Diabetes/Prediabetes Chat and Support for September
 

It's September, and fall is in the air. Come and join us to chat about Diabetes...what helps us, what doesn't.

So it looks like we all agree that carbs cause us problems, with both blood sugar and weight, but we can't seem to stay away from them, can we? You're right Trish, it's best if we get our carbs from veggies.

Last night we were in Walmart and they had just put out some freshly baked Italian bread. It was so soft and fresh, before I knew it, it was in my cart. I know I don't need that, but it sure is good! I also picked up a very small butternut squash. I will peel and cube it and put it in the freezer in serving size portions. I like to saute it in olive oil and butter, get it nice and brown, and top it with cinnamon. Very tasty! DH said it looks like home fries so he tasted it, but it doesn't taste like home fries so he didn't like it. That's OK. More for me! It could probably be baked in the oven, too, but I don't like heating up the oven during the summer if I can avoid it.

My weight didn't go up or down during August. I am maintaining, even though it's at a higher weight than I'd like it to be.

I started back on my exercise yesterday and I hope to continue it at least 5 days a week.

My step-daughter makes this concoction called corn salsa. It contains corn, black beans, chopped red onion, chopped red bell peppers, with some olive oil, apple cider vinegar and a bit of sugar...seasoned to taste. She serves it with tortilla chips, but I like just eating it with a spoon. I don't like making it for myself because it makes so much. I did make 1/2 recipe once. I like the fact that I could control the amount of corn I put in it. While shopping at Aldi's I found something similar, canned. I bought some to try it and it was pretty good! Theirs is called Southwestern Bean Salad. It also contains some kidney beans, hominy and tomato paste, and is a lot spicier. I rinsed it in a colander as the sauce was a little too spicy for me. Rinsing it removed the sauce but kept the flavor that permeated the beans. I do that with baked beans, too, to remove some of the sugary sauce. I liked it better without the sauce. The can is a much smaller amount that my step-daughter's recipe. I keep it in a container in the fridge, and I can eat it with a spoon, or sprinkle it in my salad or with my scrambled eggs. I love it when I find something new that I like!

Carol Sue Congrats on no gain in August. The salsa sounds good. Funny thing is that while I read it and you talked about draining it that it would be good added to a salad. I'll have to look to see if my Aldi carries the one you found at yours and I'll also check Walmart and see if they carry anything like it. I think I've seen something like it there and wondered about it but wouldn't buy it because it had corn. I really would like to find some other foods that would make it easier for me to stay on this way of eating. I think more variety would be helpful.

Well, weight was up 4 lbs this morning. FBS was 125 mainly because I ate too many carbs and used one of DH meds. He isn't using the whole prescription now, however, I can't continue using it as they will eventually make changes on it. Besides, I'd rather control this without it and doc won't give me any help with it. I decided to see what I could find online about the Dawn Phenomena but my pc froze and I couldn't read all of it. I will look it up and see whatever else I can find. From what I did read I did got the idea that maybe carbs are something diabetics should not be eaten later in the day.

I take my Januvia in the evening although I'm not sure it really matters. I do get hungry for something at night around 8ish so I think I will take one of the suggestions and have protein at that time and take my pill. I'm thinking it should be a small amount of protein so remembering your 1 egg at bedtime Carol Sue, that will be what I will make my last snack of the day and see if my FBS improves. And if I can exercise and keep busy, hopefully that will help too.

I'm trying the Coconut Oil thing as well. Since I need to lose less than 100 lbs a day, it is recommended that I drink hot herbal tea or whatever with 1T of Coconut Oil about 30 minutes before a meal. It said NOT Bullet coffee, not sure why. However, I still put it in my morning coffee any way. Will be interesting to see how it helps weight loss, blood sugar and cholesterol etc. Will keep starchy carbs at a minimum.

Oh I saw something the other day that I thought I would share about saving our left over avocado with it turning brown. It said spray it with Pam. I haven't tried it yet but intend to do it tomorrow when I cut my avocado to add half of it to my breakfast eggs. I'll let you know if it works.

Here's hoping we can do better in September.

Evening everyone
My gang just left,,,,,, I ate way too many carbs today. My stomach feels icky!
It started with a pc of French bread ( I can stay away from plain old sandwich bread ) and then lasagne plus a PC of cake.....I have to check my bg in an hour I'm anxious to see what it says.
Right back on track after supper,,,kitchen is closed now. Cup of tea later.. The rest of the day was good! I havnt had pasta since I was diagnosed...and it was way more then 1 serving! Just saying...
I will remember tonight this weekend while we go away....I'll look for low carb options to take. This can't become a habit.

Checked and rechecked my bg last nite and it was good,,,,,,my fasting numbers this morning were good as well. I think I was a little stressed about it last nite knowing I ate wayyyy toooo many carbs.

No one click on that link from the new poster,,,,,be very wary of people who put links in thier messages the first time they post...probably spam.

p.a. Thanks. With all that goes on these days I think we have to beware of links from people we don't know. Glad you bs was good after the carbs you ate.

