taste as good to me anymore. They will gradually be off the plan.

    Rennie - The price of WW was a factor for me, too. I cannot seem to stick to it without attending the meetings, and I don't like meetings. You have done a great job of lowering your FBS and also dropped some lbs. Keep up the good work!
  • I had a bad day yesterday or maybe I should an Off Plan evening. I baked some cookies for DH and decided to do the calculation with my WW calculator after I've been eating some cookies. I found out I had been calculating too low. Then I just lost it and went on a binge. I didn't consciously think it, but it reminded me of the way I used to do when I knew I had blown my diet and just eat whatever I want for the rest of the day mindset. I haven't had a "binge" in yrs. I didn't even track it so I have no idea how bad I did.

    My weight is up almost 2 lbs. I am really swelled today, so I know it isn't really a weight gain, but it really ticked me off that it even happened. But all isn't lost. I turned it into a positive especially when I saw my fbs was 127 this morning a new low I haven't seen in a very long time. I decided that things happen for a reason and I needed to evaluate it and see what I can learn from it. I refuse to let it drag me down or keep me from getting right back On Plan.

    A lot of times when I track my food WW doesn't have the brand I use so I usually just pick something similar with similar pts or close. Well, no more. I decided that I'm not doing that any more. For example, today I'm making hot wings. I took my package and calculated everything on the WW online calculator for the serving size of the brand I use from Walmart. I've calculated everything for today accurately so that I will have no more mistakes. I also decided that from now own that I will use the Power foods every where that I can. If I did the Simple Start, I would be using them and not have to track my food, but the problem I have with doing the SS is that you are only allowed 7 pts a day for foods that are not on the Power Foods list and you can't carry your points to another day. If I understand it correctly you are allowed 49 weekly pts that must be divided into the 7 pts a day. That would never work for me for those days I might plan to go out to eat. I'm not quite sure how the exercise pts count on Simple Start. So Points Plus works best for me. Oh, an interesting thing I learned by calculating my brands is that Great Values egg makers has only 1 pt per serving so I could have had equivalent to 2 eggs for 2 pts instead of just the 1 serving that I thought was the same as Eggbeaters which is 2 pts. So it is really going to be helpful to calculate rather than estimate. So a lot of good came out of the mess up.

    Any way I am back OP and just decided that I would share my screw up. I always share the good things I'm doing and I feel that being accountable means sharing the good and the bad. I'm still excited about the plan. For one thing, we don't go out to eat after church any more. I just decided it is crazy to pay someone else to cook what I usually eat every day and isn't much of a treat to me and it's less expensive. The problem was that I really didn't plan ahead. I kept thinking yesterday "When you fail to plan, you plan to fail". I guess I should have listened to the warning my heart was sending me. I just never could really get with a plan of what I wanted to eat although I did have my soup and I even put a salad in there to get my veggies. It really helps me knowing that I want to mark all the squares on my tracker that I have eaten all the foods recommended, drank the liquids, exercised and taken my vitamins. It motivates me. LOL

    Hope everyone is doing well. I'm shooting for a better day.
  • Thank God for tracking pts. I went in and tracked the excess food I ate yesterday and made accurate corrections replacing off counted pts. I am happy to report that I am still in good shape. I have my plan done for today and I will still have 4 pts left of weekly pts for tomorrow and of course I still have my earned exercise pts which are over 30 now.

    This proves to me that the when I work the plan as it is to be done most of the time that even a screw up can be covered. A lesson well learned.
  • Thank you all for your warm welcomes! I look forward to getting to know you all. Todays' FBG was 122. I made a low carb pancake this morning for breakfast but of course the syrup adds carbs but bottom line including the milk for coffee was 260 calories for breakfast and 23 carbs. I count calories and carbs.

    Good luck to you pattygirl, I know how hard it can be to keep track of things but sounds like you are really being accountable about how much you ate and that is a good thing.

    I write down every single thing I eat. I have a log book and I track it all. This is day 53 for me on my new regimen. Not easy but persevering.
  • Good morning, everyone. I have been reading these forums for a long time, but just recently decided to sign up and start participating.

    Myself, I am in the Atkins induction phase, and I believe that I may go ahead and stay in it for longer than the two weeks that it says to. I am 5'5 and weigh 229 pounds. I won't even say what my FBS is. It's that embarrassing. But to give you a clue, when I took it yesterday morning it was almost 200 pounds lower than it was a week ago. So...progress! I am on Metformin @ 1000mg, but I am working my way up to 2000. I also take Novolog before every meal.

    I cheated once last night right before bed and had a sugar wafer stick cookie... I woke up this morning and made a promise to myself that I won't do it again today.