Back from Walmart. Didn't get to walk quite as long as I wanted because the new speech therapist was coming and DSIL and I decided that I needed to be here to meet her since I'm the one who will be here when he isn't. I wanted to get a BD cake for Haley and Jaxxon and didn't want a big one since only the children will eat it. Richard said he wasn't going to eat any, DH won't and I know I'm not eating cake after having homemade pizza. I need to be buying those cakes at Walmart as they cost a lot less than the grocery store where I usual buy them. Any way picked up the cake with the kids names on it and was surprised that Walmart had 2 meds equivalent to Theraflu... a day time one and a night time. So got one of each and came home and took a dose of the daytime. Haven't checked bs lately because of the meds I've been taking. Actually there were days that I forgot. Since were having carby dinner for the kids, I'm making today's eating more of a Carbohydrate Addicts Reward Meal and have only low carb the rest of the day along with my Intermittent Fasting. (I read that a guy who recommends Intermittent Fasting has changed the name now because people have such a problem with fasting. He now calls it Intermittent Feeding.) Any way, I'm still using IF whatever you call it, but I think until I get over this illness and I get the eating back under control that I will start eating low carb. I just can't let this eating get out of control again. Don't really feel like eating or cooking right now.

Jane - Good job at making good choices when shopping with the girls. I understand about family meals. We don't have family meals together too often even with the kids living with us right now. But when we do have a meal together it usually isn't diet/weight loss friendly. The kids would love for me to eat with them every time they have their family meal, but I just can't eat all that pasta.

Ruth - I agree with the others. I'm sure any gain you may have experienced will be flushed out with your water drinking.

Bonnie, Chipper, Mad and all the others I missed :hug: and thoughts coming your way.

Hope everyone is have a great Wednesday.

Hey girls. Sorry to not have kept up for a few days. My doctor has taken me off anything with metformin in it and I'm now only on Januvia, plus doing Atkins. Since that shift, my morning numbers have been staying under 115 and daytime numbers have been under 100.

I've had a couple carb indulgences over the last couple days but I immediately pumped weights or did some HIIT and it doesn't seem to have hurt my blood sugar at all. However, I'm definitely not losing weight with the Atkins yet. I think since I was eating fairly low carb before I won't see the big whoosh most see when they first cut carbs.

I'm still eating too many calories. For the week I've been hovering around 1860 calories and that's right about maintenance for me. The scale confirms that. So, cutting carbs is about controlling blood sugar and carb cravings, eating the right fats is about managing hunger. And cutting calories is about losing weight. Exercise helps with blood sugar levels.

Okay, back to work. Have a lovely day!

Hi all,

Mad - a big yay for 4 straight days of yoga! I hope you have a loss at weigh-in today.

Rie - thank you for your kind words. I sure was happy to see that you post with this group. I always love reading your post at Age 50+.

Trish - one thing I do when pizza is on the menu for a special occasion is to have a big salad with it, and I try to not eat all the crust. These birthdays and holidays are sometimes hard to deal with.

Ruth - SF gum and surgical gloves are good choices for baking cookies.

Mare - hahaha!! You had me laughing out loud with your description of a macaroni tree!

Georgia - sounds like you've made a good switch with Januvia.

In addition to being prediabetic, I have high cholesterol, and I am trying to control it with diet along with Simvastatin (generic Zocor). So having to eat low sugar and low cholesterol both can be a challenge at times. I've become a careful label reader.

I've been using the Lose It! app on my iPhone, and absolutely love the options, convenience, and ease of that.

TTFN,

Well, I faced the scale this morning and it was not pretty. I may send my ticker to Coventry for a while since she likes to lie. Didn't drink much water yesterday but today that WILL happen. Sodium does such a number on me!

Didn't have the Greek salad yesterday for lunch as I ran out of time to make it so just had some cheese and sliced tomatoes and cukes on ryvita. I'll do the salad for lunch today. I did have a great supper - pork tenderloin and veggies on the BBQ which my wonderful neighbour "fixed" for me. I didn't use it all last season and it was strictly "operator error". I can hardly wait to do Beer Can Chicken.

Baking is about to get underway again this morning. No sampling happened. There really is no need to taste when you are using old tried and true recipes.

