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.