Trish, I didn't have any side effects from the shot. Not even a sore arm where they injected it. I know about 10 people personally who had it and did not have any side effects, but everyone is different. My doctor told me that thousands of people take Cipro and don't get any side effects, but the package inserts said it can cause tendonitis in the shoulders, and my tendonites started 3 days after starting the Cipro. There can always be some people who get side effects from any drug. I heard that the shingles shot costs $200 without insurance, but I thought Medicare covered it nationally. I have a medicare supplement and it cost me $40. I got mine at Rite Aid. I heard it costs more if you get it at the doctor's office.

EDIT: Here is a link I found online that says it's covered by Medicare Part D, the prescription drug plan.

http://www.medicare.gov/coverage/shingles-vaccine.html


My doctor told me about the med that makes you pee out the sugar, but it was brand only, and brand is higher cost with my insurance, so I chose not to get it and took the generic Glimiperide instead. I really don't know if your doctor is going to prescribe any of that for you, Trish. You might be having some slightly higher blood sugar readings, but all in all yours have been much lower than they were before. If your A1C is good, I don't see him prescribing meds for you. It's worth a try to mention it, though if you really feel that you need it.

Today I made hot sausage and vegetables for dinner. DH ate his sausage on a bun, and as much as I wanted it, I ate mine without the bun. Good girl!

When I went shopping today I bought some baby dill pickles. That was another thing the book mentioned to help you get some vinegar in before a meal. I don't eat pickles much but I will if they are going to help me.

For now, I am going to stay away from carbs as much as I can, and when the situation arises where carbs are included, I will just do the best I can to use some of the starch blocking techniques. Right now I still feel a little bit hungry but I will drink some water and maybe the hunger will go away. It might not be real hunger, because my body is accustomed to me eating until I am stuffed, so eating until I am satisfied would naturally feel different.

Mad, my blood sugar AND weight go up sometimes for no apparent reason. It is sure a lot easier to gain weight than it is to lose!

I have never eaten any Indian food, but I would love to try it. I don't know if that will ever happen though, because DH would not even try it. It took me 30 years to get him to try Chinese and he's only had that twice. I have no hope for Indian Food. What did you have?

Shannon, glad to hear you're sticking to your plan. You go girl!!

weight is finally going down today.
Carol Sue, I love Indian food. My daughter-from-another-mother, Liz, married a man whose parents are Bengali, and we regularly get family gatherings with Indian food. Complex spice mixes are the highlight, not all are hot, (but some are, and they can be very hot).
If you ever get to try some, I recommend a Korma for you. (usually chicken or lamb). It is a delicious sauce with almond, sultana raisin and often coconut flavours. The spice and flavour mix seems to be as individual as the cook. Everywhere has slightly different tastes to me. I started eating Indian food when I came to Waterloo region from my home in a small town of Welland in Niagara. I was excited by the chance to eat ethnic food, as my mother was a very plain cook. So Indian is my favourite, but love Thai, chinese and Japanese quite a lot.
These days my biggest challenge is to lower the carbs, and watch out for citrus. So I have been learning to cook my favourites myself. However, this particular Indian restaurant cooks all meals from scratch, so they will avoid the lemon for me and I feel quite safe to eat there.

FUnny, I bet most of us don't consider Italian and possibly greek cuisine as exotic anymore. But my mother sure did. However, she was used to Polish and Ukranian food from her childhood. (Welland has many people from Eastern Europe, and I think they all lived in her neighbourhood, to hear her tell it! However, I was 7 and in grade school before I saw a black person not on television)

Trish, I would say that really working the Atkins has reduced my sugar cravings and appetite in general, finally. I admit that cheating and using artificial sweeteners is a problem. I didn't give it up completely, I still have one packet of splenda on my breakfast high fat greek yogurt. (greek gods) I mix that with skinny ***** or holy crap cereal. ( chia, hemp and buckwheat bits) and have it 5-6 days a week. Other than that I have avoided sweets and desserts. Kim (Jersey Girl) suggests having a fatty snack when you get a sweet craving, and I have had either a spoonful of cream cheese or half an avocado and have managed to get past it.

It is VERY cold here (-33 last night) and yesterday it was hard for our furnace to keep the house warm. DH suggest I bake. What to do? I made my chocolate macaroons with stevia and splenda, so low carb, high protein (egg whites) and sugar free. I don't feel I had a lot of will power, but I ate two of the 36, and had one today. I am not going nuts, they are sitting in plastic containers on the counter and I am not obsessing about them. So I really think the withdrawal from sugar and artificial sweeteners has worked.
SO not to lecture, but to reassure you that it will work over time.

I hope everyone is warm, safe and snug, or that you have much warmer weather than we have here.
RUth, I hope there are folks who help you shovel or keep things clear and that you are snug in your place.

Mad, there are no Indian restaurants in our immediate area or I could order a take out meal to try. There are some in Pittsburgh, where there is a pretty good Indian population, but we rarely go into Pittsburgh, and that would involve DH also eating at the restaurant. I think I might have an Indian cookbook in my cookbook collection, so I might try a recipe from that. I know it involves a lot of spice that I don't usually use, but the thing with cooking it yourself is you can alter the amount of spice to your own taste, but still get the basic idea of the food.

