Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,426
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
Mad, I have trouble sleeping, too, but it has improved since I retired. I still wake up during the night, but I'm able to fall back to sleep since I know I don't have to get up for work. It took a few years to get to this point. I know I still don't get as much sleep as I should and sleep is very important for weight loss. I am able to nap occasionally if I do have a bad night, but I try not to. I fall asleep in a matter of minutes but my problem is staying asleep more than a few hours. They say you don't require as much sleep as you age, but I don't think that's true. You still need good sleep, but it's harder to get.
I have a Fitbit One. I also have a Fitbit Zip that I found new at Goodwill for $2. I don't think they realized what it was. I tried it out and it works, but I have it put away in case my One breaks or I lose it. Right now I track my food on Fitday but I am considering starting to track on my Fitbit Dashboard because I can also track water. I'm really bad at drinking my water, especially when it's cold, like now.
Mad and Ruthie Glad to see you here. I've missed you both. Thanks for sharing about WW new program. I've checked it out as one of the girls on 3fc thread put some info about it on her blog. I think I will join online at the end of the month. I don't want to put anything else on my credit card until then so it won't go on this month. The formula for figuring pts looks like a lot, but I think counting the sugar content of something will be very helpful. I might can figure it out without joining, but it won't hurt to read what others are doing and get the support and the newsletter might be helpful as well. WebMD seems to think it is a good plan.
Not much changed here. Still following the plan I'm on. More of a "My Plan". We went out to eat yesterday at DH favorite Golden Corral for his fist. I had a good plan, but did add some carbs I don't usually eat along with my favorite piece of cake. Small piece, but still so high in carbs and calories. I am up my usual 3 lbs after eating there. According to MFP they put so much salt in their food. Even took my mild diuretic and still up. I will need to drink a lot of water today to flush it out which isn't easy for me to do this time of the year when it is so cold.
Pattygirl
I find water weight takes a few days to go back down. So don't stress it.
Ruth
Hi kiddo, you were the moderator of this thread when I first came. Glad to see you back here.
Fatmad
Insomnia's tough. My morning antidepressant revs me up (which I need), but I need something to help me sleep. MD finally settled on adding a very old antidepressant which has the side effect of inducing sleep. I've been good on that for years.
p.a.
You go girl, right back on track. YAY you!
CarolSue
I found it helpful to tie my exercise to something else. Example - I decided to tie exercise to after lunch, early afternoon, which is when I have the least energy. I'll let you know the results.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,426
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
I read about the new WW plan and some of the old members said that they don't like it. They said that with the old points plan they could eat whatever they wanted as long as they counted the points, but with this new plan the points are based on the nutritional value of the food. I think it could go both ways. If you are one who cannot do without your favorite foods the old plan is better for you, but in the long run, we are much better off if we eat foods with more nutrition. Good luck to both of you with the plan.
Cindy, I agree with you about the timing of exercise. Many people like to do it first thing in the morning to make sure they do it. I won't do that because I have heart disease and I heard that early morning is the worst time for heart attacks. When I worked I had to wait until evening to exercise, but many times I just didn't have enough energy to do it by then. That's why now I find the best time for me is in the afternoon. When I finish, it's time to start making dinner.
ahh trish, truthfully, I think eating out is really hard when watching out weight and sugars.
Today, we all decided to order take out indian food for our meeting day.
Everyone was just craving those flavours. The nice thing was that I didn't have such an urge to over eat, since it came in take out containers that we could take home afterward.
Even so, that was 18 of my 30 points today.
I also forgot to take my metformin this morning, as I ate my breakfast in the car on the way to the hairdresser and left my pills at home. Interesting side effect, I am sure it affected my sugars, I was thirsty from noon onward. Just like when my sugars first went out whack .
Hoping to get some x-c skiing in this weekend. I have the weekend off and I want to enjoy all this snow.
hope everyone is warm and toasty, in spite of the weather.
Mad I wonder if seeing how high some of the carb pts are would help me not want them. Spending 18 pts when you only have 30 might make me think about what I'm doing. I think not having to count the good carbs which seems to happen when I tried the formula the lady shared on 3fc is very encouraging. I use MFP and when I put all my veggies for salad really add up. I would like to find something that would help me stay OP. Enjoy your days off.
Been OP today and did my 25 minutes on the recumbent bike. Just need to have more days OP than off.
Just to clarify ... I have not forgotten I am the mod/admin on this as well as other groups. I read but have not posted as I am not someone who checks and worries about BGL every day.
