June Chat
 

New month and new resolve. Four months from today I will be landing in Rome and want to be in much better shape by then. I seem to be stalled lately although the BGL has been steady.

Just realized I'm due for bloodwork so will set that up today. HA1C was 6.7 in January and I'm hoping it's lower this test.

Today will be a relatively relaxing day. It's raining so I can't be out there doing heavy gardens stuff - maybe just some treadmill before my bath.

Raising my coffee mug to a great June for us all!

new month new resolve
 

Ruth, you will be great. I think the key is to really got out and walk and get fit with this great weather, If we can't do it now, when? I really need to do it too. I am doing fine with diet and glucose control, but need to get more fit. Don't want too much saggy baggy skin from lack of fitness, as the weight slowly peels away. (too slow for me, but that is life, at least its going....)
So I will go for a little walk this evening, to honour you.

:D HAPPY JUNE, everyone ~ it our anniversary month; will be 21 years on the 14th ... still hanging in there ... :lol: Having a good week: still on plan and getting in some walking and exercises too (at my own pace though) ...


Have a great week ... R :flow1:

Need to get back to drinking more green tea. I'm getting sick now, DH brought home some lovely summer cold and now I'm feeling particularly under the weather.

He actually had a fever of over 102.5 at one point the other night, so I'm kinda worried for when I start seeing fever numbers like that! :(

Blood sugars have been ok otherwise. somewhat high, but I am actively testing (every 2 hours) to try and stabalize them again.

Metformin and leg pain
 

Butter mentioned this in a couple of previous posts, I had an episode a couple of weeks ago of a sore leg, felt like I had had a bad leg cramp. Since metformin is known for using up folate in the system, I started taking a B complex supplement. I rarely do this, since I eat meats and lots of veggies, don't feel I need it. THe soreness went away and I forgot about it, as well as the supplement. ANyhow, it happened again, and went away again after the b supplement. I guess I will stay on the B's. If anyone else is getting this side effect, try a b complex supplement and see if it helps before you give up on the metformin. I can take the gas I get from it, but the leg cramps are NOT nice. I would be hard pressed to stay on it with that, if I couldn't get relief.
My sugars are great. Even with the little carb binges I had on the weekend, my sugars were never over 6.5 mmol! I am really pleased with the overall effect of the metformin so want to stay on it, at least until my weight loss goals are met and I like my pancreas will be ready to handle life on its own.

Cassandra, Happy Anniversary. We celebrated 25 in February, with the right man, it just gets better!
Well, gotta get out while the sun is shining, we expect thunderboomers later today.
Happy Wednesday friends.

Ruth - Italy sounds grand! I'm green with envy.

Rosebud - :congrat: on 21 years of marriage.

Casandra - :getwell: I've noticed that being sick will sometimes elevate my numbers. Green tea sounds like a great remedy.

Fatmad - Thanks for the info on met and leg pain.

September 2nd is a short three months away. It is my anniversary day for my healthier lifestyle. While I've come a long way so far, I am hoping to get into onederland by then. My numbers have been stable, even with the extra calories from the holiday weekend. I took Lucy to the vet yesterday and she weighed in at 135 lbs. :eek: My not so little couch potato needs to go on a diet. She doesn't have a big belly (like me ;)) but could afford to lose 15 lbs. Happy June, everyone.

Mr Z: I hope you are taking Lucy out for walks/runs when you go, that will help as well as careful measurement of food. A diet buddy, just perfect

I've been getting complacent lately... a little more carb here and there. We went camping over the holiday weekend, which was wonderful! But a few nibbles of chips, and the highly salted foods we eat when camping (bacon, hot dogs, beef stew, cheese, nuts, etc.) did a number on my sugars and the scale, respectively.

Good news is that I've had my once-a-month weigh-in and measure, and I'm down four pounds since last month, and lost three inches on my hips and one on my belly. So it's working, even if it's slow.

Going strongly low-carb again. I can tell I was easing up into too-high territory because I've begun craving sweets. I bought cookies for camping, for husband and daughter, but I ended up eating one... and I want more. /sigh So very few carbs the next few days, to get rid of the cravings and keep my numbers low.

I'm due for blood work, too. I'm planning to go next week, which I hope will be enough time for my morning numbers to drop again.