My weight is up again today. I've been overdoing the carbs and I am NOT going to keep doing this. IT STOPS TODAY. I am back on Atkins Induction to get rid of the carb cravings. I've got the book The New Atkins Made Easy by Colette Heimowitz who worked for Dr. Atkins. She has a weeks example of how to eat the 20 grams of carbs a day which I will use as a guide line.

I started exercising again this morning before I eat. I checked my fbs before I exercised and then checked it after. Before was 159 and after was 134. Haven't broke my fast yet. This is the way this worked for me the very first time I was diagnosed with diabetes. So I will continue doing the exercise 1st thing in the morning which is a good idea because it will get done and over with making it easier to turn it into a routine.

She also stresses spreading the carbs over the day 3 meals and 2 snacks. Eat 2-5 grams for breakfast, 5-7 at lunch and dinner. Snacks should have 1 to 3 grams to keep the blood sugar stable. I will use her guideline and add the coconut oil info to my plan. I've done this before by the grace of God and I pray He will help me to do it again.

Have a great hump day everyone.

p.a. Good for you on the good BS at night and also AM. It never works that way for me.

Trish, just remember, the other times you have tried to do Induction you burned out on it quickly and went back to eating carbs. If you feel that you need more, add small amounts gradually. I honestly believe that watching carbs is key, but I rarely go as low as 20. It's very hard to do. I love vegetables and feel that they are important, but the small amounts of carb add up. I mainly avoid starchy carbs like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes.

At first I was wary of the corn in the southwestern salsa, but since it's a small amount and is mixed in with other things I don't think it hurts. It's really better when I make my own and can cut back on the corn. I went to the 2 Aldi's in my area and neither one had any more of it. The girl there told me that it is a specialty item that they don't have all the time and when it comes back in it will be in the ad. So watch the Aldi's ad for it. In the meantime I'm going to make some of my own. That's such a good way for me to get in my beans. I only eat a couple spoonfuls per day.

I can't exercise first thing because of my heart, but it sounds like it's really working for you!

I ended up with around 1400 calories yesterday and my net carbs were 19 for the day. However, today they will be less than 1200 calories and net carbs will be 42. I think because of my age etc that I will keep the daily net carbs around 40 to 50. I have done my exercise already this morning. So I have 2 days of exercise now. My fbs was 145 and weight was back down almost 3 lbs this morning. I'm trying to get the salt in on the way of eating and I am thankful that it did keep me from having leg cramps last night.

DH read up on the new statin they gave him and his muscles are even worse. He also learned that I is no to be taken with fenofibrate which we both take because they both cause muscle problems and can lead to a muscle disease, but I can't remember the name of it. I know that since I've been taking the fenofibrate that I cannot walk very far and there are certain things I cannot do like walk up hills and difficulty going up stairs because my legs ache so bad. DH is experiencing the same thing and he has always had strong legs.

I had told the doc before that I didn't want to take it because of the way it makes me feel so I'm going to come off of it. I will inform him when I see him in 3 weeks that I refuse to take it any more.

I'm reading some of Dr. Eric C. Westman's info online. He is the one who co-authored The New Atkins for a New You book. He explains how he met Dr. Atkins and how Dr. Atkins had the results of how LC eating worked from the results of such success of his patients in his clinic. What Dr. Westman and others have done is proven through science testing and research that what Dr. Atkins had done and put into practice actually works. Their research and testing proves scientifically how and why it works. As they learn more and more, their have been improvements, but it is all based on the foundation laid by Dr. Atkins. I know a lot of people question the new, but personally I believe he would love knowing that things he knew and believed have now got the science behind it.

I've decided that for now, I have am going to experience this "dawn phenomenon" so I sill just expect it for now. I think that is why the people I read didn't think the Januvia helped as much as the LCHF did. I will be discussing this with my doc too. I don't think my numbers will be great when I see him, but I will be able to tell him that I tried LF/Low calorie and the bad numbers are the result. I will discuss the Januvia with him and the Lisinopril (BP) med too since one day back on LCHF, my bp was 106/60 this morning. I honestly believe this way of eating is the way for me to go.

Guess I better go. Today is my phone visit with my sister.

Have a good day.

Trish, I don't think you need the BP meds any longer. I don't understand why the doctor or pharmacist didn't realize that DH's new statin was not to be taken with fenofibrate. The statin I am on is very old and so far has caused me no problem. I have cut way back on my dose though because my labs have been so good. If my labs come back not good I will go back to the increased dose. I also take Fenofibrate, but only take 1/2 the dose. I know I am not supposed to do that, but I feel that it's my body and should be my decision. Why should I take more than my body needs to give me good lab results? I am not advising anyone to do that.

A1c Advice?
 

Hi guys! I'm just going to jump in here and ask my question. Just had blood work done yesterday. In January my A1c was 5.9 and while I know it's not "horrible", I know it could be lower for sure. My hubs and I have turned our lived around since January. Going to the gym and watching everything we eat. He took his A1c from 8.2 to 6.4 since January. So I was really excited to see my number go lower as well. Mine is still 5.9!! ...whine... I don't understand! My doc just said- keep an eye on your diet and get exercise. I have lost 30lbs in that time, so that's all good, but what does it take to make that number drop? We don't eat ANY food with white flour or with too much sugar. Any ideas? Thanks guys!

