Diabetes/Prediabetes Chat and Support for May
 

Here it is, May already! Join in with us to give and get support,

This morning I was reading posts on a low carb/diabetes thread and have decided that it is in my best interest to make a big effort to try VLC again. I have unsubscibed the 2 CAD/CALP threads I had been following, because they just confuse me and make me feel that I can follow that WOE. I can't. I realize that there are people who can follow that WOE and do well, but maybe they don't have diabetes, which is a whole new ball game. I am becoming more and more insulin resistant and it is getting harder and harder to lower my blood sugar readings. I don't want to end up on insulin. I will still eat my low carb veggies, but I will change my thinking that a little bit of "whatever" won't hurt. That's getting me in trouble. This is just something I have to do for me. I hope you all can understand where I'm coming from.

Wannab-Thank you so much for starting the May thread! I hope your new WOE works for you!

I took the advice and tested my BS before eating and after...highest swing I had was 18 points, so it seems I can handle high carb with high fat and protein. Think I'm just going to have to cut portions and call it a day.

Mom - did you take it in half hour increments for 3 hours after eating to see the entire up (and down) range? Keep doing it for two days and you will have a much better picture than just one meal.

Well, I ended up losing 2.2 lbs this last month. FBS is up 15 pts. My weight was less a couple of times during the month of April, however, i am grateful that my ticker is what I weigh today. I lost about 4 lbs, but kept only the 2 lbs off. I've got to get the fbs back down. I think LCHF will do that so I'm going to use the guide lines I read on the recent sites and continue the exercising.

Carol Sue I unsubscribed to the CAD/CALP thread weeks ago. I decided that I can use the carby meal allowed when I am in a situation when I have no choice but eat starchy carb(s), but it will not work as a daily lifestyle for me if I want to lose weight and get my fbs under control.

My sister and I were talking this morning about how we have to learn how to eat this way so that it will become our lifestyle for the rest of our lives rather than just a plan to lose weight, get our bs normal and then go back to eating the way we ate before. This is my goal.

I'm finding the stir-fry evening meals are a great help. I just need to figure out some snack foods to help me when I need a snack to get past the urge to eat.

We can do this.

Have a nice day.

I don't think the Januvia is working. I'm going to take my chances of going back to the Metformin and just take it at a different time. Since I'm eating almost Atkins phase 2 plan, my fbs should be coming down. So today I will go back to using it with my lunch. I'm eating no grains, bread, legumes.

Headed out to beauty shop and Walmart afterward. Have a nice day.

Fatmad Thinking of you send good vibes for a good day as you teach your class. I know you will do very well. You know your job so well that your students will appreciate you experience. I know I have through the years that I have known you.:hug:

Trish- Not sure you should give up on the Januvia just yet, especially since you haven't had a lot of luck with Met. From what my doc has said, Januvia isn't a quick working drug and definitely needs diet and exercise with it. I apologize if I am overstepping my bounds, but I hate to see you suffer with Met side effects.:hug:

JLUS- I only did 3 meals on your recommended plan. My insurance does not cover any testing supplies bc I am not insulin dependent, so I am hesitant to use extra strips.

Wannab- Hope your new WOE was successful yesterday!

AFM, I'm just chugging along.

Trish, if you still have some of the Januvia left I think you should give it a little more time since you already bought it. Your body might have to adjust to it before you see good results, plus you already know that you have trouble with the Met. Just a suggestion.

Not that I'm happy that your sister has developed diabetes, but it's so wonderful that you have each other in this struggle. You two can compare results and learn from each other.

To start with, I am going to eliminate bread, pasta, potatoes, rice etc. Just eat meat, fish and non-starchy veggies. When and if my blood sugar comes down I will do a test with beans and dairy to see if adding them makes a difference. Right now I am so afraid to find out that my Beta Cells are damaged to the point of not working anymore. I need to see for myself that my blood sugar CAN come down, then adjust my eating accordingly.

I have the book Protein Power, but I recently got a related book from Goodwill for $1, Protein Power Lifestyle Plan. I have been jumping around, just picking out chapters that have the information I'm interested in. This morning I was reading the chapter on fat. I don't plan on eating high fat or low fat, but I want to know which fats do what, and learn which ones I want to aim for and where to get them. I will have to read it over again because they get pretty technical about it and although it's useful information, I just want to get to the bottom line.

I also have to go to Walmart to get test strips and a few other things I need.

Laurie, it's good to see you pop in here once in a while. Lets us know you didn't desert us! LOL You always have good information to share.

