Lori Great news. It helps a lot when you have a doctor that works with you. I too have a super doctor. You'll do fine.

Shannon Good to hear from you and you are doing great. Just take it one day at a time as I know it is not always easy to stay strong with all the tempting junk around.

Carol Sue The information about the exercising is so helpful. I can do 30 to 40 minutes of formal exercise most at least 3 or 4 days a week and then be pretty active days on the other days. It is comforting to know that I'm doing something healthy by doing it that way.

Your experience of walking without the cart is interesting. I've gotten to where when we go to Costco that I go to the rest room while DH checks out. It is a long walk to theirs unlike Sam's who has theirs in the front of the store. I am usually huffing and puffing by the time I get back there and then huffing and puffing when I meet up with DH. I was so amazingly thrilled the last time when I realized on my way to catch up with Hubby that I was walking just fine. My back didn't hurt and I was breathing normal. Makes me think "Just think how much better I would be if I exercised on a regular basis". Guess I should think about that.

Last night at Bible Study our study was on our body and stress etc. For those of us who are Christians, I will share this. Did you know that God actually expects us to take care of our bodies because He lives in us? I had never heard anyone teach about how God expects us to take care of our bodies and that when we do it is as an Act of Worship to honor Him when we do? Ouch. Another reason is that we can not serve Him and do the things He has planned for us to do if we are sick or don't have he energy to do it. It was quite an eye opener for me. Just thought I would share that as a food for thought.

When the pastor prayed for us after he said, "Lord I know we have stepped on some toes here tonight..." Funny thing is I didn't take it as stepping on my toes. I'll do a lot of things... just because it is the right thing to do because it is what the Lord expects me to do as a Christian; where as if it is just something I would like to do I might find excuses to get around it.

He mentioned the book we did a series from years ago and because I have always tried to do low carb, I didn't pay much attention to it. However, I got the book title The Daniel Plan out this week because I thought maybe I could apply the spiritual guidance to my way of eating. I found out they have a workbook (they call it a guidebook with a dvd) and when I looked it up on Amazon, they also have a cookbook. Not low carb, but I ordered the guidebook, dvd and the cookbook.

I read in the book the other day that it never had been intended to be anything but health book that deals with the whole person spirit, soul and body. However, when people started following the plan they said that they started becoming healthy and came off their meds or lowered their meds. They got their cholesterol and blood sugar etc under control. When I read that I decided that it is time that I look into it more sincerely. Pastor told us last night that they plan to do the series again in the future. It is a 40 day study plan and I figure why not go for it. DH never could figure out why he is diabetic as it has never been in his family. I read that the statin drug can cause diabetes. He had refused to ever take it in the past. I did read that it depletes your CoQ10 and older people don't make it as readily any way. The article I read said it is very important for the elderly take a minimum of 400 mg of CoQ10 if you are on statins. Doc just upped Tony's statin so I'm giving him the 400 mg. I really think DH will never do low carb, so maybe I can learn to cook healthier from The Daniel Plan so he can come off these meds.

Well, yesterday morning my fbs was 159 and weight was 219.8. Today it is 130 and weight is back down to 217. :?: IDK why. I didn't eat until main meal yesterday. Got the shakes while cooking lunch and took my fbs and it was 104. Big drop I guess caused the shakes. DH wanted me to eat something sweet but I refused. Took me about an hour after I ate for my body to adjust. I didn't finish tracking on MFP until this morning. I only ate 894 calories. I got a reprimand in red on MFP that I wasn't eating enough. LOL Been a long time since I got fussed at for not eating. :dizzy:

Well, again I've been long winded. So will go for now.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Trish, I remember when I was little and went to Sunday School they taught us that our bodies are the temple of the Lord. Right now I am thinking that I wanted the Lord to have a very big temple! LOL But you are right, that God expects us to take care of our bodies. My BIL claims to be very religious. He told DH that it says in the Bible that you are only allotted so many heart beats and if you exercise, you are overworking your heart and will use up all your heartbeats. I understand what he is reading, but I think he is interpreting it all wrong. He has the biggest belly I have ever seen on a man. He eats constantly and gets no exercise. He went from living on the 3rd floor to living in a trailer, so he doesn't even get the exercise he used to get with all those steps several times a day. My husband talks to him on the phone 4 or 5 times a day and he can hear him eating while they're talking. When he stopped at our house this week DH said he had a bag in his truck that contained 4 boxes of Cheez Its. His doctor told him his sodium was low so now he thinks he should eat all these salty snacks to be healthy. His doctor also told him he needs to lose weight and he should not eat many carbs, but he said he doesn't know what carbs are. Everything he eats is carbs. I told him "If it tastes good, it's carbs!" LOL