This weekend will be a challenge as it's Maple Syrup Festival. I am working at the Mill on Saturday which will not be a problem and will be cooking sausages and pancakes on Sunday. The good thing is that I'll be really sick of them by lunch time but there will be a lot of peer pressure to eat pancakes. I wish people would MYOB - I'm old enough to decide what to eat.

Have a happy Thursday and be nice to yourself.

Good Morning everyone:
I have been busy, but not so much with work. The work days have been kinda long, but we are learning a new database/billing system, (new fiscal year just started April 1) and I have been spending half the day on a computer, and I didn't come on line at home in the evenings. Just reading/watching tv, going to bed early instead.
fbs 5.2 today. I weighed in yesterday and was up a pound, I was not surprised, as the only time I was at the last weight was weigh in day and I was higher all week. But any way, I overate carbs after weigh in. I still havent faced putting it all in the tracker. But I need a kick and much get back on the wagon and eat right again.
Well friends, I have been reading, and am just catching up, will do personals another time. off to the office.

I love beer can chicken. We have a Big Green Egg cooker. They have this contraption that is ceramic that you fill with a fluid. You park the chicken on it and let it cook away on the grill. Then it goes in the dishwasher. Much cleaner than the beer can. Love it!

I wish people would MYOB, too. Lucky for me. I don't like pancakes so I wouldn't have a problem passing by on those. HOWEVER, I love sausage and sausage dipped in maple syrup sounds yummy.

When do you take your FBS? I get up and do the face washing moisturizer bathroom stuff and then I take my reading. I don't get dressed for work or spend time doing other stuff to get the blood flowing. Does it make a difference? If I don't do it right away, I forget about it.

It was 120 this morning and I found one of those blasted pounds that I'd successfully lost. I got distracted packing my lunch and I think I forgot to take my pills. So, no metformin, aspirin, water pill and other stupid heart meds. Oh well. At least I won't be having to pee every 15 minutes.

Hi all,

Mare - I do my morning fbs right after my bathroom stuff, before breakfast.

Rie - I have many relatives with both high cholesterol and diabetes. Had I kept off my weight when I lost so much several years ago, I probably wouldn't be in this shape (literally, lol) now. But I'm looking forward, not back, and I know I can do the right thing to make those numbers go down. Good luck with the training at work.

Do any of you have a protein/carbohydrate/fat percentage ratio that you try to stay within? The Lose It! app gives me the percentages, but I'm not sure what the ratio should be.

I bought hanging baskets of the most beautifully lush red impatiens today to hang by the front porch. The hummingbirds will love them.

TTFN!

Hmm. Plants. I'm the kiss of death for plants. I can grow tomatoes, onions and peppers. That's about it.

My reading this morning was 120 and 92 when I got home from work. We'll see what it is after taco salad tonight.

Quickie as this is going to be the most overbooked three days in my year! Meals will be on the fly and will be tricky. Luckily I am stocked up onyogurt and Laughing Cow cheese.

Jane, I try to keep my carbs/fat/pro at 1/1/1. When I cut carbs to much my readings are too low so Atkins isn't for me although I know it would budge some of that fluff that's grown tap roots. Despite the scale being stuck at 179, my BP is excellent, cholesterol is good and my HA1c is 5.8. My doc is delighted and I have been able to reduce the BP meds and the glyburide.

Sorry to dash out, chickies, but I'm off to the gym before I tackle the day.

Rie - I found the TV show interesting, but there wasn't a lot I hadn't heard before. I guess I know what I should be doing, but putting it in practice isn't as easy for me as it sounds. It was a plug to buy his whole program and I wouldn't put the money out for information that I can get free. I don't do organic. I figure I've lived to age 66 and it hasn't killed me yet. I do buy at farmers markets when I can, but that's only in the summer months.

Mare - DH is a carboholic. He is healthy and at a good weight. He insists that I can eat carbs like he does without a problem. I try to explain to him that it's my diabetes causing the problem with carbs, but he seems to think that if I ate carbs like he does I wouldn't be diabetic. He just doesn't get it and I have given up trying. I cook for him what he wants and I eat what I am supposed to eat and leave what I'm not supposed to eat. It works for us.