Momwithdogs, I agree that you should test more, to see just where your blood sugar spikes. Some people don't spike until 4 hours out after a meal. It has a lot to do with what you ate and how your body handles it. To me it sounds like you are in very early stages and it's good to be watching it before it gets worse.

This is Day 7 taking the Januvia so maybe I haven't given it time to work so I will continue using it throughout the month and see what happens. I do have the months supply so I will give it a chance. My plan and exercise is good so there is no reason why I can't give it a little more time.

Trish, I think you're doing the right thing. I read online about Januvia and it says it works when your blood sugar is high and doesn't work when you're blood sugar is low. To me, that means it will not give you lows, the way Glimiperide can, and it also reduces the glucose released by the liver, the way Metformin does, so that's a plus. You just have to watch for the side effects, like you said. If you don't see results by the end of the month then you can let your doctor know.

FBS was 133 this morning. So I guess it is beginning to work. I did do 30 minutes on the recumbent bike yesterday completing the week with my minimal exercise for the week. So I would say the week is turning out pretty good and if all goes well, my weight will still coincide with my ticker.

Although I'm not eating hardly any starchy carbs a day, as most of my carbs come from dairy and veggies. I did have 1 grapefruit today because I have them and don't want them to go bad. They might even work out okay for me. I am mostly eating them at the midday lunch similar to the CAD/CALP RM although my plan is NOT CAD/CALP with a RM. I don't trust myself with that concept. I am eating mostly protein snacks the rest of the day rather than actual meals. Definitely Trish's Low Carb Plan to fit my lifestyle. I trust that eventually, I will be rewarded with a lower fbs and weight loss. I've actually been reading how others on another lowcarb site have tweaked their low carb way of eating to fit their lifestyle. I noticed some of them who have lost a lot of weight seem to eat more protein and fat than a lot of veggies. And some even eat a little bit of fruit at least until they hit a stall.

Looking forward to a good week.

I cannot get my blood sugar to come down below 160 at any time during the day. I trying not to take the full prescription of Glimiperide, but if I don't take it I go over 200. I have only been on this for a year and my dose is only 2gm per day so I don't understand how it could have burned out my Beta Cells already. I guess I should give it more time. About a month ago when I was trying out 5:2 I did an all vegetable day and it went down into the 90s. I hope I can get it there again. I will say I haven't exercised the past few days, so that would help too. This is very upsetting to me, but I did it to myself, so I can't blame anyone else.

I notice they seem to up the fat, too, Trish, but one woman who lost 100 lbs so far did low carb low fat. She did not eat foods labeled low fat, but she chose lower fat meats, didn't use butter or fats for cooking, etc. Protein Power recommends eating fat, but not exactly high fat, more like moderate fat. They said most Americans eat more fat then they think they eat. They also said that for weight loss it's still important to watch your calories. Many people don't worry about calories when they eat low carb. I eat avocados, olives, and some nuts and also salmon and other fatty fish. I also put butter on my veggies. And there's fat in egg yolks. So I think I am getting plenty of fat. But I still need to be concerned with the calories this fat is adding. Tracking should help me with that.

We will figure this out, Trish.

About the time I think I have this all figured out, I DON'T! FBS was 159 this morning. Only good thing is weight is the same. As much as I'm fighting it, I think I may HAVE to do Atkins. DGS leaves Friday to go to FL for a month. Will be a really good time to do a 2 week AI. So I will plan to start that Saturday or Sunday. Still don't know about the Januvia. I did have a CAD like RM so maybe I just can't do that any more or I wasn't on the VLC long enough.

Carol Sue I know we always think VLC for diabetes, but maybe you need to do more veggies since that always seems to do well for you. Also, in the New Atkins book, they say you can do Atkins either way High fat or Lowfat, it all depends on your preference. I personally DO NOT like too much fat however, I also do not like lowfat. And by that I mean I will not buy lowfat products any more. I just don't think they are healthy for us. JMHO

Well company in a few minutes so I will make this a quick one. I'm making a beef roast today since DGS will be here for lunch. He and DH will have potatoes and carrots. I will have salad and veggies no starches. I'm just not happy with a fbs that is going up. I thought about dropping the prescription bs meds and just take the Gluccocil I used to take, but will wait a little longer to see how the diet, exercise and Januvia works out. At least until I start AI this weekend.