I heard about statins causing diabetes and I read up on it. The statin I take is not one of the ones that cause diabetes. The one I take is a very old drug, from before they started making the ones that cause all the side effects. Even so, I am gradually weaning myself off it. When I got my bloodwork done last time I was taking half of the prescribed dose. Now I am taking 1/4 of the prescribed dose, and I will get bloodwork again next month and see what the results are. If I wait for the doctor to take me off it I will die waiting. I think they work with the drug companies to keep you on the meds no matter what.

I will look into the Daniel Plan. I also heard of a diet called God's diet, but I don't know what it's about. Probably eat things in the form that God made them, not processed foods.

104 is not really low blood sugar, but sometimes you get symptoms if your blood sugar drops quickly. On another board they told me that when that happens, your body is adjusting to the overall lowering of your blood sugar and if it's not dangerously low, don't eat sugar. Just eat normally. So you definately did the right thing. You are not on any meds that lower blood sugar so I don't think that you would ever have a low blood sugar that is dangerous. But I know it can be uncomfortable. Always test when you have these symptoms.

Do you carry your meter with you when you go out? I don't, except when we go to the casino which is farther from home and when we will be away from home for an extended period of time. I always have my meds with me in a little pill box.

EDIT: I could not find any detailed information about the Daniel Plan online. They all wanted you to sign up. I checked the library website and they have it. Someone has it out and it is due back on 9/20, so I requested it. So unless the person who has it renews it or someone else is signed up for it ahead of me, I should have it in a couple days. I am curious to see what it suggests.

I use to use a devotion for dieters. It was really good guess I need to drag it back out. I agree we all should take better care if the body God gave us.

I baked cookies all morning for a fish fry at church. I was busy and skipped lunch. I wasn't hungry and didn't think about it. I went to church and ate and skipped dessert. I came home and my IBS kicked it. I was miserable. I could have avoided the stomach issues by eating something mid afternoon. When will I learn??!!

dgramie You do a great job of skipping the sweets at your church functions.

Carol Sue Glad the library has the book. I don't know that I really the guide with the dvd, but I figure it can't hurt. Hopefully it will re-enforce the good stuff.

I found it interesting this morning when reading out of the book that they made it clear not to eat processed foods saying that we should eat foods that your grandmother would recognize. It kind of reminded me of what Paleo/Primal says except that they do allow grains and legumes. They also stress the importance of carb... the "right" kind of carbs comes from veggies and fruit. I thought of you Carol Sue when I read we should eat 2 or 3 servings of veggies because I know you like eating a lot of good veggies. Fruits are to be low glycemic fruits. Grains are supposed to be limited. I think it is probably a good plan. The main thing is to eat little or no sugar or white flour which we know.

I saw on another forum they were making a LCHF dish using steamed/sauteed cabbage and Philadelphia Cream Cheese. I tried it once and I didn't like it, but today I was making sauteed cabbage for my lunch. I added some shredded onion, carrots and brussels sprouts and steamed it all together. After it was cooked I took a piece of cream cheese, about a half tablespoon, and cut it in small pieces and mixed it in with the hot vegetables and let it melt in. It was very tasty! I think the recipe they had just had too much cream cheese in it for me. I liked it with just a touch mixed in. It made it a little creamy, but not enough that you could tell it was cream cheese. I just love eating all those vegetables, and I think they are the reason I feel so much better lately.

I think the book will just give me ideas to blend into my own plan I follow. I hardly eat any processed foods anymore. Mostly just protein and veggies.

Good morning ladies! Yesterday was a bit crazy but I would like to tell you all that I was number one in the challenge and won $100!!! :carrot: :D I will say my hard work paid off:cp:

I have an appointment Saturday morning for my glucose test, I'm praying that this diet and exercise has improved my numbers. I have been eating more vegetable and I have tried so many different vegetables that I had never tried before. On my busy nights that time gets away from me or if I'm not hungry I make a green smoothie instead of eating a full course meal. I just do not want to eat late or go without eating anything all night. I try not to eat anything after 8:30 though.

Lorib that's great, keep it up!

Shannon really NICE view!

Dgramie, I never knew that not eating could effect IBS. A woman I worked with had that, and she would never eat anything all day at work because she didn't want the effects of it. She only ate dinner when she got home.

