I recommend the Green Giant Essential. These little microwavable steam packs are convenient and come in perfect sized portions for one or two. Yes they are expensive, but so is throwing stuff out. I like the omega 3 and fibre types best.
try them

:bravo: for you, Mr. Z ~ no pressure, no pressure -- you can do it! You will make those ladies proud of you and I will send up some ^prayers^ for you ... Break a leg ... oh no, on second thought ... don't break a leg ... :lol: uhmmm ... ok, how 'bout just plain old ... GOOD LUCK!!! :D


We had lovely :sunny: and nice temps in the 60-70's today; very nice. Just stayed home and did stuff around here. Hope you all have a great Sunday ... Rosebud :flow1:

Well, the race didn't kill me but it left me with old man legs. My teammates and I went out to lunch after the race and now I'm gonna crash. Perhaps I will dream of happier times when my legs didn't feel so sore. ;)

YOU DID IT!:carrot:
that is great news. GOod for you. It will get easier over time as you keep getting into shape. hurray

Thanks for the rationale for buying those steam packs, Mad. I have avoided them because of the price but will swallow my frugality (Is that a word?) and try them out. I've been doing a bit better lately with spinach and asparagus from my garden.

Good going, Mr Z. I hope you are proud of yourself.

Rosebud, I hope your great weather continues. It sure beats two weeks ago with snow and the frost last week.

I'm plugging along keeping BGL and weight steady. This body management job is tricky but I may be getting the hang of it. I've been planning better and starting evening meal prep in the morning which helps. My life is way too chaotic these days but I'm hanging in there.

more nsv's
 

One of my NSV's this week is just eating good snacks. I have been really good about setting aside food at the beginning of the week that I can just pack and go quick. I have been taking my lunches and snacks, and eating them.
Its sounds funny that eating is an NSV, but actually its eating right. By not getting too hungry, I have avoided going off plan quite nicely.

Also today, I stepped on the scale, and was another 1/2 pound down, and decided to try on a pair of slack I bought last year as I was losing weight, just before I put the weight back on while under stress. The fit, and fit well. Not just holding it in and sucking it in to make the zipper do up.

The looked great. Thats from a pair exactly the same in size 14 that I have been wearing for the last year. This pair of size 12's is the same, so no one will know that they are smaller but me, unless I tell them.

It really feels like I will get below 170 in the next month, and I will get into some cute summer shorts to enjoy this year.

Fatmad, that's a great food NSV! Healthy lunches and snacks can be half the battle. Planning really makes a difference.

And I love it when "small" clothes become "fitting" clothes!

I came home last night to find my husband in bed with a migraine and Pizza Hut Pasta Alfredo on the counter for dinner. Way too carby for me normally, but he just couldn't cook, bless his heart. I considered cooking something for myself, but it was so late (the train was delayed almost 45 minutes) and I was SO hungry. So I measured out 3/4 of a cup, beefed it up with veggies and a bit of protein, and enjoyed a bourbon with it. This morning's FBG was 95, so it didn't linger overlong like pasta dinners sometimes do for me. I should have measured my 2-hour pp after eating it, to see what the spike was, but I completely missed it (Glee was on).

Today I'm back to my normal eating plan.

Synger, I totally understand the late evening, too tired and hungry to eat right feeling. I get that a lot with work and it throws me off plan all too regularly.
It why I need to plan food so much better.
YOu were really good about measuring it out and adding healthy stuff, no wonder you did ok.
My sugars are staying fine too.

BUtterbutt, you were talking about sore legs with the metformin. Last time we were chatting here, I had had a sore leg, (just one, not both) and have been taking extra b vitamins ever since. Placebo effect maybe, but a few hours after taking the b (for the folate) my leg felt better and has stayed fine.
I will take a healthy placebo response anytime. Wish it worked for sugars and I could just "believe" my sugars will be normal and it would be so.....
LOL
Have a good evening everyone.

Been holding the line on BGL and also on weight. :( I have been planning (and eating) my meals better though. Right now I have delicious asparagus soup in the fridge - delicious cold with a swirl of yogurt and chopped red pepper.