I wrote a post this morning about my plans for the Protein Power Plan, but deleted it because I got out the original Protein Power book and it is a little different than the information in the Lifestyle Plan book. They are saying to start out with 30 gm of carb on the 1st phase. The Lifestyle Plan didn't give actual macros, but the example they showed calculated out to 45 gr of carb at my planned calorie level. I am leaving things the way I entered them in my online tracker and see how it turns out. I plan on eating protein and vegetables at 1200 calories, so I will see what it comes out to and adjust accordingly. I just know I don't want to do high fat the way a lot of the low carbers are doing. Last night I watched Dr Fuhrman again on public television. Just watching him made me get up and cook some vegetables. LOL I don't want to give up my vegetables unless I have to. I strongly believe that my body needs the nutrients in them.

Trish, I don't think your blood sugar is as bad as mine. You might truly be able to just use the Glucotrol and control your BS with that. This morning my fasting was 164. I had 2 eggs and 1/4 C of mushrooms and took a Glimiperide. When I checked 2 hrs later I was at 203. What's up with that??? The only thing I can figure out is it was the caffeine and sugar free creamer I use. Or it was some type of fluke. It's very discouraging.

Carol Sue That is crazy your bs being that high. 30 g of carbs a day is what Dr. Bernstein in Sugar 101 (I think it is called) allows. I've decided that using the Glimiperide the way I did me more harm than good. So I'm not going to be doing that any more. I remember Dr. Jung said that you progressively have to take stronger and stronger medications. I don't want that.

I've been checking my 2 and 3 hrs after meals. I forgot to check it after breakfast, but I checked it today 3 hrs and 4 hrs after lunch. I found that my high peak is 3 hrs after a meal. My reading after 3 hrs was 143 which I guess wasn't too bad. And then 4 hrs after lunch was 117. Maybe things are working better than I thought. I am pleased to say that I made the roast with potatoes, carrots and gravy for the guys and didn't eat any of it. I had a nice salad and Brussel sprouts with mine.

I'm not doing high fat either although I have added some fat. I fry my eggs in bacon grease and add butter to my Brussel sprouts and I used a creamy Ceasar dressing on my salad. I really don't want to go extreme on anything. I eat protein, but not going wild on that either. I did give my company the rest of the grapefruit that I had. So that is out of the house. So I'm down to eating protein, fat and veggies no fruit. Not sure DGS is going to FL because he girl who was going to work one of his shifts at work has backed out. Since I've started low carb although not necessarily AI, I am just going to go with it.

I had CO in my 1st cup of coffee this morning. I am drinking caffeine again in the morning. Now that it is warming up out, I am enjoying drinking water. I did make some tea with green tree and regular, but I water it down mostly because I make it in a little coffee pot and then forget it and it is really, really strong. I did up the half and half in my coffee, but still use a little bit of Stevia in it, but I don't add anything to my tea.

We will get this Carol Sue. Hope everyone is doing okay.

Trish, I ate mostly vegetables today, with a bit of protein, a half of a hamburger patty. The vegetables brought my carbs up around 60, but my total calories were only a 1000. I just checked my BS and it is 128. So, I guess my Beta Cells are still working. I'm so glad of that. Even though the veggies are bringing my carb count up higher, my blood sugar is coming down lower. I don't think the higher carbs are hurting me if they are vegetables. Maybe I was eating too much protein.

I think 143 after a meal is pretty near normal! And the 117 is wonderful! So maybe you are just having issues with fasting. I always heard that fasting is the last to come down. I think you found it, girl!

Carol Sue I think the veggies with some protein seems to be what works for you. You like eating that way so I think you have found your way too girl.

I got up this morning and my weight was up 1.2 lbs. I stood there and said, "Lord, I don't understand". I was ready to just give up until I checked my fbs and it was 124 this morning. So I am still OP. DH FBS yesterday back on the Invokana was 95. I know I could half one of his Glimiperide and take it and get mine down quicker, but I want to let the medicine do it with the diet and exercise. I did add the Gluccocil back as I think it will help me lower the bs like the Glimiperide does for him. I have to believe that as the bs comes down that eventually the weight will come down as well. DH is even losing weight but mean do that. He is pretty much eating like he did before we married.

Have a nice day.