Welcome HappyinBG! I don't know a lot about this, but everyone is different when it comes to blood sugar. What one person can eat, may spike another's blood sugar. It's possible that you just have to eat fewer carbs than DH to lower your A1c. Also, the size of your meals can effect blood sugar, too, so maybe eat smaller meals with healthy snacks in between.

Congratulations on the 30 lb weight loss! I would be so thrilled to have an A1c of 5.9.

Good luck to you!

Evening everyone had a great long weekend at the cottage,,,weight went up a smidge due to carbs but on its way back down again. I'm leaving again Thursday for a week and that should be it for travelling for awhile.
Today has been my second time fasting...it's not as hard as I thought. But,,,I do drink coffee and tea with a bit of cream during the day it fills the hole lo. Last week when I did this the day after the fast I felt so good and not hungry again. I did eat but I think I could have done another day....I won't try it though. After I get back I'm going to try two days a week just to one after the other.

I will check in while I'm away ,,,,my SILs internet is crappy though

Glad you had a good time and lucky you to get another vacation!! I haven't done any traveling this year at all.

Are you doing a total fast?

No I'm doing the 500 calorie one.....you can read a lot on 5:2.....your supposed to eat normally for 5 days and fast with only 500 calories for two days. Not consecutively. I won't fast while I'm away but when I get back I'll probable pick out the same two days a week to fast,,,,at first it sounded really scary to think of eating that low but it's really not. It's amazing how much food is very low calorie. As for eating what I want for 5 days,,,well I don't think chips and dip count. Lol.....so I still count carbs,,and eat healthy fat.
I'll check in when I can ladies...

Yep, I tried that one p.a. LOL I even have a book about it. (I think I have a book about every diet there is.) I had a hard time with the 2 500 calorie days because of the times when DH wants me to eat with him. It was OK sometimes, but I would start out doing a 500 cal day and then DH would want to go out to eat somewhere. So I would go, then I'd have to go back and do the 500 cals the next day. I agree that the 5 normal days are not supposed to be a lot of junk foods. There are some ladies on 3FC who do very well with 5:2.

I've managed to exercise 30 minutes on the recumbent bike for 5 days this week. Will decide tomorrow if I will do a 6th day. I have a pending membership on Intuitive Eating support group by the authors, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, of the book Intuitive Eating. I'm in the process of going back to eating the way I did when I was thin.

I'm also re-reading the book I bought years ago Thin for Life by an AnneM. Fletcher, MS., R.D. This is a book about Master who have lost weight (about half used a diet of their choosing, either one they found or one they designed for themselves and half who didn't diet at all) and kept it off for a minimum of 3 yrs and so far I've seen where some have stayed in maintenance for up to 25 yrs. She shares how they had a point where it clicked for them and they took control and responsibility themselves. She has put it down to 10 things they did and do to make their weight loss their own and how they made it work for them. She devotes a chapter for each one.

She said most diets come at things from the idea that "people may lose weight but they ALWAYS gain it back and more". She decided to see if she could find people who were successful at losing and maintaining the weight loss and was amazed at how many success stories were out there. She put their stories and what they learned in this book. To her amazement there were other doctors and nutritionists who were out there who did the same thing and even found a center that specialized in this approach.

She shares the myths that we have been made to believe so that we feel like even if we do lose weight we will just gain it all back and more or are even made to believe we can't lose it in the first place. I was amazed to find that the 1st thing that most Masters learned was that you had to forget the myths and Believe that you can be Thin for Life. The 2nd is Take the Reins. You have to be in control of what and how you are going to lose the weight. It is your choice. Once you decided don't let anyone else tell you what to do. This your plan and you are the one who is to make the decisions of what you are doing.

One woman had been overweight most of her childhood. If someone made remarks about her weight and how she would look so much better, she wouldn't diet. She told of a boyfriend who told her she would be a knock out if she lost weight. She said during the school year she would not diet, but in the summer time when he was not around that she dieted and lost weight. She realized that when people made those comments that it made her feel like her worth was determined by the scale and she would not diet. I think she was the one who finally met a guy who accepted her the way she was. She lost weight and then he dumped her because he couldn't stand other guys looking at her. She said even now if she isn't careful, her hubby will say something about her putting on a few lbs and she catches herself eating. But she has learned to watch for that because she realized her weight is his problem not hers as long as she doesn't let it be. She finally understands that "she doesn't want anyone else being responsible for her weight but her".

As I've read this book, I realize that I am that person myself. I don't want anyone else "policing" what I eat. I want to be totally responsible and in control of what I eat. I am the one who allowed myself to get into this situation. And as they say in this book, "You cannot hire anyone else to do this for you". I am the one who has to decide to take care of me.

I have been successful doing IE so many times before and I have decided that I am going to be again.