CASANDRA ~ hope you are feeling well real soon ... :hug:

MAD ~ thanks for that info; will up my Vitamin B a bit to see if that helps ... :D

MR. Z ~ thanks, I appreciate that; I looked at your pictures and that must be nice to see them after all your hard work. I hope you scrapbook them for the good memories ... :)

SYNGER ~ congrats to you for the great loss of lbs and inches too; that must be really encouraging -- I know it is for me. WE all makes mistakes, but the key is to just keep on going ... :cheer:

RUTH ~ :wave:


We have had really nice spring-like weather this week; a few sprinkles here and there, some :sunny:, some clouds, and some breeze too; really nice! Hope you all have a FANTABULOUS FRIDAY tomorrow ... R :flow1:

Hanging in there but it's been a difficult week. Scale is stuck but BGL is fine. I go for HA1C next Wednesday.

synger, I am really impressed with the inches, that is amazing, and not really reflected in pounds. That is all fat lost in those 4 pounds for sure.
I got out walking again today, and stuck to plan even when my co-worker brought in some wonderful cookies today. (they are whole grain, loaded with nuts and seeds and raisins. really yummy "health cookies", not low fat at all though! and of course full of carbs which I avoid.)
hockey game tonight, will stick to peanuts in the shell if I need a snack

Big weekend here with celebrations of the 200th anniversary of our old Mill. There's been lots of food and drink around but I'm holding the line. Walking everywhere is helping!

I'm looking forward to a relatively normal week although there are two more food events; a church ham dinner on Wednesday and a spaghetti supper on Saturday. Luckily I am a worker at both of these which makes it easier to "eat around" the events. I usually say I've already eaten or will eat later, depending on the shift I am working. People really don't pay much attention when you are not sitting at a table.

I was considering low-carbing for a while but it's strawberry season! I will try to avoid starchy carbs for a while though. Yesterday I was handed a hot dog in a bun and managed to eat just the sausage without anyone noticing. I "shared" the bun with a visiting dog - Labs are great companions in cases like that! When the Mayor is guest cook and hands you food, you just don't say no.

On with Sunday.

The nice thing about berries is that they're relatively low-carb (as fruits go). I usually aim for fewer than 100 carbs a day (but often am lower than 50), but don't worry too much about veg carbs and berry/melon carbs. I track them, but when I eat them with a meal they don't spike me too badly.

I went for my three month blood labs this morning. My measurement of fasting was 97, so I'm hoping the lab is low, too. This will be the A1c that shows whether my moderate-carb diet over the past few months has had an impact on my overall BG.

I also stepped on the doc's scale, and it said 282! Woot! When I visited the doc on March 10 this year, I was at 309. Twenty-seven pounds in three months ain't nuthin' to sneeze at!

Oh synger, I am so jealous of your weight loss, but in a happy and friendly way!. I have only managed to go 15 pounds in 6 months. My loss is VERY slow. I hope to get below 170 before the end of June, but am not sure it will happen.
I have occasional times of going slightly off plan, but other than the week around my mother's funeral, have been very good. Now that my sugars are in good control I may go to south beach from atkins.
Happy monday everyone, hope you have a good week

:wave: RUTH ~ I do the same as you; I very rarely eat a bun with a hot dog or sausage, and I give the bread to our dear FIDO too! :lol: This has been a trick that I have done for years: I used to eat only half the whole wheat bun, but now I skip it all together and have it with a salad instead.


We had a busy weekend; had some company on Saturday; then we went out on Sunday to one of our favorite places (ya, a lake) and for a nice, quiet drive too. Came home and had an ez oven dinner (cooks night off). Did some shopping today; picked up some stuff to fix the roof on our camper; and some shims for the cottage floor which is the next thing on our "TO DO" list. WE hope to go up there this week and get some stuff done.

Doing well on the eating and exercise front; am doing another personal challenge "NO JUNKIES JUNE" meaning, no chippies or nachos for me ... just nuts ... haha! Hope you all have a great week too ... Rosebud :flow1:

Fatmad, don't be jealous. Please realize that I'm starting over 100 pounds more than your starting weight. I have so MUCH to lose that 1-2 pounds a week is fairly standard. When I get down to your starting weight (or sooner) it will slow dramatically. I know... I've been there before. /sigh THat's when I usually give up. THis time, now that I'm dx with pre-D, I can't give up. This HAS to be for life. Literally!