Been a long time since I can remember forgetting to eat. I wasn't hungry for breakfast and got busy doing other things, reading, phone calls and did 20 minutes on the recumbent bike. I plan to do 20 more later today to up my exercise to 40 min 3 days a week. Should give me about 4 miles on the bike. But the really neat thing is that I decided to grab something to eat to hold me over until DH gets up to eat lunch. My FBS is 108. Yea!!!:carrot:

Carol Sue I just read something on the other low carb link about the Insulin Resistant Diet. I looked it up on Amazon. I said I wasn't going to buy another book, but may have to get this one. I might be able to do this without the book by using the 15 g carb serving to 9 g protein serving that I read about on the low carb link.

Any way, I read some of it on Amazon and I thought of you because it talks about balancing high carb with protein at a meal. You don't add more protein. If I understand it correctly you do not add more high carb and protein as the balance in a meal is 2 servings of each and snack is 1 serving of each. Diagram showed carbs a s a circle and protein as a square on a seesaw. Veggies are in the miiddle as a rectangle and it is recommended that you add more veggies. Dairy and fruit are allowed as well.

The reviews were like 147 Five stars out of 243. I just found it interesting that it is recommended to eat more veggies. So again I say you may have found the answer for you.

Trish that FBS of 108 is fantastic! Good for you!

I looked up that Insulin Resistance Diet book and realized I read that, from the library. That diagram you mentioned sounded familiar.

Did you ever buy books from Half.com? I buy a lot of my used books from that site and they are often cheaper than Amazon. I have never had a problem, as long as the seller has a rating of 95-100. I see they have this book for 75 cents plus shipping.

Hi everyone, and happy May.
My courses went well, everyone happy with their lessons and feeling good about it, and me pleased that they worked so hard to learn new things and did well with it.
Sunday had a nice day with DH, then we came to Toronto for a meal with oldest DD and her husband for an early mother's day celebration. They dropped me at the hotel for my conference after and DH drove home. I will go home with a friend later today after the conference ends.
It has been good but having a few issues with food.
My own fault for eating some cookies.
Otherwise, the place has been good about my allergies and intolerances.
I have been sticking to my other diet plan, deleting the nightshades for the pain/inflammation issues. However, the last 2 weeks, have been having more pain again. Realized I have been treating myself to some wine.
I had beer for drinks the last 2 nights, and will stop drinking altogether for a while now. Things seem better in relation to the pain.
I will also have to go back to Atkins induction when I get home, and get out the bad habits I assume so quickly and easily when away from home.

Have a good "hump" day, and catch up again soon.

Happy Wednesday!

Went for blood work yesterday and I love being able to see my results online as soon as the samples are processed.

My A1C is 5.2 and I am thrilled. Going to try and cut out the metformin and see what happens. Didn't take any last night and my FBS was 104.

However, I have put on 4 lbs. I think it's from the high fat I've been eating to counter the higher carb meals.

Please take what I am about to say with a grain of salt and know that I am only speaking about myself. These last few weeks I have been trying IE; in theory it sounds great, but I am finding it's very easy to justify putting anything in your mouth and telling yourself 'it's ok...listen to what your body wants.'

It seems counter intuitive to me to think about food that darned much! However, it is very possible I am doing it all wrong. Bottom line, I was trying to find a way to eat whatever I desire and call it ok. Seriously, someone slap me with a wet noodle!

Trish and Carol Sue- I believe I have been very confused as to what low carb actually means. For some reason, I thought I could only eat carb free foods and as I mentioned, when I did it, my BS fell very low and I felt sick for days.:dizzy:

Fatmad-Your level of self awareness is amazing! I could definitely take a page from your playbook.

Momwithdogs, I went back and read your first post here to remind myself of your issues. As a prediabetic, your blood sugars do not get as bad as mine, as a full blown diabetic. If you are getting low blood sugars then you are possible also dealing with hypoglycemia. I have heard that it can be a precurser to diabetes. I think you should find your own nitch...how many carbs you can eat and still have a good blood sugar reading. You can do this by testing to see what foods spike your blood sugar, 1 hr, 2hr, 3hr after a meal.

Most people who eat low carb stay under 20gm of carb per day. To me, low carb means lower than I used to eat, and I eat more than 20gm per day. Am I losing weight? No Is my blood sugar good? No I just can't seem to find a comfortable position at 20 carbs. So I might not be the right person to be giving you advice.