That being said, it may change. When I was getting foot care at the Clinic on Wednesday, Nurse Darlene insisted I get my HA1C checked - bad timing after the Christmas and holiday transgressions. I will get the results today and am not expecting to be happy.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,426
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
I hope none of our members here are in the path of the major snow storm that's on it's way. We are on the edge are only expecting a couple inches of snow, but many other areas are going to get hammered. Stay safe.
Ruth, I doubt if your A1c is going to be so terrible. Although you're not posting here, I see you posting on other threads and I know you are health conscious and watching what you eat. I do think it's a good thing the nurse pushed you to get your bloodwork done, though, as it's best to know for sure. I need to check BG often because I know I'm having a problem, but normally, type 2s who are in control are not required to do all this testing.
Having said that, we still miss you and are glad to hear from you!
Trish, I wouldn't worry about carb counts on MFP if I know they are from vegetables/salads etc. They are not carbs that will spike blood sugar or be detrimental to your weight loss. The same with fat. If you know you ate healthy fats, they still show up as fats, but are the ones we are supposed to eat. Fitday shows total fat, but also breaks it down between, sat fat and healthy fat like mono fat or polyunsaturated.
Mad, the first time I tried WW Points Program my points would be gone by 11AM. I did not do well with it at all. LOL I was not in a good weight-loss frame of mind. This more recent time I did it I did very well. I did low carb as far as starchy carbs were concerned and filled up on veggies, which were 0 points. I quit because of the cost, and I couldn't sustain the plan without the meetings.
Well. I feel perfectly fine but the darned HA1C is up to 8.7 so ... I will focus on correcting my bad habits (including letting meds run out) and get it retested in 8 weeks.
I think I am going to set up a little check list in the kitchen for morning meds and Victoza shot. Evening shouldn't be a problem since I always take that low dose aspirin. Ticker is not lying this morning - goldurnit!
I certainly won't be posting daily since I am way too busy - in fact, I am planning to give up the admin/mod part of my membership. I will also keep track of my food calories online but will spare everyone the details.
CarolSue
Hard to believe after last winter, but Boston is not expected to have much snow with this storm. I'll believe it when I see it!
Ruth
My MD said that she's surprised when any patient comes in with a full list of BG tests. She mostly goes by the A1c tests. I had ignored my diet for months a couple of years ago, and ended up in the 9s. Stupid diabetes is a sneaky one.
Fatmad
Enjoy your x-c skiing, said to be wonderful overall exercising!
Pattygirl
From being taught about diabetes at Joslin Clinic, they really only worry about the carbs in fruit and starchy foods. Hope that helps.
I was just recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and my doctor instantly put me on Metformin (which I should have been taking all along for prediabetes, but boy am I a stubborn twit). I'm still in the adjusting to it stage and should be upping my dose next week. The GI issues aren't really that big a deal to me considering I usually have the opposite problem LOL. I go back to the Dr in two weeks and he's saying he wants to put me on some more meds likely, but I really really don't want that. I've lost 5 lbs as of this morning which I know is mostly holiday water weight gain.
My A1C was 8.1 and my non fasting at the time of my last appt was 160 (I'd had a sugary coffee drink prior to my appt which wasn't supposed to have anything to do with blood sugar LOL). I'm supposed to be testing every morning, but my goodness I just plain forget till I'm at work. Bought a new meter to specifically leave up at my desk so I can quit doing that.
I suppose my question is: I'm back on my keto diet that I was on prior to the holidays. Any chance my blood sugar will improve enough that I can avoid additional meds in two weeks? I'm eating very little carbs and the only intentional sugar I get at all is first thing in the morning and it's in my coffee creamer (hard to find the sugar free version in my area and it's only 3 g). I'm using liquid splenda for everything else. I'm hoping to wean myself to heavy cream and just splenda soon and I'm watching protein.
I did strict keto for about 5 months, so cutting my carbs isn't a big deal to me. I regret ever quitting as this WOE is easy for me to be satisfied with 1200 cals a day without starving. I know it's not necessary for type 2 to go that low on carbs, but I like the lifestyle. I had lost a good deal of weight and I had thought my blood sugar had actually improved. I went off the wagon prior to Thanksgiving (little cheats that led to big cheats and yeah) and just got back to it strictly this past Monday. Funny, not sure if it's the met or what, but I've had NO cravings at all.
My mother is type 1, which is a totally different beast than 2, but I grew up watching her do insulin shots every morning and I just refuse for that to ever be me. I'm determined to do whatever it takes to either reverse this issue or manage it entirely with diet. I know all to well how hard my mom struggles.
