My FBS was 128 this morning. Last night before dinner it was only 118! So I am feeling positive. I am probably going to see my doctor today, earlier then expected but my therapist thinks I should so I can up some other meds I am on. So I am happy that I have some lower numbers to show the doctor.


Trish I so love the idea of IE. I think that is my goal someday to be able to do that. Right now my body/mentality is so screwed up no way I could. I am still in the whole bored=hungry mind frame and I lost my you are full switch lol I am so glad it can work for you!

Shannon my niece is far more shy around men then women. Men can be big and scary lol Plus I think for most younger kids they meet far more women then men overall. But I would probably worry too its so scary to even imagine.

Dgramie, I'm glad you are feeling better. The no lifting is hard when you're dealing with kids. My step son and dil both had surgery when my grandson was 1. That was a fiasco. Everyone was taking turns going to their house to help out during that time, including a neighbor. They got through it.

Shannon, I'm glad you feel secure that no one is harming Olivia. Things like that scare me. My gs had issues with swimming when he was 4, but when he was 5 it all clicked and now he is a pretty good swimmer. It didn't have anything to do with an instructor, it was the water itself that scared him.

I think the Folic Acid was what stressed my psoriasis because they both started around the same time. The only other thing that occurred around that time was the addition of Amaryl, and that is not indicated as a problem. Already, my psoriasis is not as itchy, burnie.

Try Again, I think you are on the right track. The more you learn about this disease they better off you are. Somehow it makes you feel less afraid of it when you are informed.

Trish, I also think I did IE most of my life. It wasn't until I got into too many carbs that I started to binge on them. No carbs, no binge. I find the group on the IE thread to be a little cliquie. It might be because I seem to clash with one of the posters, even when we post together on other threads. I tend to stay away from her because I doubt if we will ever agree. She is entitled to her opinion, but so am I.

Also, I think I am trending toward CAD. I am pretty set with carb free breakfast and lunch. Occasionally I will have my high fiber toast with eggs, but not often. If I eat carbs at all it is at dinner, such as the rice that was in the stuffed peppers last night. We only had a little bit of rice upstairs and neither of us felt like going down to the storage area to get a new box, so DH handed me the brown rice and said "Use this." I was shocked. I mixed it in with the small amount of white rice I had left. He couldn't tell the difference, so I guess I can use brown rice for things when I want to and he will be OK with it. My results at the doctor really impressed him so he just might change his eating. He has been cutting back after the weight he lost when he had the shingles, and he is continuing to lose. This morning I enjoyed looking at him because his waist of his jeans is now going around his waist instead of under his belly. He looks very good. He loses weight so easily. Cutting back on food doesn't seem to bother him at all.

Today I'm working on some de-cluttering around here.

Carol Sue and Moonkissed I have been afraid of trusting myself to do IE, but since I ate sensibly on my trip it made me realize that if I really gave it a chance that it could work for me again because it is so "normal" to me. However, since I have been in the habit of eating "normal" according to most people which is too many carbs for me, I will have to work at breaking that habit. I think it starts with throwing out some of the "diet" ideas/lies I've been made to believe like you must eat some of this or you can't eat that and you absolutely must eat 3 meals and/or 3 snacks a day. Well, I never did that when I was thin and I was healthy so obviously that isn't true.

I have to admit that the past few weeks since I've been back home that I obviously gone overboard on the carbs. I say that because I have a tendency to get a rash when I eat more carbs than my body will tolerate. Also the weight goes up really easy. I suddenly realized that IE fits anywhere even with low carb eating. I noticed some of the IE-ers even use some sort of tracking even of pts, calories, carbs etc.

I know I am never going to be a total Atkins type of low carber. I wish I could because there are a lot of meats that I absolutely love like avocados, baby back ribs etc that are no problem eating on Atkins. However, also like you Carol Sue, I know there are times I want toast with my eggs or a baked or nuked (not often) potato with steak which I think that is where CAD could fit into my plan. I always go back to Dana Carpander's book where she ate low carb similar to Atkins about 90% of the time but allowed herself carbs which she chose ahead of time for special occasions like an anniversary or birthday. This is why I think using CAD on some days and more of an Atkins way of eating most days which I believe can be done intuitively could very well work. I've decided to give it a try and see. I figure if I'm not going to lose weight very fast any way then why not create a plan of my own that will make that part of my life more doable.