I agree with you about IE. I'm ok with eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are satisfied, but I don't agree with the way some people interpret "eating what your body wants." To me, your body wants nutrition, and when you are craving what I call "junk food"...snacks, sweets, etc, that is a craving, which is not the same thing. If you give your body nutrition, the cravings will go away. Just my opinion. Don't try posting that on the IE thread!! I did that once and got run off! LOL :D

Carol Sue No I never heard of the Half.com site. I will check it out. I may just try using the GL book I have with the info I saw in the IR book. The only thing I saw that might be helpful in the IR book is the measuring of the foods allowed. The other thing that I noticed in the book that we've talked about before is that we need to learn portion control. The book would help with that. It seems that the legumes servings are only 1/3 c. I saw somewhere else where the are measured by tablespoons. This helps understand why so many salads have them sprinkled in them not the way I usually eat them as a meal. So it might be worth getting the book to learn this. I also noticed a chapter in the book that is geared to helping us unlearn some of the things we have learned wrongly.

Momwithdogs 5.2 A1c is wonderful. As for the carbs on low carb, it depends on which plan you follow. Atkins and Dr. Bernstein's low carb are extremes with Atkins being 20 g and Dr. Bernstein's is 30 g. With Atkins, 1st 2 weeks 15 g comes from certain veggies and after 2 weeks you can add grams in 5 g at a time until you find how many carbs you body tolerates and you still lose weight. I don't think Dr. B allows the added carbs. So as you see, different plans have different amounts and ways of eating carbs. I have to admit that it gets very confusing. I remember putting a new low carb book down and telling my DH, "I am so confused. This book says don't eat carbs, this one says don't eat fat and own and own. I don't really know what you are supposed to do".

I love IE, but I cannot make the decision that ALL foods are okay. Having to deal with BG issues kind of prevents me thinking that way. However, I do believe that the idea of eating only when I am truly hungry is a great way to learn when to eat and eat only as much as I need. I think the old IE rules as we called them can work well with controlling BS. The rules were
1. When you are hungry eat.
2. Eat what you want and savor every bite.
3. Eat only as much as it takes to satisfy your hunger. (Some say until full. I don't like the full feeling.)
4. Stop

Those aren't exact words more my paraphrase. I think it could be done if you realize that as diabetic, there are certain foods that are not good for us to eat. So the idea that there are no Good/Bad foods does not apply to us because there are foods that will kill us if we eat them. So we have to adjust the rules to fit us. For me, I've learned that I need to allow a minimum of 4 hrs between meals and 5 hrs is better. When I was doing IE, I was going 6 hrs before I got hungry and still can do that sometimes. I was told and have read on many diets that you need to eat every 3 hrs and not to go more than 5 hrs without eating. It is when I started making myself eat according to rules of timing, I gained weight and eventually brainwashed to the point to where I have a difficult time thinking I don't have to eat more often even when I'm not hungry. It is so amazing to me to have learned that the way I ate when I was thin and healthy is the way I should be eating today. My doctor still balks a little when I say anything that sounds like what they have learned to call fasting. He says the snack are so we don't get hungry. One thing I learned in IE that I'm trying to get back is that "hunger is not going to hurt me" so am trying to learn to wait until I know I am hungry.

I also learned yesterday when I finally got hungry and ate that it was too close to time when DH and I eat so I had the snack too close to our main meal. I ended up eating cereal last night. I have been hungry for it for days and finally decided to have it. Good thing is I didn't over do it. Just had a small helping which is a big change for me.

My fbs was 132 this morning. Still good considering I had the cereal last night and I stayed up with DH and didn't get to bed until a little after 2 and got up at my regular time this morning. So I'm pleased. I'm going to get back to my breakfast around 10ish. I am using the 4 or 5 hrs between meals which works out great because that means no snacks. It gives me an IF window of 8 to 10 hrs. So I am very pleased. Using the GL plan, I will allow myself 3 serving of high carb foods, but balance it with the protein.

The one thing I don't agree with the IR book about is the dairy. It calls for lowfat. Not going that way except when I have to. I've been dr inking whole milk and I find that it helps me stay satiated longer. This has caused me to think back to when I first drank FF milk.

I had moved to Dallas to live with my aunt and go to work. I had never eating lowfat anything at the time, but she used fat free milk. I would drink that stuff by the gallons. It was like I couldn't get enough. A doctor we knew said that my body needed the calcium. I suddenly realized when I started drinking the whole milk again that it wasn't the calcium that I was needing, it was the fat that I was missing. Doctors still say satirated fat is bad for us, but now they are learning that butter is better than margarine etc that Dr. Atkins knew. I don't use that much dairy so I'm not going to go lowfat. However, I am not going to go high fat either. I'm thinking balance is better.

Have a good day.