I got the results of my labs: A1c is down to 5.8 (from 6.7)! My cholesterol is down about 20 points as well. It was in the normal range already... I don't have lipid problems... but it's nice to have it confirmed that the much-higher-fat diet I've been following as I cut down on carbs isn't having adverse affect on my lipids.

I'm pre-diabetic, and my last A1c last month was 6. didn't see dr as usual he was out of town. I guess what I have seen online that 6 is ok. I have been taking my FBG for a month now, and the numbers range from 97-113. Yesterday I have a 120 and today a 97, is that normal, i know so many things can affect the numbers at any time, diet, exercise tons of carbs, meds which I am not taking any. I hope I never get diabetes I'm already phobic with the numbers being mostly in normal range, what will I be like when they are all over the map.
I have been on kind of the south beach diet and lost 5 lbs this week! Wish I had the energy after work to go back to Curves.

There is a lot of good info out online about Diabetes and what the various numbers mean. I highly recommend Blood Sugar 101, which has very good info about how to test, what the numbers mean, and what various medicines do. She also gives overviews of various studies.

I'd also suggest you find a diabetic-specific board with a lot of traffic to ask more diabetes-specific questions. If you Google "diabetes forum" you'll find a couple.

Now on to your specific questions!

In general, a FBG lower than 100 is "normal" (with lower than 85 optimal), anything above 125 is "high/diabetic", and anything in between is "high/pre-diabetic".

My FBG ranges from mid-90s to 115 or so. This morning I was 110 (after a piece of pie yesterday!).

An A1C over 7 is considered diabetic, under 5.7 is normal (under 5.5 is optimal), and anything above 5.8 and below 7 is pre-diabetic. (specifically, the ADA says anything from 5.7 to 6.4 is within the "category for increased risk of diabetes" -- the new name for pre-diabetic).

The numbers are not hard and fast... various groups and agencies have slightly different numbers. But by and large, if you're over 7 you're diabetic, under 5.5 you're normal, and anything in between is pre-diabetic.

Just got my HA1C done today and am 6.4 so I guess I've moved from diabetic to pre-diabetic based on the above critera. :lol: It was 6.7 last test. I wonder if my age has moved back too. ;)

Actually I'm quite encouraged since the past few months have not been good for food and exercise. I must be doing something right.

Good job, Ruth. :bravo:

I don't know if it's because of the heat, the increased cardio sessions at the gym, all the yard work I've been doing, or a combination of reasons, but I've been dragging a$$ all week. I feel lethargic. My goal is to get the front yard flowers done before the World Cup starts, however, at the rate I'm going, it'll be a wonder if things get done by the final match. Tomorrow I shall charge ahead once again. Today's FBG was 85. Much improved from yesterday's FBG of 109.

CONGRATS on the good numbers, people ... we had :rain: from late afternoon on and we need it as some of my trees and bushes are languishing from lack of water ... Hope to go back out tomorrow if weather is as good as it is supposed to be. Gonna get started on that cottage; will take pics. Here's a link to some of my flowers in our side gardens (see three posts in that thread) ...

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/fait...ml#post3333386


Gonna be very busy over the next while. Have a great week ... Rosebud :flow1:

what a great idea Rosebud, hope it helps things. It sure can't hurt. Giving up nachos has been hard for me. One of my fav snacks. Even baked, with just a bit of cheese and good no sugar salsa is great.
But I also love nuts, but every time I start to add them to my diet, my weight loss stops.
*sigh*

cheated and ate a bran muffin this morning.
It was a guided cheat. I left the house at 530 this morning with an atkins shake in hand, expecting to get breakfast after a quick assist for work, but things dragged on, and I got stuck and got hungry.
I eventually decided that a low sugar bran muffin was better than actually skipping a meal and that it would time me over until lunch. No sugar cravings this evening after getting back to atkins plan, so doubt it will do much damage except pushed me out of ketosis for the day. Oh well, off to bed and looking forward to a few days off now.