I'll check in from time to time. I'm trying to not be on the pc so much. I'm being more active than I have been in a long time.

Carol Sue How is your elbow doing?

p.a. I'm glad you are getting to travel. Your 5:2 works for a lot of people. It might be your way as well.

Y'all have a good weekend.

Today has been a great IE day and IF. Didn't really plan it that way but I hope it will continue. FBS was 112 when I broke my fast and I ended up eating within a 5 hr window. The wonderful thing about it is that I never felt deprived or anxious. I just pray that it will keep going this way. Ended up doing another 30 minutes on the bike again today giving me 5 days straight of using 30 minutes each day on the bike. :carrot:

I used to start dieting and finally somewhere along the way reluctantly making myself exercise. This time I've ended up with a full week of exercise before starting my eating plan. Maybe by turning it around I will find my way to being one of those "success" stories.

Doing great, Trish!

Actually, it's not so much my elbow bothering me as it is my back. I've been having shooting pains in my lower back for several days now. I had a visit with the Chiropractor yesterday and I'm scheduled for another one Monday. I hope this helps.

Carol Sue Sorry about your back. I hope the chiropractor visits help it get better soon.

I am having no problem with IE/IF. I did give in and have a piece of ham and cheese last night, but was within 10 hr eating window. However, my FBS was up some this morning but I had to break my fast earlier than usual with it being Sunday. FBS by the time I got ready to eat yesterday was 98. So I definitely have to deal with the "Dawn Phenomena" so am trying to learn to live with it.

Weight had gotten kind of high, but has come down about 2 lbs since I've switched to this way of eating. It is slow, but steady and that is the way it needs to be at my age. I think it has to do with finding what I call the rhythm of eating that your body likes (only because I can't remember the medical term I remember reading about yrs ago). Eating 2 meals a day and not eating breakfast was my way of eating most of my life and every time I've lost weight and kept it off for any length of time, I only ate 1 or 2 meals a day.

I had a difficult time deciding to eat the way that is normal for me because I promised my Daddy that I would never eat only 1 meal a day any more. He had a cousin who ate only 1 meal a day and had to have most of his colon removed when he got older. Daddy always thought it was because he only ate 1 meal a day. My theory is that he owned a restaurant and eating fast food everyday may have been the culprit because I remember how I felt when I ate only one meal a day and ate a lot of restaurant foods and a lot of them were salads. I wasn't getting any "real" nutrition. I think as long as I eat nutritiously that I will be fine. But I mostly eat 2 meals a day, however, occasionally it becomes 1 meal + 1 snack type meal day because I'm less hungry some days than others.

I am in the 2nd Key to Success chapter of Thin for Life called Take the Reins. They say to learn to accept the fact that your body is going to be less than perfect and your never going to look like a model. We need to learn to lose and maintain at a weight where we feel comfortable not at a weight that an insurance says we should weigh. I like that. I have pictures of me when I weighed 165 back when DH and I married. I see those pictures now and thing, "I didn't know I looked that good". Everybody told me I did and I was in a size 14 clothes. I was dieting when I started but had ended up eating only when hungry more like I am now. I read so many diet books and started dieting again and as I struggled to lose more weight and I've ended up fighting to find a "diet" that I can live with only to gain all this weight to where I am now. I have managed not to gain back all the weight I had lost. My highest weight at that time was 245. I never made it down to 150 and I need to accept the fact that at this age, I may not ever get to 150 again.

I'm just learning to eat the way I eat and let the weight come down steadily until I reach the weight where my body says "That's all. This is where I want to stay." This is the what the Master Success Losers and Maintainers do and it works for them so I know it will work for me.

Have good week.

Trish, I think I read that book Thin for Life. It sounds familiar. I did much better with losing weight when I just ate less but didn't try to follow any particular diet plan. I think reading all the different books just confused me and I started combining the best of each plan. I did better when I didn't know anything about dieting.

I haven't been following any diet plan recently but always watch my starchy carbs. I was surprised to see I was down a pound over the weekend.

I don't eat as soon as I get up, but when I do eat, it's breakfast food, even if it's 11 AM. So I call it breakfast. We usually eat supper around 4-5 PM. In between I try to eat some cooked vegetables, and I will call that a snack rather than lunch. I know a lot of people who only eat one meal a day, but I'm not comfortable going all day without food, and I don't think it's good for BG.

I feel the same way about pictures of me when I was thin. I was always trying to lose more weight, but now I realize that I looked and felt good the way I was.

Yesterday morning, my neck popped and after that my back felt so much better. I think everything was just out of alignment and that popping just lined it all up again. I called the chiropractor and cancelled my appointment for today and told him I will come back in if I start having more pain. I don't want him messing with it now that it feels better.

Carol Sue Glad your feeling better. Strange how your neck just popped and everything aligned itself. I assume that was the results of your recent treatment. Hope it sticks.

