I just used my Vegetti for the first time. It was easy, as all of you said. I liked the look of the zucchini strands. I sauteed it in a bit of CO with some butter. I wanted it to brown a bit, but it didn't. Then I added salt, pepper and some parmesan cheese. It was pretty good. I let the zucchini get pretty soft. I think the next time I make spaghetti for DH I am going to try it with zucchini for me and see if I like it. That would be good if I could eat that instead of the pasta. Now I'm going to have to start buying more zucchini.

Trish, I always heard that people experience constipation with low carb rather than diarrhea. It's because there's not enough fiber in the diet. I have never heard of anyone getting diarrhea with it, but maybe it happens if you use the coconut oil. I make sure I have some beans and I take a stool softener as constipation after my bowel surgery could be a total disaster!

Trish I tried the CO mixed in my Atkins shake and I ended up throwing the top off in the sink. It made me nauseous to look at. But I did try it I don't like the nutty flavor of avocado or the taste or smell of actual coconut or the shredded kind either I never heard about keeping it below 120 until Shannon said it. I was told that it should be under 110 and 90 is even better but I have yet to do that but twice and that was recently. Here is the article below:

The Numerous Health Benefits of Coconuts

One of my all-time favorite fruits is the coconut. The Pacific Islanders believe that it is the cure for all illness, which is why the palm tree (from which coconuts are grown) is known as “The Tree of Life.” Coconut oil is thought to possess healing properties above and beyond that of any other dietary oils.

Eating coconuts are excellent for one’s immunity. They are antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-parasitic, meaning they kill harmful bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Because of that, if you consume coconut in any of its various forms (whether it be raw coconut, coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut butter, etc.), it can help treat some of mankind’s worst and most resilient of illnesses such as influenza, giardia, lice, throat infections, urinary tract infections, tapeworms, herpes, gonorrhea, bronchitis, and numerous other ailments caused by microbials.

Whether you’re eating the meat, drinking the juice, or consuming it as oil, coconuts are a delicious and nutritious source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. It has tons of calcium, potassium, and magnesium, as well as plenty of electrolytes. In fact, coconut water is known to have the same electrolyte levels as human plasma, and has even been used for plasma transfusions!

The oil is excellent for keeping one young and beautiful. Its antioxidant properties slow down the aging process by protecting the body from harmful free radicals. I like to put a little bit of coconut oil on my skin every day to keep it nice and smooth, as well as free from dryness. I apply it onto my skin before showering. The hot water opens my pores, allowing the oil to absorb through my skin more efficiently. Just make sure to wipe the bottom of the tub when you’re done, since the coconut oil can be slippery. Coconut oil is also known to treat skin disorders such as eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis.

It also helps hair to become more healthy and lustrous. My hair has always been a bit on the dry, thin side, so I like to put coconut oil in it. On occasion, I’ll leave the oil in my hair overnight (covering my pillow with a towel so as to not get it oily) and wash it out in the morning. I’m always satisfied to find my hair is moist, radiant, and shiny. It’s a great alternative if you don’t want to use a leave-in conditioner.

Eating coconuts also supports the development of strong, healthy bones and teeth. It does this by improving the body’s ability to absorb calcium and magnesium. It also prevents osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones become thin and fragile and lose their density. This makes coconuts a good, healthy alternative for those who are lactose intolerant, but still want to have strong bones and teeth. Those who prefer a vegan diet can benefit from it as a good source of protein and fatty acids.

When coconut oil was first brought to the U.S., there was a lot of negative hype about it because it contains high levels of saturated fat. People were concerned that it increased cholesterol and contributed to heart disease—but this is a myth. It actually lowers cholesterol and reduces the chances of heart disease. This is because its fat content is simply changed into energy, lessening the likelihood of fat buildup in the arteries and heart.

Carol Sue I still want to buy a vegetti. Glad you liked it. Have fun experimenting

Rennie, I never thought that Avacado had a nutty flavor, although it is an unusual flavor. I love coconut. That's why I like that Almond Joy coffee creamer so much. I couldn't find it in WalMart of Target so I bought some Coffee Mate Girl Scout Cookie flavor. It's caramel and coconut like the Samoya cookie. I can't decide which one I like best.

Shannon, I cannot wear flip flops if I'm going to be walking around. I have to wear a built up shoe with a lot of support or my feet, legs and back will hurt. I can wear some sandals, if they are more closed in and snug enough to support my feet. The shoes I wear mostly in the summer are Easy Spirit. They are slip-ons similar to a clog, but they are soft material and don't have a lot of support and I can't wear them for a lot of walking. I do prefer a shoe I can slip on and off easily and wear without socks.

Last night I made pork and sauerkraut for dinner and I like mashed potatoes with sauerkraut so I thought I should take a glimiperide with it. I felt fine all evening but when I checked my bs before bed it was only 67! I guess my portion of potatoes wasn't enough to need the glimiperide, or I should have only taken 1/2. I know that 67 isn't THAT low, but I thought I should have been having some symptoms of hypoglycemia and I wasn't. I'll have to keep that in mind for the future.

checking in here - I tend to now get back here very often!