I opened a new can of strips a couple days ago and every time I tested I first got an error message that there was too little blood and had to test again with another strip. I know it was not too little blood, because with the aspirin I take every day I get an abundance of blood when I prick my finger, and sosmetimes it takes some time to stop bleeding. DH told me it might have been my meter so I bought a new one, even though I didn't think it was the meter. When I tested with the new meter I got a valid reading first time, but I was a little more careful when I did it. So I don't know if it was the meter or not, but now I have 2 meters. My blood sugars were much better throughout the day. Very little carbs. Fasting is still higher than it should be, but that's normal for me.

Trish, I also need to learn the hunger signals, and to do that, I need to avoid snacks. I find that my food tastes so much better if I'm actually hungry when I eat.

As far as IE goes, my BIL who is very overweight eats what he wants.....Junk food all day. His doctor keeps giving him pointers to get him to lose weight but it does no good. DH KNOWS he is eating too much junk because when he's talking to him on the phone he can hear bags rattling and when he asks him what that noise is it's either a potato chip bag or a pretzel bag. He just habitually eats all day. Heaven help him if he develops diabetes. Everything he eats is a carb. No eggs, no meat except sometimes hamburgers, and really no vegetables. He won't come to my house for holidays because he says he can't eat "that stuff." When we go to a family wedding all he eats is cookies. I don't know what's going to happen to him. He goes to the doctor regularly. I think his doctor needs to take charge and put him on a specific diet, telling him what and how much to eat, and when. I don't understand how people can eat like that and here I am, watching every morsel I eat, and can't control blood sugar or lose weight.

I called today a planned cheat day. We went to eat at Golden Corral, but I have to say I did eat more veggies than anything else although I did eat carby foods. I always get my favorite carrot cake when I go there because I would never make or buy a whole one and bring it in this house and we don't go there very often. I really did enjoy the different veggies that were available. I think I'm going to work toward eating more veggies at home.

I read something on line from MFP that said that for weight loss that protein and veggies are important foods for weight loss. Although this was a carby day, I am afraid to make it a habit. So I'll go back to the low carb plan tomorrow. Haven't decided about the IR book yet, I will try to do this without it if I can.

I do mainly protein and veggies but don't see a lot of weight loss, but it's important to count calories, too. I need to cut my calories back enough that I feel hungry at mealtime. And I need to eliminate snacks that just keep me from feeling that hunger. Also, they say that smaller meals lower blood sugar. I have what is called "portion distortion." That's what I'm working on now. Also I am increasing my veggies and cutting back on protein.

Trish, I heartily agree with you getting a piece of carrot cake instead of having a whole cake at home. That one piece will satisfy your craving. When I lived alone, when I would go to the mall I would stop in the bakery there and get 1 slice of cheesecake and eat it in the food court. It was a special treat for me, then I didn't have it again until I went back to the mall. I didn't even think about cheesecake in between mall visits.

We are going to have days when we eat more starchy carbs than others. Just remember 80/20.

Thank you both for your input! I guess I am at that point where I could buy myself some time if I get the right plan in place, I just don't know how to do that at all.

Carol Sue- Just bc you don't think you've been successful, doesn't mean you can't dole out advice. Like you guys keep telling me, each one of us needs to tailor our own methods that work for us. What didn't work for you might be perfect for me and vice versa. I'd like to hear anything you feel like passing on.:)

Oh, I've read the IE thread and it's definitely not the place for me. Actually, I have crossed paths with one of the posters on another non-food related forum and let's just say her posts there do not match her IE passion over here at all.

Trish- You did a great job at Golden Corral! I'm not sure if you should even call it a cheat day. Instead, you knew what you were facing and worked your plan around it. That's a huge win!

Oh, in regards to your BIL, Carol Sue, my DH is exactly the same. He has no food filter and his numbers are perfect, even though he carries almost 80 extra pounds. Sometimes I get furious about it and just want to cry. He has family components on both parents' sides that predisposes him to health issues; maternal grandmother died from Type 2 complications. Just scares the daylights out of me.

Not sure if I ever mentioned this, but I am Asian and adopted, so I don't have any of my medical history available to me. Anyway, it is very rare for an Asian to have diabetes or high BP, until the western diet comes into play. This is how I know I've eaten myself into this state and I am so angry bc fixing it should be so da**ed easy and I can't do it.:mad:

Momtodogs, I think you will be fine. You have gotten an early warning and should be able to get this under control without much trouble. Once you find out what carbs you can eat and how much, you will be able to put together an eating plan for yourself.