Well, yesterday was a free for all eat everything in sight. Not sure why. Today I read the danger of allowing the scales to define your worth. We need to have a reason like health and feeling better as our reason for making changes to how we eat rather than just to see the numbers go down on the scales. They seem to feel that if you are doing this just for appearance that it is harder to be successful at losing and maintaining.

I got up this morning and decided that I wanted chicken wings for breakfast and decided to go for it. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Not making any food a no-no hoping that if I allow some of my "play" foods that they eventually will lose their flare. I am going to work at stopping the night eating. I plan to use the 8 or 9 hr eating window for IE. I really don't like the way I feel when I eat at night.

The book has a piece titled "You are much more than your weight". They say that reaching your goal weight isn't all there is to life. There is an example of a Master who often thinks that she could lose 10 more lbs, but she decided it wasn't worth giving all her focus on it and giving up the time it would take her to do it. She is happy with the weight she is at. The point is made that goal weight should not be the most important thing in our life. Being happy and healthy should be more important. One doctor says that life is not about weight control. I thought it was interesting how she made her point. She said "When you reach the pearly gates, God forbid that you should say to St. Peter when he asks what you did with your life, 'I watched my weight.'" I think that says it all. I've spent most of my life "watching" my weight and look where I am now at 72 yrs old. I've been doing this off and on since I was about 22 yrs old.

I thought of something else I read yesterday. I'm a person who like to encourage other people. I'm sympathetic with what they are feeling about themselves. But when it comes to me, I have no mercy because I expect perfection. The point in the book was to treat yourself like you would a friend when you have a less than perfect day of eating. Perfection was expected of me and my sister growing up and it has been carried over into my adult life. I remember an aunt telling me once, "People always commented on how they never minded you and your sister coming to visit because you didn't bother things and you were so polite and no problem". We knew what was waiting for us if we got home. Our Daddy was extremely strict.

So today, I thought about it and I had a talk with myself. I admitted that yesterday was way less than perfect. I owned it and then I forgave myself and let it go. Then being a Christian, I asked the Lord to help me do better today. I believe I have a few things to face in order to be successful. Learn to like my body the way it is and realize that it is the way it is. As one Master put it, she always hated the way she looked in a bathing suit. One day on the beach, she looked around and realized that most of the others on the beach had less than perfect bodies. No one looked like the models we see. So first accept my imperfect body and love it. Then learn to accept that this is going to take a while to lose it. If we were remodeling our house, it wouldn't be done in a day; so it is unrealistic to think that this is going to be quick. Another reason to learn to expect not so perfect days of eating and accept them and move on and just practice doing what is needful believing that the good days will out weigh the bad and I will eventually reach a weight that my body feels comfortable with.

According to the Masters I've read about, finding the weight our body is comfortable with seems to be key to reaching and maintaining a healthy weight we can be happy with rather than reaching a goal weight we have chosen. Some do reach their goal and happily stay there, but evidently many do not. Healthy and happy seems to be the main important goal.

Sorry this is so long, but I hope it will help all of us.

Trish, I agree with you that no one eats perfectly, and no one looks perfect in their own eyes. I have a sister-in-law who is very heavy, moreso than either of us. She bravely wears shorts and tank tops when it's hot out. She has joined a gym and exercises faithfully, with no worry about how she looks. She can get around very well. She worked on the second floor of a building with no elevator, and does the stairs well. She will probably never be thin, but I think because of the exercise she is healthy, and she seems to be very happy with who she is.

What kind of wings do you eat? I only eat them when I'm at this one restaurant we go to because DH doesn't like them. Today at Aldi's, the woman in front of us had a box of frozen wings and she said they are the best wings she's ever had. I see no problem with eating what you want in the morning. I am just such an egg lover that I rarely choose anything else.

I made a meatloaf yesterday. I used to give the leftovers to my step-daughter, but it was so good I got 3 nice slices out of it and put them in the freezer. This way I can have it for lunch if I get hungry for it. DH won't want it for another month or so. I find I am much more satisfied when I eat what I really want rather than what I think I should be eating.

Carol Sue How do you make your meatloaf? I like it but DH likes it so plain and I have made it with cheese to hold together, but didn't work too well last time.

I just season the wings and bake until crisp. I used to make a hot sauce with tobacco sauce, butter and a touch of vinegar and covered them with that. I still do that occasionally when DH eats them, but mostly I like them plain. It is just preference. Some time DH like BBQ on his and it is easy to bake them and then roll his in hot sauce or pour BBQ on his and leave my plain.

Well, I ordered another book. I wasn't going to but read reviews after reading info on it online. I wasn't going to get interested in macronutrients and micronutrients, but then I read about the micronutrients which seems to be carbs, protein and fat balancing. The article I read about the Zero Belly Diet mentioned macronutrients. In the article is about new science research of nutritional genetics of how our genes are turned on and off by the foods we eat. According to this we can make a few tweaks to our lifestyle and diet and help us improve our gut health, dampen inflammation and turn off our fat genes so that our body starts shedding fat, especially the belly fat which they say is where all the different diseases start from.

