Shannon I am very picky right now for what I purchase in books. I may have to go to the library and see if they have it. But sounds like that book you are reading just might have some good info for me tweaking my plan. Just from the few things you have shared tells me why my plan works and could help me learn what things I need to change for those times when it doesn't. I see with some tweaking that even those times could be improved so that they would work for me. I just use ACV in regular water with Stevia. DH keeps seltzer water all the time. I like the idea of making a drink using the ACV in it. I will look up some of the other flavor etc and make it like a treat as I don't mind the taste. Do you just drink off it during the day? How much of it do you drink? Another drink I use a lot is green tea once a day. Thanks for sharing.
The GGMS makes 32 oz or so. I have these tall double wall insulated cups that I use. I fill it halfway with ice (and sometimes even add about a half cup or so of regular water to dilute the GGMS a little) and then add the GGMS and stir with my straw. So, making up one batch typically lasts me a day or sometimes into the next day. I am not a good water drinker at all so I've been trying to make myself drink a batch each day at least to get water in.
Thanks Shannon I could make up a bottle or big glass of the drink to drink one of those a day. It would be so good for me to make it a habit to drink it daily.
I bought the Woman's World Magazine and read it real quick while DH ran into the store to get some more seltzer water. But too cold to drink it after I got home to drink so I'll start it tomorrow. I understand now what I do right on the days this works for my bs and what I do wrong on days it doesn't. I think I can take what I've learned from the Magic Foods book and then add how they do the S & E meals to make this work even better for me. I think this is what I needed to tweak my plan.
So thanks Shannon for sharing about that and the Woman's World magazine too.
Last edited by pattygirl63; 02-02-2015 at 09:19 PM.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 12,394
S/C/G: 217/179/142
Height: 5'2
One thing I like about our thread compared to some other diabetes threads I have visited is that we get into detailed discussions about what we do that works for us, not just quoting the books. I take in all the information and try the different things, tweak them when I need to. So Trish, don't feel bad when you get wordy. I want the details, and some others probably appreciate them too.
So here's what happened to me yesterday. All day I was drinking my ACV water with lemon, and I put a little more ACV than I usually do. I had 2-3 bottles of the ACV water throughout the afternoon. For dinner, I purposely ate a rather carby dinner. Hotdogs without the bun, canned baked beans and tater tots. I also took my glimiperide. 2 hours after my meal my blood sugar was 129. That's very unusual for me to go that low 2 hours out. Unfortunately, when I went to bed I was in the 190s for some reason. So I drank some more ACV water, and when I got up this morning I was 163. Now, I know that's not good, but this was a test to see if the ACV water helped, and it did. So now I feel that maybe I wasn't using enough ACV when I tried it before and if I do this while following my LC a little more closely it should work much better. My tummy was a little upset at the end of the day and DH said it was from "That crap you were drinking!" LOL I didn't get sick and feel fine this morning so I'm not going to worry about it. Vinegar is beneficial for other things in your body too, beside blood sugar.
I didn't have any ACV yet today because I have to run to the store for a few things and I don't want to drink too much water before I go.
I checked and our library does not have Thin Healthy Mama. I don't know why they have some and not others.
Carol Sue Thanks. I agree with you about our thread. I like knowing what works for others. I knew a man who gave me great advice years ago about Christians that has really helped me in other areas of my life. He said that a person could give him advice, but he looked to see how it was working in that persons life before he took their advice. If their life showed they knew what they were talking about then he thought about what they said because he saw it working for them, but if their life didn't show it then, he threw out what they said because they were just talking.
I guess that is why I read books about what someone has had work for them. I heard of minister once who God healed off of a death bed and went on to be a great preacher. I studied under that man although I never saw him in person because I figured that anyone who had learned in his teen years how to be healed and keep his healing up until he died at 80 something could teach me something. He had seen 3 generations of offspring that would never even be born if he had just laid there and give up and died.
I feel that way about diabetes and weight loss. There are many ways I believe that you can live healthy years with it suppressed and under control and weight loss. Too many have done it, but they learned what would work for them although not everyone did it exactly the same as someone else. I have never given up on being one of them. I want to do this for me and for my family. So they can live healthier lives. I can only learn that from people with successes. I've lost weight before although never reached my goal but I wasn't always doing it healthy. Even when I did it lowfat, I know now I was going too low. That is why I felt like I ate all day. I couldn't sleep at night and now I think it was because my body was always digesting food and never could rest so I couldn't rest.
