Went to get my roots done today so my hair is one color again. Went by Walmart and got my Metformin 500 ER. I wanted to start it today. Crazy thing is that after I got it and took it, I realized that DH takes those and I could have taken one of his and replaced. Duh:?: After I got my hair done, I went to the new Publix and it is really nice. They have a lot of gluten free products that are low carb friendly and their produce is beautiful. Also the people were so friendly, of course, I'm aware that they are new here in the area and have been open 1 week tomorrow.

One thing that I like about them is that I can get fresh fish as well as other meat as they have butchers. I was able to pick up some lentils so I can have that for dinner sometime with the pearl barley. Shannon mentioned getting some sort of a yellow split pea. I only saw regular green and I heard or read about a yellow lentil, but I didn't see that either. However, I did see an orange lentil. Has anyone ever eaten it? I won't be able to purchase a lot of things at this store because their products are more expensive, but I will be able to get some of the healthier foods that I want to eat. There is one bag of salad veggies that are my favorite and they carry it. It was really fresh. I hope they keep it that way.

FBS was 134 yesterday and was 133 this morning. Weight was the same. DH wanted pizza since I went to the beauty shop. We get the personal pizza. So I got a regular plain cheese and came home and loaded it with veggies and then added a salad with EVOO and RWV. I love knowing that the veggies and the vinegar balances out the meal to slow down the insulin spike.

I've got to get more serious so I took out a flounder fillet for me to cook and put in a small salad later.

Hope everyone is having a Happy St. Patrick's day.

thanks for the cheers, going under 180 IS a big deal to me.
Carol Sue, the cabbage doesn't taste sweet, but I think the sugar or sweetener reduces an occasional bitterness that comes with some cabbage.
I often don't taste sugar in things, like many salad and coleslaw dressings, unless they are quite sweet like a raspberry vinaigrette. but its there.......
Anyhow, all well here and staying under 180. Oops, I have gotten back into the habit of daily weights, will wait until Saturday for the next one now.

DH has a really bad cold. I hope I don't get it, but we are always together and we sleep in the same bed, so I will just have to keep eating healthy and washing my hands! He was in bed all day yesterday, and that's not like him. I know illness is harder on you when you get older and he's 72.

Trish, it's always nice to get a new grocery in your area because they work harder to bring in customers because of the competition. If they are able to get and hold a good customer base their food will continue to be fresh.

I hope the different Metfrormin works well for you. DH and I are on the same blood pressure meds so we borrow and replace sometimes, too.

I tried cooking dried lentils and I didn't like them. I think what I had was green lentils. I didn't see any others. All the other beans I use I buy canned and rinse them. I can't find canned lentils, so I use lentil soup and rinse them. Progresso. Sometimes I actually eat it as soup!

Mad, I will let you know how it goes with the cabbage. I want to finish off a head of green cabbage I have on hand right now, then I will buy some red. I'm looking forward to having the bit of apple in with it. I will be making small portions because it's not something DH would eat.

My fbs is coming down very slowly at the moment. 1 pt a day. Down to 133 from 134 yesterday and the weight I gained is down .4 from yesterday, but with having the pizza, I don't think that is bad. At least it is coming down. I am tracking on MFP again today. I figured the weight loss calories on Livestrong because I went there reading about pineapples. It shows I can lose 2 lbs a week by eating a little over 1400 calories. It is easier to track on MFP because they have more food lists than Livestrong, but they show I can lose 1 lb on 1544 calories. So I lowered my calories on MFP to 1400 and customized the percentages to fit low carbing. I've got about 1240 calories tracked for today.

I had semi egg mcmuffin on multigrain English muffin I got at Publix. I got it from the refrigerated area of the eggs in the store. Does anyone know if that means I have to keep it in the refrigerator? I only use 1 egg, a small amount of lf turkey sausage and cheese and will have to cut back on the amount some more because even with 1/2 serving meat and cheee was too much to fit on the muffin. So that will be less calories tomorrow.

We're having lean pork chops and I'm having spaghetti squash and broccoli with mine. Then I'll have chicken thigh and a blend of squashes by Bird's Eye that is supposed to be grilled, but I will stir-fry it and have it for dinner. My last meal of the day will be small servings more of a mini-meal.

Carol Sue Sure hope you don't get DH cold. The ER Metformin seems to be working really well. I realize it is only the first day, but I didn't have the leg cramps last night like I was having the night before on the regular. So I think it is going to be good. The cabbage recipe Madeleine shares looks good, but DH doesn't like red cabbage. And I wouldn't eat it fast enough. I always add onion to the green cabbage. I don't know if I could make something similar to it with the green.

I kept thinking all day yesterday was Saturday because I normally go to the beauty shop on Saturday and we always ate pizza after. So now I'm off a few days as today feels like Sunday. Strange how we are such creatures of habit. LOL

DH FBS was back down to 98 this morning. Although he did eat ice cream yesterday there wasn't much left and he finished it off. I hope this proves that his pancreas is working and would work as long as he diets and exercises.

Shannon If you are reading, are you okay?

