[Shannonsnail]

Rennie i was missing you! hugs! We all have bad days! I try to take it "one meal at a time" i am so all or nothing that used to, if I had a bad meal then a bad day resulted. Now I try to just do better at the next meal.

Well ladies, I am nervous. I have a blood draw in the morning and my fastings have been high (for me) the last few days, I've even had a couple that would be "diabetic", not "prediabetic". Today I had more carbs than usual and my post prandials have been a little higher. This lab draw might be "the one". I go in for the actual appt next Tues so I will face whatever the music is then but I am feeling a little nervous about this draw. I have also never been testing in conjunction with my draws before so in the past it was a complete mystery and now I'm all full of knowledge. I feel like I just ate the fruit in the garden of eden.

Edited: i feel better. I just checked my BS before bed and it is good. Usually my fbs is slightly higher than my before bed. If that holds true (through til 9:30 am when I am usually up at 7:30 or 8 am) then it will be "prediabetic" still.

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish - The one difference with gastric bypass is that they are really not getting enough nutrients, and therefore have to use a lot of protein supplements, vitamins etc. And because of the surgery, they don't feel hunger, but they do still have cravings, and for me, eating is probably 75% cravings rather than actual hunger. 500 calories is really extreme and neither of us would probably ever do that, except maybe one day here and there, whereas they have to do it every day. Many of them lose their hair because of the lack of nutrients. In our case, our tracking might show 900 calories but we might really be eating more due to actual portion sizes etc. I think programs like Fit Day and MFP give you estimates. I can go back to my same old mantra.....thin people do not track. They eat when they are hungry and stop when they are satisfied. Sometimes tracking could backfire. It could say, "I still have calories left. What else can I eat?" when you are really no longer hungry. Tracking is good when you aren't losing and you want to see where your extra calories/carbs/fat are coming from.

I have a funny story. Yesterday, I had to go to Target to get an RX for my husband. I dropped off the script and left to go to another store. As I left the store I passed the snack bar where they sell pizza and those big soft pretzels. I haven't had one of those pretzels for years! They looked so good. I did my shopping then came back to pick up the meds. As I was walking in the door I said to myself "I want one of those pretzels. I'm going to get one on the way out." I got the RX, bought a few other things, and was driving down the highway before I realized I forgot to buy the pretzel!! I think God intervened here. He knew I was weak and he made me forget. I realize now that I checked out at a register that was past the snack bar, closer to the door and didn't have to walk past it on the way out. I will have to remember that from now on when I go there. Don't go near the pretzels!

I ate some of my fiber crackers with dinner and my BS was 146 this morning, so I guess that didn't work. Now I've decided to try them with lunch, on days that I'm going to be exercising in the afternoon.

Last night before I ate dinner my bs was 109, so I didn't take the glimiperide. I had roasted chicken and peas, then I ate 5 fiber crackers. I suppose I shouldn't be playing around with the meds, I should just be taking it, but I'm concerned about having a low if my bs is 109 before a meal when I'm not eating starchy carbs. The crackers were not planned, they were an afterthought. Now that I see how much my bs can drop if I don't eat carbs, I know I can do away with the med eventually. If I continue to take it on a regular basis it will further damage my Beta Cells and why do that if I can control it without it. I can't say this to the doctor because they want you to just take the meds they prescribe.

Rennie, we all have been there. I was so confident that I was not going to have a gain ever again and got so depressed when I went up 2 lbs. It put me in my place. You have done so well, this is just a blip and you soon will be losing again.

Kris, I have Bernstein's book. It is geared mainly toward type 1, but still has a lot of information for type 2. I will have to look it over again and remind myself of what he has to say, especially about large meals.

Shannon, I hope you get good results with your labs, but even if they are still a little high, you are doing well and are headed in the right direction. Do you think your doctor will put you on meds if it's still high?

[Shannonsnail]

Carol Sue my temptation at Target is the popcorn and drink combo. I used to get my pepsi/coke and my big bag of popcorn, eat and drink while shopping, then refill my soda before leaving. Then I had my daughter and she wanted my popcorn. It wasn't as much fun, lol!

Back in the late summer the dr said she wouldn't prescribe unless I had an official diagnosis. She wanted to push lifestyle change but I wasn't ready yet. I still had metformin so I put myself back on it but I stopped shortly after bc of the cramping. Then when I went back in Dec she said the same thing so I'm giving it a go. I tested on my meter in the bathroom before my draw and it was 117. It was 104 last night. I definitely think I have the dawn phenomenom.

Good news, my scale is still moving!