Having a very good week with my eating and keeping busy with gardening, housechores, walking, and toning exercises, etc. We had a few really hot days there, but it's much nicer today; enjoyable to sit out on the porch for awhile this aft with our dear Fido ... ;)

Glad to hear you are all doing so well too; for all our Canadian friends, have a great long weekend ... Rosebud :flow1:

Ruth, your soup sounds delicious. Rosebud, you are inspiring me to go to the nursery tomorrow and get some annuals to put in the garden. I am on call and working the long weekend, but hope to get some gardening in.
I expect to be busy, but hope not too busy for some fresh air and sun.

Gardening is so good for the body and soul! I spent an hour at a greenhouse yesterday - shopping for ME, not my various "contracts".

Food is planned for today and should keep me balanced. I really must drink more water though. I think I need a permanent IV!

Today is my first day of going onto slimfast. I'm doing this for two weeks to see what effects it has on my blood sugar and weight. Then, after that, I am going to do two weeks on the same "diet", but the supermarket variety! Buying ovaltine and tinned soups/nutrigrain bars etc. Then after that, I am going to do two weeks on another diet called "celebrity slim". "Great tasting soups and shakes.." blah blah lol

What I eventually want to do is a write up on the effectiveness of each "diet", whilst factoring in cost and a few other factors. Considering that two tubs of slimfast cost me around $12, plus another $15 for two weeks of soups and the "1 week starter kit" for the Celebrity Slim diet costs nearly $65.

I've picked up this as an assignment for a "creative journalism" course I'm following. :)

I have been getting really active now that the sun is out! ^___^ The boys are suffering through the heat happily lol My two are fast asleep now, but unbeknownst to them, we are heading out for a 2 mile walk in about three hours lol! :)

Cassandra, this will be interesting, but is slimfast ok for diabetics?
I guess I am thinking of the old days, where slimfast was low fat high carbs (read sugar) plans.
For me, I am still sticking to plan (atkins), although the scale hasn't moved this week after being oh so very good.

Part of the research I want to do is how it affects blood sugar. There are 35g of Carbs per serving of Slimfast (2 scoops of powder & 250ml semi-skimmed milk). Most of that is indeed sugar.

I'll tell you one thing, I took my normal dose of insulin, and ingested (no way could I ever say I "enjoyed" it) the slimfast shake (got out my martini shaker for the first time in ages!) between 10am and 10:30am. X___x Less than a hour after I finished it up, I felt immensely high and wouldn't you know it, I was. I will be taking two metformin alongside any "shake" type breakfast from now on X____x

Cassandra - Your planned experiments sound very interesting and I hope you will post your results when complete. In your previous post, you mentioned using 2 scoops of powdered Slimfast in 250 ml of semi-skimmed milk. Is this correct? When I checked the nutritional information for Slimfast, the serving size is 1 scoop for 250 ml of milk. If you are indeed using 2 scoops, that would equate to 60 g of total carbs (not discounting the 8 g of fiber) and 48 g of sugar. Yikes! I was also surprised to see that sugar was listed as the number one ingredient (number two for the high protein mix). Please, keep us posted. I love reading about diabetics and their food experiments.

The weather here is nice and sunny. :beach: I've been really busy with yard work and getting a rental unit fixed up to put back into the market. My lawnmower died and I'm debating on whether to get it fixed or buying a new one. It's almost 10 years old. Does anyone use or have used a manual push mower (old school type with just the blades and no engine)? I am seriously considering one since I would love to be able to cut the grass in either the wee hours of the morning or late at night when the temperature is nice and cool outside. Plus, I wouldn't have to worry about the noise bothering my neighbors. Have a great weekend everyone. :)

MR. Z ~ oddly enuff, when I was younger and single; I bought one of those type of lawn mowers from Sears (being that I was a woman and was unsure of the gas kind; as how to maintain & repair them). It worked fine at first when the blades were sharp but they got dull and harder to push. You are a big strong guy so you shouldn't have any problem with that. It was fine for my front yard but harder on bumpy uneven grass in the back yard, and not good for long grass at all (it twines around the blades) so you must do it regularly. If you can sharpen the blades yourself and you have smooth lawns, you may like it and I suppose the technology is much better now than in the past. Another advantage is that you also don't have to buy gas either.