I have heard a lot about how the people in Asian countries were all thin and had few medical problems until the western diet was introduced to them. Actually, when I was growing up, eating was much different than it is now. We ate balanced meals and no between-meal snacking. There was no sweets or snack food in the house. It wasn't until I went out on my own and had my own money that I started socializing with friends and started eating unhealthy foods. Finally it caught up with me. Is your husband Asian too?

Today I cooked chicken on the grill and made some baked potatoes. I scooped out the flesh of the potato and ate the skin, with the little bit of the potato flesh sticking to it. They say that's where the nutrients are, and the crispy skin is my favorite part of the potato anyway. The flesh of the potato got fed to the garbage disposal. LOL

I was amazed that my FBS was 129 this morning and my weight had come back down .6 lb. I really expected it both to be higher after yesterday's heavy carb day. I checked my bs before I ate lunch and it was 108 again. I waited until I got hungry and I went about 5 hrs after breakfast before I got hungry. I've started drinking lemon water hot when I got up this morning and then drinking cold lemon water no sweetner the rest of the time as well as my unsweetened tea. I feel like I've gone back to eating pretty much like I did when I was thin. So I am happy with the way this is going.

I remember how Dr. Rachel Heller one of the authors of CAD/CALP books accidentally found out how she could lose weight. So I decided to start my day out again today with the breakfast I had yesterday. I had my eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast again today and then when it was time to eat, I wasn't hungry. So made DH lunch... he wanted a bacon and tomato sandwich and that just didn't sound good to me. Took me a while to figure out what I wanted and I finally made a big salad and heated up some frozen tailless shrimp in it. I probably will have a snack between 8:30 and 9 so I can take the Januvia.

I feel good about the plan that I seem to have settled into. I believe I have found my own plan.

Yes, Trish, I think you have too, and the Januvia seems to be working well for you. Are you still taking that supplement you mentioned? Was it Glucatrol, or something like that?

We are going away today and coming back on Saturday. Celebrating 34 years of wedded bliss. LOL

I posted a recipe for Spaghetti Squash Hashbrowns on the recipe thread. I didn't try it, but it looked easy and interesting. I don't know how close it would be to real hashbrowns. Spaghetti Squash doesn't have a lot of flavor by itself, but neither do the potato hashbrowns.

Thanks Carol Sue. I agree that I have found what will and won't work for me. I tried eating loads of veggies last night for dinner and learned "NO" that is not going to work for me. My fbs is 152 this morning. I think for me that the a moderately low carb plan that has a little bit of each food group balanced is best for me. Yes, I am still taking the supplement. I don't take it as strongly as they recommend as I've learned from reading others testimonies that they take one with each meal rather than the 2 twice a day. May work up to that eventually but not now. Have a nice anniversary get away.

DGS leaves tomorrow afternoon and DH and I are both looking forward to almost a month of being alone. Since DH is feeling better... his fbs is normal now, I feel like I have a new husband and we are just enjoying being together. Makes me feel like we are newlyweds. I think that is because we have been sick so long.

Oh, I read something yesterday that I wanted to share about exercise for Insulin Resistance. People who exercise 10 minutes 4 times a day lost more weight than those who exercised 40 minutes all at one time. I'm going to try this and see if this will work for me. I'll let y'all know if it helps move the scale. I'm just so tired of the bouncing back and forth on the scale.

Have a nice weekend.

Went to the store after Memorial service for a dear friend who passed away a few weeks ago and got the foods that I need so I can start AI. I've done the 2 weeks of Atkins Induction, but feel that doing it while DGS is gone is a good time to do it if I'm going to. Got a lot of tilapia and flounder and frozen veggies etc. I'm using the guidelines of the book The New Atkins Made Easy by a nutritionist who worked for years with Dr. Atkins and then with the new Atkins company.

I think I never understood many things about how to do it properly. She explains that unless you are a really tall man that you should not eat more than 6 oz protein at a meal. Example of a snack is maybe an oz of cheese with a celery stick. That kind of thing. Also it seems that if you are going to go heavy on anything it should be fat not protein or veggies. So I'm prepared for that.

Turns out that I can start today. We are going out to eat at Sonny's BBQ so I plan to have meat, cole slaw (I know it may have a little bit of sugar but better than other choices on menu) and green beans. Had my eggs and bacon with 1/2 slice cheese for breakfast and I'll have tilapia with either a salad or stir-fry veggies for dinner. Another thing I learned that I like with this is that I can have the snacks if I want and am prepared if I need it, but I can also go as long as 5 to 6 hrs between meals if I'm not hungry.