Your ACV experiment is quite revealing. With some of the higher fbs you've had the ACV made a big difference for you fbs. I think it worked good for you and I agree that it will be a great help to your lc plan.
Today my numbers... weight, bs and even bp was up a little for me. I know why. I just plain didn't work my plan yesterday. FBS was 137. This tells me what would happen if I ever go back to eating like that again. Lesson well learned and today I move on.
Shannon I made the ACV drink today and have drinking it now. I made mine with the seltzer water and water because it was too cold to use ice. This stuff is great made that way. I sent the recipe out to some family and friends and told them to google for more flavor ideas.
I'm trying to have no fat with breakfast today. I bought some Fiber-one to have cold cereal for a change and since it had a few almonds already chopped in it, I didn't any more because technically the almonds are an oil. So I guess mine was more low fat. I think that would be a better way to go on Saturday and Sunday when my eating plan those days are different.
I really don't know if going absolutely no fat in a meal is me. But I do see why it would work even without buying the book. Carol Sue Remember that book we read that told us to have a carby day a few days a week and low carb days and alternate them so your body doesn't know you are dieting? From what I'm understanding from what Shannon has shared and what I read in the Woman's World magazine, by alternating S/E meals you are doing the same thing. By alternating and mixing things up, your body is always a fat burning machine. I will tweak it into my food plan as best I can.
I got some nice mustard and kale greens yesterday. I used to put fat in them, but not this time. I cleaned them really well and put half in a bag to add them to my romaine lettuce for salads with ACV and EVOO. Cooked the others with just a touch of salt and squeezed the juice of one lemon in them. I read that lemon brings out flavor without adding a lot of salt. Then I remembered that the few times we had spinach when I was growing up (the only greens my Daddy would eat) she put pickle juice in it. In one of these books, I think it was the Dummies book said that if you have sour which I don't like sour pickles so I use dill, it will help slow down the insulin surge of the meal.
As we slowly learn to tweak with these little changes, I hope they weil become so normal that they won't feel like a diet but lead us to a better and healthier lifestyle.
I wanted to start a conversation about eating fat. I asked my doctor one time what was the best fats or bad ones. He said that it didn't matter because you weren't supposed to eat a lot of it.
You see so many diets that allows good fats such as avocado, EVOO etc which have so many good benefits not to mention that it makes you feel satisfied longer after a meal and it doesn't raise bs. Then you see others that do not allow any fat etc, etc. You know all the thoughts in between and we all who have done Atkins have enjoyed a little more and still got healthy results.
I see a few books out there that will allow the meats that have almost no fat being the only difference in their low carb diet and regular low carb diets. I'm thinking of one I read about that is very low carb, but I never did it because it didn't allow for any fat.
Years a go when I first experienced diabetes, the lowfat diet had come out and it was so new that not even the doctors knew how low was safe. So I went on a very strict lowfat diet. I stayed on it until I saw a woman on a talk show telling that she had done the same thing. She was much younger than me and she was still young enough that she wanted to start a baby. She couldn't get pregnant. She found out that the body needs some fat even to get pregnant and had to add enough fat back into her diet just so she could get pregnant.
My point of conversation. I get the feeling sometimes when I read different books that the doctors and nutritionist are scared to admit how important fat is in our diets even the good diets. So they may have a good diet plan as far as low carb is concerned but just don't allow enough fat to do its job. This is why some people can go on a low carb diet with even a little more fat especially the good fats like many of us do and do very well when we do it consistently.
I'm not saying that we should go wild with fat as I've never been one to go along with the HFLC diets either. I'm just curious about how low we have to go and what others think about it. The thing that causes me to question this is that the Magic Foods say that we need fat, but like all says that butter and coconut oil is bad. Those of us who have used coconut oil know the benefits especially for when it comes to lowering triglycerides and I saw that when I used it and mine were lowered. Which makes me feel that one rule about saturated fats and other "good" fats don't make a lot of sense to me.
I think this goes back to moderation. Just wondering what are the thoughts of others?