Good morning. My darned meter finally gave up - I think it needs a new battery which means a trip to town. That won't happen until Monday at the earliest. :shrug:

Today is a food-filled day with a lunch date and then a spaghetti supper fund raiser tonight. I have to make an appearance at the supper but refuse to eat mass-produced pasta. I'll sneak out early and come home for a decent meal of ww pasta and clam sauce.

taking a huge step here and going to clean house and start Atkins. Tired of being fat and now worrying about becoming a diabetic, has finally convinced me to change and learn a new way of doing my life. So Atkins here I come.

:wave: HI ~ We've been really busy the last fews days; but we've had really nice weather too. Got a bit of a sunburn on my face and neck yesterday; today, we are all taking a rest -- sure need that. I have been doing some grass snipping and watering my trees and bushes each day; good exercise for sure. Eating has been OK; all this extra stuff can make you hungry though, so gotta watch that. ;)

MAD ~ yes, some people find eating nuts stalls their weightloss, but you really have to be diligent to only eat NON-SALTED nuts and COUNT THEM OUT to make sure you only eat a serving's worth (6 or 7 nuts at once). This does take some extra discipline on our parts. :)

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

Well, I succumbed to the carb monster at the diner last night and ended up eating spaghetti AND a slice of my pornographic rum cake. :( It's a good thing my meter isn't working or I'd be in higher than usual FBGL, I'm sure. Breakfast was fine and lunch will be salad with some protein but dinner is another challenge - another command performance at a fish-fry! I'm hoping for decent fish and cole slaw and will stay away from the darned dessert table.

Weight is back up to 195 this morning. "The wages of sin is death" is a scary thought so I'll pull up my socks and get with it this week. I'm still contemplating Atkins but it's about to be strawberry season here. I know I crash on Atkins induction but may start monitoring total carbs better. Right now they are 1/3 of my calories.

Fatmad - Nuts are great, but I have to limit myself to pumpkin seeds. I have no self control when it comes to almonds, cashews, peanuts, etc.

Me Too - Wish you all the best on Atkins.

Ruth - Mmmm, pasta. :drool: I would have succumbed as well. Pasta was my drug of choice in the past. Sending you some good vibes and will power dust. :goodvibes :dust:

This is the second day of rain. We had some hail yesterday and a flash flood warning. The mountains even got a dusting of snow. With all the World Cup matches this weekend, we've been indoors most of the time anyway. Today is my dad's birthday. :woo: We roasted a couple of pork shoulders last night and will be having a diabetic feast today. :hun:

hello all, happy sunday
 

Had a nice weekend off for a couple of days, my Dad visited, and we had a grad banquet to attend for the youngest daughter, which included a special father/daughter dance. Was a lovely treat.
Had to work today though, was called in when it got to busy for the troup to handle. Hoping for a good sleep tonight. Am just beat after the day of work.

Karen, if you are going with Atkins, get the book (even if from the Library) and start going to the Atkins forum too. I couldn't stick to induction at first, I cut my carbs down slowly and went to it backward, but am able to keep to it pretty well these days.

Ruth, same to you, cut some carbs out, especially days when you are going to these stable tables. Try lower carb during the day, and choose your foods carefully! I did have a dessert at the banquet, choose a cheesecake with no sauce, and didn't eat the crust. NO SPIKES!
Otherwise I was able to stick to plan, just ate LOTS of salad, and slices of ham. Avoided the potatoes pasta and rice in order to have that little slice of cheesecake. Was well worth it.
It has rained most of the weekend, but Friday was nice and got the laundry and housework done.

Gotta plan for tomorrow. I have been doing MUCH better with meal planning and packing and as a result, have stuck to plan much better. The sugars are great but the weight isn't budging.

** Sigh ** Well, it's 196 on the scale this morning and I can see 200 just over the horizon. I am a bit concerned about cutting carbs too much when my meter isn't working so will try to get it fixed OR a new battery today. It's as if my 6,4 HA1C on Wednesday put me into denial, not good when I still had three foodie events to get through. There's only one this week and it's a luncheon so should not be too bad.

