[Wannabehealthy]

Yay! The house is sold. I don't remember....where are you going to live now?

I read online of some other ways to lower cholestrol other than statins, some drug free, so I could always try them. Actually, low carb is know to help, so if I could stay on this plan like I want to, I might be OK. I have heard that statins have other health properties, so I don't mind taking them if they aren't the source of my pain. I have taken them since 2008 or maybe before, but the pain only started recently, so maybe, maybe not.

I heard from my friend in FL. She is safe. Her home is intact and she has power, but her daughter lost power, but they are safe, and that's the most important thing. Thank God. I didn't want her to have to start over at 72. My heart does break for the others who have lost so much. Nature can be hard to accept sometimes.

[pattygirl63]

Quick flyby. fatmad What is problems with statins and bleeding? Is there a problem with Xeralto combined with statins. DH is on both. Thanks. Glad your house sold.

BBL

[pattygirl63]

Carol Sue So glad your FL friend is fine and her home in tact. That storm was terrible. We finally heard from all our family and friends and they are all fine. All of those in FL lost power. One family member lost a few trees, but no damaged homes. Having family and friends in both Harvey and Irma hurricanes we feel blessed that none of them were harmed in any way.

Things went well at the eye doctor's appointment. Eye healing nicely. We go back October 31 for check up and then we start talking about surgery on left eye. Hopefully we can do that in November and have it finished this year.

DH is taking berberine and for the first time his FBS was 109 today. He had a hypoglycemic episode at the doctor's office and I was giving him a sugar pill as doc came in. We told him what was going on and some how he missed the fact that DH was a diabetic. He seemed pretty upset that he had missed that as they treat the eye a little differently for diabetics. He gave him an added eye drop to use besides the ones he already has and changed the way the treatment from the original instructions. We put on the records we are diabetics because we talked to his Dad about it when he examined our eyes at our original appointment. Some how the son didn't get the info or missed it. I could tell he was really upset with himself for missing it. So it was a blessing that hubby had that experience while there.

I am wiped out. I seem to tire so easy. DBIL is going with DD and DS for the sleep apnea consultation so I'm staying home. When I found out he is taking off to go with us, I told DS there was no reason for all 3 of us to go with him. I'm going to try to sleep in. I want to cook fish for tomorrow. Too many early mornings lately. LOL Like DS says us older folks don't like getting up so early now that we don't have to.

Nephrologist we saw today said that DD kidney function has improved since he saw him a year ago. He said that they had always functioned at 40% and was now at 50% so the Lasix isn't hurting him and he could take more without any problems if he needs to. He is doing fine at present dosage, but I'm CHF will like hearing that when we see them Thursday.

I haven't done too well today with eating. Didn't do well with tracking today. I know that is bad. I was just so exhausted today that I really didn't care. I hope to have a better attitude tomorrow. I haven't gone wild with eating; I just didn't make good choices.

My weight was back down to 213.2 this morning so the gain is coming down. I'm trying not to eat anything tonight. Tomorrow I will start taking only the berberine and leave off the Garcinia. I read some more about it and I do like the benefits. In fact, I noticed it has a lot of the same benefits that Metformin has and more so I think it is a really healthy addition to what I take. Plus I can't tell that the Garcinia is doing anything. I'm sure it does help some, but I doesn't seem to help me.

I'm going to crash for now and catch y'all tomorrow. Good night.

[fatmad]

Its the effect on the liver that makes me concerned that statins might affect my father's bleeding disorder, since we have never figured out much about the disorder, but he was on a statin at the time he had his bad bleed, and his liver function tests were abnormal at that time, so we took him off it, and never went back.
Carol Sue, I think you should discuss the muscle pain with your doctor. If you and he feel that the statins may be helpful, a change of medication might be all you need to make it better. How were your blood sugars when you were off the statin? just curious. How bad were your cholesterol numbers (not the actual values, but the over all picture, high enough to put you at risk etc, and /or you have many other risk factors for heart disease?, like being over weight like we are here... family history, etc..)
Trish, I am wondering what is making you so tired. This seems newish...... what else is going on? hope you can find something that helps.
getting some work done on the house today, flooring being put in a bedroom where we ripped out carpet. That and a bit of trim being painted, and we are down to just keeping up with things. We will go over our unit carefully when we return from our holiday and decide about any changes we want made. (We plan to install air conditioning, which should be cheaper in the fall) and maybe do some kitchen renovations to the cupboards etc.
We are moving to Waterloo, a largish city about 30 minutes from here. Our daughter is in university there, and we lived there for most of the last 40 years, except the last 10, and 6 years in another city when our older daughter was little. So its more like home to us.

[Wannabehealthy]

Mad, do you already have a house you are moving back to, or are you going to find one there? It always sounds as if you have more than one house. It will be good to be nearer your daughter and back to a place where you feel more comfortable.