Sorry this is a quick flyby, but this has been one busy week and today is no less busy. DSIL was off the last 2 days and I took advantage of it and got out of the house to do something I can't do or choose not to do with the baby. Went and got my nails done for one. The youngest DGD was in a school musical last night so we went to that so went to that. Now that DH is feeling so much better he went with us and now expects me to stay up at night and watch tv with him so not going to bed as early as I should. But I am so thankful to have him back to being himself and feeling so good that I really can't possibly complain. I feel like I got my Hubby back. :) So I'll gladly adjust.

Today is house cleaning and my turn to do my laundry. Tonight the oldest DGD has a musical play that she is in so we will be going to that. Tomorrow is beauty salon and the ladies monthly brunch at church so I don't see things slowing down until maybe Monday. It is good to get out and especially with DH and family.

The pizza dinner didn't hurt me. In fact, I dropped another lb and it was still off this morning. Can't tell much about my fbs because it still goes all over the place and so far my A1c is always normal however, I am eating low enough carbs now to get rid of that craving for sweets. I know I can have a little dark chocolate without any problems, but never would eat any yesterday. I was so afraid that I would ruin the good work I did yesterday. I can't remember if it was Georgia or who said that greens worked so well for her bs, but I went to the store yesterday and bought a bunch and cooked it and am going to be eating them everyday.

Better run. I hope everyone has a great weekend. I'll get back when I can but it may not be until Monday.

Well, well, well. We had our taco salad last night. I think I now know that I CANNOT eat corn chips. We like Frito's in our taco salad. My reading last night was 195. This morning it was down to 165, so caution is the word. I decided to not bring my lunch. I want to go to Fresh Choice and have a nice big salad with all types of goodies in it that I don't keep at home. We'll see what is going to happen.

Hey girls. So glad I can come here and rest my weary, drug-heavy head. I've had a couple rough days since going on the Januvia. Really bad cold symptoms, lethargy, still very thick-headed and vertigo, plus a six pound gain in two days from water retention. My hands, feet and ankles are so swollen, like they haven't been for at least four years.

Without talking to my doctor I decided not to take the pill last night. And this morning, my blood sugar was where it has been around where it's been for the last week (111), I lost four pounds and I can bend my fingers and toes again. Plus, the cold symptoms are going away and I don't feel so tired today. The drawback is that after a breakfast of just two hard-cooked eggs, my 2-hour ppgt was back up to 135. Since I had been on the Januvia, it would remain under 120.

I still have Metformin in my system. It'll be another two to four weeks before that goes away. It makes me feel really foggy and the vertigo prevents me from exercising regularly, Rie. My doctor agreed that I stop taking that since it wasn't really doing anything for my blood sugar levels.

I really was feeling so good before all this medication stuff started. I haven't really tested out how well my blood sugar does when I'm eating a very low carb diet, so here's my chance. I'm going to go back to consistent, daily exercise as soon as the vertigo goes away too. And when I get back from my trip in late June, I'll see how I'm doing and revisit this stuff with my doctor. I'm still going to talk to her and let her know where I'm at today.

Mare, I can't do any form of corn. It was a really hard thing to accept and I really miss my tortillas! But I can make a "taco" with romaine lettuce leaves. I can assemble a taco salad with seasoned ground turkey and shredded cheese on the romaine lettuce plus add salsa for the dressing. I still can't figure out how to do a very-low-carb version of tamales. Maybe that's just something I can't have but once a year now.

Trish, it wasn't me! I was just surprised that greens are supposed to help with that. But I am an absolute SLUT for my greens! Gotta have them every day! I just juiced some of mine, parsley and spinach with ginger, garlic, cucumber, celery, lime and an apple. Put me over on my carbs for the day, but it was deliscious! I added just a little salt to the green cocktail. It was spicy and very fresh tasting.

Jane, I'm kinda frustrated with finding the right macronutrient ratio for me. Some diabetes support websites talk about fat being up to 65% for the ketogenic-type diets (30% protein, 5% carbs). When I don't restrict myself, I eat about 60% fat, 30% protein, 10% carbs. I just went to see a weight-loss doctor who puts people on very low carb and very low fat diets and his percentages are 30% fat, 10% carbs, 60% protein, plus he restricts calories to around 1200.

