Our bodies are a major mystery. Yesterday I weighed 191 and today I weigh 193 after a good eating day with no wine. I even suffered through a salt-free meatloaf with green beans for dinner. Today will be a mostly water and fruits and veggie day starting with a grapefruit for breakfast. Oy!

Madeleine So glad you and your DD were able to work things out. That probably has been a factor in with blood sugar because it has been a real stress on you. Hopefully things will get better. Good luck with the south beach diet. I've really thought about that myself, but will continue doing what I'm doing for now. The 2 pluses for SB is 1) you don't have to count the carbs and 2) you get a limited amount of carbs and 3) I realize that it would work well with IE. So I have to admit that it is really tempting to switch and I may if I find it too difficult to stay within the carbs of Atkins. I've lost the cravings so sweets so I've switched to OWL and eating between 30 and 40 carbs. However, I want to give Atkins a good chance before I decide about SB. Thank you for the info on the allergy meds. I take Clairtin D and have to sign for it. Maybe I need to switch to the plain clairtin. DH has some Nasonex samples he got when he was going to the ENT his DD works for. I will try that and if it works, I will get a prescription from my doctor when I go to him in April.

Ruth Boy did you hit it on the nail about our bodies being a mystery. My FBS was 149 yesterday morning because of taking the decongestant the night before. Didn't take it last night and FBS was 112. This is such difficult thing as I learn what works and what doesn't. I know how you feel when you are doing everything right that you know to do and the number doesn't show it. Hope things will be better tomorrow.

Rosebud, Mammaduck and MrsMBunnie

Hope everyone has had a really good weekend.

Off to the doc this morning for my blood results. I'll report later. The mysterious two pounds melted away overnight. I wish the snow would do the same.

Back from the doc who gave me a hug. I have lost 12 pounds in five weeks and my cholesterol/triglyceride readings are now "fantastic". The BGL is still 6.5 but that's measured over a three month period and will probably come down when I get re-tested in three months. so ... this may be my magic bullet. Now I need to deal with getting more fibre and water AND get back to the gym.

Great news Ruthie I am so thrilled for you.

Everything is going well here. Hope everyone has a great week.

RUTH, great news, just look, the ticker is finally moving again.
I need that. I am still not following any plan, plan to get back on the wagon this week. If I set a goal to be down to 160 for the summer, that is reasonable and doable and good. I realize that I haven't lost any weight since August. Good news is that maintenance is doable.
I looking at SB and atkins (phase 1 vs induction) it seems that there is a lot less fat with SB, and I worry about that! Without the fat to keep me full, don't know how it will go. It seems that phase 1 is low fat and low carb, and tho it is short term, I worry about the effects of that diet. Will keep researching for the time being.
have a good day chickies.

Madeleine I looked at SB and while I worry about me eating too much fat on Atkin, I also worry about SB being too low for the same reason you do. So, I'm staying with the Atkins ideas.

I recently read a book by a Rob Stevens called Overfed Head. Rather than calling his woe Intuitive Eating, he calls it Thintuition. It pretty much teaches you to eat the way I ate when I was growing up. You eat when you are hungry, eat what you really want (of course I work around low carb foods) and eat until you are not hungry any more and stop eating. This is how I ate until I went to live with or around people who insisted you eat by the clock, meal time etc. I'm trying to do this with my low carb menu and I'm amazed at how well I feel. My FBS was up a little this morning, but I'm sure that was because I did eat some carbs yesterday with DH something he wanted rather than what I had planned and I overdid the carbs. I expect tomorrows FBS to be better since my eating has been more low carbs today.

I know how you feel Mad as I feel the same way you do sometimes. We will find what will work for us as long as we don't give up.

Hope everyone is having a great day.

and when one examines the alternatives...... I know several people who HAVE just given up and they are slowly heading for early death. Unfortunately several of them were at the Pancake Supper last night and sure did not hold back on food!

"How many pancakes may I serve you, sir?"

"Six for now and I'll come back. I'll take another plate for my sausages and baked beans."

By the time I'd finished serving, I was nauseous and very glad to get home to my salad and chicken breast.

I'm still working on eating properly but have very little appetite. I was planning to give up wine for Lent but may get back to a single glass with dinner as it does seem to help my appetite. I'm trying for 1/1/1 for protein, fat and carbs and definitely need to increase fiber and water. TMI I know but ...

Have a good day and keep on fighting. We are winning!

Ruthie When I was a teenager and was learning to cook, I would cook a meal for my family and when I was through I didn't want to eat. Just being around all that food seemed to turn me off rather than make me want it. I worked 2 weeks cooking at DQ between jobs one time. It affected me the same way. Being around all that food cooking made me sick of food and never felt tempted to eat any of it. So I know how you feel. Wish I could feel that way about food now and who knows maybe I will.

DH and I don't always want the same thing to eat. So I've got to where I fix his meal and feed him and then I fix what I want especially since I read the book on listening to what your body wants. I have eaten that way before and hopefully I will get it back. I was sharing with someone at church about the book and remembered that when I dieted before that I would allow myself the freedom to eat whatever I wanted when I would go to Ryans which is my favorite place to eat mainly because I love carrot cake and fried chicken and that was when I would give myself permission to have it. Well, one day we went to Ryans and I walked in and looked to see what they had that day on the buffet and realized that absolutely nothing jumped out at me. I ended eating smaller amounts of a few things, but only because the meal was already paid for. I hope with practice I can get back to that.