Hi all: having a good day, got out skiing on the rail trail for a bit, though it is quite cold here. DD came for a visit overnight, she's 22, and still working out what to do with her life. She has quit nursing school now, and had left another program before that. She is very smart.
However, both her Dad and I didn't settle onto our life paths and wandered about quite a bit before that, so I am not terribly worried. She has a job, and lives a good life, so I will be grateful for that and be there for her as she talks it all out.
TRISH: a few words about fat. Fat has calories, makes foods taste good and helps provide satisfaction with meals. It has NO effect on blood sugar.
I haven't read anything that convinces me that low fat (and therefore higher carb) diets are safe for diabetics. Even the most "normal" diets balance some fats with carbs and proteins.
Atkins and other lower carb diets suggest replacing carbs with fat, not protein, or only raising protein a bit.
Kim on the atkins thread was always reminding people to ensure they got enough fat. Most of us don't put in enough fat when we reduce carbs, and we get very hungry and miserable. Hard to get enough calories to avoid hunger if we are low carb and low fat.
BUT, I think it is a good idea to make sure that many of your fat sources are "good" fats.
And yes, thanks friends, I am back on track and weight is down again. I just can't seem to avoid bingeing when I start on the carbs.
SO I got some clear lax today and drank a glass. However, interestingly enough, the bottle says it takes 2-4 days to work. (I don't think I remember reading that before, but that would explain why I stopped taking it because it didn't "work")
SO I assume I will be taking it for a few days to keep things going.
I'm 2 days into the new way of eating and it is going really well so far, especially since I did not really meal plan and am just flying by the seat of my pants! I do not know if I am losing anything yet but I was very happy with my BS results today when I tried an experiment. My fasting after one day on plan had gone down from the mid-120s to 115 (probably not signficant but made me happy) so that was my FBS today. I decided to have an E (carb) breakfast which is just so new to me. I made this baked oatmeal recipe (scroll down to the second one that says Trim Healthy Mama style) http://www.stacymakescents.com/baked-oatmeal-revised
which I would like to share since it really does not contain anything that you couldn't easily get or already have and it was really tasty. Even Olivia liked it and she is SO picky! I added one apple to mine - I peeled and cut it up into very small pieces so that it seemed like there was a lot in there. I did have to drink my coffee with no cream for the E breakfast which was hard but it worked out fine. Anyway, I'm rambling, back to my experiment. I tested at 1 hour, 2 hour and 3 hour after the oatmeal and my BS was basically the same - it was 115, 112 and 110 (which on my meter, all those are probably around 100 or 101 if it were to have been done in a lab) - SO, I am very pleased that the oatmeal and apple did not spike my BS!! That really encourages me as I was very nervous about the E meals.
Trish glad you liked the GGMS! I am liking it alot too. I tried another new drink today that is called The Shrinker - it is kind of like an iced chai tea. I did not love, love, love it but I drank the entire thing and will make it again (especially since I went to the trouble of finding the Oolong tea at Big Lots!) - here is a link in case you want to look at it - there is no ACV in this, it has cayenne in it though which is supposed to rev up thermagenesis and the oolong somehow makes you burn more calories. There is also another drink called the Singing Canary - I have not looked it up yet to see what is in it but I see alot of people posting about drinking it to fight off colds. The idea with all these drinks is they are called "sippers" and on this plan you can have them anytime as they do not cause the body to change fuel sources so you can drink them with meals or between meals. I was a little hungry after my baked oatmeal so I made that Shrinker and it got me through til lunch. Funny, since I had the oatmeal for breakfast I decided to make bacon and eggs for lunch, LOL! I was lacking in creativity and time! Here is a link to the three drinks in case you want to read more https://www.pinterest.com/pin/359302876493443726/
This week is so busy. I have three night classes this week - have had two the past two nights. I feel like it should be Friday and it is only Tuesday night!! Today I put boneless beef ribs in the crockpot so that I could spend a little more time with Olivia. I made those with a sugar free homemade BBQ sauce and added creamed spinach (which I have never made before or liked but it turned out good) and grain free biscuits that are meant to taste similar to the Red Lobster garlic biscuits. I also made mac and cheese (boxed) for Olivia and Mark. Mark said "this was the best meal you've made since before Christmas" - wow, I must have really been sucking in the cooking department, LOL! But, that is a real praise because Mark rarely has only positive things to say when I cook "my way". I did add the mac and cheese which is probably what made him okay with everything else but he even sent me a text while I was in class telling me how good it was - that is miraculous!