I know that when I cut fats, my appetite goes up. The doctor has patients keep fats really low but he prescribes phentermine to help control appetite. I don't want to go that route at all. I haven't been doing the strict Atkins induction drug-free for long enough to know if it's really working yet. Hoping in the next day or so I can get on top of the constant hunger from the drastic cut in carbs and then start to dial back the fats.

And then lose some real weight!!!

FBS was 123 this morning. Maybe lowering my carbs will help. I do eat only complex carbs.

Georgia - thanks for the info. My carbs have been a little on the high side, I think, hovering between 25-30%. I hope you feel better soon.

Trish - I'm glad you got out for some "me" time. I need to go get my nails done professionally, too. I can't ever get my cuticles to look as good as they do. I've got one of those little snipper thingies, but I'm afraid to cut too close, lol.

Ruth - try and take some breaks in-between all the busyness.

Two of my granddaughters are staying over tomorrow night, so that will be fun. Other than that, I have no where I have to be. YAY!!

Have a good one. :)

What a relief! I got home and took by reading. As I reported, it was 165 this AM. It was 85 when I got home. I guess my lettuce, spinach and other greens did it for me at lunch. Dang! I just remembered that I left a half artichoke at work! Oh well, snack on Monday.

Safeway had the $5 Friday today. It is a whole roasted chicken. They are actually juicy and taste quite good. That $5 chicken will make 3 meals for the 2 of us. So it is roasted chicken and kale tonight. I may forego the carb tonight and have smashed celeriac tomorrow with veal chops.

I LOVE my greens.

Don't know if I'll make it in over the weekend. I'm going to take another machine embroidery class tomorrow and then get back to reorganizing my craft room. It is due to throw up.

You are the one who mentioned the greens. I am eating greens since you mentioned it. Do you eat the raw spinach in your salads. I used to do that and I need to start doing that again. Seems I remember my fbs being really good when I ate raw spinach. I love greens too so won't be difficult to add them.

Remembered to check my fbs today and it was 127 which was good since I took it earlier than usual because I was eating earlier also I have not been able to take the Metformin any more because of the leg cramps. So the 127 is done just from diet and being more active. So I am very pleased. I don't know if I told y'all earlier or not but I dropped another lb. Need to lose 3 more before I get back to new territory.

Hey chickies, I drink a lot of green tea and also drink oolong tea. I decided to research the benefits. These 2 teas help lose weight. It said 2 lbs a week. It lowers cholesterol, triglycerides, prevents blood clots and is good for diabetics and so many other things I can't name it all. And green tea hydrates as good as water with benefits we don't get from water. I've decided that since I don't drink sodas any more, I am going to make these 2 teas my new regular daily drinks. I realized today that when I eat the greens and drink the green tea that my fbs is lower. I think eating healthy has to be done with it.

Jane - I don't eat breakfast. I am doing Intermittent Fasting also called Intermittent Feeding. I eat everyday within a 5 hr to 8 hr window and fast the rest of the time. Try to make most days 5 hr eating window. How long the feeding window is depends on what is going on that day. So I check my fbs just before I eat my first meal of the day.

Good morning chicks! I'm off to plant a vegetable garden this morning, but just here to report fbs of 112.

See ya later!

I had sweet dreams again last night. Don't know why considering I woke up twice and was so scared I couldn't scream. I don't often have those terrifying dreams any longer but last night I had 2! Anyway, FBS was 127. It was 115 after dinner. Go figure.

Trish, yes, I'm the greens-a-holic. I don't care and I'm not going to change. I'm a waterholic, too. Have been all my life. Yes, they were raw spinach leaves in my salad. I love those things. Good luck with that garden. You're on the coast, right? You should have some perfect weather for planting things like kale. I can't on this side because our summer is warm/hot and yours is much cooler if not cold at times.

Well, off to class. We're making photo wallets today. Never done that before.

Since switching to an Atkins-like diet (I'm not completely compliant on induction), I had a lot of cravings for grains, starchy veg, and sugar. But in the last couple days, I increased my non-starchy veg intake and noticed the cravings are almost gone. And today, I've been craving kale all day.

I just made myself a big glass of juiced veggies. Lots of spinach, parsley, cucumber, celery, a lime and ginger. Yesterday I made one of these but with an apple in it. The carbs were too high, but it tasted better. Still, this wasn't bad at all, kinda spicy and refreshing.

