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I am eating my breakfast now. I cooked what the package said was 1 serving of the steel cut oats, but it looks like twice as much as they were giving me in the hospital. I will try to make 1/2 serving from now on. The steel cut oats are a little chewier than regular, but I like it and will get used to it. I've heard steel cut is nutritionally better. I don't know. I also made 2 scrambled eggs with some sauteed mushrooms and kale mixed in. One egg would have been enough since I'm also having the oatmeal. I will also eat some fruit since they included that at the hospital too, either some pear slices or mandarin oranges. I started buying them in the little packages since real oranges get dried out before we can eat them all. And I will have a cup of milk. That sounds like so much food, much more than I'm used to now, but we'll see how it goes. I will try to make everything I eat contain some nutrition. No empty calories.
The steel cut oats says it has 27 gm of carb and 4 gm of fiber. So a half portion will have 13 carbs and 2 fiber. I'm surprised that's all the fiber it has. I think Fiber One Cereal has more than that. After I finish these steel cut oats I will consider switching, or maybe alternating day to day.
In the hospital they were probably giving me egg beaters since it was to be a heart healthy diet. I don't remember how they tasted. Egg beaters are just egg whites, but I think there are desirable nutrients in the yolk, so I will continue using whole eggs.
Our temperatures cooled down for the rest of the week, too. It hasn't felt much like fall so far. I can wait for winter, though!!
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
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I just checked online for the Fiber One Cereal. A serving is 1/2 C. It contains 25 gm of carb and 14 gm of fiber, which is a big difference from the steel cut oats. The steel cut oats is a lot more volume. 1/4 cup of dry oats makes about a cup cooked, compared to the 1/2 C of Fiber One. I am also considering sprinkling some Fiber One cereal into my oatmeal for extra fiber, which I often do when I eat Special K Cereal. Special K is my favorite, but it is low in fiber.
I'm sitting here with a car on the charger. Not going any where in that car today. Will have to go get a battery later when DH gets up. Sister is picking up Daddy and they will either come get me and we will go to Whataburger on this side of town which is a lot of driving for her or they will go by Whataburger and get breakfast on their way over and we will eat here.
Carol Sue I always cook 1/2 serving of the oatmeal. I cook mine in the microwave and it puffs up a lot more than when cooked on stove top. It is just too much for me. I can only eat 1 egg when I eat oatmeal. Strange but I think of oatmeal as 1 meal and eggs as another. So it is hard for me to think of eggs and oatmeal as a meal together. LOL Funny what we get used to. The oatmeal which is better for our bs just takes the place of the toast which is protects our hearts better. I do like oatmeal when the weather gets colder.
I still find it strange the things we can have which they say is more fiber when you don't see much fiber listed on the label. Popcorn is one of the things stressed to eat for more fiber, but if you read the label it doesn't have much. One of those confusing things I've never understood. I agree Fiber One does have a lot of fiber in it. I think it has the highest fiber of any cereal. I love the texture, but get tired of eating it too quickly. I used to mix it with other cereal that I liked too.
Well, I need to pick up around here as I'm sure Daddy might rather come visit here for breakfast this morning instead of going out. We have a good start on our day of eating. I'm going to do my best to get back to eating 2 meals and a little snack each day if I even need the snack. I think I do better with that.
We ended up going to Whataburger and got there in time for lunch instead of breakfast. I got a Garden salad with grilled chicken and added Croutons with it and used only 10 g of fiber. I have my food plan for today and on MFP and will have only 68 g of carbs that are starchy carbs. Yippee!!!!
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That breakfast was just too much food for me. They gave me that breakfast every day in the hospital, and I forgot to mention that it also included a piece of toast. But it was just a few bites of oatmeal and a few bites of egg, not as much as I made this morning. And the fruit was usually 2 slices of pear or 1/2 banana. I am still not hungry, but I'm eating a bowl of the vegetable soup I made yesterday, because DH went to pick up a pizza and I don't want to be tempted to eat some of that. I feel so full! Ha Ha I don't think I could ever eat just oatmeal without the egg because the protein and fat in the egg is supposed to slow the absorption of the carbs in the oatmeal. The visiting nurses that came here for me always told me to eat some protein at every meal, so I try to do that. In fact, I think you are supposed to eat the protein first. If you start with the carbs, it starts to digest right away.
It seems that every day I have to go somewhere and I am not getting a chance to rest this foot. Today while we were on the way home from the store DH asked me when I'm going to start using my treadmill. I wanted to smack him! He can see that I'm hobbling around! I don't know what he did without me when I was in the hospital for 13 days. Maybe I should stay in my nightgown all day and he won't make me go anywhere.