Later on, I bought a second-hand regular mower; and the kind soul that I am, I lent it to a relative who broke it. After that, I hired someone ... hehe. Then my DH got a self-propelled one as he has bad shoulders; and now our landlord does it for us. A friend of mine got an electric one as they were less complicated and smaller (thus easier to push), but I think they still make some noise though and they are cheaper than the gas ones so he really liked them. Sorry, if this is TMI -- sometimes, I ramble a bit ... :lol:


CASANDRA ~ you are a brave girl trying out those plans; and good advice from MR. Z about watching the sugar in those meal replacement drinks. It is an interesting experiment though ... ;)

Gotta go make dinner and help DH find his keys; he lost them somewhere ... again ... oh dear ... R :flow1:

EDIT 2 ADD: found the keys right where he left 'em ... ;)

Ah, lol you scared me for a second! X_____x My measurement was correct for the UK version of the product. It does not taste like the USA version that I grew up with as a child (sipping my dad's "chocolate milk" every morning before he left for work), it is pretty nasty if I do say so myself X____x I think my favourite growing up was the Chocolate Malt flavour. The instructions on my tub say "250ml skimmed milk + 2 level scoops of powder, shake well for 20 seconds and enjoy!"

So, I decided to actually start this on Monday, so it is easier for me to record :)

Good morning. It's a glorious May long weekend - Victoria Day - and I'm relaxing and enjoying it.

BGL is good and weight seems to have gone back to 191. Now to get it lower! I'm turning green from eating so much spinach from my garden.

It's already the start of another week. Where does the time go? This mornings FBG = 89. It's going to be another warm sunny day, low 70's F.

Cassandra - I didn't even think to consider that there might be a difference between the UK version and US version of Slimfast. It makes sense though, considering the different measuring standards (metric v non-metric). I hope your first day is going well.

Rosebud - Currently, I mow the lawn about every three to four days. It's just under an acre of yard (front and back). It's all flat except for a small area with a slight hill. I have a riding mower and was using the smaller self propelled gas mower for areas that the riding mower can't get to. With the manual push mower I would be willing to mow every other day. I don't bag the clippings. I use a mulching blade in hopes of allowing the extra organic material to help break up the clay soil. I'm still reasonably healthy without any major physical limitations so far (knock on wood). Plus, I wouldn't mind getting a little exercise while mowing. Your story about your husband's lost keys reminds me of my dad's daily coffee ritual. My father is permanently disabled and has short term memory problems. Each and every day, without fail, I will open the microwave and find a cold mug of coffee. In the beginning, I would always ask "who left their coffee in the microwave?" After awhile, it became obvious that it was always my dad. Sometimes he would reheat the same mug over and over again because he kept forgetting about it. Now, when I see the forgotten mug, I just reheat it and then tell him his coffee is almost ready. :D

just a couple of weeks ago you were telling us you weren't getting enough veggies! Funny how spring freshness makes everything more appetizing.

I have been sleeping most of the day after working all night, but got out in the sun on the deck for a bit to get some sun. maybe go for a walk this evening when it cools off. The drag of being on-call for a long weekend.

Had a carb craving with the sleep deprivation, had a little spike in BG to 8.1, the highest since I've been on the metformin. Thats with about 35g of carbs in the meal. (not so much right?)
I will have to watch the types of carbs, this was with an ice cream sandwich, (sugar alcohols and splenda, no sugar!) after a meat and veggies meal. A granola bar chaser did me in. Back to the low carb lifestyle after this.
hohum

Well, maybe it is the heat, but even with my metformin, over the last week or so I've been seeing higher morning levels (between 10 and 13) and higher night time levels (11-15) :( I don't know what to do about this, as I seem to be getting more and more insulin resistant.

Back to my Diabetes nurse it is, then! :( bah.

Good News From The Doctor's Office
 

My doctor's office called me today with the results of my most recent blood test. A1c is at 5.7 and the cholesterol is still high but lower than last time. :woohoo: Their suggestion was to keep doing what I'm doing. Now I'm just waiting for them to review my sleep study I did last week. It's been windy today, which has helped to keep things cool.

MAD ~ some of those bars and icecreams have POTATO STARCH in them which brings the carb count right back up to the sugar-filled ones.