Carol Sue I think I know who you are talking about. I have run into her before on some other threads and she is extremely critical of everything everyone does. I'm not sure what her problem is, but I just don't talk to her any more. In fact, I usually won't even post on threads where I see her because I'm not interested in what she thinks about what I do. After all, we know that "One Size"doesn't fit all even in dieting so what ever her problem is, I'm not allowing it to become mine. That's why I mostly lurk on other threads.

This morning, I got up and decided that I used to be a routine/organized personality. I need to use those traits in developing and creating my own plan. Today is going to be a low carb day not CAD. Intuitively I just wanted an Atkins shake for breakfast with my coffee. I've got to get a handle on this nighttime eating that I've fallen into lately so, I've got steak out for our main meal and have a couple of chicken legs thawing and I since I didn't have my eggs this morning, I plan an omelet or scrambled eggs later tonight. I really need a few days of more Atkins eating to get a handle on getting rid of the high carbs I've been eating lately.

I wonder, am I ever going to get this down to a science or am I ALWAYS going to be tweaking. FBS was 135 this morning which was a miracle to me with the way I ate yesterday especially last night. Weight was up to 224. I HAVE to get my head on straight and get this going the other direction. I was doing so good BEFORE my trip. I know I can do it again.

Sorry, I guess I did a lot of ranting and thinking out loud.

Love you Chickies. Y'all are the best. I think we have the BEST thread on here.

Have a great day.

Trish, you don't really have to do any one plan. It can just be your own plan, taking the best of the best. I, too, am getting away from the 3 meals a day. This morning I wasn't hungry and then we went shopping and didn't come back until 1:00PM. I ate my eggs then. No lunch. DH wants to go out for dinner, so we will go around 4:30. I want to start letting myself get hungry. I want to experience what it feels like. For so long I have eaten by the clock and most of the time never actually felt hunger pains. I will not let myself get to the point of starving, because that's when you overeat. But having my stomach growl and feel a little bit hungry is not going to kill me. When I had my bowel surgery I was not allowed any food for 6 days. The first 2 days where bad, but then my body accepted that I wasn't getting any food. I was in the hospital under medical supervision and I was on intervenous saline for hydration. I was not even allowed to take my pills by mouth or even swallow water. I survived, and lost 15 lbs. Not that I would do that now, but I want to be able to feel those hunger pangs and know that I am truly eating because I need nutrients. Keep on tweaking! When you lose some weight, you know you did something right.

Decent day so far. Still doing tons of research. I'm trying to figure out which way to go. I've got e-mails out & have left messages with people in the area of nutrition for diabetics. Also lot of online research. Sometimes I feel like my head is about to pop!!!
I do have a question for everyone. What exercise has helped you most? I'm looking for something a little more than walking. I love my walks, but I don't know if it's doing "enough".
Please keep in mind these few factors: not a lot money to spend, nearly 50, 100+ lbs overweight & do battle sciatica at times. So whatcha got for me? Video suggestions are welcomed! Looked at all the ones here at the library & overwhelmed. Thanks!!!

Carol Sue Eleven and a half years ago when I married DH, I read about people who ate only when hungry like IE, but we didn't have that term back then or at least I had never heard of it. I read about people who would not eat until they felt hunger pangs and when they ate they ALWAYS left one bite of food on their plate. So I decided to make those 2 rules mine. I lost weight easily without any problems. I didn't lose fast, but I did lose without any real problems. I never really worried about what I ate good/bad foods but I never seemed to want much unhealthy or junk foods. DH always kept a large bag of chips nearby in the tv room to eat a few bites when he wanted them. He would take his Mother to the doctor and come back with a hamburger just for him because I just didn't want any of those things to eat. I don't know when those things started creeping back into my diet. However, I really was never ON a diet back then. I was just eating when hungry. I think things changed when I decided to join some "diet" groups on line. Strange. Isn't it?

I've had a fairly good day today. I had the Atkins shake this morning and then later had a tomato, then nothing else until around 2 or 2:30. I had a couple of chicken legs and asperagus and raw veggies around 6:30. I have been wanting pop corn for a few days now and decided to go ahead and have some for a snack tonight. I know when I keep wanting it like have lately that I had better go ahead and satisfy that hunger so that I won't end up going on a binge eating something I really don't want.

MrsTryingAgain I'm sorry but I'm not much help on exercise right now. I know I have to get back to it, but I'm in a slump on that right now. I've used tapes over the years and my stationary bike is really good for my knees when I do it, but I just haven't been able to get myself back to it since returning from my trip. Right now I do some exercises they showed DH to do after his neck surgery. They seem to help my back. I do those before I get out of bed each morning. My other exercise is house work each day. I really have to work at getting back on my bike. Sorry, I'm not helpful.