I'm not sure I can do 2 weeks because of DH will want to go out to eat after his docs appts on the 18th & 21st of this month. I will see how it goes. I'm thinking that once I get control with this that I will not want to take the chance of getting off again because it has been so difficult getting back on.

Y'all have a great Mother's Day weekend.

Here is a Youtube site of Dr. Westman at Duke University explaining low carbing. He is one of the co-authors of The New Atkins' For A New You book. I found it very helpful. I thought others might as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSLf4bzAyOM

Trish, I find it very interesting that eating a lot of veggies raised your BG. It brought mine down into double digits, but then I didn't eat anything but vegetables on those days. No protein at all. I just didn't think that was something that would be good long term.

Everyone have a great Mother's Day!

Yesterday was not a true 100% AI, since we ate out. However, I did finish the day with only one starch. In spite of that my fbs is down a little this morning and my weight was down 2 lbs from yesterday.

I got up this morning and ate 1 egg scrambled to hold me over until I got home from church. Dr. Westman says eggs are the most perfect nutritional food so to use them. I weighed and measured this morning and will consider this Day 1 on Atkins Induction. Have some chicken pieces thawing out for later. I plan to eat a lot of chicken, eggs and fish for the next week as well as the veggies to make up my 2 c raw veggies for salads and my 1 c cooked veggies each day while I'm on Induction.

Funny how I am ready for this now. I'm so glad that I found the website of Dr. Westman's as he made things so simple to follow. He has an inexpensive book on Amazon that a lady on another lowcarb site told me about and I just might get it if I need it. However, I think the youtube sites of his lectures may may be enough. I feel good about what I'm doing and feel like I am finally doing something good for me.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL!!!

Carol Sue- HAPPY BELATED ANNIVERSARY!!! :dance::high:

To answer your question, no my DH isn't Asian. I have been in the States since I was 4.5 months old and have never really had any desire to go back to Korea, even though my parents offered many times.

Actually, it's a little funny, but DH has spent more time in Korea than I have, since he was stationed there for a year before heading to Afghanistan, lol.

Trish- One of the things I miss most about living in the South is Sonny's. As soon as I read you were headed to eat there, all I could think about was a pork sandwich on garlic bread. We don't have anything like that here in Denver.

Good luck with AI! My fingers are crossed for you.:hug:

Momwithdogs, I think it would be very interesting to visit Korea. The only other country I have visited is Canada and now that I'm older I don't expect to ever go to any other country. I haven't even seen much of the US.

Trish, I would like to read Dr Fuhrman's The End of Diabetes again but the cheapest I can find it with shipping is $10 and I don't want to pay that much. I could get it from the library, but actually, I know that he just recommends eating mostly vegetables and I don't know if I would get any more from reading it again. He has been on Public Television several time lately with his Weight Loss Plan and that 's a very similar plan. Mostly vegetables and very little protein, absolutely no starchy carbs, but starchy vegetables and beans are permitted. I really like his plan and I understand what he says about the importance of the nutrition found in vegetables, but I don't keep my protein as low as he suggests. Maybe someday.

He says that once your body starts to get the nutrition it needs you lose the desire to overeat. It worked for me with my sugar cravings, but not my desire to over eat.

I haven't eaten much in the past couple days but my weight is up a bit anyway. I understand that fluctuations are normal, but I wish I could see a steady downward trend. I could do it if I went lower calorie but I don't think that's healthy long term either.

Tracking on MFP again. They have changed things so I can get a more accurate percentage for low carbing so I have reset my goals with the Phase 2 of Atkins. Interesting thing is that with these percentages which includes using EVOO and ACV for salads and butter, and CO brings my calorie count to approx less 1250 - 1300 and carbs at or less than 40g a day. I set up my percentage ratios... Carbs 10% = 40g, Fats 60% =107g and Proteins 30% = 120g according to MFP. Exercises daily will be a minimum of 47 minutes for 5 or 6 days a week. I actually believe I can live with this and that the weight loss while maybe not fast, I believe in time that it will become a steady weight loss.

I'm not going to read any other books. I want to de-clutter my house while DGS is gone so I'm going to throw out or give away some thing and re-arrange things so that I have only my low carb books handy and do away with all my other books. I think all the info out there confuses me and throws me off track. I want the low carb books for the recipes. I believe this is my best plan of recovery.

Have a nice day.