Trish, I'm surprised that the doctor didn't ask in the beginning if DH was diabetic. He should have known that, without you having to volunteer the information. Maybe DH is on too many diabetes meds if he is starting to have hypos. Or maybe it was hypo symptoms and not real hypo. The Berberine seems to be very effective.

I am going to try to get back on plan better today. DH bought those pretzels again that I love. I have to learn to pass them by. He also baked an apple pie with the apples we got from step-son's tree. I had to try it, but just had a little sliver. It was very good, but I'm not a big sugar eater and I can stay away from the rest of that. It's the starchy things that do me in.

I am starting to be able to fall back to sleep now instead of getting up so early. It feels too cold to get up so I just snuggle in and fall back to sleep. I feel so much better when I sleep late, but it makes the day seem so much shorter.

[pattygirl63]

fatmad I think the fact that I slept the past few days but with concern for loved ones in the path of FL hurricane as well as the TX one, I don't think I slept very good. I slept, but not well. Then DH having eye surgery as well as all the responsibilities with DD this week, I think were probably more stressful than I realize. I have always pushed myself to do what I had to do and now it seems like it isn't as easy as when I was younger. Adrenaline doesn't kick in like it used to. I slept in my chair for the longest last night which I don't like to do before I went to bed and didn't get up until almost 10 am. Like Carol Sue said, when I do that it makes my day so short. I feel like I lost my morning.

I also grab fast food when I'm that busy and I probably need to drink more water. I am going to try to do that today plus I need to add some lemon to it. This is how I felt before the colonoscopy and bout in the hospital. My DS has been asking me for a week if I feel alright. So I am thankful for the day to really rest. I'm having to learn to slow down when I need to. Also, I've been taking Ibuprofin lately because it is there instead of Tylenol. Niece told me I wasn't supposed to take it with Lisinopril so maybe I need to stop that. I need look up why not to take them together.

I hope you will get rejuvenated on your trip so you will be refreshed for your move. Does you DD live closer to you when you move to Waterloo?

Carol Sue The doc was surprised he didn't know that either. DH and I wondered if maybe when DH records were transcribed maybe they didn't put it on there. I could tell the doc was really upset about the whole thing. On the instructions we brought home for preparation, it stated not to take the diabetic meds the day of surgery and they would check it before surgery. I know we talked about it with the technician when she called us, so somehow, he just missed it. Not sure why and he didn't understand why either. I learned years ago that is why you always pray before you see a doctor about a problem for the Lord to be in charge. They are just too busy and it is easy to miss something. I just don't want it to be us.

I have been pigging out on the pretzels the past few nights so last night I put the rest of it down the garbage disposal. I decided this was the only way to stop eating them. I am back OP this morning. I did eat cereal for breakfast. I had a large breakfast as for as pts go. I'll have a moderate lunch and I am going to eat breakfast (eggs/eggbeaters, bacon etc) for dinner because it is less calories/pts. and make that my last meal of the day. I read up on taking the berberine and it is similar to taking Metformin. They say if you take it 20 to 30 minutes before meals you will have little to no problems with it also you can take 2, 3 or 4 a day of 500 mg each. Mine are 450 mg. I have decided to take 4 a day to jump start. 3 with meals and 1 at bedtime since I've read that is how many take their Metformin. I can always cut it back to 3 if need be.

I didn't eat until 11:30 so I am going to do my best to do a IF 8/16 day. I think I need to stop eating at night. I got in the habit of not eating at night because I didn't eat anything after dinner in the hospital. I know I felt so much better when I continued doing that when I came home. I think perhaps even though I'm sleeping at night that my body is still having to do digest that food that is still in my stomach. Strange thing is I used to try to see how little food I could get by with eating each day, now I feel like I'm trying to see how much I can get by with eating. Not sure where that came from. I need to get back to that eating less attitude again. It's like I'm in a rebelling stage that I need to out of here.

I hear my DS telling people about me "she is the oldest and she gets around better than the rest of us". I like that, but I want to be an example to them so I'm going to have to get busy and do it.

Sorry this is so long. Hope we all have a good OP day.

[Wannabehealthy]

Trish, one thing I noticed about you is you are always busy and always taking care of everyone. I think keeping busy is what keeps you moving. Remember that one commercial that said "A body in motion stays in motion." I think you are doing very well with this.

This morning I woke up around 5 to go to the bathroom and let the dog out like I usually do. At that time, I took 2 Tylenol Arthritis pills and went back to bed. I was able to fall back to sleep and slept very well until 9 AM. And when I got up, I felt great! I think going back to bed let those pills take effect. I have had no leg pain all day and very little hand pain. My fingers are still a little stiff. Around 3 PM I realized I forgot to take my morning BP pills, so I took them right away and we went off to Walmart. Then I started getting light headed. When we got home, I googled both of those meds and they are both known to cause light headedness. I have decided I am no longer going to take them together. I will take one when I get up and the other with lunch. I have another BP med I take at bedtime because it tends to make me drowsy. I know if I would lose some more weight I could probably get rid of some or all of these BP meds. At least I feel that I know what causes the light headedness. These meds also protect the kidneys, so I don't want to switch to something else if I can help it. I like having the extra help with kidneys, due to the diabetes.