Well, I'm getting tired so I will close off for tonight and catch y'all tomorrow.

What is CAD?

Carbohydrate Addicts Diet....if I'm not mistaken. I read it a long time ago and think it advocated eating low carb except for one hour out of the day. Is that right ladies?

Yes Shannon that is right.

The the way CAD works is that you are to eat low carb meals and sometime snacks if needed which they do not call low carb but it is called Craving-reducing meals/snacks. There is a list of the foods you eat during these meals/snacks. Then during the one hour meal called a Reward Meal which consists of your carby foods. However, ideally it consists of at least a 2 cup salad with dressing of your choice and then you visualize your plate divided into thirds and eat 1/3 protein, 1/3 veggie and 1/3 starches. You don't have to count calories or carbs, but if you want seconds you still have to use the 1/3 division of foods. I used this years ago when I would low carb most of the time, but use this when eating out. Some of the people that I've seen who make this work for them have done it by counting calories any way.

The theory is that the Craving-reducing foods (low carb) meals/snacks do not raise blood sugar. However when you eat carby foods during the Reward Meal your blood sugar spikes as soon as you start eating carbs. Supposedly you will get only 1 spike during the 1 hour of a carby meal before you will have another spike in blood sugar. Thus the reason for 1 carby meal called the Reward Meal a day which means you control your blood sugar spikes yourself. I've never tested blood to see if this really works or not. Perhaps I should just make it a project to see if it is true.

Way back when I was never able to stick to CAD because I liked toast with my eggs at breakfast, but then when I made dinner, I had to make potatoes for DH and I would end up eating them. This was all before I was diagnosed with diabetes. Now I have learned to enjoy my eggs with mushrooms, and other veggies mixed in, and no bread. The only time there are any carbs in my diet is at dinner, and sometimes I indulge and sometimes I don't. So I consider myself to be on CAD somewhat. I think the diet was originally for people who needed low carb, but did not want to give up the carbs altogether. The reward meal is supposed to be the same meal every day, but I heard that they changed that rule recently.

Mrs Trying Again, the best exercise is one that you will stick to consistantly. I like walking on my treadmill and using my elliptical. I have heard that although the higher intensity is best for weight loss, it stresses the body, and stress can raise your blood sugar. So, low to moderate is best for glucose control. I can't prove that, but I have heard that. If you want to use exercise videos, Walk Away The Pounds is good. You can control your intensity and the steps are simple and easy to follow. Personally, I find it a little boring, but it's a nice switch from plain walking. More like walking in place. I also have some old Richard Simmons videos. He tends to be a little corny, but I find that he lifts my spirits and makes me want to do it. Also, easy to follow. I don't know if they still sell them, but I see them at flea markets and thrift stores.

I had my BS as 117 before bed and FBS this morning of 113! Go me!

I had a very bad binge yesterday for lunch though It was so bad I actually made myself sick & throwing up. Which has never happened before. Maybe because I have been eating so much less/better lately that the binge was a bit of a shock to the system. idk. But i can't change what happened only learn from it and move on. I am hopefully seeing my doctor today about upping my happy meds lol so hopefully that will help me balance my mood and stay binge free.

Thanks for the explanation of CAD. I always thought it was key to balance the carbs? Like we are supposed to eat the same amount for every meal. Not that I do that lol

I love carbs. I could never go really low carb. It is a struggle for me to not just eat nothing but carbs lol I am a huge pasta/bread addict. And they trigger binges so it is a love/hate relationship. I try to just be moderate with them. Like I still have a slice of toast with my eggs but not 2. Or I eat just one portion of pasta instead of all of the pasta lol

Moonkissed, if you can eat a balanced diet and still control your blood sugar and weight, go for it! That is what the ADA and diabetes educators tell us to strive for, but everyone is different, and what works for one does not necessarily work for all. You will see us make that statement here repeatedly. Are you taking a log of your blood sugar readings to the doctors? I think he will be very pleased! You are doing well.

I love carbs too, but I cannot eat them at every meal unless it is a very small amount. Bread is like poison for me. I could eat a loaf of bread at one sitting and not blink an eye. So I do best by avoiding it altogether. I'm pretty much the same with pasta, but pasta does not spike my BS the way bread does. My husband always tell me I did not cook enough pasta, but there is always a lot leftover and guess who eats it? LOL I tested lasagne and a reasonable portion does not spike my BS. I think that's because of all the meat and cheese. The protein and fat offsets the carbs in the noodles. Some people cannot cut way back on carbs because it causes them to feel deprived and they end up binging on them. If you can do moderate, good for you!