Oh and lastly, in case you have not seen them there is a new yogurt available now that is sweetened with Stevia. It is called Oikos Triple O and Walmart has them for $1/each. That is about average price for 'fancy' yogurt but I have seen some folks adding plain Greek yogurt to it to stretch it further as they say that it is a little too sweet. I think it is just the right sweetness so I eat mine as is but just wanted to share as it is nice to see companies trying other sweeteners than just the aspartame or sucralose. Yogurt is yet another thing I had not eaten for a very long time that is fun new addition. These have 9 net carbs so they are considered an E unless you just eat half the container in which case they can be an S dessert or snack which can be eaten with or in close proximity to an S meal. (I know all these E and S references make me sound crazy but writing it out and explaining it to you all helps me solidify what I am learning for myself so thank you for indulging all my cryptic posts!)
Last edited by Shannonsnail; 02-03-2015 at 11:41 PM.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 12,394
S/C/G: 217/179/142
Height: 5'2
Well, my ACV experiment failed big time last night. First of all, I didn't drink much of it during the day because I was out shopping most of the day. Then we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I had roast chicken, broccoli, and a salad. No potato. I did taste a piece of a roll at DH's insistence because he said the butter didn't have any cinnamon in it. I tasted cinnamon. When I got home I drank some ACV water. I got diarrhea from something I ate. When I went to bed BS was 169. I drank some ACV water at bedtime but this morning my BS was 230!! I have no idea why. I really doubt that the small piece of roll I ate would cause that much of a spike, plus we ate at 4-5PM. Any spike should have happened before then. I don't know what is going on. It is really keeping my BS down during the day. I will continue with it.
Shannon, adding a carb side dish usually satisfies DH when the main course is low carb. When I made the hot sausage last week he said "It was really good, just remember what you did!" LOL The last time I made it, it was rubbery.
The one thing I thought of right away with THM is that I would never be able to eat a slice of my low carb toast with my eggs in the AM. I do that less than once a week if I get up and have low FBS, but I know I don't want to give up that occasional treat. The egg is protein, but it is also fat.
Trish, I agree with Mad that our bodies are made to have some protein, fat and carb each day, but the American diet has distorted our thinking about portions. Some diets go to extremes with eliminating carbs or fats totally or adding extra fat. It might help with weight loss in the beginning, but long term I don't think we are supposed to eliminate anything completely. I think "all things in moderation" works just as well. I think if we go back to basics and realize what a portion is supposed to be we would be better off. I speak for myself, because I think portion control is my biggest problem and I just can't seem to break that. I know that last night at Texas Roadhouse I ate way more than 3-4 oz of chicken, but in my mind I was thinking roasted chicken is low carb and lower fat and it's OK to eat more. Sometimes when I start to eat dinner I feel satisfied after several bites, but I don't feel that I ate enough so I keep on eating. The more I eat the more I want, and then I end up over eating. My husband only orders a 6 oz sirloin, which is a very small portion for a man, and he never eats it all. He never has a clean plate after eating except for dessert. LOL That's one of his good habits that I did not pick up! LOL
You can also cook greens in a little bit of chicken broth, too, rather than using fat. I do that sometimes and it's tasty.
Mad, I'm glad you are doing better. When DH was on narcotic pain meds he got very constipated and would not take anything for it, so I made jello and added some Miralax to it and it did the trick. I never told him I did that or he would never trust me again.
Carol Sue, that is an awesome way to get the miralax in! I can't have jello (citric acid related to citrus, = allergic reaction) or I would totally do that.
Things are moving along today, and I will keep taking it daily for a bit to keep things moving.
I would like to talk about meal planning and food tracking.
Its one of the reasons I had trouble with weight watchers.
Mentally, I am trying NOT to obsess about food, and tracking makes me feel very obsessive. People I know on WW seem quite obsessed about food and points.