When I started eating larger portions of vegetables and trying new ones, I lost my craving for sweets. It might have actually been the low carb eating that did it, too, as eating more veggies seems to go along with low carb eating. DH has baked good in the house at all times and they don't tempt me at all. The one exception is chocolate candy. I have not lost my taste for that, but he doesn't like chocolate so it is only in the house if I buy it, which I don't. Occasionally I will buy a single bar that they have displayed at the check out line in the grocery. It's eaten and then it's gone. That is only done occasionally, maybe a few times a year. I do get tempted by the potatoes, pasta and bread that he eats, and that's where my carbs come from, although I do try to control it. I eat no carbs at breakfast or lunch, but dinner is a different story, and I need to learn to control that. I do notice that including carbs in my meal causes me to overeat....the taste of the carbs makes me want more carbs. I like eating out because we each can choose our own meal Most restaurants we go to will substitute veggies for a starchy item and that works for me.

Thanks for the sharing Carol Sue and Madeleine. Comes back to what works for us individually. I'm back on the plan that got my fbs down recently. I have a doctor's appt less than a month away and I want to be sure things are improved when I see him.

I hope everyone is staying safe and warm. We aren't having it as bad as others. DS girlfriend who lives near Boston is having weather like Madeleine and Ruth. We hit 18 last night and we are supposed to have a mixture of rain and sleet tonight. DGS left today with the idea of staying with a fraternity friend to keep from driving in it to get to school tomorrow, but it is supposed to be out of here for us tomorrow sometime. Not sure if we will get some more the weekend. Kind of iffy on that.

After my binge eating yesterday, my fbs was down 11 pts from yesterday. Even my bp was down from yesterday, but the weight was up. This morning I started eating and using some of the insulin blocker ideas I learned from the dummies book and the Magic Foods book I read. I will also use grains, but only the recommended 3 to 5 a day and no more. I am drinking the ACV before I eat, but not the drink. I will use it in a salad before lunch and dinner. Since it seems to work for me, I see no reason to change it and it will help DH with his bs as well. I will learn how to cook new menus using what I've learned. I will also do it using IF. I think at this point I have to get serious about the exercise to get it all working together and will definitely make that a priority this week.

I looked up Slow Carb and didn't find too much, but will continue looking. I did read one person's story. I'm sure I'm not looking in the right place as it just kept sending me to new links that only led me back to where I started. However, I did find 2 threads on FB and my membership into the groups are pending. I will continue looking until I find more info.

Y'all stay warm and I'll catch y'all again later or tomorrow.

Trish, here are 2 sites that I read about Slow Carb, which is also called The 4 Hour Body, as you eat every 4 hours.

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2012/07/...ampaign=buffer

And this one gives the best information, and also includes some other diet plans, including IF.

http://www.chewfo.com/diets/the-4-ho...void-food-list

I was OK with the ACV when I reduced it to 3 tsp instead of 2 Tbs. I guess that was just too much for my system.

Hi everyone! I have been out of pocket for a while but I wanted to jump in and say hello. We have had a bit of everything - colds, husband traveling for work, kids out of school, Mardi Gras...life without king cake is HARD, y'all! But I'm hanging in! I had a piece a while back but I'm a lot more choosy about what KIND of king cake now, not just any ol' hunk of dough with icing will do :dizzy: I made it to exactly zero parades but I'm not very good at all that and never have been. I like my bathrooms indoors, thank you.

I see my dabetic education person tomorrow. I met and passed my weight loss goal, was a little less great on my steps goal (more days than not, but not five days a week), and my fasting glucose stays between 98 and 110 so I'm happy. So far, so good. Just need to keep going.

Hope all is well with everyone! Happy Fat Tuesday!!!

TheSecondHalf Congratulations on meeting your goal and such good FBS readings.

Well, I'm sticking to my plan. Not changing anything at this point. My FBS and weight is slowly coming back down. I have blood work in 2 weeks and a doctor's appt in 3. Looked back at how this worked for me when I started it last month and my FBS should be down in a good range by the time I see my doctor and get my A1c. Not sure how good the weight will be, but a good A1c would make him and me happy.

Hope everyone has power and staying warm. I understand there are places even here in SC without power today. I'm just trying to stay warm. Drinking so much water doesn't help me accomplish that.

2nd half: what exactly is king cake? and how does it relate to mardi gras.
Here we had Shrove Tuesday, and I made pancakes and bacon and sausage for supper. Had many kids over, as I wanted to give them the special childhood memories that I have, a special meal of pancakes and maple syrup on a school night (how crazy is that?)
Another thing about these traditions, we all seem happy to celebrate these fun things, but they are Christian traditions, (I'm not advocating, just saying) but we are not going with the next tradition, of Lent, where we fast, or cut back on eating and treats etc. I have been saying to my friends that I had to start lent early to make up for a great holiday season.
So if we really have a period of restriction, these holidays are fine.
I did have a couple of pancakes last night, but no weight change today.
I really had to work to stop myself afterward though, to not eat more, even though I wasn't hungry.
So there is a change with low carb too, I don't spend the evening thinking about food with the low carb diet, with carbs, I am craving all evening long, and practising abstinence. MUCH harder that is.
Back to normal today.
Happy Wednesday friends

Secondhalf, good job on your weight loss and blood sugar! You have made great improvements! I'm sure your diabetic educator will be pleased with your efforts.

Mad, I eat pancakes for Shrove Tuesday every year. My mother started the tradition when I was young. DH never heard of it. Yesterday, I forgot about it until after dinner. I had some frozen pancakes in the freezer so I got a couple out and ate them. When I was a kid, we had pancakes for supper many times, because they were cheap and we were poor. DH never heard of eating pancakes for supper, either. It's funny, because we grew up a couple miles away from each other but our family experiences were very different. He grew up with fasting during Lent and I didn't. We don't do it now.

