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I want to share a diet plan that someone else shared with me. It is healthy food, but it tells you exactly what to eat at every meal. I couldn't do that. I need a plan that lets me choose from different selections. But here it is if anyone's interested.
FBS was 148 this morning. I won't eat until we get to Cracker Barrel. These higher morning readings have got me thinking and it may be for both you Carol Sue and me.
Perhaps this is the reason that I never HAD to eat breakfast when I was growing up because I already had enough energy "fuel" as Michelle May calls it to get me through the morning. I once read of a man who said he ate toward his diabetic testing meter. Michelle May talks in her book about Curiosity. This info makes me curious enough to start my own experiment to see what would happen if I did that and only ate when my glucose is low. I might find that to be the way IE and IF actually works for a diabetic. It may not be so much of what we eat, but when we eat it. Perhaps that is why some people eat OMAD and others like I really could do on CAD when I ate 2 meals and 1 snack a day.
I remember my Daddy telling me that my step-sister's DH learned how to control/manage his diabetes by using his meter to see what foods raised his bg and what did not. He learned he could have a McD's sausage biscuit as long as he took the top of the bun off without raising his bg.
This is really something to think about. This books seems to be saying when we overeat, we cause our bg to go up. Carol Sue, didn't you say your friend who lost weight at whatever she wanted, but she didn't overeat? Maybe there is a big key there.
Got to run DS and DD will be here in a few minutes to get me. I will come back and read your post Carol Sue. Curious what you think about this. Maybe we just got our rhythm off when we started eating the way DH and folks around us eat. Our stories are so similar.
Carol Sue I have no problem with your opinions. We are in the process of learning what we are doing right and wrong for us. While I like some of the IE ideas, I also have a problem with some of it. I believe there are some wisdom in it, but like all things there are flaws.
I probably will not stay with the FB group. I'm reading of people who have learned to accept their body so much that they are not doing anything to lose weight. I've seen people saying they have been doing IE for 2 or more years and not lost any weight at all. I don't like the part that says it isn't about the weight. I'm sorry, but when my weight affects my glucose and health as well as some of the things I would like to be able to do but cannot do, for me... IT IS ABOUT THE WEIGHT!!!
The one thing I liked about counting calories or points was that I can include whatever food I really like as long as I include it within those limits. So I will probably go back to calorie counting. This I can eat 95% healthy foods and 5% treats. What I see people doing on the FB IE groups is Not eating healthy foods because they don't want to feel like they have to eat healthy food to feel like they were "good" that day. My problem with that is that when I don't "have to eat" healthy foods, I really want the "healthy" foods. So while I can read and even study the IE workbook, I don't want to study it with them because I am not sure they even see the part where the authors say eat more healthy foods than not.
What I am reading in the books are not what I see people doing. That is why some who have done IE for 2 - 10 yrs still weigh what they weighed when they started. They also take the idea of not weighing too far in the wrong direction. Personally, I would love to be able to eat the way your friend who lost 30 lbs ate. The more I read and seeing how my FBS works, I think IF is the way for me to eat. For now, I am just going to do IF and use my diabetic meter like my step-sister's husband did. I am amazed sometimes when Daddy shares with me the things that he eats. In fact, this morning we were talking about how grits comes with every breakfast meal at Cracker Barrel. None of us like it, but my DH now and deceased hubby ate them. Then Daddy said that every time they ever went to eat with my step-brother-in-law he always ordered grits no matter what was eating. Obviously it didn't cause him a bs spike or he would never have eaten it.
It all goes back to One size Does Not fit all. We are all different and have to learn to do what works for us. Since I did so well and even with my wild eating since Christmas, IF brought my A1c down to 5.8, I think that is the way my body likes it. I believe that is the way I have to go. I also believe keeping the carbs reasonably low will help as well.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
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Trish, I think that IE is primarily for changing binge eating habits. Some may say that it's not for weight loss, because for many binge eaters, when you deny yourself certain foods it can give a feeling of being deprived and that can lead to a binge. But I feel that it can be used as a tool for weight loss, in which case you do need to limit certain foods. Some people on the other forum did not lose weight doing IE so they returned to Atkins, or whatever low carb plan they were using previously. They liked being able to eat what they wanted, but didn't get the loss they wanted. It's tricky. Everyone has to find their niche.
I "want" the healthy foods, too, Trish. I really don't feel deprived when I skip sweets and carbs. If I do eat them, it's usually just a taste, and I don't feel guilty, either.
My friend followed the nutrition information on the food she ate, and she went mostly by carbs. If the package said that 1/2 C of cottage cheese is a serving, she measures out that 1/2 C, then logs the carbs in that particular food. Sometimes she will have snacks in the evening, like pretzels. If the bag says 10 pretzels is a serving, then she counts out 10 and records the carbs in them. Rather than avoid the carby foods, she eat them, but counts the carbs, and has got herself down to around 50 gm of carb per day. One time she told me what she ate in a day and I tracked it, and it only came out to about 700-800 calories. That is low, but she is a very small person. I guess that's all her body needs.