I am trying to plan enough in advance (1-2 meals) to be able to stay on plan without getting overly into it. IS THIS CRAZY? will I never be successful if I don't track and plan everything in advance.
I try to keep things simple, breakfast is yoghurt with holy crap or skinny ***** cereal, and a serving of frozen berries. Yes, almost everyday, eggs for breakfast just once a week. I am doing similar with lunches, trying to make them simple and similar, without being too boring. That leaves mostly suppers to plan, and I can do that one or two days at a time. We like to shop "fresh" so I don't have a lot in the fridge to tempt me.
so give me your opinions about meal planning.
thanks friends
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 12,394
S/C/G: 217/179/142
Height: 5'2
Mad, here's what I think about meal planning. For me, part of my problem is I start out the day so well, but by the time the day is over I have eaten too much, and the wrong foods. If I would plan my day, even going so far to plug the plan into Fitday or MFP, I would account for whatever calorie level, carb level, or fat level that I want for myself. As it is, I plug the food in at the end of the day, then I see where I went over. This could be hard for me to do because I have to take into consideration what DH wants for supper, and he would not want to make that decision at 8 AM. LOL But I could try to do it, and eventually I might be out of the habit of overeating and wouldn't have to do it anymore. It would come natural. Since DH needs carbs, mainly potatoes, every night, I have learned to just omit them for myself, or maybe have a very small portion.
My biggest problem is after dinner. This morning I woke up with that high blood sugar. I took a glimiperide and ate eggs with cut up broccoli for breakfast. My husband made roasted vegetables for lunch so I ate some of them. Then I walked 25 min on the treadmill. When I tested before dinner my sugar was at 116, which pleased me. Now that I have eaten dinner, I am planning another walk around 7:30 and then will test again at bedtime to see how I did. I have been drinking the ACV water but not as much as the past two days in case it was the cause of my tummy problems. I know that the walking should help, but I have to make myself do it. The main thing is to keep myself from eating again today.
EDIT: I just plugged my food into Fitday. Calories 1497, fat 67gm, carbs 118gm, protein 116 gm. That is at the very top of my desired levels.
The thing about WW is if you don't mind figuring out the points for everything you automatically eat the right amount of food as long as you stay within your points. But that's pretty much the same as calorie counting, to me. I hated trying to figure out the points for things I cook at home. I don't eat many packaged foods, where the nutrition info is right on the package. I think once you are sticking to a plan, it will become second nature to eat the right amount. Planning will help you learn that.
Today someone mentioned SF Popsicles and Fudge Bars. I will have to keep them in mind for when the weather warms up a little. Spring is just around the corner!!
Last edited by Wannabehealthy; 02-04-2015 at 05:11 PM.
Shannon, adding a carb side dish usually satisfies DH when the main course is low carb. When I made the hot sausage last week he said "It was really good, just remember what you did!" LOL The last time I made it, it was rubbery.
The one thing I thought of right away with THM is that I would never be able to eat a slice of my low carb toast with my eggs in the AM. I do that less than once a week if I get up and have low FBS, but I know I don't want to give up that occasional treat. The egg is protein, but it is also fat.
Carol Sue In S meals you are allowed up to 10 grams net carbs. Technically only 6 grams net carbs should be from processed food but if your bread is 10 grams net then it would be fine.
My FBS was 111 today (yay!). I was really happy to see that bc it was 134 when I went to bed and I was not sure why other than having class and going 5 hours before eating again. I had an early morning meeting and was only able to drink coffee. So when it got done I was STARVING!!! Thank God for Moe's - I was able to get a nice filling S meal there and then run errands.
I had a bad thing happen today and I am so angry. I took my THM book (600 pages) to be split and spiral bound at the Staples. The recipes are in the middle of the book so I was essentially pulling those out into a separate book to keep in the kitchen. I got home and the pages are in the wrong order and punched on the wrong side in some cases. I called the manager and she did this whole "we can fix it" speech but I want my book replaced. It's a $30 book and I paid $10 to have it split.
Tonight I am cooking the pizzas with the bread I cold fermented. I will check BS before and after at several marks and let you know how it goes. I am highly skeptical but we shall see.
Last edited by Shannonsnail; 02-04-2015 at 05:21 PM.