Carol Sue I never heard anyone say we should eat the protein first, but it makes sense. I usually eat all my food together except the fruit. I usually eat my oatmeal with yogurt in it hoping that is enough protein in the yogurt. I will try scrambling an egg with it next time.
I've done fairly well today especially calorie wise. I've stayed within all the percentages of total carb, protein, fat and fiber etc. However, I'm sure I went a little over the starchy carb count of 75. I didn't want what I had planned as it would have been too heavy so I ate lighter. I do have to say that I am full and more than satisfied, but not stuffed. My calories were still under 1500 and MFP showed that if I ate this way for 5 weeks my weight would be down to 205. Of course, I never put much stock in that.
I don't know what my Daddy eats. He says he hasn't eat anything after we ate out today. He said his bp has been up all day. This is when we think he needs to be in assisted living, but he gets upset when we bring it up. I honestly think that it goes up and then he panics and causes it to go up even more. My sister just called and his bp is back down. Just can't seem to get him to see how important it is for him to count the grams of sodium that he eats per day.
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Trish, it's possible that assisted living would be best for your DD. Does he understand that assisted living is not a nursing home? Usually people are free to come and go, but just not completely alone. I know the final decision is his, but I think you should keep it in the conversation and maybe he will come around. I just think it would be safer for him to have someone there to be aware of what he's doing. I know it's hard to give up your independence.
I think eating yogurt with your oatmeal satisfies having protein with it and you would not have to include the egg. I am holding off on the oatmeal for a while. Yesterday my blood sugar went up high and it took a very long time to get it to come down. After a few days of lower carb I will try it again and see what happens.
Last night when I went to bed my blood sugar was 143. I got up around 5 to go to the bathroom and it was 154. I went back to bed and when I got back up at 9 it was 125. That is very unusual for me. Mine usually continues going up for a while. It might be because I did not have a normal dinner last night, but just a small bowl of soup and a hard cooked egg. I'm going to try to continue the small meal for the evening meal.
I think MFP is giving you a general statement about weight loss, but it would vary for each individual. I usually can lose if I stay under 1500 calories per day, but I don't know how good I am at figuring my portions. I tend to eye-ball, not measure. If you are losing, then that's a good number for you.
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Here is an article someone posted on a LC forum. Many people on that forum insist that Zero Carb or <20 gm per day is the only way to go, but others are not as strict. I found this artlcle and the carb chart very interested.
The right hand column in the chart lists different situations when each carb level would be appropriate, and it does differentiate between extreme blood sugar problems and just blood sugar control. The number of carbs is higher than we are accustomed to seeing.
Carol Sue Thanks for sharing the article. I made copies for my sister and myself. The article agrees with the 50 - 75 grams of carbs for diabetics which I assume is starchy carbs as the Moderate low carb I am following from the dummies book. However, according to this article this is Low Carb rather than VLC or MLC and it is for weight loss as well as for diabetes and digestive problems. I appreciated reading this.
This morning my FBS was 179, but as normal for me my weight was down 1.8 pts plus I ate more than the 75 starchy carbs yesterday. I will do better today. Just keep doing what I'm learning and the weight will come off.
I mixed 1/4 c Greek yogurt, 1/2 serving oatmeal, 1/2 banana and a little less than1/2 c frozen blueberries and mixed 1 egg, 1/4 avocado, 2 slices of bacon for breakfast. 14 g of starchy carb = 1 serving. I had 2 c coffee with 1 T half & half. I followed the rule you said they told you to eat the protein 1st. Hopefully with the egg and yogurt I had enough protein. I could not eat all of the oatmeal. I was totally satisfied.
I got an article from the diabetic site I joined. I will post the website to it when I finish this one.
We are going to our favorite steak restaurant after we go to Daddy's and to Sam's club. I will have a salad and steak and a sweet potato with cinnamon butter and drink lemon water. Since I can have a 1 oz bag of chips for 1 carb serving, I will eat a snack tonight of chips and dip which will be 2 T regular Ranch dressing. That is my treat for the day as I would rather have that than something sweet. I can have a couple of slices of Canadian bacon for protein.
I am so excited. I've needed new jeans for so long. My sister said one day "You have lost a lot of weight, but your jeans are so big no one can tell it". Yesterday I got the 3 pair I ordered last week. They were to long and a little big when I tried them on yesterday, but I know jeans shrink when you wash them the first time so I washed them last night. I measured the inseam to see how much to take off of them. They fit perfectly. I've got one pair on now and it feels so good. I was afraid to go to low in size, so I got one size smaller than what I was wearing. Down to a size 22 WP and they have pockets. I had forgotten to check to see if they had them when I bought them. The last pair I had didn't and I was so disappointed. This really makes me feel like I have accomplished something.