CASANDRA ~ glad you have that Diabetes Nurse to help you along ... :hug:

RUTH ~ glad things are getting back on track again; I love to buy baby spinach, freeze it, and slice the frozen leaves into sauces and soups. I planted some in my garden along with swiss chard and my salad garden and in less than a week, it has already sprouted ... awesome!

MR. Z ~ that story about your DAD was so funny; not haha funny, but very interesting ... becuz my DH does the exact same thing all the time (my DH has memory issues too). He will also make a new cup of coffee and leave it on the table; his other favorite place is the microwave ... :lol: I often go hunting for him to tell him that he left his coffee, but he has already gone somewhere, so I save it for him as I hate to throw away that many coffees. BTW ... congrats on the good reports. :D

:flame: Another scorcher :flame: for us today -- up to 95 F today; haven't seen temps like this too often ... hope this changes soon. They are calling for some :rain: tonight; hope we get it to cool things down. Our young neighbour came over and helped DH put our other air conditioner in our front door and that is helping a lot.

Did some gardening in the early AM; good exercise for sure. We have some more flowers blooming and coming up. DH started the front beds again, as they had grown over from lack of use over the years (the last tenants weren't into gardening). Am thinking of some Irises or bush flowers of some type; will have to go hunting and see what I can find.

Hope you all have a great week ... Rosebud :flow1:

Just counting cals and carbs-need reality check. Sugars are better.:)

:welcome: CAROL ~ come back often; we'll try to help you as best we can ... :hug:


HI ELLEN ~ so nice to see you back here again! You know I was just reading about someone else in another forum who said a similar thing as you. Wonder why that is so? All this time they keep telling us it's the sugars and starches and that's that! Now I am hearing people say that they are on a low-fat vegetarian or vegan plan and their sugars are getting better. Wonder if it has something to do with our varied systems ... :shrug:


Well, it's :hot: out there again today, but just a bit less than yesterday; we'll find out the true tempurature later on. They are stilling calling for thunderstorms, but they didn't show last night. DH just came in and said it's still pretty bad out there. WE have 2 air conditioners going right now. Had to go out to an appt today but by the time we got back the humidity had lifted a bit. Got in a bit of walking via shopping for healthy foods, lots of veggies today ...

Have a great week everyone ... and stay :cool: ... Rosebud :flow1:

getting back on track
 

Funny how a cheat day sometimes help, I ate quite a few carbs on Sunday, and spiked a bit, and got back to low carb since, and another pound just shed off after about 10 days of no movement on the scale.
I took some skirts in to be taken in!. They are favs that I got when I was in Scotland last year, colours and styles that I really like, so I couldn't just replace them, as I have seen nothing like that here.
I wear skirts for work since I see so many Old Order Mennonite and Amish women, but I like a little flounce in my skirt! Its hard to find.

I think it is so interesting that Ellen has found a very different diet from mine and found it quite helpful, just as I find that low carb is the only thing that truly is working for me, though I didn't go to low fat vegan.
I eat vegan for about a year as a young woman, but had some neuropathy developing. I don't think it was a low fat diet either. I ate a lot of nuts and seeds back then.

Enjoy the heat wave everyone! keep cool!

Yup, I had a terrible off week. Probably ToM related, but today was back under 9 in the morning from a 10.4 last night. Happy days :)

My mom sent me a care-package of 100-calorie packs lol I have discovered and fallen in love with Lorna Doon Shortbread. :(

:wave: BGL fine, weight the same and I'm waaaaay too busy. I intend to schedule relaxing time today and over the weekend.

Have a weekend off and its already full of good stuff. Had a nice massage last night, but am a little soar from it. Going to walk a bit and do some other errands, as well as go out tonight.
have a good weekend everyone

:hot: Low 90's today. Not the best weather to mow the lawn, but it's suppose to rain tomorrow and it needed to be cut before the family get together this weekend. All the pets got hosed down today since it was so hot outside, even the cat. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Well, today was a temptation filled day! I am totally addicted to Lorna Doon Shortbread and today I had my first cheese-it in over 3 years!!! :D

We just had our 10 month old Pomeranian neutered, he's been such a joy to raise so far, I hope this doesn't alter him too much! lol

Blood sugars still running slightly high (8-11), but am so happy they are back down in these figures from the high teens and low twenties just a few short months ago. Slowly bringing them down now :)

:wave: Well, we finally got those :rain: storms -- lots of lightening and thunderboomies so I had to shut my PC down the last 2 days. Today, the temps are much nicer in the high 70's right now but that is OK with me. I find 80 F or under is bearable; it's when it goes into the 90's with the humidity that really bothers me. Thank goodness for our portable air conditioner which is also a DE-Humidifier.