I'm at 50 gm net carbs for today. I still have dinner ahead of me. I have lots of available protein, so I'm going to have a bison filet mignon, but I really want some kale! That will add five more net grams of carbs. I can live with that!

Tomorrow is weigh in day! I'm hopeful!

Well friends, haven't been on much for a bit, coming down with a cold or something, sore throat, headache that won't go away, and and tired and generally feeling crummy. I didn't test today, and ate low carb all day today and yesterday. Not much appetite generally.
also got some difficult news on Thursday. :( and have been bummed out since.
As some may remember, my previous way of working was to do visits with my clients a couple of full days per week, and new baby and mama visits others days as needed, and was on call for deliveries of my clients all but about 5-6 days per month. Last fall one of my colleagues and I decided to make a change in this, and we started an arrangement that one of us saw clients of both for visits during the week, while the other was on call, and then the next week we switched positions. We decided to try this for a year.
Since then, I have lost 10 pounds, been sleeping better, (my insomnia really hasn't plagued me since the fall when we decided this) my stress levels are down, and life in general has been better. Sugars are stable, and it is much easier to plan my meds.
On Thursday, she told me she won't be continuing the arrangement. She states it is a job satisfaction issue, which I accept and can't change. Privately, I would say she is a bit whiny. We heard no end of the difficulties she had with the previous way of working, and how hard it was on her family. She has complained a bit, but hasn't been good about problem-solving any difficulties we have had. She doesn't always communicate well, and I am a bit worried that those issues are also part of her decision.
However, I am feeling pretty strongly that I can't return to the old way. I am gonna hold her to the whole year of the plan, and for now, will not book clients for January and beyond until I have found a new partner in my care sharing plan. Its not worth the stress. But you may have guessed I am already stressed. I have already been talking to people about other ways of working, doing Locums for other practices etc. and talking to my DH about leaving the practice, at least temporarily.
Fortunately, I had some pampering booked for the weekend. I had a massage yesterday and mani-pedi today. TOmorrow I am going to a yoga workshop, I hope it is good and hot, (its at the hot yoga studio) so sweat out this virus. I had a hot tub tonight to try to sweat the cold away.
So if I am a little off my game for a few days, I know you will all understand.
Thanks for letting me vent a bit.

Thanks for the hugs Rie. Feeling better today, not so tired, and sore throat is better, but I have lots of stomach cramps, woke with them in the night, as if there is a lot of gas in the bowel, or I had taken a harsh laxative, which I haven't. Back to regular ww today, off the atkins, and just a ww lower carb lifestyle. Just planning a quiet few days coming up, and regular exercise. I have a yoga workshop this afternoon, and will take the dog for a walk this morning too.
I am liking the discussion of greens, I have always been a greens person. DH grew up not having much in the way of veggies, (potatoes, corn, peas + carrots, in summer just sliced tomato and cucumber) and over the years has done well to learn to eat a good variety of veggies. He still doesn't like cauliflower and brussels sprouts, but otherwise eats everything now. And is willing to try new stuff.
Georgia, where does the bison come from? The only time I see those kind of meats here is in specialty restaurants or occasionally at native gatherings. I like it, but never see it to buy.
Anyway chickies, ttfn, have a lovely Sunday

Mad, I can get ground bison at my supermarket all the time here in Central CA. Safeway always carries it. But Costco does too, along with the steaks at times. They had a brand called Great Plains Bison a few months back and I bought several boxes. But they've never stocked it since and I'm almost out! It is sold online too. I do know of one bison rancher in Northern California who will sell a whole or half bison. I don't have that much freezer space!

Rie, Internet problems...:hug:

Well, while on the meds my weight had crept up to 300 lbs, but since quitting them and going Atkins for one week, I'm down 4 lbs. My fbg this morning was 127, highest it's been in a week. But my period started yesterday, for the first time in three months. So that probably added to my manic carb cravings over the last few days, and especially my appetite. This morning I'm ravenous, still, and I already ate a big breakfast. Had to leave the kitchen so I wouldn't keep stuffing my face. Just waiting it out for another hour (already been an hour) to see what my bg will be and then I'm having an Atkins bar and a cup of coffee.