[Wannabehealthy]

Yay! The scale still moving is wonderful! As for the dawn phenomenon, I think everyone has it. LOL If you happen to wake some night at say 3AM, get up and test your BS to see where you're at. The only explanation I've heard that makes sense to me is that when you go a long time without food, such as overnight, your body senses a lack of glucose so it squirts some out, but it doesn't have good control and it squirts out too much. This is why they say 1) have a snack at bedtime and 2) eat something as soon as you get up. Number 1 doesn't work for me, and they say number 2 will stop the body from squirting out the glucose...but I figure that eating is going to add more glucose anyway. There's a lot I don't understand no matter how it's explained to me.

I love popcorn, too. I can eat tons of it. DH doesn't like me to eat it because of the hulls, since my 2 bowel surgeries were due to diverticulitis. Now I avoid it as much as possible because of the carbs, and because it's empty calories. I don't consider the fiber important enough because you can get fiber in better foods. When I was single and thin I stopped in snack bars in a lot of stores. But I didn't keep much food in the house so that was my meal, not a snack. If we should happen to stop at the food court at the mall the only thing I will get is an egg roll at the chinese shop because it's something I rarely have. DH gets McDonald's. We are so adventurous! LOL

I am down 1 of the 2 lbs I gained, so I am heading in the right direction. I want to be at 193 by Sat because that is weigh-in day for my One Pound a Week Challenge. I was at 194 last week.

How much Metformin are you taking? When I started taking it I was on 500 twice a day. I lost 25 lbs with that, easily, then another 15 with my first bowel surgery. Needless to say, it didn't all stay gone. There is no magic.

[pattygirl63]

My fbs was 125 this morning and I was down .2 lbs. I was disappointed in the fbs and couldn't figure out why it was up since I did everything right yesterday. We went out to eat at Cracker Barrel today and I ordered the fried catfish fillet, green beans and a salad with ranch dressing. DH always gets dumplings and apples. He never orders bread so I was surprised when he ordered the corn muffins. I love dumplings so I ate 2 of them and took a bite of the muffin. I never get tempted with the apples. However, I decided to do a 3 hr check. I figured it would be high, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was only 119. That really thrills me to know that I can eat a little more carbs one in a while and it won't hurt. I was going to get their chef salad, but the ham was sugar ham so I had to pass on that one. I'm thankful that what I chose didn't hurt me.

Not sure what is for dinner, nothing sounds good.

Carol Sue One of my big problems with counting calories etc on MFP is that I can have more calories and I find myself trying to get enough. I think my fbs was up today because I ate dinner. I had an Atkins shake around 4 or 5. Then because I felt I needed to eat, I made a hamburger patty and put it in a salad and ate it. I don't really think I was hungry, I was just eating to get the calories. I still like the IE idea of eating only as much as it takes to satisfy the hunger. I think I'm going to implement that into my eating plan.

Shannon You have been doing so well overall that I bet your blood work will be really good. I'm pulling for you.

Rennie We all have the little blips. I think we just have to know they are going to happen from time to time. Just hang in there you have come a long way and you are doing great so close to goal. Just don't give up. I was in a strange mood today and could have really screwed everything up. I really wanted to at one point and just didn't care. Somehow God got me through it. I know I still have to tweak things because I am fully aware that Atkins Induction just isn't something I'm going to stick with especially as strict as it is. I just have to find a balance in my carbs and it is real drag. I know I won't feel like this all the time and perhaps tomorrow I will get up and be strong about the low carb eating again. We just have to take it one day at a time. If we have a blip, we just have see it for what it is and move on. We can do this.

Kris, Ruthie, Fatmad and others

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish, I think we will eventually find a balance where we can eat some carb occasionally, as long as we don't make it an every day thing. I have had the same situation where I know I didn't eat carbs but my BS is still too high. It's weird. Since our A1c is based on a 3 month average, an occasional spike will not matter much. Is your husband able to eat the dumplings without a spike?

[pattygirl63]

Originally Posted by Wannabehealthy

Trish, I think we will eventually find a balance where we can eat some carb occasionally, as long as we don't make it an every day thing. I have had the same situation where I know I didn't eat carbs but my BS is still too high. It's weird. Since our A1c is based on a 3 month average, an occasional spike will not matter much. Is your husband able to eat the dumplings without a spike?

I don't know if he gets spikes or not after he eats. He never checks after eating. He only checks fbs when I insist on it. He takes Glimiperide so it probably takes care of his. I just don't want to have to take it myself.

[Shannonsnail]

Well, I missed getting my coffee this morning and had a horrible headache all day. I also had a backache from sleeping crunched up most of last night like a cat at the foot of my daughter's bed. I wasn't eating enough all day but couldn't seem to figure out what to eat to feel better. So, all day I was in a bad mood, just didn't feel great. That has continued into the night and I've been snacky because I didn't eat enough all day. Waaah! Hoping for a better tomorrow.