My blood sugar is high this morning from eating those pancakes, especially since I ate them after I had already eaten dinner. I took a glimiperide, but I think I take it wrong. I think I am supposed to take it before I begin eating, and many times I forget about it until after I've eaten. By then the sugar is already on an upward swing. I think I do that because in reality, I don't want to be taking it at all.

Trish, I think your A1c will be good. I am to have blood work done on March 1 but I am going to postpone it, hoping for some improvement. I will make my doctor's appointment when I get the blood work done so he should have the results by then.

My husband is English and grew up with Pancake Tuesday or something. I'm from Louisiana and grew up with Fat Tuesday, king cake, Popeye's Chicken, and parades. I told him pancakes are a sad substitute for Mardi Gras ;) he did not find this funny. I actually LOVE pancakes and think Pancake Tuesday is BRILLIANT so in the past, when not trying so hard to keep myself in check, we adopted the pancake thing as well so our daughter can have a little of both traditions.

King cake is like gumbo, everyone has their own version an thinks everyone else's version is "the fake one." Ours is like a moist cinnamon roll in a ring, covered with white icing and sugar in purple, gold, and green. There's a plastic baby inside. Whoever finds the baby provides the next cake. Traditionally you eat them from Jan 6 through Mardi Gras Day (Fat Tuesday, yesterday). Some are more like cake, some more like bread, some are filled. This year the big thing was savory king cake with boudin Stein's cane syrup on top (no thank you, that stuff is SWEET). You can also get them filled with strawberry, chocolate, cream cheese, pecan praline, lemon, etc. There's a pecan praline/cream cheese combo I'm particularly fond of.

I'm not even Catholic, I grew up in the one tiny little pocket of Baptists in South Louisiana but everyone else is so many of our traditions are Catholic.

Anyway, off for my appointment. Will catch up here in a bit. Love reading all your posts!!!

Back! Appointment went great, going back in April.

Wannabe, pancakes for supper are one of my favorite memories from childhood, along with pancake breakfasts for the baseball fundraisers every spring. I LOVE pancakes. I'm on a mission to find a good low carb version that isn't all weird chemicals. There's something called "oopsie bread" that can apparently sort of stand in, but I haven't tried the recipe as pancakes yet (just as a kind of muffin/popover). They were good for something bread-like but not carby.

fatmad, Lent is HUGE around here. The vast majority of people I will encounter today will have ashes and there's a lot of talk about what people are doing or giving up. Also, as a side effect, you can find a lot of fried fish boxes as fundraisers on Friday, and the kids will have fish at school. As I said, I'm not Catholic but even I grew up with the idea of doing something for Lent, weather giving up something, doing community service, following devotionals, etc. It's pretty prolific around here.

Goodluck with your A1C, pattygirl, and stay warm! I wonder if hot tea can sub for water if it's caffeine free?

I am seriously jealous of those of you who have access to good Indian food. We haven't anything like that nearby and what I make myself is ok, but it's just not the same!

I have never heard of Pancake Tuesday or Fat Tuesday or King Cake. Probably good that I haven't. If my deceaCsed husband had known about them, he would have had me make them. He heard of and taste a German Christmas Stolen and got the recipe from his bosses daughter and I had to make one every year. I've never made another one since he died. The only reason I don't eat cake is because DH doesn't like them so I seldom make one any more.

TheSecondHalf So glad you had a good appt. You are doing so well.

Today my weight was the same and my FBS was down 5 more points. Looking at the records when I started "my plan" I am right on track as this is exactly how it worked last time. The weight just slowed down before it started moving down. However, the bs slowly came down. The nice thing about this is that I'm not using the Guccocil this time because to be honest, it is too expensive for me to spend at this time. So this is happening with diet and exercise.

I have actually done 3 days on the recumbent bike. My exercise goes a little longer than 30 minutes because I am doing 3 miles a day. I used to use my walking in the stores as exercise, but I've decided not to do that any more, because I want my exercising to become a habit. The plan is for 5 days each week, but if I find it difficult to get back to doing it Monday then I will have to do it everyday.

Not sure what the weather is going to be the rest of the week. Low of 7 expected to night. Some say rain and/or snow Fri and Sat and another says Sat and Sun which means that I won't be going to the beauty shop and we won't have church. Need a few groceries to get through so will be going out tomorrow.

Catch y'all tomorrow.

HI friends:
stuck to plan very nicely today.
Have to get a new "dongle" for my fitbit. Its the plug in for the computer that syncs the info from the fitbit to the computer and the website.
other than that, no interesting news.

Mad why do you have to get a new dongle? I never thought about the fact that they could break, but I did see online that they sell them separate, and also the chargers.

Nothing really new here. Haven't weighed in a week since I don't feel as though I've lost and haven't been eating all that well. I hate bad news. LOL

Trish, I got the 4 Day Body Book (slow carb) from the library and as soon as I got it home I realized that I might have read it already. It all looks so familiar. All that sticks in my mind is low carb for 6 days and eat whatever you want on the 7th. I will look through it to see if anything else catches my attention. The sub title of the book is An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman. I sure hope DH doesn't see that and get unrealistic expectations! On any level! LOL

This will be quick because I am running late. Just wanted to check in.

Carol Sue I'm curious about the An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss. I say I'm not sure about eating 1 day off as I seem to do some of those as it is. I need to find something to snack on that isn't salty. I have been eating cashews at times and don't stop as soon as I should. Result? Higher fbs today and weight up some.

I'm back OP today but we are going out to eat when we go to the store today. Not sue where DH will want to eat. I am going to have to make my plan very simple like I did in the beginning with this because I know that is what worked for me.