I've been trying smaller meals every two to three hours. I find my bg is much more steady that way. All my daytime 2-hr pp bg have been under 110 since doing this. I still like a bigger meal at dinner, but bg has been better then as well. This week I'm hoping to find better control for my Atkins induction groove.

My FBS was 126 this AM. I was kinda disappointed considering it was 155 after dinner last night. I didn't have greens with dinner other than a salad. I don't consider lettuce greens.

We'll see what today brings. I'm about ready to head out to the Campbell farmer's market and see what kind of green heaven I can get into. Besides, I want some off the farm fresh artichokes & asparagus to take for my snacks this week.

Trish, do you have a vita mix? I can't afford one right now but would love to try and figure out a way to make some greens smoothie type things. Smoothie without the added dairy or carby/calorie ridden stuff people usually add.

I hope everyone will have a good week this week. Feel better, get solutions for work issues, lose those blasted 2 lbs that found me yet again and not get salt cravings. I don't get sugar ones but my taste buds just love salt.

Now a question. Forgive me if I asked before. In my old age, my brain doesn't recall stuff I need but remembers stuff like the names of the pets on The Brady Bunch. WHY? LOL.

What types of numbers do you like for your carb intake? When I started this journey in Dec., my dr and the class people told me to inject 145 gm/day. I don't want that many carbs. I try and keep them around 100 or less. If kale and things like that put me over, I don't care because the fiber and other benefits of the greens are worth it. I wasn't told to follow Atkins. I'm supposed to follow the USDA plate thing of 1/2 plate greens type foods, 1/4 protein and 1/4 carbs.

I know some of you do the Atkins thing but I don't want to follow a structured eating program. I start wanting foods I can't have. So, I try and calorie count and just keep my carbs under 100. Maybe that is why I can't lose those 2 lbs and move on. Oh, I can't do physical exercise because I used Icy Hot Patches and developed AFib. My heart won't let me. Don't every use those pain patches. They mess with your heart.

Mare, I can't eat that many carbs. It keeps my general daytime levels over 120s and fbg over 140s. When I'm under 60 gm, daytime levels seem to hover in the 110s and fbg in the 120s. And if I muscle them down to a consistent 20 gm, then daytimes are under 100 and fbg is close to 100. When I'm down that low, it's safe for me to go to my Pilates class because I always spike 20 points when I exercise, then drop 30 or more for the rest of the day.

But I also have to be careful with how much protein I eat, especially later in the day. Can't really eat more than 30gm at dinner or fbg will go up.

Rie - thanks for the info. Makes sense. Yay for having fun in the pool tourney!

FBS was high after including beef in my meal last night. I'm starting to see a pattern with that, so I'll eat it very sparingly from now on.

Have a good Sunday. :)

Maybe we should make a conversation thread of what makes you spike. Jane, I thought beef was on the Atkins / low carb plan because there are little to no carbs in it. Could it be how it was prepared?

I thought exercise was supposed to drop your points. Now I read what Georgia said and it makes me wonder.

Hmmm.

Mare: exercise causes temporary spikes, as we release glucose to feed the working muscles, and it takes a while to go down. Generally, it is back to normal within 2 hours, though we must be careful to just have water and a healthy snack after ward, no gatorades etc.
The high protein meal doesn't cause a spike, but over night, the liver will dump a lot of glucose into the system, (dawn effect) for many if we don't have a little carby snack before bed. It doesn't have to be large, or lots of carbs, but does make a difference. Even with metformin, I had trouble with fasting sugars on atkins.
Georgia, be patient about the weight loss with atkins. It will happen and you will feel better, you sure had unusual side effects, so hope you are back to normal soon.

Hi Everyone,

Mare - I too have been craving salty foods, but I retain fluid and really shouldn't eat a lot of salt. I don't raise any foods. My 2nd hubby loved raising our food and we had a place in the country when he was living and we raise our own veggies, chickens, turkey, and ducks. I loved having fresh eggs and veggies. I really miss that but my present hubby isn't into that and I don't think he has the stamina to do it any way.

Rie - Sorry about the internet problems. Hope the problem is straightened out. Sorry you didn't win the tourney but glad you enjoy it.