[Wannabehealthy]

Oh No! No coffee!! I went completely off coffee for about a year in 2011 and I handled it fine, but now I'm back to it more than I ever was. I think it was just so cold this winter I felt that I needed it constantly. It's probably not too good for me to drink so much with my heart disease. I'm always doing something that's not good for me, no matter how I try.

When I went to bed last night my bs was 99. When I got up this morning it was 113. At best, when I was having good A1c my fasting ran in the 120s so that 113 floored me. When I went to bed I was hungry, but too tired to get out of bed to eat something. Once I fell asleep I forgot about it. I lost my other lb I gained, too. This morning I tracked my food for yesterday out of curiosity and I had 1,243 cals, 30 gm carb, 12 gm fiber and 94 gm protein, 85 gm fat, half of which was mono fat. I ate more protein than usual, which gave me more fat. It was a chicken leg and some meatballs in sauce plus my morning eggs. I also ate about 10 olives, but the fat in them is mono fat. I was surprised that my calories were that high but I had more protein and fewer veggies than normal. But it did lower my BS to a new low, and I didn't take any glimiperide yesterday. I wont give up my veggies. Yesterday was just and unusual day. I'm trying to get rid of leftovers. LOL I don't want to have to take the glimiperide either, Trish. It burns out your Beta Cells because it's forcing them to kick out more insulin. I realize it allows a lot of people to eat carbs, but it's not something I want to do. Just a personal choice, and nothing against your husband for taking it. My husband would not be able to go without carbs like I do.

I don't know what we're going to eat today because it's Good Friday and we usually go out for fish or DH gets a plain pizza. He won't beeating either of those today. Your catfish sounded good Trish. I've only had it twice because it's not really common up north. I love any kind of fish and eat it more than once a week, usually.

[pattygirl63]

Rennie I'm back on track today and have my plan for today. So come on and join me. We can do this TODAY. You are so close to goal, please don't give up.

Shannon I hate days when I don't know what I want to eat. It makes it so difficult for me to eat what needs to be eaten. According to the new Atkins Made Easy book says that low carbing will help us get rid of mood swings. I sure hope so because, I get tired of these roller coaster swings. It is bad enough to deal with this weight/bs and this is just another thing I have to deal with. However, recognizing what is going on may be a helpful lesson for us to beware of these things so they don't derail us.

Carol Sue I would love to be healthy one more time in this lifetime and I don't want to just patch this problem I have with a band-aid. So while it is difficult for me to think of giving up all the carbs, I also am aware that it is better to do that if necessary and have my health.

Well, I guess I didn't do too much damage yesterday. I ate some high fiber triscuits with the Polaner and I was up half the night running to the potty, but it paid off. I had a gain, but only .8 lbs, however, the fbs was down 2 pts to 123. I consider that a good thing because I remember when it would have been 200 or close. So I see improvement. I think walking through Lowe's and Sam's (probably an hr or more of walking) probably helped too.

Today I'm back OP. I haven't left MFP as I think it is good to see what I'm doing. I still was under my allotted calories for the day yesterday and today I have planned my meals ahead of time. I'm not sure having 1 off day a week is really bad. Normal, thin people don't eat the same way all the time. DH #2's mother worked for a diet doctor when she lived in California. He had his patients follow low carb diet 6 days a week with 1 day that they could enjoy eating whatever they wanted. Mother said they were successful dieters. In fact, she kind of ate that way when she was thin. In fact, she didn't gain weight until she and her sister moved in together and she felt she had to eat the way her sister ate. That woman ate mostly low carb, but she did include some fruit every day and she had the most beautiful skin you ever saw. Didn't wrinkle or gain weight until she switched to lowfat eating with her sister. It was down hill for her from there. I've thought a lot about her lately. She had a complete check up in the hospital before she switched to low carb and her heart everything was perfect even though she smoked. But when she switched to low carb her health went down. Interesting.

Well, I need to get busy around here. Haven't talk to DS in a few days so need to check on him. I like to know where he is and he is okay when he is on the road.

Have a nice day.