One review basically verified that the info is correct as she had heard some of the things he shares and said that he had done a more extensive study so we don't have to. Another woman said that she didn't follow the plan in the book but used it to get the info she needed to tweak her plan and it worked for her with good results. I read of others who it worked for and some of the 4 stars were because they liked the info that worked but had other complaints like one said the sale was over kill, another felt it was repetitive too much and another felt it should have had more recipes and less exercise stuff which they felt was to make the book longer. I read one person who said it didn't work for him. A lot of the ones I read had been members of the 500 people who tested his diet for him, but they were not paid anything for testing.

Since I got the feeling that macronutrients have something to do with how certain nutrients in some foods we eat either turn our fat genes on or off, I decided that I need to know more about them. I will get the book Friday and I will share what I learn from it.

I am already starting the 1st and 2nd things that was shared in the article. I exercise before breakfast and have oatmeal with berries for breakfast. He doesn't specify how long to exercise there, but #9 which is called Snaxercise says that scientists in New Zealand have learned that if you exercise 10 minutes before breakfast, 10 minutes before lunch and 10 minutes before dinner that it lowered blood glucose levels. That isn't always easy even with my laid back lifestyle, but if it lowers my bs, it is well worth figuring it out and doing it.

Catch you tomorrow.

Trish, we like our meatloaf rather plain, too. We have ordered meatloaf in some restaurants and they seemed too spicy for us. Not hot spicy, but just too much seasoning. I use lean ground beef, about 1 1/2 to 2 lb. I add some chopped onion, celery and shredded carrot, but have it all chopped fairly small. I use 1 egg, 1/2 c of bread crumbs and a few squirts of ketchup and a dash or two of seasoned salt, salt and pepper. I don't measure, so the amounts are not always the same but it usually tastes the same. I bake it for 45 minutes covered with foil then take the foil off for another 30-45 min to let it get a crust on top. Then I let it sit, covered loosly with foil for about 20 min or so before serving. Sometimes if I don't have breadcrumbs I crush some crackers, and one time I used oatmeal flakes. There was no difference in the taste. A woman on another thread told me she uses crushed pork rinds because she is doing low carb. I don't know if that would alter the taste, and I don't know if DH would eat it.

Sometimes reading new books just confuses me, and other times I feel that I get information from each book that applies to me and I can put it into action. I have been reading a lot online about reducing inflammation because I think that is the root of a lot of my medical issues, but there are so many factors.

Carol Sue Thanks for sharing your way of making meatloaf.

I did the 10 minutes exercise 3 times a day yesterday, but I did 20 this morning and will see about doing 10 to 20 more minutes later today. I didn't eat the oats this morning because I wanted eggs and bacon. So I had my eggs, bacon and avocado this morning. Will get book today.

I read something interesting from one of Masters in Thin for Life that made me stop to think. He said that he believed there is a strong psychological component to losing weight permanently. He seems to thing that every heavy person needs to start by asking themselves this question because he found that there was a positive component for him overweight. He asked himself something like this "Is there a positive component to being overweight?" For him it was that he wouldn't have to mow his lawn. He then decided how he could solve that problem by paying someone else to do it.

Made me realize maybe I need to find out if my being overweight serves a purpose for me and then figure out how I can compensate for it and be thin.

Book also says there are 2 ways the Masters lose and maintain. She called it Self-style vs Program people. Self-styled masters lose weight on their own without following a stringent diet plan. Some took a plan or information from some and tweaked creating their own plan according to their likes/dislikes, preferences and lifestyle. For example, one guy did lowfat diet his way, but he loved ribs so he allowed one day a month that he had them. So they did not write off they faves, but allowed them a place in their plan.

The program people followed some sort of structured plan like WW, TOPS or self-help group.

I found it interesting that none of them used fad diets, pills, shots etc. And they said that those who were successful at losing and keeping it off exercised. It seems that people who lose weight with no exercise of some sort seem to eventually gain it back.

Have a great weekend.

Trish, I hear so many people say they lost weight without any exercise, and many diet plans say that no exercise is needed. While it's true that you can lose weight without exercise, it's not the calories burned during exercise that are important. Not only does exercise lower blood pressure and blood sugar, but it also lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol, strengthens your muscles and improves your lung function. In addition, it regulates hormones. We as diabetics already know how it helps to regulate the hormone insulin, but it also regulates other hormones like cortisol and leptin, which are important to weight loss and maintenance. For some reason, not many people like to exercise, but we can also get exercise by living an active lifestyle, things like walking to and from places nearby rather than taking the car or bus, and using the stairs instead of elevators and escalators. People don't think of those activities as exercise, but our ancestors didn't have exercise bikes and treadmills. Exercise was just part of living for them.

I just have such a hard time understanding why so many people who lose weight can't maintain the loss. I don't know if it's really the lack of ability to make a permanent lifestyle change or something else. It seems that our bodies just don't want to let go of that weight. I don't know if there's any way to change that.

Morning, I'm back from my trip. I got in late last Nite.
I did well weight wise on my trip.... Up .5 of a pound, I consider that success.
Back at it this week.
I love meatloaf,,,,I use ground beef, ketchup and a package of onion soup mix all mixed together...yum.