I plan to get some salad foods and some beans to put in it. I am more determined to get this disease under control than ever. We got word last night that the doctor in our church who had been the expert on diabetes had a heart attack yesterday afternoon and passed away. My first thought when I learned of his death is how he had to know from his knowledge that by doing what he was doing that it was going to be progressive and he would lose his life because of it. Perhaps if he had learned the things Dr. Fung and other doctors have learned, he could have at least slowed it down or got it under control. It is really sad that his wife has just retired last month and now he is gone.

I don't know how my docs appt will go, but I do know that I am going to take what I have learned that work and work harder to get it under control. This doctor is my example of what NOT to do. I may even get back to Atkins after my doctor's visit if I have to. But whatever it takes I AM GOING TO BEAT THIS. I've got the exercise routine going and becoming a habit, now I've got to do the same with my eating plan.

Trish, I don't doubt that you will get things under control. You did it before and you have experimented with so many thngs and you know what works for you.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean that the doctor was an expert on diabetes. Do you mean he followed the rules of the ADA? Do you feel that this heart problem came from diabetes? I know that diabetes goes hand in hand with heart disease. I had my first heart treatment in 2000, when my heart disease was first discovered. Since that time I have had numerous treatments, including open heart surgery, angioplasty, several stents, but I have never had a heart attack. People find that surprising, but I guess I have recognized my symptoms in time to get immediate medical help. Heart disease can sometimes have no symptoms, or some people have symptoms but recognize them as something else. I have given myself a few more years of life by getting the medical attention, but I feel that heart disease is what I will die from, ultimately. I am sorry to hear that a heart attack killed this man. May he rest in peace.

As far as the Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, so far all I have read is the plan to eat low carb 6 days a week, 4 meals a day, spaced 4 hours apart. Each meal is to contain protein, beans and vegetables. No white carbs at all. No dairy, no fruit. There is no reference to how much of anything. So far, it doesn't say anything about fat. Cook with fat, or don't cook with fat. You are also to exercise daily, including weight training each week. On the 7th day you eat whatever you want in huge quantities. Stuff yourself. It says this will cause fat loss, not necessarily weight loss. You might lose some fat and gain some muscle weight which might only result in a 5 lbs loss on the scale. You do measurements before you start, and he recommends investing in having your fat percentage done before hand to compare with afterwards. Oh, and he also says to track what you eat. He said tracking means the difference between success and failure.

Who know if this is legit, or just another book written by someone looking to make money. It sounds good but who can stick to it? He says the decision is yours. He says there's a difference between wanting to do it, and being determined to do it. That can be applied to any weight loss plan, IMO.

Years back, my sister-in-law was very big. She went on a diet that she just ate a lot less than she normally did, but on Saturday's they went out for dinner and she ordered whatever she wanted. She said that knowing she could have whatever she wanted on Saturday kept her on her diet all week. After a while, she started exercising, too. She lost 100 lbs. She has gained some back over the years, but not all of it. And she pretty much follows the same principal today. I think you just have to find what is going to make you stick to your plan.

Carol Sue Everyone I've ever known who had diabetes and followed the ADA plan ended up with a lot heart problems. DH 1st wife not only lost toes, but she had heart problems as result of the diabetes. From what I've heard say, your heart problems were not a result of the diabetes and I'm sure you do as well as you do is because you try to stay on top of things. As DH said told me, when you start losing toes and feet etc like this doctor did (they were building him a new left foot and was planning to build him a new right foot when the left one healed), the diabetes is beginning to create problems and damage all through the body. That is why Dr. Fung says it is a progressive disease that does not get better if we continue using the old ADA plan.

I remember our Pastor telling about this doctor at one time was such an expert specializing on diabetes treatments etc that he was the spokesman on the subject in the Carolinas giving lectures on it at one time. So I am sure that he followed the ADA plan. We all know that even if we can eat some carbs, no diabetic should be eating 11 or 12 servings a day.

I remember Dr. Fung telling about one of his patients who was improving on the fasting treatment and he said "He was one of my patients before when I treated him the way I was taught to treat diabetes and he was getting worse". He went on to say that now he was treating him with the fasting plan and he was getting better. That is why I said that this expert diabetic diet is a good example to me that I need to do what these new doctor's (low carbers drs) have learned to do in treatment of diabetes with the lower carb diets if I want to get better.

I agree that I need to just get determined to eat the way I know will work for me. I've done pretty good today. I had my oatmeal for breakfast this morning. We went for burgers and DH decided that he would get everything on our burgers so he could give me the lettuce and dill pickles off of his. He usually tells them not to put them on, but I had told him that the veggies and the pickle helps keep the insulin from increasing too fast. And as usual we had lemon water which is good for the bs. I made a salad using 1/2 can of beans instead of meat and used the ACV and EVOO for dinner instead of the sandwich I ate for dinner the last time. I think that will work better for the bs and will get me away from eating so much bread even if it is multigrain. I did my recumbent bike so I have 4 of my 5 days done. I almost talked myself out of doing it, but ended up sitting on it to call my son and ended up doing my 3 miles. I am very happy with my day.

Trish, now I understand what you mean. So this man was an "expert on diabetes" in the eyes of the medical community, which means he followed the teachings of the ADA, which we are learning are not altogether correct. No matter how much I try to fit carbs into my diet, I get poor results. The medical community thinks the answer is more medicine. My mother's family had heart disease. I always thought that it was because they ate fatty cuts of meat, used lard, etc. But they also ate a lot of carbs, because they were cheap and filling. I remember when my mother had her first heart attack at 59 they put her on a diet and she lost 50 lbs, but she was always hungry and miserable, and missed the foods she loved. It didn't help. She went on to have 2 more heart attacks and the last one killed her at 64. If I knew then what I know now she could have eaten a low carb diet and still enjoyed her eggs and meats that she liked and the outcome might have been better.