Mad - :hug: I'm so sorry about the problems with your job that is bringing you such stress. I will be praying for you that you will find something better. You are so good at what you do and you are one of those nurses that we really need because you love what you do. I do pray that you will find the place where your abilities will be much appreciated and things won't be so stressed out. Good thoughts and vibes coming your way

Georgia - I really don't want to go as low as Atkins Induction on my carbs, but I think I'm learning that I need to keep them rather low. I really do not
want to count anything, but I do see how so many of us even on other threads here on 3fc not just diabetics seems to have to eat so much less carbs. I have found myself craving sweets especially chocolates. Last night I felt a craving of salty foods coming on. You know like one of those times when you alternately crave sweets and the salt. Thank goodness I didn't give into it. So I've decided that for a while, I am going to do a low carb way of eating and get my carbs only from the veggies that I eat and very little fruit.

Jane - In the beginning after diagnosed T-2, I checked bg after most of the foods or meals that I ate. I was amazed to learn what made my bg rise. There were foods like oatmeal that we are told diabetics can eat and it is good for them to eat made my bg skyrocket. Even my dr was surprised, but he said "the numbers don't lie". This is a journey of learning what works for each of us individually. I am confident you will find yours.

I've learned that there are some things I just can't do even occasionally. I think the low carb kind of takes care of the fluid retention another reason why I need to do low carb, because if I don't do low carb, I can't eat any salt at all because I can gain as much as 6 lbs by eating salty/carby foods just in one day... I'm that sensitive to them. I gained 2 lbs in one day. Why I'm having to get strict right now. So as I said above, I am going to have to limit my carbs to just the veggies and a very limited amount of fruit. Fruit will be mostly berries and maybe an apple and now that I'm not taking Metformin I can have grapefruit which is my favorite.

Here's hoping that we all have a great week.

Yet another quick check-in after a terrifically busy few days. Our Maple Syrup festival went well and I resisted MOST of the temptations. BGL is the usual 4.3 this morning but weight is up to 181 again - some of it is water retention but the rest may be real as I did give in to some carby temptations.

I am considering going back to using Fitday again to track my carbs. My problem is that I need lots of fibre - bowel cancer in my family - and it's hard to get the fibre without adding more carbs. I aim for 25 - 30 grams of fibre but ... I guess it's time to go back to constant meal planning AND sticking to the plan! (The planning part is easy!)

Anyhow, I'm off to the gym very shortly and will try not to feel too guilty about the weekend deviations.

Edited to Add: My gym buddies wimped out this morning as we got a dump of snow last night! The scheduled driver decided she just couldn't brush the snow off her car because she'd "put away the snowbrush"! :shrug: I'm going on my own, just a bit later so I can hit the bank when it opens.

Jane, when it comes to eating beef, well, I LOVE it. But I've had to adjust when and how much. My numbers tend to be lowest around midday, so I like to eat a small filet mignon or NYstrip with salad and avocado for lunch, then go really veggie with some fish at dinner. My bg responds just fine with that. I just can't have beef at dinner or breakfast. (Yes, already tested for steak and eggs, one of my favorite, but can't do that in the morning.)

Mare, it really depends on what exercise I'm doing. Anything more than walking makes it go up and any time of the day, but about an hour after that, depending on how hard the workout was, it can drop down into the low 70s and then stay below 100 for a few hours, even when I eat. Like last week, I went for my training session and my trainer had me doing HIIT and squats, pushups, plus weights. I had gone in at 116, and right after was at 124, but a couple hours later, after I ate a good lunch, 84. But the effect doesn't seem to carry into the next day, because I didn't do much of anything that day and all my daytime numbers when back into the 110s.

I spike on steel cut oats and every kind of whole grain and legume, despite what we've all been told. Even if there's fiber involved. I spike a little in the evenings on beef and pork, unless it's really fatty bacon. I don't seem to spike on poultry, eggs, lamb or fish. Or bison. Haven't tested any shellfish yet. As I understand it, if we have not eaten carbs, our body will use protein to make glycogen. When I totally overeat beef, that's what's happening.

Trish, I get my chocolate fix from munching on a tablespoon of roasted cocoa nibs every day. No sugar or fats added, a little fiber, and very good roasty chocolate flavor. I put on little nib in my mouth and nibble on it and let the cocoa flavor entertain me. At first, it's very disappointing not to get the rich taste and the sweetness, but I got used to it and now I love them!