I've used coconut oil for a while now and love it. I put it in my coffee (throw the coffee in the blender and add CO and some stevia) it blends in and you it doesn't taste oily at all.

I don't use it to saute as much as I do EVO but I did just buy a coconut oil spray from PAM so I'm using it more.

My favorite way to eat CO is by making skinny chocolate.
1/2 cup CO, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 3-4 TBS of ground truvia, a scoop of protein powder. Mix it all together (taste it as you add the sweetener - I grind it in my bullet - add more as needed) I line a pan with foil and pour the mix in, freeze it and in about 10-15 minutes it will harden up. I cut it into squares and store it in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Sometimes I add skinny chocolate to my blended coffee. You can eat about a third of the recipe a day.

There are lots of variations you can make with it such as caramel extract or vanilla. I usually make it without the protein powder (that stuff is pricey) and it still works out well. It keeps things ahem "moving" when you are low carbing

Hi Donna! Good to see you. This skinny chocolate is interesting. Can you eat it just like a piece of chocolate? How big of a pan do you use for this? I have some vanilla protein powder. You get a lot for your money. I think the CO is pricy for the size of the jar.

I was down to 2 cups of coffee per day, and I had switched to decaf. I always drank it black. Now that I started using the flavored creamer I'm drinking more and more because it tastes so good. I don't know if that's a good thing or not! LOL

I like your comment at the bottom of your posts. This is how I feel sometimes because progress is so slow, but I have changed my eating and now I eat so much healthier, even though I'm still eating too much. One step at a time. Meanwhile, DH has just cut back a little bit and the weight is just falling off. Go figure!

Doctor's appt. went great. He walked and looked at me and said you are doing great. All my numbers are really good except he said I'm drinking too much water. My sodium was too low 132. A1c was down to 6.2 from previous 7.1 and my cholesterol is in the normal range. Even my triglycerides were in normal range. Bad cholesterol is down in normal range and good cholesterol was up but when I got my readout sheet, I noticed that it still needs to come up some. I am definitely going to using coconut and hope it helps bring it up. I did notice my blood count is barely normal so I need to be eating more iron rich foods.

He wouldn't give me the glimiperide because he said when you are losing weight and the pancreas is working that if he gave it to me that it would cause me to gain instead of lose weight. He said he knows my weight loss is slow but he encouraged me that he is glad that I'm losing slow because it will be better for me. I told him we were going to be traveling and he talked to me telling me little things to do when eating out if I had to eat fast food. So I will certainly take his advice.

He was thrilled with DH progress as well. He said DH pancreas doesn't work as well as mine so he was pleased that Tony's is coming down without insulin. Other numbers were better as well so he was excited about it. He found a new medicine that works with all of DH health issues and so he can now go off of the warfarin and go on it. So he won't have to go for all those blood draws every few weeks any more. And he can eat all the greens veggies he wants. Somehow it keeps it balanced. There is still a chance his blood could go too thin, but Tony will have to watch for any signs of such. It is a little pricey, but at least we can go on our trip and enjoy and not have to worry too much about it. Doc said "Go relax and enjoy your trip and have fun. So I'm very excited because we are so much healthier than we were three plus years ago when all these medical problems started.

Donna Thanks for the chocolate recipe. DH sure misses his chocolate and this just might do for him.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

I'm tired so I'm going to get comfortable and relax. Catch y'all later.

Donna I'd like to know also if your recipe like eating a piece of chocolate? I sure would like to try it.

I was gone on a playdate all day yesterday and started a new bible study last night so I'm behind in posting. I was waaay off plan yesterday. I had hoped to pack my own lunch to take to my friend's house but just ran out of time so I ate a very large amount of carbs yesterday at her house. Fortunately my FBS was 111. I was expecting worse. I did gain about 1.5 lbs so maybe I'll get that off before my weigh in Monday.

On flip flops....I have chronic severe plantar fasciitis that has not responded to many various treatments. I need surgery but as you can imagine, being off my feet for months at a time is not optimal with a small child. I've had it for about 8 yrs now so it can wait, lol. I may try to have it done when Olivia is in school full time. We'll see. Part of me is hoping when the weight is off and my diet has been better for a long time that it might go away. I weighed much less when it started though (probably 150) so I'm not holding my breath. For shoes I wear orthotics (the $$ ones) in my tennis shoes and wear Danskos for pretty much anything else, I have clog and sandal versions. My flip flops are expensive too, but I have worn them for 4 yrs now. In fact, other than tennis shoes, all my shoes are over 4 yrs old. The flip flops were the last new shoes I bought. Yowzers! Given that shoes are investment level for me I only own a handful. No cute or fancy shoes for me!

I made a new breakfast recipe today. It takes a little work but it is good and would be well received at a brunch if you needed to take something and wanted it to be low carb so you could eat it.

http://uplateanyway.com/keto/breakfa...b-gluten-free/

Trish, I am so happy to year about your doctors appointment! The triglycerides come down when you cut back on carbs, so I am hoping mine come down, too. Of course, I am on meds for it, but if you eat too many carbs, the meds don't do any good. I am very curious to see what my lipids will be because of all the eggs I've been eating. I still use the substitute once in a while, and if my lipids are really bad I will go back to the substitute all the time.