CASANDRA ~ I have to watch those 100 cal packs and the bars; if they are too yummy, I may eat them too quickly. I found some Fiber Bars that are good tasting but not so much that I will eat more than one at a time. Those ones with the peanut butter crunch and chocolate do me in ... ;)

Went to the docs this aft and he is still bugging me about getting WLS; I guess we will just have to play this cat & mouse game back and forth ... :lol: he bugs and I say that I will think about it and around and around we go ... :D

I weighed myself before I left even though it was later in the day and I have lost 2 lbs, but will check that tomorrow AM and see what the difference is with the time of day. Usually, I weigh myself in the early AM before eating anything; but hey, I will take those 2 lbs for now -- that means to me, that my previous loss was a stable one ... :carrot:

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend; it's the last weekend of May before all the buggies start to come out. Right now, some black flies are out and so it's not good to be out in the early evening unless there is a nice wind. Later on in the late evening they disappear into the grass for the night.

Take care ... Rosebud :flow1:

we had our long weekend last weekend, but I think our american friends are celebrating this weekend. Have a nice holiday folks. The weather is amazing even though we had a little storm run through last night, nothing serious. Will be gardening the rest of the weekend and plan to see a movie tonight.

BY the way, last night had more carbs than usual. (a couple of light, low carb beers, and some dry cider, as well as some nachos with my chicken wings) and my bs was 4.9 before bed! 4.3 this am. was quite surprised. Thought I would be spiking. Didn't bother to check the scale, I will be good for a few days before doing a weight check again. Goal to get under 170 in June. THe weight loss has been slow, even without cheating, so am under no illusions about it going off faster.
happy sunshine friends

Snarky Snails
 

I don't know why I didn't post these pictures earlier, but these are the photos of my relay team during the Colfax Marathon relay. I'm the one with the blue futbol (soccer) socks. :running:

http://picasaweb.google.com/106791335154411749748

I am going to need some super strong vibes for tomorrow. It's my birthday celebration with my in-laws and they've requested I bring the most unruly of my two dogs along with :( He gets extremely car-sick and has no real "manners", very excitable etc. Mostly DH's fault as he spoils the dogs completely rotten! :P

I'm going to have to put my foot down and say no.

Blood sugar today has been ok, I had a Dawn Phenom (didn't get enough carbs last night in my snack). Had a massive number this morning, 18.3 so I settled in to get it down straight away and had to skip breakfast.

I did end up getting more normal in time for lunch, so I thoroughly enjoyed my sandwich and carrot sticks! :D

^____^ Wish me luck tomorrow!

Casandra, since you asked so nicely, here you go. :goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes

Let's hope that will do. Oh, and... :bday2you:.

I don't know whether I have posted to this forum before. I am a type 2 diabetic. I am doing pretty well. Went to a buffet today with a group and know I probably got way more carb than I should have but surprisingly two hours later my bs was only 135! I am on Metformin and have been for about a year though. Usually as long as I am careful with my eating, the only time I am high is in the morning but I was surprised after eating at a buffet that I did so well. My dh and I are both diabetics and our A1Cs are almost always the same, however he doesn't even count his carbs...I have to count everything! And he is allowed more carbs than me.

Howdy, maryea. :wave:

I'm a type 2, too. While I'm not on any diabetic meds (knock on wood), I am a low carber. Counting carbs is a daily ritual for me. Chinese buffets are my weakness. I can manage to stay away from the carby no-nos (rice, noodles, etc...) but I will almost always go over on my calorie allotment for the day. Some of those sauces are just so yummy. :drool:

So glad you found our neck of the woods in 3FC. Again, welcome.