Doctor says Metformin helps with weight loss too, but not so sure about that. Since I obviously had horrid glucose issues last time on keto, that may be why I lost slower than I should have. Maybe the met will help with that? Not that I'm racing really to lose, just wondering. I'm also not sure exactly what else he's thinking about putting me on, I just know I don't want insulin.
Eh, that's my rant anyhow. Sorry to be long winded. TL: DR - will cutting carbs for three weeks help with blood sugar tests at my next appt? Also, if anyone is on metformin, is it better to take it with a meal or am I fine continuing to take it with my coffee in the am?
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,426
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
Hi Fickleheart. Welcome to the thread! Lots of questions. I can only tell you of my experience, but everyone is different when it comes to diabetes. You will not have any effect on your A1c in 2-3 weeks, because that shows average blood sugar for the past 3 months. But if you stay away from starchy carbs and get some exercise, your blood sugar levels should come down. As far as when to take your Metformin, they say to take it with food to lessen the GI upset, but if it doesn't cause problems for you, you can take it when you want to. When the doctor increases the dose you will probably be prescribed twice a day to keep the does about 12 hours apart. I recently found that taking it at bedtime lowers my fasting levels in the morning. That's just me.
As far as starting any other meds, you can ask your doctor to give you some time to regulate your blood sugar on your own with diet and exercise before he gives you any other medication. Hi might agree to let you try and then do another A1c in 3 months to see if you've improved it enough to limit your meds to Metformin. Metformin is relatively harmless, but other meds can cause problems. Right now I am working to improve my glucose enough to stop or limit the Amaryl he has me on. It is known to cause weight gain and is probably a part of why I am having trouble losing.
Some others may chime in with other suggestions. Good luck to you and let us know how things go.
I am lurking/reading, but not posting much right now. Nothing much to report. I've decided to use a Low Carb Whey Protein Powder for 2 meals and then eat one meal each day which I will eat with DH around 3ish to shrink my stomach. DGS told me when he went home for Christmas holiday that he found that his stomach had shrink. He had been using a protein drink that I gave him because it had too many carbs and I couldn't drink it. He used it last semester.
Then I got to thinking about of the tv ads (I think it was Nutrisystem) I've been seeing and they mentioned shakes. Someone told me they use shakes to jump start weight loss. I've decided that if I can the weight off that the blood glucose will take care of itself. It surely can't hurt. I certainly haven't done much by just trying to bring the fbs down so far and my body seems to resist consistent weight loss. It is time to do something different if I want to get this under control, because if I don't, I will be sitting here next year gaining rather than losing. I've been blessed to be as healthy as I am, but it might not stay that way if I don't do something to make it happen. As they say to keep doing the same thing expecting different results is insane. Still haven't ruled out WW new program. Can't just thinking of this as just a blood glucose problem. I've often heard that you don't die from diabetes, you die from the complications caused by diabetes. Time for me to have some wisdom in this situation I find myself in.
Sorry, just talking to myself. I know what I either can't change or don't seem to be able to so it is time to rethink what I'm doing and make the necessary changes I can make.
We have snow and ice and I don't get out in it because I'm not taking any chances of falling in this stuff. So just staying in wrapped up to stay warm.
Those of you north of me who have this worse than we do, stay safe and warm.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,426
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
Trish, I think I am the only other one who is in the path of this storm as long as it doesn't reach Cindy in Boston. We got 8.5 inches. The road have been plowed and salted and are now clear, but it seems it's still snowing farther east and getting bad enough to close roads. I hope everyone is OK.
Thanks for the reply Wannabehealthy and the welcome pattygirl63.
So far the tummy upset happens no matter when I take it, or with/without food, although I notice it more after I eat something fatty. I can live with that though. It's not that big of an issue. I think I might go ahead and start upping the dosage a week early since the GI upset is pretty mild so far. He told me 2 weeks and it's been a week. That'll put me at 1000mg a day.
Doing pretty good food wise, despite some major temptations from my hubby and bff. I don't think they quite realize how drastic my diet is changing, but it's okay. Weather isn't being conducive to walking atm, but next week it's going to warm up a bit and I can get back to it.
Hope you guys up North are staying safe and warm. While not nearly as cold here, it's colder than normal right now in Florida. I'm in the northern part LOL, so we get more of winter than our central and southern friends. I wouldn't know how to act in a blizzard though. I'll be happy to answer any hurricane questions though :P