She and I are different. I could not eat what she eats. I want warm food, and I want meat, and my eggs. She rarely eats eggs and her only meat is chicken occasionally. If I ate cereal for breakfast I would be hungry 2 hours later.
I bought some egg substitute from Walmart because they are so low in calorie. This morning I had green peppers and mushrooms in egg substitute. I will use them on my DD instead of having the regular eggs, which have 3 times more calories. I guess I am counting calories, too, but also keeping it low carb.
I am not posting on the other forums as much lately. I find that my thinking is not the same as theirs.
Carol Sue I think you are right about IE being more about changing habits to keep from binging. I don't usually have the desire to binge on anything. I seem to be able to handle just eating a serving of the foods I want although I may have a little more or less to fit into my calorie count.
I left the FB IE groups. I don't really see that they use it to lose weight and if losing weight is not part of the goal of eating intuitively then it isn't for me. To me, eating Intuitively is eating the foods I like from the foods that fit within my weight loss/diabetic plan. Even this book I'm reading which uses the term Mindfulness eating not Intuitive. Perhaps I'm working more toward Mindful eating rather than Intuitive. Mindful eating is more about waiting until you are hungry and then slowing down and enjoying what you eat allowing your stomach to send the message to your brain that you don't need any more food. She says we should think of food as fuel and as we learn to be in tune with our body signals, our body will tell us when it needs more fuel. I am more and more convinced that is why Dr. Fung and other doctor's and diets have had so much success with IF, JUDDD and others. I see more success with the different forms of IF, JUDDD and other plans like these than I do with IE. I even understand why CAD works when done correctly. I'm going to do my best to work my way back to eating that way.
I am going to take the Lipitor for one more week while changing my eating back to IF or JUDDD and see if the FBG comes back down. If it doesn't, I'm going to come off of the Lipitor. I remember reading that statins can cause the FBG to go up even cause diabetes. I have till September before I have bloodwork again and I know from past experience that the low carb diet will bring those numbers down to normal or close to normal by September. I will do whatever it takes.
Hi Friends: I had an up day yesterday because i felt the need after a couple of down days. I didn't want to slow my metabolism down too much. I had gotten to the point of not feeling hungry much though, so I was eating when I wasn't really hungry, during breaks at work, so I could get enough calories.
Was on a "medium" day today, ate lightly, but not really a DD.
I put some nanaimo bars in the freezer at work. At first it helped just to put them away in the fridge, but today they called to me whenever I was in the kitchen, and the cream and my cheese were in the fridge, so it was getting hard, and I put those nasty things away.
Some days its torture not to eat them.
Better since I came home. DH had a nice salad made, and he bought me a spaghetti squash and made a nice meat sauce for me to have with it.
Was really nice after a busy day.
He also had lunch with DD today. I have been a bit worried about her, but sometimes its hard to express that without being judgemental. He thinks she is doing ok. I am still not sure her diagnosis is right from her doctor. but for now, she is ok and I will just sit with that.
Carol Sue: I suspect that many married couples have real difficulty around food, and that may add to a lot of weight issues. I don't have any advice about that. I know my DH and I have worked about this a lot. Including our most recent sessions in marriage counselling. Its been 32 years, and I swear he has only cottoned onto things in the last few years, and he still didn't get it when I admitted to food addiction and secret eating, that I was revealing something huge. And him with drinking problems, didn't relate the two things. I mean really.
SO I can sympathize, but sometime you will both have to face eating differently and not always together, or you will may feel he is undermining you. I can hear the frustration in your words and hope you can find a solution that works for you and your relationship.
Trish, as always, best wishes for you and the issues with your Daddy. You will never regret what good care you are taking of him. I can hear the love in your words
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
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Trish, I didn't mean to discourage you with the IE. I was just saying that I can understand the people who say it is not for weight loss, but for retaining your eating habits. I used to say if I only ate when I was hungry I would not have a weight problem. It makes sense that a binge eater would be overweight and would have to lose, but I guess that's not always the case. I used to have problems with binge eating, but I think it was mild compared to those who sit and eat a gallon of ice cream AND a whole cake at one sitting. It was more like I could sit down to watch TV with a bag of chips and finish the whole bag without realizing it. There were also days when I would go from eating one thing to eating another thing, all day, and hunger had nothing to do with it. For a very long time, I didn't know what hunger felt like. I stayed thin through this, because I would do that one day, then eat nothing or very little for the next three days. Then maybe have another binge day. I was a mess. I did not have to hide my eating because no one else was there, but I did hide the fact that I had the binge days. I think dieting is what made me become that way. I think that's the idea of mindful eating, that people need to relearn how to fuel their bodies.