As I have read more into this book I realize I did read it before. The basic rules of the diet sound OK, but he gets into some really weird stuff later on, recommending supplements etc. I don't recommend the book because anyone who's interested can get the diet information online, and the rest is so much technical jargon. I think the diet would work if you were able to stick to it, but I think any diet will work if you stick to it. Everyone has to do what works for them.

There was a woman on 3FC who posted about this plan and did extremely well on it, tweaking it to suit her needs. Eventually she quit posting and the thread died out. I always wonder about people who just disappear. Did she just get bored with posting, get too busy with her life, or did she fall off the wagon and couldn't get back to the diet and just quit posting. I like to hear how a diet plan works long term.

hello friends,
a little off plan last night. Had some fries with my supper out.
we went to a folk concert at a local bar.
Later i ordered a piece of pie since we felt we needed some food on the table to support the bar where the concert was. However, I didn't eat much of it.
thats right, half of it was still on the plate when I left.
SO even though I didn't stay strictly on plan, I had a nice NSV.
In other good news, as you may remember, I have been off the "nightshade" vegetables, for chronic pain. No pain on waking today after having the fries (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant are all in the nightshade family).
Anyhow, i am getting off plan again.
Its really cold here today, (schools closed, too hard to keep them warm enough!)
and I just had to have oatmeal. I miss oatmeal more than bread when low carb eating. SO far have not overeaten or had a big problem with carb craving.
Will switch back to low carb for the rest of the day now.
Other good news yesterday, first time I hit 10000 steps in a couple of weeks.

Today is the 30th anniversary of my first date with DH, so we are having a quiet night in, and homemade supper. Plan to use the treadmill today, as it hasn't gotten much warmer so far today.
Another folk concert tomorrow night.
SO a wonderful weekend all around, except for the cold. Well, can't change that, will have to find ways to cope.

Mad, you did good leaving most of that pie. I don't think anyone stays on plan 100 %, but being able to eat a small piece of something and stopping is definately a victory!

We have been having the deep freeze weather, too. It's supposed to warm up into the 30's over the weekend, but then we're getting snow, so I will still be staying in.

I was curious to know just how cold it gets in my basement exercise room. There is a heater vent going to the room, but it is still always colder than it is upstairs, which can be nice in the summer. I put a little thermometer down there and today it showed 64 degrees. That's cooler than I like, but probably not too cool for exercising. It's just uncomfortable until I get moving.

Carol Sue The doctor's obituary came out today. No wonder he was such and "expert" on the ADA's plan, at one time he was the State President of the American Diabetes Assoc. It is a shame the doctor's can't accept the new information we have all learned.

Isn't it interesting that we thought that the protein and fat were the diabetics enemy only to now learn that those are their answer and excess carbohydrates are their enemy. I still have a tendency to think that way sometimes, but the evidence out there cannot be denied. That was why I never went back to meet with the nutritionist who told me she wanted me to eat 11 to 12 servings of carbs a day. Although I was never able to do Atkins back then because I really just didn't grasp how, I knew enough from reading his book that following her advise was a destructive path that would only make me worse.

I've got to get through this next doctor's appt. and then I am going to have to make myself eat differently. I want to get rid of most if not all the bread/grains at least most of the time. I've done 4 days of 30 minute exercises. Don't know if I will do any more this week. I am going to make a good old college try to do a 24 hr fast from lunch today until lunch tomorrow and might do it again Sunday. It would be good if I could start doing 24 hr fasts 2 days a week. I think if you follow IF suggestions in the book you are to do 2 days but not 2 in a row. However, from what I gathered from Dr. Fung that didn't really matter as some people did only 1 x a month and some did much longer. But I got the impression if you did longer than 2 or 3 days that you should be under a doctor's supervision to do long fasts. If I can accomplish 1 or 2 days a week for now, I will be happy. I'll just take one day, maybe even one hr or one moment at a time. I really liked the idea of eating only protein, veggies and beans as beans are fiber which I seem to need. If I could eat the beans in place of the grains, I think that would be good.


Fatmad I also love oatmeal especially on really cold mornings. You did great resisting eating all of the pie.I'm learning that I don't have to eat everything on my plate and depending on what it is, I don't always have to bring it home with me if I don't eat it all. I've also had times when I could refuse dessert or bread on a burger, I have to wonder why it has become difficult for me. I can remember when I was so strict about eating low carb that I wouldn't even allow myself to be tempted. I have had times in the past when DH would want a burger and while I was shopping at Walmart he would go eat at the attched McDonald's. I would get me something I could take home and eat without getting off plan. I just don't know why I don't seem to be able too. I so want to be able to be strong enough to do that again. I don't really want to become one of those statistics that get off of their diet plan and can never get back OP. Enjoy your quiet anniversary celebration with your DH. Those are such special times.

Well girls, I've got to go to the beauty shop in the morning, rush home and get hubby and go to the church to give our condolences to the wife of the doctor and their family before the funeral. I think he is so popular that it will be crowded at the funeral so we aren't going to the funeral. So I won't have time to check in tomorrow morning.

Have a nice weekend everybody.

Trish, I did a 2 day fast once years ago. I was trying out a new diet plan and that was the first 2 days of the plan. I also used to fast all day every Good Friday. I was much younger when I did this, and I had no medical issues. When I had my last 2 surgeries I didn't get anything to eat until day 7 after the surgery, but I was in the hospital under complete medical care. Going from noon to noon wouldn't be too bad because you are only missing 2 meals, and you wouldn't be eating overnight anyway. Go for it! It's not for me. I'm having a hard enough time keeping myself from eating after dinner. LOL

I understand about the eating at night. I told hubby earlier that I was so hungry, but I was afraid to eat even a bite of anything because I was afraid that once I started I wouldn't start.