Moonkissed good job on the FBS! I think ours are inversely related. Yours is going down and mine is going up! I second what Carol Sue said, if you can eat the carbs and keep your BS down, go for it! I have an eating disorder that responds horrifically to tracking calories so eating low carb with no tracking is the only method of losing weight that has worked for me and it lowered my BS. Unfortunately now when I do eat carbs my BS spikes worse than before. I'm not sure if it's bc I've become more sensitive to carbs or bc my insulin resistence worsened somehow as I was losing weight and eating less carbs. I still have about 40 lbs to lose so we'll see.

Ladies, ya'll were talking about arthritis, etc flares, well, I do not have any official diagnosis but I 've had a long history of repetitive use pain in my joints. Elbows, wrists and fingers being the main ones. Right now I'm having alot of pain in my index finger from using my iPad. I need to force myself to post from my laptop (or my bluetooth keypboard that hooks up to my iPad) but I keep getting out my iPad since it's so convenient. Probably need to do what ya'll were talking about and post once a day and do it from my laptop!

We are going to see 2 houses later today, one repeat from my last trip and another we were supposed to see last time but missed somehow. I'm nervous about liking a house again or rather settling my mind on it being a good choice and again ending up with it going under contract. It's just really emotional for me. I don't like being in limbo when I want to be settled by Sept. I want Olivia to be able to start preschool in Sept and not have to change schools after that. She doesn't transition well. I am happy to share that after initially being scared and crying at her swim lesson yesterday, she did really well and was fine for about 75% of the lesson. She was even smiling by the end. I'm hoping she is past her fear now.

I finally had a 100% on plan day yesterday after almost a week off plan. My FBS was 122 today. Not good. I miss the days where it was 105 every day. Oh well, maybe in a few more weeks it will lower again. My weight is about a pound over my previous low so hopefully the scale is getting with the program too. I need to start taking something regularly to help with constipation so that does not happen again. It was very uncomfortable. Ladies in my low carb group suggested several things so I need to decide the best thing I will stick to. I also need to work on water intake.

When I read the first book that the Heller's wrote, I was impressed with their stories of how they discovered this way of eating. Rachel was scheduled for some kind of test that she had to fast for. She had never fasted and knew she could not so she had scheduled to be tested early so she could eat breakfast right after. She got a call that morning that they had to change her to later in the day. She was petrified. She carries some food (can't remember what) around with her all day at work. She was a psychiatrist or psychologist. She decided if fasting became unbearable that she would eat. To her surprise, she made it through fast and the test. As soon as she left she went directly to a restaurant and ate what she wanted and even ordered a dessert. She was shocked the next morning to find that she had not gained weight as expected but she had lost weight. So she decided to experiment and try it again. She began to lose weight easily by eating only one meal a day. I think she even had lab work done and her health was improving.

Richard's story came from him being a scientist. He studied and figured out that low carb diets worked, but he felt there were other foods we needed to be healthy. When they met and found their stories were similar and they married. The developed the CAD way of eating. You can eat 1 meal, 2 meals or 3 meals and up to 3 snacks but only one will consist of carby foods. Of course they don't call the other meals low carb, but after doing low carb diets I realized that is what they were.

I identified with her because I never ate breakfast when I was growing up. There was a time when I ate only 2 meals a day and then there was a time in my life when I ate only 1 meal a day and I lost weight quickly. Now that I am diabetic, I can't seem to do 1 meal a day. Wish I could, I lose 1 lb a day doing it. However, at my age, I don't need to lose that quickly. Right now I just need to organize myself to eat 2 low carb and 1 carby (RM) a day.

It works, I know it works. I just have to get myself back to it. BTW, I've decided to use my testing materials and see if it is all really true. My FBS was 158 this morning. No surprise as I ate everything in the world even when I wasn't really hungry. That's why I put that little reminder in my signature. I read it somewhere and adopted it as my new reminder. If you ate when your not hungry, you just overate. That is for me girls. Any way, I'm going to work at doing CAD today and maybe if I do testing before and after each of my meals, I can get back on it. I'll give the results to y'all tomorrow.

Have a good one and I'll check back later.

Rennie Where are you? You wouldn't let me be missing this long without checking on me. So check in girl.

Shannon CONGRATS on the 100% OP day. I'm going to try to make today a 100% OP day too. I'm proud of you girl.