I didn't have good internet while I was away, I'll have to go back and catch up

Welcome back p.a. Great job on watching weight!

Welcome back p.a. Great job on the weight control.

One thing I found interesting in the Thin for Life book is that... NO one took weight off and kept it off doing low carb.

I got the Zero Belly Diet book and it is helpful. In fact, I think this way of eating could be done with WW very easily although he says you don't have to count calorie or anything. I might need to in the beginning. He recommends eating oats or steel cut oats. He also says eat red fruit and bright colored veggies and greens. Also recommends eating quinoa, brown rice etc and nuts. He says peanuts are especially good to eat as well as beans especially black and lentils. There are foods, but can't name them all.

The goal is to get rid of the visceral fat. I'll try to share more later.

Haven't felt up to par today. Had a busy day, but no busier than usual so I'm not sure what is going on. I have exercised everyday on the bike besides being more active. So maybe I've just over done it and need to rest. Plus I'm easing into this new way to eat. Starting full swing tomorrow. I did read where some people had headaches etc the 1st few days on the plan.

I hope you feel better, Trish and it's nothing serious. I felt terrible during the night. My right had hurt terribly. I got out of bed around 3 AM and read for a while, then I took 2 Tylenol Arthritis and went back to bed and was able to fall asleep. When I got up my hand felt much better. Still a bit achy, but not as bad as it was during the night.

The studies in that book might not have included anyone who lost and maintained on low carb, but I maintained for 10 years on low carb. I think that's significant. It was not the 20 carb low carb, but I rarely ate any "white" foods or sweets. So I am proof that it can be done. I think you can lose and maintain on any diet, other than the extreme fad diets, like all bananas, etc. It's up to the individual person. I just can't get my head back into the mode.

I have a different book about Belly Fat and it is similar and promotes loss of visceral fat. That's the unhealthy fat that accumulates around your organs and plays such a big part in disease. I'm sure I have plenty of that.

How is Tony, Trish? Has he regained any of his sense of taste? I was listening to a houlistic doctor on the radio and a woman called in saying she had lost her sense of taste and he told her to take B Complex vitamins. If he hasn't already tried that, I don't think it can hurt as they are water soluable.

We are going to have such nice weather today and for the next few days. Low 70s, sunny and breezy. I put on a pot of chicken soup, it seemed like a good day for it.

Carol Sue I agree that just because they had no Master diet losers and maintainer who did it with low carb does not mean that no one has. There are many on the low carb websites that have. I think many of them have had great support and tweaked their plans to fit their lifestyle.

I believe I will not be doing the ZBD plan exactly, but I can tweak with other plans and make it work for me. It is certainly worth the effort.

Tony's taste is coming back. In fact, we did some research on line and he started taking zink and increased his alpha lapoic acid and just as the research said within 6 weeks the taste started returning with the salt first and evidently the sweet taste has returned with a vengeance. I sure hope the sweet taste calms down soon as his fbs has risen a little since it returned.

I'm feeling better today but I think I need to slow down on my exercise. If I do 20 minutes on the bike 3 or 4 days a week, my joints don't hurt. In fact, it gets better, but I noticed that all those 30 minutes for 6 days has had the opposite effect. So I will slow it down today and may just do 3 days this week until things settle down and then add the 4th day in a week or two depending on how I feel. Besides, I'm going to be really busy getting my house ready for DH's DS and his DD to come visit in a few weeks. They will be here for 4 days. So a lot of exercise will be getting things straightened out around here.

Have a good day.

I'm glad you're taking it easy on the exercise. I figured out that when I moved my recumbant bike, I accidentally moved the adjustment so that the pedals were too far away for me and I was straining to pedal. I'm thinking that was what caused my lower back problem rather than the shoes that I thought caused it. DH helped me move the adjustment so I am no longer straining and it feels much better. I didn't even realize it was adjustable, but it makes sense that different people would need a different pedal distance.

I'm glad Tony is getting his sense of taste back. Be careful on that sense of sweetness!!

I've decided to make a commitment to using WWP+ along with the things I'm learning in the ZBD book. I love being able to eat fruit and veggies. I can tweak it using the WW plan for portion control. This very doable. I won't be attending meetings or joining WW online because I have a habit of getting caught up into doing things other suggest that doesn't usually work for me. They seem to derail me instead of help. I have always done better doing WW on my own and believe I can do that this time too.

I'm switching to almond milk for regular dairy. I also read online yesterday that someone has come out with a Cashew Milk Ice cream. Might even try that depending on the pts. Not a big desire at this time because it is getting cooler. The book suggests using less flour or sugar instead of completely avoiding them. One thing I do like about WW is they push the fruits and veggies and allow for the grains and beans. Actually, I can choose where my points go for which foods and getting my fiber as well. I believe this is the best plan for me. Time will tell.

I still have my books etc and have my 12 week weight graft chart. So I am going to commit to this for 12 weeks and just see how it goes for me. I will only be weighing once a week and I'll change my weight below so that it will be the same starting from today. 1st goal will be what WW usually makes as the 1st goal of 10% of my weight.