Went to BSF this morning. Need to go to pick up meds at Walmart but will do that tomorrow when DH goes to dentist. The rest of my day is going to be lazy and a "me" time day.

Y'all have a good one.

The other problem is, we celebrate Pancake Tuesday/ Mardi Gras/ Fat Tuesday etc. but we do not usually observe Lent, and the way of eating that traditionally entailed. LIke Ramadan, Lent was a long fast, with very little food served, and virtually no fat.
There are few Christians who do that now. Observant Muslims follow Ramadan fasts, not sure about other cultures/religions.
I would be fine to have a big feast if we followed that with significantly less food for a while. It would help if the whole community was on the fast too, so tempations would be low.

Go for the fibre Ruth, I always feel that I stall if I am not regular.....

Have been on plan today, except a small treat, a hot cocoa with splenda to sweeten. Used half and half cream instead of milk tho. Funny how that is a good thing on this way of eating. I am doing atkins, at least for now.
Am having guests for supper this weekend and can make a nice roast lamb, and stay on plan easily. I "might" have some wine tho.
It is a rain/snow day, and the driving wasn't great, so finished home visits early and hope the babies stay quiet tonight.
Hope things are good where you are.
Ruth and Rosebud, hope there hasn't been a lot of freezing rain for you. Brr, and crummy driving. Stay safe everyone.

Madeleine Please tell me how to buy and cook lamb. My now deceased MIL and I were on a diet one time where it called for lamb chops. I cooked one for her and one for me for our lunch and it stunk something awful and ended up sending then DH to get us pork chops. Liked to never got that smell out of my house. Someone told me I must have gotten mutton instead of lamb, but I was never brave enough to try cooking it again. Years later I attended a passover dinner at my Daddy's church and they had lamb (cooked professionally) and it was delicious. I would love to try it again if I knew how and what to pick and then how to cook it. Thanks.

I think I love eating Atkins which I haven't done a good job of today. I love doing it with IE, but didn't do well with that today because I felt because of the diabetes that I needed to eat before I left for BSF although I was not hungry. Then when I got home, I didn't follow Atkins or low carb at all. I'm going to have to figure something else out next week. It is easy when doing this at home, just afraid I'll get hungry before I come home and get the shakes. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I just want to get away from eating by the clock or because a diet says I should eat. I think that is why diets haven't worked well for me. I don't like eating when I'm not hungry. Right back on Atkins plan tomorrow. I really think I could do AI for more than 2 weeks doing it this way. What do you think about beef jerky that I could carry in my purse on Wednesday morning? It does have some carbs so I haven't tried using them. Thanks y'all for suggestions.

Hey Trish: Lamb is often quite fatty, (so great for atkins) but as a result the fatty spritzing can raise a stink. I usually cook my lamb out on the grill. Chops are easy, I marinate them with a bit of olive oil, some rosemary, and garlic if you like. Then have the grill up high and do about 5 minutes each side. I definitely prefer them on the rare side.
For roasting, I do it on the grill on a lower heat, over a drip pan filled with apple juice.
Shanks are best braised or stewed slowly as that is a tougher cut. SO the fat isn't spitting and burning, so fine in a pot or over pot roast. I like any excuse to have roast veggies (parsnip, carrot, squash, turnip, etc) with it too.
Had a delivery in the night, so am a bit tired today, but am now off until Monday am, so planning some yoga and housestuff, as well as the possible dinner party. And LOTS of rest and sleep.
ttfn everyone.

DH had a dental appt this afternoon which took way longer than we thought. I took the book Life Without Bread by Christian B. Allan, PH.D. and Wolfgang Lutz, M.D. We were there for so long I read most of it. I read a lot of info about why l.ow carb is so much healthier and can save your life, but skipped the parts that didn't apply to me or that I already knew from other sources. It was interesting because I had gon on another site last night and read what some of the Atkins, LC and VLC people eat which turned out to be really good for me to have read before reading this book. It does talk about eating carbs in bread units (BU) of 12 and says we should not eat more than 72 g if we want to lose weight. I remember reading Dana Carpandar's book years ago and how she had special times when she had planned occasions to eat carbs. I tell you reading this book makes so much sense to me. I don't want to switch to BU thoughts so will keep my gram counts, but I can see that if we have a carby meal once in a while that it doesn't have to be a disaster or cause one of those "I blew" days.

I did find something to carry in my purse for Wednesday morning when I don't want to eat breakfast so early. It's called Beef bites like those canned beef jerkys, but is in a reclosable package. Things start at 9:05 and then we go to class. Around 10 or so we leave and go back to sanctuary. If I'm hungry at that time, I could take one or two out and eat them on the way to the sanctuary. Or if I'm not hungry until after and not coming straight home but going to the store after, I can eat a serving on the way to store.
So that has worked out good for me.

Thanks Madeleine for the lamb info. Don't know if I'll try that or not. Will have to see.

Everybody have a nice evening.