I do have some Atkins shakes if I need it and can use it (liquid) if I need it which I did tonight. I remember years ago when I lost all that weight before I met DH that I would eat a lowcarb bar with coffee for breakfast and then sometime later in the day usually late in evening depending on how busy I was I would eat a big salad. I was working 2 jobs and a friend and I would go sing Christian music in a nursing home. On the nights we went to the nursing homes, we might night eat until 8 or 9 at night which meant I had not eaten since the lowcarb that morning. I wouldn't eat at work because I was so afraid that if I ate I would lose control. I used the CAD schedule of eating only 1 meal a day. I could lose a lb a day doing that, but it wasn't really healthy because I really wasn't getting much nutrition sometimes when I did eat. Plus the lowcarb bars were not meant to replace a meal back then. I lost weight, but I had a lot of problems too. Even though there are lc bars that are for meal replacement these days, I still would not use them for a meal. Just not sure that is a good idea, but I think the shakes would be ok.

Trish, I also think the shakes are OK as long as they contain needed nutrition. My mind cannot accept that they are a meal. To me, it's like drinking a milkshake and I want a burger with it. LOL What I'm really saying is, my mind doesn't feel that I've eaten unless I have real food, not a shake. But I do know a lot of people who would much rather have a shake for breakfast rather than taking the time to prepare a meal.

Last night I watched a show on Public Television about The Dash Diet. It was very popular in past years but you don't hear much about it lately. It is geared toward lowering blood pressure, not weight loss. It has been changed, as before it used to be somewhat vegetarian, and now they have learned that including protein and healthy fat is helpful. It is primarily the way I eat now, except for my slip-ups. Protein, non-starchy vegetables, fruit, and 1-2 servings of whole grain. They actually said if you are also interested in losing weight you can eliminate the whole grains! The big difference is it also includes dairy, and they say it is imperative to get the dairy in to lower blood pressure. If you recall, I told you that when I was in the hospital after my heart surgery, they gave me milk at every meal and I continued that for months afterwards, but I got away from it. So I think I need to add the milk/yogurt back into my diet and they said you can significantly lower your blood pressure in 14 days. My blood pressure isn't extremely high but it's higher than the cardiologist wants it to be. If I don't get it down before my appointment in May he said he will make changes in my meds. I would actually like to cut back on my meds, not add more.

Like you, when I was younger I skipped a lot of meals. Now I feel that I was really abusing my body, but all I cared about back then was being thin. Now that I'm starting to have medical problems, health and nutrition have become more important to me. Unfortunately, I went from not eating enough to eating too much. I need to find a happy medium, and I really think I need to get back to tracking to see exactly what I'm eating. Every time I eat something in the evening I'm sorry afterwards, but the food is in there and there's nothing I can do about it.

Carol Sue I find that interesting about the Dash Diet and the changes. I am really looking forward to the spring with fresh fruit etc. It sounds like you and I are so much a like in many ways.

I like having the fruit and the dairy in my plan. Although I do enjoy the oatmeal once in a while, I can do without it and I'm looking to give up bread even the multi-grain. I now I'm going to have off meals at least once or twie a week with DH because he isn't going to change and sometimes I can't get a salad and even if I can I notice they still use protein with batter on them and think it is low carb/ low calorie. Some people just don't get it.

I hadn't thought about why a shake replacing a meal doesn't always satisfy me. You know when I was in college that a shake was something us girls went out for at night for fellowship every night. And I wonder why I was putting on weight. LOL But didn't gain that much so didn't bother me. Any way, a shake doesn't represent a meal to me. It is a fellowship snack. Maybe that is why I've never been one who replace a meal with it. Thanks for sharing why it doesn't feel right as a meal to you.

Any way, I think I could do protein, veggies, fruit and dairy and not miss the grains. Thanks for sharing.

Got to run. Try to get back here later.

Trish, I love oatmeal and will have it once in a while, but it still raises my blood sugar. I will continue to buy the Sara Lee Multigrain bread, because I keep it in the freezer and a loaf lasts me months since I only have it occasionally.

I was reading through some old posts in LowCarbFriends, just to see what information/inspiration is available. Some people really go all out, with supplements, really high fat, etc. I found a reference to this:

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/

After the site comes up, click on "LINKS." It is amazing! I never realized so many low carb sites were out there. I only clicked on a few, and some of them are just ads trying to sell something, but there are a lot of free informational sites and blogs. Lots of information! I bookmarked it, and will refer to some of them now and then.

Carol Sue Thanks for the link. I bookmarked it too so I can read and maybe I can find a way to make low carb work for me. I have shied away from eating HFLC because I wasn't sure all that fat was good for us, but maybe I am wrong. Especially since it obviously does not raise bs and is healthy. I read on there that we have been told so much that saturated fat was bad for us but that seems to be what a lot of HFLCrs use a large amounts of it. The article went on to say that saturated fats do not go rancid. I never thought of that which makes me think that maybe they aren't so bad after all. And of couI rse we've learned that fat makes us stay satisfied longer.

I had also noticed when reading what people on the lowcarber site that some of them eat a LOT of fat even to the point that some talked about I eating butter by itself to keep from eating when hungry. I've also heard in the past of people eating loads of fat (I think they called it a fat fast) for a few days to break a weight stall.