I have been reading a forum about dietary suggestions for Psoriasis. The main plan suggested is Paleo. It is so strict, I just can't see myself doing it. DH always says he would do whatever he had to do to get rid of it, but if I limited my eating to the plan they suggest he would not be happy about it. This one person told me how much it changed his health, but he had a lot of gut problems which I don't think I have. With most weight loss plans I can always tweak to fit my lifestyle, but I'm told that to help with Psoriasis you have to be 100% compliant. The main things I would have trouble with is no eggs, and no tomatoes. Many things I make for our dinner would be eliminated. And Psoriasis is much like diabetes...what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for the next person. I'm starting to think that I should go to a dermatologist and see what they have to say. I hate to do that because I have no intention of taking the strong meds they use, but I would like to hear their opinions on other things I have heard. All it will cost me is my copay, and I they can't make me do things I don't want to do. I will have to think about this.

Carol Sue I find that interesting because in my Paleo for Beginners book under foods allowed eggs are the first protein named and tomatoes are among the veggies allowed. If you want to check out the Paleo book, I got it from Amazon and it is written by John Chatham who it says is the author of the bestselling Paleo Diet Solution. It is a very thin book giving 117 paleo foods you can eat and a 7-day beginner plan including 21 easy recipes according to the front cover. So you might not have to give up the eggs and tomatoes. It might be interesting to see what a dermatologist says. I hope you find some answers.

I've enjoyed my first day so far on my new way of eating. In fact, I still have 8 daily pts to go and I'm not sure that I will need them. That is another reason that I don't like doing WW online or with meetings. I don't want to use pts just to get rid of them. For the weight I am right now, my little meter recommended 29 pts, but I think I could get by with the 26 pts I used to eat when I was on here before. I am feeling a little bloated but according to the ZBD book that will go away.

BBL

Thought I posted this morning.......I must have lost it somewhere.
Have you noticed a lot of ailments/deseases etc suggest paleo/ no carb/ no gluten way of eating? I no with myself since this last trip away I've eaten more carbs then I have been ..today I got up from my chair and my feet were aching! They havnt ached all summer...I'm also feeling sluggish in the afternoon. My bg is right on so its not a high or low...it's the crap I'm eating. I know myself I 'talk' myself into saying it's ok to have this and that but it's leading into more this and that. I'm feeling it! Time to put the brakes on and stop this.

Trish sounds like a great plan. I belong to another board and joined a Halloween challenge. I pledged to lose 10 pounds from now to halloween!! We can do this.
Carol go to the drs....he may suggest different options other then meds. It's to painful to let go.

A quick flyby. I noticed that this plan I'm on is mostly gluten free. If I didn't use beans or grains it would be paleo, because even fruit is on it. Interesting.

1st day went very well and weight already started going down which is a biggy for me because I don't usually lose very easy even in the beginning. Lots of housework to get done for DH DS/DGD visit. Gives me the excuse to do the house cleaning I'm always saying I want to do but never get around to.

Have a great day.

Trish, according to this article, Paleo is good for a lot of diseases, but for Psoriasis it has to be modified, and that's where the "no eggs" and "no tomatoes" comes into play.

http://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/04/m...psoriasis.html

I have read Dr Paganos book on Healing Psoriasis and he tells that night shades are not good, and they include tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes and some others.

I have 2 Paleo books on my Kindle, and one that says Paleo is not all it's cracked up to be. I have not read them yet, but I have to keep in mind that they don't talk about the modifications needed in connection to Psoriasis.

p.a. I want to ask the doctor about the connection between guttate psoriasis and strep infection. I read that you can have strep infection in your body and not have any symptoms. I don't know if this is true or not, but I do know that after I was in the hospital taking all those antibiotics for the perotinitis my ps cleared very well. Later on I had a staph infection in my incision and the ps came back after that. I never connected the ps to infection until I read about it recently.

Carol Sue That makes me wonder if the yeast infections I have a tendency of having isn't caused by all the antibiotics I took growing up. You know when I was young they gave you antibiotics for everything. My baby sister has problems with eczema and I remember our great grandmother had some kind of problem with flakey skin on her legs. Back in her day they made a some kind of ointment on rags and put them on her legs and held them own with stockings. With the things we have learned over the years, I figure that was the worst thing she could have done. Now a days they would probably not use a petroleum base on them and they would have left them uncovered to breathe. Any way, I don't know about my great grandmother, but my sister and I took a lot of antibiotics because we had strep throat so many times while growing up. My other sister didn't take a lot of antibiotics and she has never mentioned having any kind of skin problems. Her daughter took a lot and she has the same tendency that I do. Just might be something about the antibiotics.

I remember when my daughter was burned they used cloths soaked in some sort of ointment on her. Years later when my Daddy was burned they didn't do that any more. They have learned to keep it clean and let it heal on its own. She has scars and you can't tell he was ever burned.

Hope you will be able to talk to a doc and get some answers.