Mad, I don't know what those bars are. I will have to google them. Or am I better off not knowing? LOL
Today was a good eating day for DH and I. I cooked a steak for him, with mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn. I grilled some salmon for myself, and ate a bite or two of the potatoes. That worked out good for us.
I don't seem to recall you mentioned your DD's diagnosis. I know you told us she is getting a divorce. Is that correct or do I have you mixed up with someone else? I'm sorry.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
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Mad, I googled the Nanaimo bars and saw that they are a Canadian thing, so that's why I didn't know what they are. We have something similar we make called 7 Layer Bars or Magic Cookie Bars and the recipes vary a bit. DH doesn't eat much chocolate so I only make them for parties where other people are coming...those who like that kind of stuff. DH prefers things like sugar cookies, or oatmeal cookies. Ha Ha When I first met him I wanted to make oatmeal cookies for him. I put them in the oven and set the timer, but when they were done I thought they looked a little raw, so I left them in for another few minutes. Big Mistake! If you are familiar with making oatmeal cookies, you take them out when they still look a little raw, and a couple minutes sitting on the baking sheet and they finish baking. Then you remove them to the cooling rack. Mine turned out so hard that DH tried dunking them in his coffee and he still couldn't bite into them. I learned my lesson!
Hi. Hope you dont mind if I hang out a bit. I am not Diabetic but Hypoglycemic. My levels actually go up and down, more down then up. Its hard to find people who truly understand needing to control what you eat to control your levels. I personally have a small window of where I feel best (95-105) anything higher or lower then that just throws me off. Before I was diagnosed I had no idea what was really going on until the Dr told me and she gave me info on how to eat and what to eat. I had to modify it some cuz I just couldnt eat that much. I have found that eating more protein works best for me. Since then I have moved to NC and completely lost control. I went from 121lbs to 180. It isnt much to some people but to me its is, I also have been diagnosed with Fybromyalga. Im not sure I agree with that all I know is I hurt all the time along with some other health issues that do not allow me to work. Drs are always on me to excersize but I have a hard time just walking and house work at times. When I over do it I am down and out for a few days recouping. Shoot we have a riding lawn mower and I did the lawn last week & just driving it in circles made me hurt.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
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Height: 5'2
I thought I posted this but I don't see it. Here's some info about "eat to your meter." I rarely check after meals. I pretty much know what foods spike me and which ones don't. I tend to check before I eat to see if I need my glimiperide. If my BS is not high and I take it, then I have to eat carbs to keep from getting a hypo. If I know I'm going to eat carbs, then I take it, but if I don't take it, I am more likely to turn down any carbs that come my way. That's a good thing for me. It's from UK so those in the US will need the conversion chart.
Morning everyone
Carol you don't want to know what Nanaimo bars are,,,chocolately, creamy goodness! -and Mad I love them frozen!!! Oooo
Loving the discussions going on about eating,,,,it truly is not a one plan fits all. I've tried to fast and not eat till hungry but since ive noticed I'm starving at night and could eat all night long....nope not going to do that. Even eating low carb it still has calories and easily poundage appears. So back to tweaking to what works for me. Even if I'm not truly hungry I'll eat lunch ( which I was waiting till later and having a snack) and I'm eating a little snack twice a day. Not starving at night!!! By little snacks it's the 100 calorie pkgs of almonds, or 2 cheese sticks...that sort of snack.
I feel like I'm eating all the time and nervous to step on scale in mornings but it's working....
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,427
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Height: 5'2
That's good that it's working for you p.a. That's what we look for. I did google the Nanaimo bars. They do look good. They might be found in some parts of the US but not in my area.
Hi Tymaboy. Welcome to the thread. It's interesting that you are hypoglycemic. I had a friend at work who had that diagnosis. She had to be careful always to eat other food when she had sweets, as the sweets alone would raise, and then drop her blood sugar too low. Do you test your blood sugar?
I'm sorry to hear you've had the increase in weight. Do you have any idea why that happened? Was it caused by a medical issue? Sometimes it can be. Either way, you know what you need to do to get it back off.
How were you diagnosed with the fibromyalgia? What type of work did you do before you became disabled? I am not sure I know what fibromyalgia is. I get a lot of pain, but I always think it's because I'm old and fat. LOL Sometimes I go through periods when I have no pain and feel great. Right now isn't one of those times. I don't know if it's something I'm eating or doing that brings it on. Nothing that I can pinpoint. I don't want to go to the doctor's about it because one test just leads to another. I have a lot of medical problems too, so I get enough tests.
Jump right into the discussions, or start one of your own!