I bought a stick bun at work, bug mistake, woolfed it down the looked at the carbs. are you ready for this. 64 carbs for a little stick bun. first shame upon shame i should have never given in to eating it, second i should have looked at the carb content first, but for those 5 minutes i didn't care, third i can't believe something that small cold have so many carbs, i don't think i have ever seen something with that many carbs in my life.
so lesson learned, won't happen again, look at carb numbers first then make a decision.
wasn't going to mention this, but i am learning to be honest with myself and you.

this often happens at the beginning with atkins, its hard to stick to at first for a lot of people. I have trouble planning foods and meals to much of a degree. I am doing better now, and its really the key for sticking to atkins (or any other diet really). so you need to take LOTS of snacks to work , to have lots of options when these things come up. You need to eat to be satisfied, and have lots of back up snacks when you get these cravings. You also have to accept you will not be eating baked goods for a while.
with induction you really have to give up all the sweets for a bit to get over the cravings. Its hard, but worth it in the long run.
good luck.

Thanks Fatmad, i sometimes work from 5am to 2pm in the bakery and I wasn't eating breakfast, who wants to eat breakfast at 4 in the morning. Then i would have a salad with protein for lunch around 10, then nothing till i got home after 2. Then the little piggies kicked in and i wanted to eat the wallpaper.
I must learn to plan plan and plan some more.

Isn't it amazing how the carbs add up when flour and sugar combine? /sigh I remember eating donuts because they were less calorific than granola bars and other snacks... but the carbs were tremendous!

When I began lowering my carbs (I don't do anything "official" like Atkins), I went into the snack shop at work, when I WASN'T hungry, and just looked around at the options I had. Nuts, hard cooked eggs, diet yogurt, vegetable juice, sometimes veggies/dip packages, high-priced protein bars. That was it. So knowing that, I stocked a drawer in my cubicle with less expensive beef jerky, nuts, and Atkins and South Beach bars. Now I know I have options if I absolutely HAVE to snack at work.

I also get up early, around 5:30. I make myself eat something, even if it's just some cottage cheese and a handful of pecans. I plan for a 9-10 o'clock snack, then lunch at 12 or so. If my husband doesn't have dinner ready when I get home around 6, I'll begin eating anything that's not nailed down unless I get a healthy on-plan snack into me. So I keep string cheese, fruit, nuts and nut butters, etc., handy, in case I need a pre-dinner intervention.

Planning really IS the key!

Mr Z suggested smoothies for easy breakfast for me. I buy packaged atkins shakes for when I'm out. At home, I mix milk or soy milk with some cream, add flavoured protein powder and maybe 5-6 berries. I add a powdered fibre supplement too. This is a really easy brekkie, is very portable so you can drink it on the way to work.
warning tho, you will feel more hungry earlier in the day when you eat brekkie, but your metabolism will get revved up and your weight loss will be easier too. Give it a try me too!


Today I got out walking a LONG way, almost an hour. Have not been exercising much lately so it was a good change up.
Did 3 days of higher carb and lower fat to try to charge up the weight loss. Thanks to the metformin, sugars were fine. Switched back to induction atkins today. The 3rd day of higher carb brought wicked sugar cravings.
who knew I would be glad to lower the carbs again!

Good morning. Weight is still stuck but BGL is fine. I finally got my meter fixed - just needed a new battery.

Things have finally started to dry up after all the rain so today will be a full day in the garden. There are no food events this weekend so my only challenges will be here at home. I just HAVE to get this weight down.

I usually make a soy smoothie, unsweetened soy milk, hemp protein powder and flax oil sometimes with a banana, in my magic bullet for breakfast. Some mornings however just don't want anything that early or running late and no time.
I have been eating more salads with protein in them and that has helped. I cooked dinner last night!! OK sauteed some mushrooms g pepper and onion over hamburger patty and corn, not great but better.
FBS this morning was 103.

ME TOO ~ that dinner sounds pretty good to me; I like lots of veggies and salad with my dinner and lunch too, esp in the summetime when it hot.

Thank goodness for the weather is a bit cooler today after a scorcher yesterday which makes people miserable. Planted some green beans today; and will plant some more for the next two weeks as well. My salad garden is doing really well, so I am very pleased with it.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend ... Rosebud :flow1:

well, I had a couple of low carb/light beers to celebrate the fact that it is Friday, had a friend over for supper, we ate out on the deck and had a nice chat. She is a dear friend for a long time so it was good.
Otherwise staying on plan, but have been enjoying a few strawberries here and there, clients keep giving me a little quart or pint basket when I visit, so I have to enjoy a bit.
have a great weekend all.