Weight gain is one of the reasons I don't take the glimiperide unless I get a high reading for some reason. So far, it hasn't made me gain, but probably because I only take it occasionally. I'm probably not supposed to do that, but if I took it every day like it's prescribed I would have to eat more carbs to keep from going too low. I don't think that makes sense! So I test, test, test and only take it if I go high....like over 160. If it's lower than that, I can usually bring it down just by eating low carb, and small portions. Or I take if if I KNOW I'm going to eat a carby meal.

Shannon, I used to have mild plantar faciitis and I think I fixed it by doing exercising flexing my foot. Sometimes I start to feel the pain again and then I do the exercises again and stay away from the bad shoes for a while. If I know I'm going to be on my feet for a longer period of time I make sure I wear the right shoes.

I do hope you don't need the surgery. Olivia is going to be little for a while now! LOL

Skinny chocolate is an aquired taste. I love it, but I had completely given up sugar and sweets for the better part of a year before trying it. The secret is to taste, taste taste as you are adding the sweetener. I like truvia or xylitol the best (note that xylitol is toxic to dogs don't share) and I usually start with 3 TBS and add more to taste. I pour it into an 8X8 glass dish and cut it into about 16 squares. I will eat a couple of squares when I'm feeling the need to snack.

This same recipe when in its liquid state can be poured over ice cream (sugar free/ low carb of course ) to make magic shell.

Wannabehealthy - I put that on my page because in the past I've gotten "stuck" and derailed myself. I feel so much better than I did a year ago that I don't want to go back. Ever! When I'm feeling kind of sorry for myself (like at my last A1c where the number didn't change at all and I hadn't lost weight for 3 months :P ) I know that I am progressing even if it's not a number on the scale.

Donna, I might try the skinny chocolate. I don't know. I don't like sweets except for chocolate. It can't be chocolate cake, just plain chocolate, like Hershey Kisses. I don't buy any artificial sweeteners so that would be a big change for me to buy it just to make this chocolate. Chocolate itself is toxic to dogs, so I wouldn't be giving it to him anyway.

I was in the store today and I looked for the CO Pam but didn't see it. I will have to check a different store. I might use it more if I had that. I use the olive oil spray all the time.

Had a really busy day. Down to one week until we leave and had to go to Sam's and a few other things. I have a slue of things to do just to get ready.

I've had a touch of plantar fasciitis over the years, but I haven't had them consistently. Had it one time only when I wore a certain pair of shoes. I stopped wearing those shoes and didn't have them any more until a few year ago and some one told me to stand on the edge of a door step and rock back and forth going up almot tip toe and then curve the foot down a few times and it will go away. Since then whenever I feel like it is coming on, I do that and so far it works every time. Don't know if that would help you any Shannon or not, but you might try it. Even if it would give a little bit of relief, it might help until you can have surgery.

Donna It is the benefits of this way of eating that keeps me working towards it. I have to remind myself when the scale doesn't move that at least it didn't go up. I copied the chocolate recipe and I will try it when I come back home. Unless, I decide to take the recipe with me and make it for her and me in memory of all the times our Mama used to make fudge when our Daddy was gone at night. That just might be fun. LOL

Rennie I think you were the one who told me about the Mini Moos. I got the half and half ones for my trip so will be able to drink DH DS strong coffee. Also when I make coffee in the motels, I won't have to use their powdered junk. Thanks for the heads up on it. In fact, I may purchase those all the time for portion accuracy.

Carol Sue I use both regular eggs and substitutes. I like the Southwestern style eggbeaters because I don't have to add peppers/onion unless I just want to and they are also good for an omelet or sandwich.

Nothing really new here. Everything is about the same. FBS was back down to 122 and weight was the same. Holding my 221. So all is good.

Y'all have a great week end.

Hey ladies Sorry I have not been on here lately but I have been so busy I swear their is not enough hours in a day. On the other side of that I have lost a whopping 66 pounds to date . I hope all is doing well. Hello to all the newbies out their. I hope to pop in here alot sooner then the last time.

Bonnie! I am so glad to hear from you and glad that things are going well. 66 lbs! Wow! You have been one busy lady! How is all your family doing? How is your blood sugar now that you have lost all that weight?

Don't stay away so long!

Trish, when I had the plantar fasciitis I used to sit with my leg straight out and flex my foot, pushing downward with my heel. But my case was a mild one and was probably just from wearing certain shoes.

I was able to exercise yesterday without any palpitations, so I guess it was the coffee (caffeine) that was doing it. I was really drinking a lot, probably 10 cups a day. Now that I drink decaf I'm only drinking about 2 cups per day because DH still makes regular coffee in our big coffee maker and I make my decaf in a little 2 cup coffee maker we have. Once I drink those 2 cups I switch to cold drinks. Once winter is back I might start drinking more coffee again.