Wannabehealthy yes I do check my levels. I dont check them as I should cuz strips are not cheap but I did see on FB of a new meter Dario that uses your IPhone or for me IPad. I like it better the the normal meters cuz I can customize it more and put in a range that is too high/low and if its before after a meal and other stuff that I havent really done yet.
When I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia I lived in IA. I dont really care for the Drs in IA. I complained for years about the pain but no one listened till one day I went to acute care and complained to the right Dr. He slapped fibromyalgia on my pain cuz the pain is my neck, shoulder, hip, sometimes Knee and elbow. Im not sure if thats really it cuz my pain is on the right side not both. Since coming to NC Ive seen a couple different Dr and depending on the Dr depends on if it is or not.
I am lucky that I am now married to my Hubby for is ok with me not working. My ex just saw the $$ so when everything started he was not supportive. I wont go into him, we get along much better now then we did then. When I was with ex I had a few different jobs the latest was doing a home daycare till economy started getting bad so I lost kids, about that time IBM was going in downtown. I got a job working there which is where I met my current hubby. After IBM I worked a couple hours at Dunkin Donuts then a temp job on my feet after that. Thats when I decided working just wasnt going to work for me and applied for SSD. 3 years later Im still in the process but I think the end is near. My hearing was in March so just waiting for the approvel letter.
Just a question for everyone here. Does anyone else here have a service dog that detects when things are getting ready to go haywire?
tymaboy Welcome. So glad you are learning to get your hypoglycemia under control now. When I was young, they thought if you had hypoglycemia that you would never be diabetic, but it didn't work out that way. My deceased MIL worked in hospitals and for doctors and one day she said to me, "At least you will never have to worry about being diabetic". Since she died, they have learned that hypoglycemia can be a precursor to diabetes. I'm sorry about the fibromyalgia. I don't know much about it. I've heard that a lot of docs don't even believe it is real. I hope you find a way to be free of the pain.
Carol Sue Thanks for sharing the websites on "eat to your meter". My FBS this morning was 127 so I decided not to eat until it went down some more. Around 12:30 it was 110 and I was able to see how I was feeling so I could learn to recognize the feelings of the lowering bs. Since DH and I were going out to eat after going to pick up meds for Daddy, I ate a cm low carb breakfast. I was beginning to experience the same feelings again when I got ready to eat around 3ish, but didn't have a way to check how bs. I hope to be able to start doing that Sunday.
p.a. I think you have a really good plan that is working for you and I see that you are always tweaking which I believe is what makes things work for you.
fatmad I hope things are going well for you today.
Until I can get better organized with things, I am mostly doing IF. I got busy and actually forgot the time so didn't eat breakfast until after noon. Yesterday I did a 9 hr eating window, but today I did 8 hr. I will have lunch with DD and DS in the morning which will probably be a burger. DS and I may share one because we never eat a whole burger any way. We have the birthday party Saturday that was postponed due to bad weather last week.
I will continue IF and just may give JUDDD a try to see how it works for me. If it doesn't work for me then I will continue counting calories using MFP. But IF is definitely the best way for me to go regardless of what I do. Whatever I decide to do, I will be using the info I read on the website Carol Sue shared on using the meter to learn which foods raise my glucose readings.
We got the result of the specimen test the nurse took in to the primary yesterday and Daddy still has he UTI. I picked up the antibiotic for him and he started it this afternoon. They plan for him to take it for 3 days and they said when they get the results of the culture tests, they will probably change to different antibiotic. I just think he wasn't on the other one long enough. We have hope.
Hi friends, my DD went well, but yesterday turned into another up day.
Wondering about what you are doing with "planned" meals. DH and I decided to go out for supper last night, as our daughters had given us a gift certificate at Christmas. We had to go to town for something else anyhow, so it worked out well. BUT, after making the reservation for 530, I had to plan eating for the day. I had my smoothie about 10 am, then realized at about 1230 that if I didn't have lunch then, I wouldn't be hungry for supper, so I kind of "forced" myself to have my lunch. I didn't eat it all, because I wasn't so hungry after my smoothie.
It all worked out, even with a glass of wine (no insomnia or pain afterward) and a shared dessert, still at ticker today. Will have a down day and stick to plan carefully today.
Carol Sue: I have two daughters, the older one is getting divorced. She is otherwise doing very well, and I have no real worries about her. The younger one has had some issues over the years and we have come to realize she has mental health problems. As you may know (or not) I struggle with depression at times. She has depression but also a lot of anxiety, to the point she is diagnosed with a "disability" for this reason, at university. I am not sure if thats the right diagnosis, I think she may be bi-polar. I have wondered about this for myself from time to time. And its important in that the medications needed are different, and treatment may vary, and of course, I adore her and want whats best for her. I think she may currently be in a manic or hypo-manic state, and thats why I worry. I would like her to see her doctor while she is like this so that her doc might clue in. I am struggling about messaging her doctor to see her about it.