Trish, I was reading about the lisinopril and ibprofen because DH takes both, too. It said it could cause kidney damage. I know DH will not stop taking his Ibprofen. I should try to get him to take the Tylenol Arthritis because all it is is a stronger strength of Tylenol, and it seems to work well for me when the Extra Strength Tylenol did not. The best thing would be if we never had to take these pain relievers at all.

[pattygirl63]

Carol Sue I read that about combining the Lisinopril with Ibuprofin. So I won't be taking it any more. I have no problem taking the Lisinopril since it protects our kidneys. I don't know if DH will stop taking it or not either. He is stubborn too. Being a man I think. LOL I went back to taking Tylenol last night. It seems to help me sleep and wake without pain. I notice if I don't take it at bedtime I wake up with pain. I rarely take any other than bedtime so I don't think it will hurt me.

I actually woke up this morning ready to get up. I really needed yesterday and last night. Who knows, maybe something was brewing and the rest helped ward it off. Plus the berberine may have done something. I actually woke feeling alert. A busy day, but that is okay. I do believe it is better for me to be busy. It gives me purpose. I have come to the place in my life where I want to lose weight and be healthy because I want to feel good and have the energy to do the things I want to do and I believe it is possible to do just that even at my age. I just have to do it.

My weight is fluctuating again and I felt bloated all evening and still feel that way this morning. I went back to my eggbeaters for breakfast. Having an egg bacon sandwich with a cup of coffee. Although I believe I can eat some starchy carbs, I think I have to be picky with it.

My BIL had his and my DS picture on FB for their 33 Anniversary. I haven't seen them since December as they live in Mississippi. They have been on a low fat diet the doctor put her on a few years ago and they look great. I need to start cooking like they do. She uses Splenda to cook their treats and say her family doesn't know the difference. DH loves his sweets. I bought 2 Splenda cookbooks for her and me and they use them. I've never cooked one thing out of it. However, I do plan to do some baking with it when things cool down. I just don't like heating the house with oven during our hottest time of the year. I have to say they have made it work for them, but then it is easy when your whole family is doing it with you.

Our beautician asked DS and me to come today instead of tomorrow so she can go to OK to see her DH at his job there. So I am going to town to get my hair done and come back home and then go back over for DD CHF appointment. I couldn't think of anything I could d0 for 3 hrs until the meeting so a lot of driving today. Don't like driving that much since gasoline is so high right now. Oh well. That is life. At least I have no excuse for getting off plan. I can come home and have a WW dinner before going back.

Have a good day.

[Wannabehealthy]

I have no pain again today. I don't know what's going on, unless it really is the Tylenol Arthritis. I took it again when I woke up last night, even though I did not have pain. Tonight I will go according to my pain. No pain, no meds.

That's good that your DS and her DH lost weight on low fat. They say low fat is wrong, but I think it depends on the person. We are all different and should not be afraid to do what works for us. I don't use low fat products except for milk. I also don't add fat to my foods intentionally. But my fat still calculates to moderate. I blot my sausage and burgers, but that's because I don't like them greasy. No matter how hard I've tried to like bacon, I just don't like it, so I've given it up. I am also getting tired of sausage. But that's just me. I think I am going to go back to tracking on Fitday, to see where my calories and macros stand. I wish I could do it continuously, but I tend to slack off. My friend who lost weight writes down every morsel she puts in her mouth, and the macros for each. She is very regimented. Maybe that's what it takes. I try to learn from successful people.

One thing I like about where we live is that everything is withing 5 miles of our house. DH has a tendency to make too many trips out and I try to get him to make 1 trip and go all the places we need to go at one time. Within 5 miles, we have 2 full service supermarkets, Aldis, Walmart, Target, Kohls, Kmart, Great Clips, Home Depot, Busy Beaver, Goodwill, and all the restaurants you could possibly want because we are at the turnpike interchange. The only restaurant that is far is Texas Roadhouse, and we only go there a few times a year.

The only thing I don't like is we are only a half mile from the highway and everywhere we go, you have to get out on the highway. I don't like driving on the highway, but if I have to, I have to.

I'm going to go try to get some things done now that I feel so much better.

[Wannabehealthy]

Just out of curiosity I tracked my food so far today.

2 eggs fried in butter
cooked cabbage, kale and onion about 1 C total
2 tbs butter to saute the onions
a sprinkling of Feta Cheese on top


This came to 537 calories, 49 gms of fat, 16 gm of carb (vegetable) and 20 gm of protein.