I had more of a CAD day today. Only had 2 meals. We went to the church to view body and speak to the widow of the doctor. Then ran by the store to get some more eggs and stopped at Subway for a sandwich. I've been wanting one for a while. I got the oat bread/club and had the guy load it down with veggies and had oil and vinegar on it. Then I got hungry later so I scrambled my eggs with some sausage in some leftover bacon fat. Went a little heavier on the fat than I normally would. I think I will go ahead and make tomorrow a low carb day. Probably will only have 2 meals. Eating the higher fat should make it easier.

I was going to wait until after my doctor's appt, but why wait. I'll just go ahead and do it.

Trish, I don't go out of my way to add fat, but I don't do low fat either. I pay attention to carbs and total calories. I am using more butter than I did before and I eat sausage and bacon, whereas before I used to choose turkey sausage or Canadian bacon. Somewhere I read that fat is not bad for you until you combine it with a carb, such as butter on bread, or fried potatoes. I have heard of the fat fast also, but never paid attention to the details.

This morning my blood sugar was 134. Although high, it's the lowest FBG I have had for a while, so I was pleased. I added some spinach and lentils to my scrambled eggs, getting back to beans. Just a sprinkling, not a lot. When I enter my food on Fitday, the eggs seem to be my biggest source of fat for the day, so I don't worry that I'm not getting enough fat. I feel confindent if I watch my carbs and portion sizes more closely I will be successful.

The night before last, my BS was in the 160s when I went to bed. I ate a scrambled egg, and the next morning it was in the 130s, a drop of 30 points. My blood sugar doesn't usually drop during the night. Yesterday, when I went to bed, my BS was 166. I did not eat anything, and this morning BS was 167. No change. I don't know if the drop was a fluke, or if the egg really made a difference. After reading about the fat fast, I'm thinking it was the fat in the egg and not the protein that made a difference.

After we talked yesterday, I googled and read up about Fat Fast. It's not as bad as I previously thought. It includes foods like eggs, avacados, nuts, cream cheese....things that have healthy fat, not just a lot of plain fat. It says not to do it more than 3-5 days to break a plateau. Here's my question. Is it like every other fad? Do you gain the weight back as soon as you go back to regular low-carb? I like avocados but I quit buying them because of the difficulty keeping them from turning brown once they're cut. I've tried everything, and I'm not satisfied with the results. The only thing I didn't do is use my food saver. DH suggested that, as it pulls all the air out of the bag.

For 2 days I have had 2 meals and cut back on my portions. This morning my weight is down 1.5 lbs. For some reason I just didn't have the urge to snack like I usually do, plus there's not much in the house to snack on right now. I'm hoping that this lack of appetite continues.

hi all, hope monday is a good day for you. I am having a quiet work time, but we will see how long that lasts.
Cold here again, with a bad windchill. DOn't expect it to get to seasonal temperatures, (still below freezing but not arctic) until the weekend. but its really sunny. Hard to manage exercise right now, but will keep trying.
Stayed on plan yesterday, so am back where I need to be.
Good work Carol Sue and Trish, I know adding fat is difficult, but it really helps the cravings and makes low carb successful. enjoy!

Mad, after all these years of being told that fat is bad for you, plus a cardiologist who still is preaching the low-fat lifestyle, it's very hard to change that mind set. Every time I want to eat fat I think "What if I'm wrong?" I'm still here today after eating lower fat.

We are still having the cold temps, too, but were told this morning that in a week or so the weather is going to break and we will be getting into the 40s or 50s. Goodbye to February for another year.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I've been doing a lot of reading and purchased a few books online which I can get my money back if I want and I probably will since I'm not going to be following the plan. It is supposed to be a Money back guarantee for 60 days.

I think some what he shared was good but a little extreme, but I have to say that I do understand more of why IF works and I honestly believe it will work greatly even with a VLC diet. I really believe I am going to try doing more of an Atkins type plan with IF. I can really understand why the fat works too. He recommends detoxing the liver and explains how the liver is the key to insulin control, but I'm not sure you have to do it as drastically as he says especially since I understand the roll that IF and low carb plays to do it as well. Of course it may not work as fast as his plan will, but it will work.

Carol Sue One thing I really got from the book is that the veggies play a big part in lowering the bs. I thought of how you do so much better when you eat more veggies. He does say that fruit should be eaten alone in the morning before eating any other meal. Which I used to do the Fit For Life plan where you are allowed to eat fruit for 8 hrs before noon which is supposed to be a detoxing period. Then eat your food between 12 and 8pm and fast 8 hrs between 8 pm and 4 am. You didn't eat meat and starches together on FFL. So I could do that if I wanted, but I won't. I just didn't like the combining rules. But I think the IF/VLC would work just as well and eating veggies cooked and raw seems to be to that woe.

So I will be eating that way not the way this book suggests.

I closed out for a few minutes to go and ask for a refund on my money on that order real quick. Just no need to have something I already have. Can't afford to waste money.

Carol Sue I am not going to go out of my way to add more fat, but I am not going to do lowfat either. I will go ahead and use the butter in the veggies I want it on and not worry about it. One thing I did do this morning is that I had 1 slice of the 45 calories MG bread with my eggs this morning. I really don't think 1 slice is going to hurt me and I used coconut oil on it because of the benefits. I also had a cheese stick at noon because I needed something to hold me over until DH gets up. I still have the problem you do though because I've had it drilled into my mind so that we shouldn't eat fat, but from what I've read it has it place because it does not raise bs. Same is true of the protein, but I have noticed that people who have tweaked their low carb diets do not seem to be eating high amounts of protein like they used to do.