Congratulations Caramel! I knew you could do it! And good for you on increasing your vegetables. Eventually, you will see that you feel so much better for having done this. I have started eating so many new vegetables in the past year. The vitamin, antioxidants, and phytochemicals are wonderful for your body and feeling of well-being. Your body is saying a big "Thank You!"

Yesterday on TV I was watching a show where a guy said how berries are so good for you, especially blueberries. I had a carton of them in the freezer and I got them out to defrost. I am going to try adding them to my yogurt each day.

Caramel CONGRATULATIONS!!! :carrot: I bet you will be rewarded with good numbers on your tests tomorrow.

Went to the beauty shop today since beautician will be out of town tomorrow and I have the monthly ladies meeting at church. Did a little bit of reading in The Daniel Plan again.

I really should have read this book more thoroughly when we studied it years ago. The book says that a good size amount of whole grains for men is 1/2 c and for women 1/3 c. However, he also says that if you are pre-diabetic or diabetic that you may not be able to eat any at all until you get your underlying metabolic imbalances corrected because of the sugar in them causes glucose spikes.

When we studied this as a Bible source as a church, I was doing low carb so well and I misunderstood or never read what he said about diabetics. I thought they pushed eating the grains so I never gave it a chance. I never saw where the book stresses the fact that when you say eat carbs, it does NOT always mean starchy carbs since all fruit and veggies are carbs as well. I had just heard so many people tell me Atkins type low carb was not good for me that I just thought this was going to be another of one of those types of books. My bad. :dizzy:

Oh he does say that the best grains are the gluten-free grains such as black rice, brown rice, red rice, buckwheat and quinoa. Pastas cooked just enough to keep some firm texture are lower glycemic. However flour products should be considered an occasional special treat.

He also suggests that if you have blood sugar issues that you limit your fruit to one serving a day and stay with the low-glycemic fruits. I haven't been doing that, but I could also eat yogurt with blueberries.

Carol Sue He talks a lot about the importance of eating a variety of veggies for the vitamins, antioxidants and phytonutrients which help lower the inflammation in our bodies. Now that I am reading it with an open mind, I think you will enjoy reading it. I think it just re-enforces some of the other health info we have read and learned. I am actually beginning to look forward to working the plan. Knowing that I can expand my choices a little and still get healthy is a real plus. And I will learn why some things work and why some don't.

Can't believe it is Friday already. A busy week end, but will try to check in any way.

Y'all have a great week end.

Well, ladies, we left vacation early yesterday after breakfast. Family drama with the sister-in-law. Enough said.

My eating was off plan yesterday and likely to continue a few days. I'm working on a meal plan with the new cookbooks. I started on it at the beach and can hopefully make enough headway to grocery shop tomorrow afternoon or next day. I lost a little while away and would like to get back on track and start losing again.

Here is the old house listing, we had two showings today and an interested buyer!
http://www.martihampton.com/search/l...fm/mls/1967799

Shannon Sorry your vacation was cut short. The house turned out good. Hope the sell goes smoothly. Congratulations on losin while gone. You will do fine.

Carol Sue & Trish Thank you so much!
Carol Sue My doctor told me that since I am borderline diabetic not to eat tropical fruit but she did say that I can eat blueberries and told me some of the health benefits of blueberries.

Shannon Wow your old house was beautiful I'm sure your new house is beautiful as well.

Shannon, the house is beautiful. I see no reason not to have a quick sale. Do homes in your area have basements? Most in PA do, and we are accustomed to having that extra space for storage etc. But I realize that some parts of the country don't have that.

Glad to hear you did well with your eating while on vacation. Not everyone can do that.

Trish, many people think of carbs as starchy carbs and never think of vegetables as being carbs. Even 1/3 C of grain isn't very much. I think most people, even diabetics should be able to eat that, but not many people think of 1/3 cup of anything as a serving. I think the American people need to be retrained on portion sizes. For example, we go to one restaurant where every burger comes with fries, and when DH orders this, the serving of fries they give him is enough for a family of 4!!! Then when we go to a different restaurant and he orders french fries or home fries he looks at his plate and says "Can they spare the potatoes?" I hate to tell him, but what he gets at these other restaurants is a serving. Even at McDonalds, I think a small fries is a normal serving. DH would never order a small. He is Potato King! LOL

I have always wondered if my diabetes is why I never liked fruit. It's not that I don't like it so much as it would never be my first choice. There's a restaurant we go to where they always give you a section of orange as a garnish, and DH laughs at me because I always eat that section of orange, but I would never think of eating a whole orange. I don't even buy fruit. I did buy a bag of apples because of what Dr Stork said in his book, but I forget they are in there and have to force myself to eat them. In the summer, DH will order a big fruit plate for his dinner. It would never enter my mind to eat that!!