I like your decision about how you want to eat, lots of veg and a little fruit. I'm going to be doing that as soon as my weight drops low enough so that it no longer impacts my fbg.

By the way, this morning my fbg was 125. I overindulged last night, on almonds! Could not stop myself! This morning I have a very small breakfast and took Ms. Daisy out for a half hour walk, and two hours after breakfast bg was down to 105. I just got all Hobbit-like and had second breakfast (kale and a poached egg). Later today I'm going to lunch with my godmother, so I'm going to try to steer her towards my favorite place to eat that serves lovely salads and a nice small portion of salmon.

As long as I get on top of things in the morning, when my ambition for the day is high, I think I can find balance throughout the day, Rie. I feel a lot less panic than I did two months ago. Still have to bring my appetite into submission in the evenings. Really, what's it gonna take for me to get over that?!

Ruth, that's my fiber goal too and it is hard to achieve when keeping carbs low. I took something called Super Colon Cleanse last week. It has psyllium as well as senna in it. It REALLY cleaned me out the first day, within an hour! The next day, a good clean out too, but it took two hours to achieve. Then I skipped two days. I took it again last evening because I hadn't had a BM in a couple days. It didn't work till this morning. I think it's because since I'm on induction and I'm not eating that much volume, I don't have much to pass along. The higher fats on Atkins seems to be getting used up, as is the protein. Before I ever considered cutting grains and legumes, I was having a lot more BM. I read some book that suggest 50 gm of fiber, but it was something to work up to. I have eaten as much as 45 gm in a day, but if it was all from veggies, I wouldn't have a BM for a couple days. Very odd!

Okay, I think I touched base with everyone! Hope you all have a great day!

Happy to say that ticker is accurate again today. Eating went very well yesterday as I went back on my 6 hr eating window. A lot of those doing the Fast-5 on 3fc seem to lean more toward the Paleo woe. I'm reading up on it as that woe makes since to me. I'm not sure I can do 100% Paleo, but I also read where some people do 80/20% Paleo. I really believe that I might be able to do that 80 to 90% Paleo. I guess I never really understood how Paleo works. After being on WW, I like the idea of eating a lot of fresh fruit and veggies along with protein. I love salads and I do eat a whole lot of salads and I think I'm mostly eating that way most of the time now so I'm going to just go for it.

I break my 18 hr fast each day with fruit and then eat 2 meals during my 6 hr eating window. I eat pretty much a balanced meal for my main meal and then eat a huge salad with protein of fish, beef or chicken and fat at my second meal. I drink lots of water and green/oolong tea during my fast and that keeps me satisfied.

Y'all have a great day.

I want to thank all of you for having patience with me and working with me on this new journey. You would think that diabetes would treat each body the same but it is amazing how differently we all respond to different things.

I keep a log of my numbers. For some reason I am missing the 15th and 16th numbers. Even boobalah was surprised. He remarked that I'm obsessive about writing them down. I must have written them on a different hunk of paper and not the little strips I keep in the back pocket of my kit thingy. Oh well.

Liver and onions didn't do me much harm last night. Boobalah carmelized the onions which really brings out the sugar. He used some of his bacon that he cured. This one was a sweeter cure than the others. I also had a bit of mashed potato. Of course, 2+ cups of salad before dinner. My number before dinner was 95 and 126 afterwards. However, it didn't go down much over night. It was 115 this AM.

Patty - I take it you've been widowed as well. My 2nd hubby passed away in 1980. There isn't a day goes by that I don't think of him. He, too, loved to grow things. Fortunately, boobalah does as well.

Yes, I have been a widow twice. Tony is my 3rd hubby. 1st time I was 22 when my guy passed away. We were married 1 1/2 yrs. 2nd time we were married 31 yrs. He was the love of my life and I think of him everyday and still miss him. However, I am thankful to have Tony in my life and we've been married 9 yrs.

I'm sorry for your losses. I, too, was under 30. This is a whole different set of emotions. I've lost both parents and I've lost friends. The love of your life is another matter. I just hope and pray I NEVER experience the loss of a child. I can't fathom that type of grief.

I don't know what happened with my first husband. I don't care. I left him for the joys of a battered women's shelter. I left with the clothes on mine and my daughter's backs and never looked back.

Thanks for sharing.