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish, I can't believe you mentioned the doctor who had his patients eat low carb 6 days and eat carbs on the 7th day. This morning I was just reading about it. It is in a book called Carb Nite Solution. I will not buy the book because the cheapest I can find it is $25 plus shipping and I don't want to spend that much. I was reading another low carb forum and this one woman stated that she was getting a red rash on her torso. Someone came back and said that is a condition caused by extreme low carb diets. She said she started adding a little more carb in the form of beans and the rash went away. Someone else suggested the Carb Nite Solution diet. In reading about it I saw that it is mostly promoted for weight loss....it tricks your hormones by eating those carbs that one day, but I am interested in it because of the rash. I was diagnosed with psoriasis years ago. It was mild. Over the years I have had much more of it, mainly on my torso, and it looked different from my other psoriasis. Now I'm thinking that it might have to do with low carb. After I had my second bowel surgery my doctor put me on a diet of soft foods, lots of pasta etc. After that my "psoriasis" cleared up completely, and I didn't know why. Psoriasis is considered permanent and there is no cure. Now that I have been on this strict low carb program for about a month, the rash is coming back bad on my torso. Both sides going down under my arm and on my upper thighs. It has me wondering. I don't want to add carbs since this is doing so good with my blood sugar, but I'm wondering what would happen if I did one carb day a week and then got right back on low carb. 1) Could I do it without causing a week long binge? 2) Would 1 bad spike a week totally wreck my glucose readings? I think I might try this one week and see if I can get right back on low carb the next day. I'm afraid, but if it gets rid of this rash, it might be worth it. I really enjoyed being rash free all last summer.

People reviewing the book said that it contains a lot of low carb menus, but I don't really need that. I just want to know how to do the diet. From what I read, you do low carb 6 days a week, like 30 carb gms per day, then on the 7th day you can eat high carbs over an 8 hour period. The next day you will have a slight upswing of weight and bloating, but in the days following when you go back to low carb you will experience more fat loss. The hardest part for me would be making the carb day the same day every week. I think I would make it mid week and would make spaghetti or lasagne that day, and eat toast with my breakfast, and a sandwich for lunch. I will NOT include unhealthy foods, like sweets, chips, ice cream etc. Just starchy carbs that I have been avoiding. And I will make sure to exercise good that day to help my blood sugar as much as I can.

I have tried so many crazy diet plans, what's one more? Right? LOL My main concern is my blood sugar. But I've proven that I can get it down, so I can do it again if need be.

[pattygirl63]

Hey Carol Sue, I was thinking about trying this too, but I can't always do it the same day either. We usually eat out during the week when one or both of us go to the doctor's office. So I think I will low carb everyday except for those days. Then on the weeks that we don't go out to eat, I'll pick a day during that week to do a carb day. We will probably go out Monday so if we go out I will make that my carby day. It will be interesting to see how well it works. I think eating 30 g carbs will be easier than 20 g too. Good luck on or new journey.

I hope that it will be fun to know that one day a week I can have a carb day. Like you I don't want junky carbs just some of those carbs I miss while low carbing.

Interesting about the rash from the low carb diet. I also get a rash sometimes. I usually get it from too much white carbs, but I noticed this time that I also had a rash with the low carb eating.

[kris2008]

Eating low carb for about 5 weeks, my FBS is 90 to 128 averaging 115. My last A1C was equivalent to 134 average. And I was eating lots of junk the few months before that reading! I need to be consistent with cardio exercise - every single morning and every single evening. I've lost about 7 pounds, need to get back on that track also.

My pickles are never sweet, always salty. My new kick is pickles dipped in peanut butter. Not going to lose weight that way! I'm still eating fruit - have berries in a morning smoothee (w/plain yogurt, flaxseed, spinach) and an orange or apple after my soup at lunch. Just really need to get control in evening. Carbs good, calories not! Will try cardio and some yoga as soon as I get home from work, before eating. Maybe that will calm my need to stuff myself.

[Shannonsnail]

Made sure to have my coffee today (set it up last night) and feeling better :-) it's funny bc two years ago I maybe had one cup a week, lol. I only drink a half cup per day but it's my only caffeine for the day too.

I'm watching my neighbor's daughter today so I'll be back later tonight to chat.

[Wannabehealthy]

Kris, you could have the pickles dipped in peanut butter as long as you allowed for it. Just check for carbs in each one. That actually sounds good even though I don't usually eat pickles. Sure you're not pregnant? LOL Just kidding!! According to my chart, an A1c equal to 134 is in the 6 range and I and my doctor would be happy with that, even though I know below 6 is better.

Trish, I do pretty good with low carb when I eat out because I usually order fish, with a hot veggie and a tossed salad. Or I get the salad bar and skip the carby stuff. I do make spaghetti or lasagne a couple times a month. I have eaten each of them once since I started this low carb and although I got a spike, it went right back down the next day. I think it's when you do carb on consecutive days that it goes up and stays up. I think I will make Wednesday my carb day, but the minute I have a problem with my blood sugar or my weight I will stop immediately. I don't want to screw up what I've worked so hard to do.