Other than during induction, even Atkins includes vegetables. On another low carb forum, the people are really into ketogenic diets, testing for ketones, etc. This one guy says he eats 85% fat 10% protein, and only 5% carbs. What does he do, open a jar of CO and eat it with a spoon? I just don't get going that extreme. He says he loses best on that. He can't possibly be eating any veggies. His 5% carbs is probably just those hidden in other foods. You could NEVER eat at someone else's home, and forget about ever eating in a restaurant. Just eating my normal WOE, my fat shows up on Fitday as around 50%. I could probably increase that a bit if I made an effort, but something else would have to go or I'd be eating way too many calories. Or am I way off base?

I don't mean to criticize someone's way of eating. If you're losing weight and healthy, more power to you. I just don't get it.

Caramel, I like your doctor. In 20 years, my PCP has never discussed food/diet with me, even with my diabetes. My cardiologist never discusses it either, but when his nurse calls me to give me my test results she will say "Watch your diet." That could mean anything! I did ask my first cardiologist what I should be eating and he told me to make an appointment with a nutritionist. I think most doctors are very narrow minded.

Thank you Caramel, we actually repainted the entire house and added new carpet and countertops so she looks way nicer now than she did when we lived there!! LOL!

A quick flyby this morning. I'm excited that The Daniel Plan as I understand it at this point is working for me and I weight is coming down finally. I have a new low this morning in new territory of 214.8 lbs. I've now lost about 24 lbs for this year. I feel like I might actually have a chance to get really close to 200 by January. I'm not going to shoot for reaching or getting under 200 lbs as I know things take time, but at least I think I finally have a chance to get close too it. FBS is bouncing, but that seems to be the way it works for me when I'm losing. I just believe that eventually it will balance out. I'm actually not discouraged by that at all since I've learned how my body seems to work. In fact, I know from past experience that if I get the weight down in onderland that I no longer have high readings. So the healthy weight loss will bring the good results I'm looking for.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Trish, I checked on the library website and it still says "due back 9/20/14" for the Daniel Diet book. They are open 7 days a week, but they probably don't update the website on weekends, so that's probably why I haven't been notified that it's available. I'm anxious to read it now that you have given such good reviews. Basically, it sounds like what I'm already doing, but it never hurts to get reinforcement.

My weight has held steady at 195 for quite a while now...not up, not down. My BS is not great, but good for me. Trish, when my A1c was 5.7 my fasting BS was 150, but the doctor was not concerned because of the good A1c. I don't give fasting so much importance. You are probably having good reading throughout the day and that is keeping your A1c in a good range.

Lately I have been eating much more bread than usual, but that is because of the egg and tomato sandwiches. My tomatoes will be gone in a few days so then I will lay off the bread again. I have enjoyed those sandwiches this summer.

You have done well, Trish. My highest weight ever was 217 so you are about what I was then. It took me a while to get under 200 and it makes me angry with myself that once I got there I became satisfied and quit trying as hard to lose. It seemed that my goal was to never go above 200 again, and that's not good enough. My clothes at above 200 were threadbare because I refused to buy more. When I got to my low of 182 I bought some new ones, and now they are too tight. Most of them are winter clothes and I'd like to be able to wear them again this winter, but that's not going to happen unless I get moving! I too know that the more weight I lose the better my BS and BP will be.

That guy who was diagnosed with diabetes is not handling it well. He is upset that he cannot eat or drink what he did before. He drank a lot of bottled ice tea. I think it is available in diet but I don't think he realizes that he can drink that. I don't think he has anyone to talk to that knows about diabetes.

He applied for a job somewhere and was told he is too fat. Is that even legal? I guess it depends on what the job entails. He is big, but he has been doing junk hauling, taking stuff to the recycler and getting money for it. He lifts all that scrap metal into his truck with no problem. He is not so big that he is not able-bodied. He is so depressed over being diabetic and it just adds insult to injury to be told he is too fat to do a job. His buddies are telling him to get an attorney, but I would not want to work for someone that I had to sue to get the job. That would not make for a good working relationship. I feel bad for him.