Have a good day Everybody.

Trish, I saw some recipes online for sweet and sour cabbage, and they were similar to the one Mad provided. Most used red cabbage but some used green. So you could try it with green. Some had crisp bacon pieces in it, too, which would be a nice taste if you like bacon.

I saw a recipe in a magazine just yesterday for braised red cabbage. It was the same, but without sugar, so I will try it that way. I think the sugar is supposed to cut the tartness of the vinegar. When I make cole slaw I put sugar in it and I can't actually taste the sugar, but I do it becaue my mother did it. LOL I think pickled beets calls for sugar, but I don't put sugar in that, either.

If Tony wants to cut back on ice cream, here's a trick I used to do. I would buy small cups of custard style yogurt and put it in the freezer. You don't have to leave it in there until it's hard, just until it reaches a consistency that you like. I like it to get some ice running through it. It is very creamy and tasty and I actually like it better than ice cream. I usually use peach flavor. I don't think it's works as well with the yogurt with the fruit on the bottom, unless you mixed it up well before putting it in the freezer. Sometimes I would freeze them hard, then take one to work and put it in the refrigerator. By break-time it was defrosted to just the right texture for me. I think even someone who doesn't like yogurt would like this because it is so much like ice cream.

Or maybe he would like sugar free popsicles or fudge bars. I like the fudge bars.

So far I have no signs of DH cold, but I am still sniffly and sneezy which I think is allergies. He felt a little better yesterday and we went out to eat and stopped at Walmart. We were only in Walmart for a very short time because he felt tired from walking around. We are supposed to watch our grandson overnight next week and I really don't want to be sick for that. I'm thinking that maybe the pneumonia shot I got is helping me because I have not had a cold since I got the shot. I hope so.

Well, weight and fbs is steadily coming down. I feel like the turtle of turtle and the hare story. But I am thankful that it is coming down even if it is inching down. Weight down .2 lb and fbs down 1 pt. I'll take it. We've always heard that slow is better and I know I'm eating healthy so I consider it good.

Today is strictly protein, veggies and a little bit of fruit and moderate fat. Still eating only 3 meals with any 5 hrs between breakfast and lunch and usually about 4 hrs between lunch and dinner. The protein/veggie/fat dinner seems to be keeping me satisfied at night. I love being able to get my favorite bagged salad at the new store. I put it in MFP and it is only 20 calories for 2 cups of it. I add a tomato and celery stalk and then add vinegar and EVOO to it. I've decided to have it for lunch and for dinner. I bought some fresh okra pods and plan to boil or steam a cup of those. I don't think DH will eat them.

The Metformin ER seems to be causing some bowel issues, but in a good way not severe. So I have no complaints there although I am staying close to home until I know it isn't going to get any worse. I actually could handle it being like it is right now as I think that would eventually help the weight loss. I read somewhere that Metformin helps curb appetite and I think I am having that effect right now as well.

DH fbs was 100. I hope it stays this way. I think it will as long as he keeps working at it.

Carol Sue I'll keep the yogurt in mind. Even if he doesn't go for it, I might like that when we hit hot weather. Glad you aren't having cold symptoms.

Hope everybody else is doing ok and just staying busy.

I had a really bad day today. I ate the whole world.

Today is going to be all protein, all day, to try to clean up the mess I made yesterday.

Nothing new here. My weight is coming back down to 3 lb from being back to ticker. FBS was 126 this morning. I had eggs for breakfast, ate a nice steak with home cooked french fries and a huge salad with oil and vinegar. But I finished the day with 2 eggs and sausage but cooked it in CO. I am going to keep the milk in my plan, but I read yesterday that diabetics should keep the fat in the milk, but of course they say the milk should come from grass-fed animals. I am going to try it and I will let you know.

I also read some on the Zero Belly Diet. All I came away with from the reviews on Amazon is that Red or Reddish colored fruits and veggies speed up our weight loss. So I am going to tweak my food plan by adding these to my food group. I also read somewhere that he suggests eating legumes/lentils 4x a week. I'll have to wait until pay day to do some of this, but I am going to see if they really help weight loss. My plan is to continue to use the bagged Veggie Lover's salad as I add the red veggies to the salad and the EVOO/Vinegar dressing is doing so well that I see no reason to change it.

We haven't been very busy on this thread lately, but that seems to happen sometime. I hope everyone is doing well and not staying away because they aren't.

Have a nice weekend.

Carol Sue Hope your protein day goes well.

So far, so good, Trish. I don't know what was wrong with me yesterday. I had toast with my eggs in the AM, I ate breaded fried fish on a big fat italian roll, I ate 2 slices of pizza. It was like all my own rules went right out the window. I felt terrible, and I woke up starving. I am up 2 lbs, but I'm hoping my all protein day will resolve that.

I had scrambled eggs this morning and am trying to decide what to do about lunch. First I need to find out what DH wants to do about dinner, because that will make a difference in what I eat for lunch. I would like to cook a piece of salmon.