Fat was 76%
Carbs 11%
Protein 14%

So my fat is high, but it's questionable whether it's actually bad. Most low carb comes along with high fat and it is no longer considered bad by some. I could stop using the butter to saute the onions, but they say that fat keeps your feeling full longer. So at this point, I'm not going to change anything. I added on the steak, carrots and salad I'm planning on having for dinner and the fat% came down to 64%, the protein went up to 30% and carbs are 23 gm for 7%, and it's all vegetable carbs. I am satisfied with that, and it comes in around 1200 calories. As long as I don't add any snacks I will be 100 % on plan.

[pattygirl63]

Quick flyby for now. Headed out again to meet DD and DS at Whataburger. Just have to work pts around that. I think working pts is harder than working calories, but I'm in this and will keep doing what I'm doing. It more for portion control and I haven't done really well this week. I am through with appointments for a couple of weeks so now I need to work at getting on track. I know I can do better. Other people do so I know I can to. I just need to get with myself organized.

I had fruit this morning to calm a growling tummy and will have a hamburger. I've been hungry for a Whataburger for weeks and haven't had one because DH likes McDs which I don't like. So maybe this will help settle that craving. They are just a block apart so I think from now on I will go get what I like and then go to McDs and get his. I think eating what I don't like just sets me up to fail.

[pattygirl63]

Quick flyby for now. Headed out again to meet DD and DS at Whataburger. Just have to work pts around that. I think working pts is harder than working calories, but I'm in this and will keep doing what I'm doing. It more for portion control and I haven't done really well this week. I am through with appointments for a couple of weeks so now I need to work at getting on track. I know I can do better. Other people do so I know I can to. I just need to get with myself organized.

I had fruit this morning to calm a growling tummy and will have a hamburger. I've been hungry for a Whataburger for weeks and haven't had one because DH likes McDs which I don't like. So maybe this will help settle that craving. They are just a block apart so I think from now on I will go get what I like and then go to McDs and get his. I think eating what I don't like just sets me up to fail.

I won't eat the who Whataburger. I will get the Jr. and cut it in half and half one half and eat only 3/4 of it. It will be brunch so I can make the pts work for today.

Carol Sue Hope you are still pain free today.

BBL

[Wannabehealthy]

My pain level is pretty good today. A bit of pain in my foot, but I've found that if I wear my good sneakers they fit firmly on my foot and really help with pain. Around home I usually just wear my soft slip ons, and many times even wear them to the store. They don't give my foot the support it needs. I love slip ons but they are not the best for my feet.

Our dinner was terrible last night. These steaks I bought were tough. It might have been the way I cooked them, or maybe I should have pounded them or marinated them. I have another package, but I will just cook them for myself because I tolerated them, but DH didn't like his at all. I didn't have any potatoes so I made instant, which I keep on hand for emergencies. DH doesn't like them either. But it saves us a lot of money eating at home rather than going out. And our vegetable was corn, which is starchy.

I have become very picky about hamburgers. I rarely eat them anymore unless DH gets one and give me a piece of his. He prefers Wendy's, but McDonald's is closer and cheaper. They have a really good hamburger at the casino, and also at a restaurant we go to once in a while. Usually if it's Angus Beef I like it.

I don't know if we are going to the casino today or not, but if we do, we will be eating at the buffet.

[Wannabehealthy]

I found this on an old post in 3FC and thought with Thanksgiving coming up soon, it's appropriate.


My journey actually began the day after christmas. And it was sparked by an older gentleman in Publix of all places. I noticed the man weigh in on the scale before shopping, and then with a 20lb turkey in tow weigh again on his way out. I jokingly asked him if he was checking to ensure his turkey was really 20lbs and this is what he said : "young lady, do you see the size of this turkey? This turkey weighs 20lbs, look at how large it is, feel how heavy 20lbs really is. He said this is my goal, in my body i have a large turkey stuffed in here dying to get out. Can you imagine if you could remove this much mass from your body how much better you will look and feel?" It hit me like a ton of bricks, he was right and the visual of that turkey flipped a switch in my head bc he was soo right. So if anyone needs some motivation i suggest going and checking out the whole turkeys and imagine what it might be like to have that large mass gone.

Let's all make a goal to "lose a turkey" by Thanksgiving.

[pattygirl63]

My weight was up for this week. I've decided to go back to MFP calorie counting. WW SP is just too vague. My first thought is that I wasted $39, but I would rather think of it as learning what works better for me. MFP spoils me by having all my foods on it and I just am not up to doing putting all the info in on WW to get the number of points. Plus I like being able to make my plan for the day and then print it out. MFP fits me better.

I will continue eating healthy but count calories instead.

Have nice day.