Seems we all agree about the fat. I mostly use the good fats and the only one I use that the books say are bad is the Coconut Oil. I don't use all that much, but I do use enough in my food plan. I just try not to go too high or too low. I just find it interesting that the thought out there about it doesn't always see the importance of fat in the nutrition. Thanks for sharing your ideas. I know when I don't get enough, my hair gets dry and nails chip. I also know if I eat too much like I did for a while I problems with diarrhea. So it needs to be balanced.
Mad I don't plan mainly I don't count calories, points etc because I found that it worked against me. I think eating when I'm hungry and not eating when I'm not is important. I tried calorie counting using MyFitnessPal because my doctor told me about it. My problem was that when I wasn't hungry and didn't eat 1200 calaories, it would give me all the info. It just said I wasn't eating enough. I had the same problem in WW because they insist you eat the amount of pts they give you. I finally realized that they were teaching me overeat because when I was left to myself I did fine, but when I ate as much as they told me too then it seemed to trigger something I ended up eating out of control. I only make what DH and I are going to eat at the meal and fix our plates without leftovers to tempt us.
My hubby is like Carol Sue's in he fact that he is picky and he likes to eat out more than I do and sometime this is a problem for me. I just try to work around it as much as I can.
Shannon Thanks for sharing the websites. I will check them out tomorrow. Sorry about the botched up job with your book. I would be upset too. The reason I haven't bought the book yet is the price. But I am thinking about getting it. If it continues to work so well for you, I may go ahead and get it when I can.
Ladies, I have something to share with y'all about my day. DH and I attended the funeral of a precious lady in our church. She was the oldest of 4 sisters and one brother. I didn't know about the brother until I read the obituary. But I had talked to her years ago in a small group meeting we were in together at church. We as a group were talking about diets etc. After I talked to her about what she ate because she had mentioned that she was diabetic, but she had it under control. She ate low carb which when she told me a typical day plan of what she ate, I realized she ate almost like the Dr.Bernstien Diet. I went to her funeral because her sister is a sweetie and always hugging me and telling me she loves me when I see her on Sunday mornings and just had to be there for her. Her funeral was more of a celebration to honor her life and I left feeling like I had blessed like I had never been blessed by her life as that is what Pastor shared with us. All of her accomplishments.
This lady turned 97 on December 18th. When she was 18 she worked in Child Evangelism and worked in that association for years. O how I wish I had known that when she was living. I worked with them when I was in my mid 20s. But this woman had a BA degree from a Bible College and then got another degree at the age of 45 and got her Masters when she was 58. She announced to her family one day that she had decided that she wanted to see the United States and wanted to do it from an RV. Her kids told her that she couldn't travel across the country by herself. She said "I've already bought the RV and I'm going" and she did. He said one she told her family one time that she was going to Hawaii and when they told her she couldn't that she said "I've already bought the tickets and I'm going". I almost forgot to tell you that she must have made the RV trip after her 1st husband died because Pastor said when she got to California that she met her second husband and married him and lived there for 7 yrs and they traveled. They came back here to live and she took care of him until he died just a few years ago.
She and her sisters ate lunch everyday between 11 to noon at Wendy's. He said if you wanted to meet with her and talk to her she would have you meet them for lunch at Wendy's. Interesting. She told me she always ate a salad for lunch.
In her life time she wrote children's books, wrote biographies for the Moody Institute. She worked for a company that used to be here for in this own for 15 yrs helping people find jobs that they would be good at doing and enjoy. This woman was amazing.
I share this because she was diabetic and accomplished so much including controlling her diabetes. And she lived to be 97 years old and evidently had a stroke just a few days as she was in hospice and Pastor said she was blessed because he didn't have to be there but a couple of days before she went home to be with the Lord. I felt so blessed to hear her life story. Her family was so happy that she didn't have to suffer long and passed peacefully. They are all amazing people.
I left there with my faith so strong that I don't have to die young with diabetes because I can learn to control it and live healthy productive life. I know it can be done because she did it. She is my inspiration and my proof that it has been done. I just had to share this with you and say... Ladies let us not give up. We can do this if we just keep working at finding how to make it work for us.
Goodnight. See ya tomorrow.
Last edited by pattygirl63; 02-04-2015 at 11:14 PM.