I will not switch my milk because we actually prefer skim. I don't have it every day, but I want to feel that I can have it if I want it. When I was in the hospital, they were giving me skim and I lost a lot of weight while I was following that plan. Maybe full fat is better for blood sugar.

There is a woman on another low carb board who does not eat much fat. Some of the others are trying to explain to her that fat is now considered to be good and it will help her lose, but then she showed her before/after pics and told us she has lost close to 100 lbs! So, you CAN do low carb and not eat high fat and be successful. Each person is different. I don't eat low fat, but she has shown me that I do not have to do high fat to lose. I really do not like fatty foods. They taste greasy to me and give me acid reflux.

How is the new Metformin working for you? I very rarely buy the bagged salad because I often get diarrhea when I eat it, maybe from the preservatives. It IS so much better than buying all those different greens and veggies.

I just read through the food list for the Zero Belly Diet. The first phase is a little brutal, bit it's only 7 days as compared to 2 weeks on Atkins or South Beach. Otherwise, it seems like a healthy diet. Does not omit any food groups. The only problems I have with it are no dairy, and limited cruciferous veggies. I think this is because they cause bloat. But bloat is bloat, and fat is fat. They are not the same. If bloat was my only problem with my belly I'd be home free! LOL

Carol Sue I didn't like not eating dairy either. I also don't like eating no fat/lowfat either. However, I do like being able to eat healthy amounts of both, bit I can't eat a heavy amount of fat like some low carbers do either. I think I've figured out that you don't have to do either one. However, I do think a person could just eat as much or little as is comfortable for each of us. I mean if extremely low fat works for some and hi fat works for other, then I would think that somewhere in between will work too.

The Metformin seems to be working ok for me. I do get loose bowels from time to time, but not diarrhea. In fact, I decided not to attend a meeting this morning which was good because I would have experienced an inconvenient moment. The way the room is set up I would not have been able to get to the girls room in time. After that experiment here at home today, I've decided not to take the Metformin before I go to church in the morning. We plan to go out to eat afterwards and to the store on the way home, so I will take it later in the day. I think I need to take it for a while so I'll have to learn how to take it so it doesn't interfere with my activities.

I need to use some of the food in my freezer. I still have some Atkins dinners so I took the Crustless pot pie and cooked it and cooked about a cup of gumbo veggies which is more corn and okra than anything and heated it and mixed the 2 and it was pretty good. Finished it off with the chunks of pineapple that I had left. Lunch is when I add any carby foods I want and drink my milk etc to it. It seems to work for me so far. I did pretty good today because I didn't feel stuffed. Sometime tonight when I feel hungry again, I'll have the scrambled eggs.

I made it through the day with only 4 gm of carb. I forgot to list the onion I had on my hamburger patty, so that would be a bit more. I don't know how much carb would be in a slice of onion. I did get to have my grilled salmon for lunch, and DH wanted hamburgers for dinner so I had a hamburger patty with a slice of cheese and onion. I had a few slices of pepperoni for a snack. I don't plan on continuing this rigid low carb plan because I will not quit eating my veggies, but I had to do this after yesterday. I just checked my blood sugar and it was 91 without any glimiperide today. It would be a big plus if I also lost those 2 lbs I gained but that might take more time.

I will do a similar plan tomorrow but include some veggies and see what happens.

I don't know if Metformin effects me, but I don't get constipated and only occasionally get loose bowels.

Carol Sue I think you did a good job and I don't think the onion has enough carbs to hurt you. I'm sure the 2 lbs will come off soon too.

I haven't counted the days this time, but I think I've had almost a week of eating just the 3 meals a day. I feel like I did good today because I didn't ever eat to the point of feeling full. When I was following IE so well a few years ago, I would never eat until I felt full or stuffed. I would stop just before I got that far. I always felt good back then when we would go eat at a buffet with the kids and everyone would come home complaining about feeling so stuffed and miserable and I would silently pat myself on the back because I didn't do that. It feels so good to be eating just enough. I hope I can keep it up as a lifestyle this time.

I hesitate to say that I'm doing good right now because I don't understand how I can be doing so well and then something happens and I screw up the whole thing. I do so hope I don't mess it up this time.

I don't know what is wrong with me right now. I have always loved my church, but I just don't want to go lately. I have gotten so use to staying at home and don't care to go any where. I don't think I'm depressed, but I guess I could be. I do know that I need to stop this and pull myself out of this slump. I've just been so tired when I wake up in the mornings. I think maybe it is the change in my eating habits and I hope when I get used to it that I will feel better.

Catch you tomorrow.

Trish, I thought at one time you said that you tend to be anemic, so that might be why you're tired. They say the more you do something, like eating just 3 meals a day, the more it becomes a way of life for you. That's what it sounds like you have done. I have not been able to stick to that, but I will keep trying. After yesterday, I realize how much better I feel when I don't eat the carbs, and I do believe that I eat them out of habit, not that I really want them. Protein tastes so much better to me, but I still want to quit the bad habit of eating between meals. It's not hunger. It's a habit.

You shouldn't get upset if you do one thing to throw things off. Just get back on plan and forget about it. It's just one day or one meal.

You're doing great!