It will be easy for me to eat a salad and a cooked veggie with protein for lunch and dinner. It just is a matter of getting used to it. We get paid Wednesday and I will stock up more on greens etc for a good salad twice a day. I love veggies so it won't be difficult for me to eat that way.

Mad Congratulations on staying OP and getting back where you need to be. I hope to join you and Carol with an OP day today.

Shannon Hope all is well with you.

Y'all have a good day.

I am concerned about Shannon, too, but she is taking those classes along with everything else she has going on and she's probably just busy.

Trish, LC used to mean high protein, but now I think it's getting back to normal portions and upping the fat. Today, I bought some guacamole at Aldi's rather than buying the avacados. It has 2 8oz packs in it for $3 so that will work better for me than trying to hurry to finish an avacado before it goes bad. I also bought frozen, collards, spinach and kale. I am going to go with the frozen for a while that I can mix with my eggs and other cooked vegetables. I like the fresh baby kale, but I'm not eating enough salads through the winter and it goes bad before I can eat it all. So the only salads I will be having will be when we eat out.

So my new plan is eating breakfast around 10, eggs with veggies and lentils mixed in, no lunch, and dinner with DH around 4. This eliminates the veggies I usually ate for lunch, but I can just add them to my dinner, or have them for a snack in the evening. But I will not do that unless I am hungry. I do need to get them in, but it will have to be with breakfast and dinner. And I am going to check BS at bedtime and eat 1 egg most nights. It will depend on my BS reading. If it's already low, I won't bother. I am now convinced that it's the fat in the egg, not the protein that is helping. Eating the egg breaks my fast for IF, but I need to do whatever is going to work best for me.

I am making chili for dinner. After I take out my portion I add cooked macaroni to it for DH. I'm going to try eating just 1 small bowl. No second helpings!!!

Got up this morning to snow and it is still snowing here. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to get our at least once a year snow. We are supposed to get an inch before it stops today and then have rain tomorrow. However, looking at the weather channel, it is iffy as to what the next storm will bring and exactly when.

My fbs has been all over the place so I have no idea what my A1c will be. My DH new schedule of eating kind of messes with the plan I originally had because I used to make my last meal around 6, but lately he doesn't want to eat until 3ish. So I've got to readjust my plan. I don't want to eat anything 3 hrs after our main meal.

Carol Sue I think I will start having brunch sometime between 10 and 11 am and the main meal at 3 with him and then have either a snack or an Atkins shake around 6:30 or 7. That would make my IF window a little over 8 hrs, but when I was researching IF, I remember reading somewhere online that women seem to do really well eating during an 9 hr window. So that just might work for you and me. My window will be any where between 8 to 8 1/2 hrs. If we don't go over 9 hrs, we will be okay.

Any way that is my plan. I have to say that as cold as it is that this would be an excellent morning to eat oatmeal. My fbs worked well using the LCD for dummies plan so this may just be one of those days for me especially since DGS is stuck at home today and I'm making spaghetti for our 3 o'clock meal. We were supposed to go to store tomorrow, but I don't think anyone is going any where in this town today or tomorrow since everything kind of shuts down here when we have this kind of weather.

Y'all stay safe and warm and catch you later.

Shannon Praying you are okay.

My egg at bedtime brought my FBS down again, so I guess that's a good choice for me, even though it is right in the middle of my fasting period. Maybe it's OK since it's such a small amount of food.

I ate only 1 serving of chili! Yay me! There is some leftover in the refrigerator but I'm not hungry for it. I could freeze it, but if I don't eat it by tomorrow I will throw it out. Another first for me. I hate to throw food away. DH will not eat leftovers. But I've decided that it's better to throw it away than to eat food I don't need.

Carol Sue YAY for eating only 1 serving of the chili. I think the egg is the best choice because it not only is fat, but is protein and neither one of them causes an insulin increase.

DGS had classes at the college any way so I am not making spaghetti. We have leftover beans and I am going to have a salad and beans for dinner which are supposed to be insulin friendly. Around 6:30 I will have a shake which will put me within the 8 hr window since I didn't eat breakfast until almost 11 am. I will have to get my exercise in for today too because I haven't done any yet this week. I seem to do pretty good on 3 or 5 servings of carbs so as long as I stay within the 8 to 9 hrs and keep the carbs under 5 a day, my bs should go back to being good again. We will see.

Trish, I really have to get back to my exercising, especially strengthening my thighs/legs. I had a bad experience yesterday. Anytime I get down on my knees I need to hold on to a chair or something for support to get back up. I was on my knees looking for DVD movies in a cabinet where we keep them. I fell over half on my knees and half on my left side. I could NOT get back up onto my knees. I struggled for a few minutes then I had to call for DH to help me. What if he wasn't here? I have seen that commercial "I've fallen and I can't get up." but I never thought that would be me! I don't want my life to be that way. I need to work on this while I still can. It was a big wake-up call.

The funny thing about the egg at bedtime, if I DON'T eat it, my blood sugar is the same in the morning as it is at bedtime. It only goes down if I eat the egg. Strange, but if it works, it works!

((((Carol Sue)))) So sorry you fell. You be careful girl. I know how you feel though. I want a better quality of life in the days ahead than I will have if I don't get this under control. Hope you didn't hurt yourself too bad.

It is strange about how the egg works for you before going to bed, but whatever works do it. We are all different and need to do what works for us individually.:hug:

Trish, I didn't actually fall. I was on my knees and my body just fell toward the side, so I was part on my knees, and part on my side. I didn't get hurt, but was just upset that I couldn't get back up by myself. I think the recumbent bike will help and also leg lifts. Just need to strengthen my muscles.