I think exercise will be walking today. I didn't think we needed to go to Walmart today, but DH may want to go by there after all since he needs some more of his soda. I also need some more coffee, but I could go to Walmart tomorrow after or before I go eat breakfast with Daddy and Sister.
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Trish, I read and bookmarked that article. The only thing I disagree with is eating breakfast first thing if not hungry. I have broken that habit, and just can't eat first thing anymore, and I don't want to change. By waiting a while, I am usually able to eliminate lunch and feel that I'm eating less food that way. Today I did make a salad for lunch, from some hearts of romaine that were going to go bad if I didn't eat them soon. Romaine has more nutrition than iceberg lettuce. I cut it down the middle leaving the root intact, then spray it and my grill pan with olive oil spray and grill it cut side down to get some grill marks on it. Then I remove the root and chop up the leaves and mix with some dressing. The recipe I got this from showed bacon bits and blue cheese dressing but I don't use the bacon bits and I used Ranch Cucumber dressing.
I have lasagna in the oven, and hope to be conservative in my serving.
I have to wear elastic waist jeans since my waist is so big. I also like pockets, and back pockets are a bonus! I got some in Walmart that had both front and back pockets. Good for you for fitting in a smaller size! I have some smaller jeans that I outgrew right after buying them so when I lose enough to fit in them they will feel new to me.
Carol Sue I didn't agree with the eating breakfast 1st thing in the morning either. Just isn't me. Plus I only want to eat only 2 meals a day.
I went over my carb limit by 4 pts today. I'm glad I decided to do my 30 minutes on the bike besides the walking at Sam's. Interesting thing is that my sodium was really really low... less than 1000 mg.
We didn't go to Walmart as I decided to go there tomorrow either before or after I go meet Daddy and Sister. I will get some walking done then besides riding my bike for 30 minutes. I'm hoping to get 5 days done this week. I read we should do 150 minutes of exercise a day and hope to make those minutes on the bike.
Daddy was back to normal today. He is just having to learn what he can and cannot do. He had made himself some fudge and ate the whole thing. I'm not sure what he was talking about, because sometimes he just calls it fudge and sometimes cake. I'm sure eating all of it was equal to eating that whole pecan pie back in December when we ended up at the ER.
His apartment had the live in feeling, but it was pretty clean. He is working so hard to keep it clean and take care of himself I am sure because he doesn't want us to put him any where. To answer your earlier question Carol Sue, no I don't think he believes an assisted living is not a nursing home. He still sees it as a home like my step-mom lived. He said that for a long time she had caring nurses etc until they changed management and nurses. Sister and I don't mind him living alone as long as he can take care of himself, but we still think he would enjoy being around other people.
I'm still tweaking my this way of eating. The nice thing that happened to day is that my breakfast worked out great for my bs because I checked it just before we left today and it was 103. I am thinking that the 30 minute bike ride which I did a little while after breakfast was very helpful with that.
It would have been interesting to see how low it was before I ate.
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I had a different experience with my FBG today. When I went to bed it was 140. When I woke up at 5 it was 156. When I got up again at 7 it was 135. But I went back to bed again, and when I finally got up it was 168!!! Nothing to eat or drink either time. So I think this is an example of my body thinking it needed some food and when it didn't get it, the liver dumped some glucose. I think this is something that Dr Fung said not to worry about. It's just your body ridding itself of extra glucose and once your body adjusts to your new WOE it will stop storing so much extra glucose. I am paraphrasing, so it might not have been exactly what he said/meant. I got hungry during the night again, but it went away like it did the night before. I hope this not eating in the evening becomes a firm habit. I like doing it because I like seeing the results on my meter the next day. I don't always test that often, but I've been doing it to see what's going on.
I ate scrambled eggs with a few tomato slices for breakfast and a half banana. And my weight this morning is back to 201, so I did lose those few pounds I had gained. it just doesn't want to go below that 200 mark! I will push to do that by the weekend now that I'm so close.
Trish, I think as long as you and your sister call or see your dad throughout the day he will be fine. My friend's 94 YO Dad passed away yesterday. He lives with family members, but he went outside without them noticing it and didn't take his walker for reasons unknown. He fell and hit his head and got a brain bleed and didn't make it. Who knows how much longer he may have lived if that didn't happen. So things like that can happen even if the person does not live alone. Just keep close contact with him and pray that he will know when he needs help.
I know that exercise helps with lowering blood sugar, but I can't do it right now until the pain in my foot stops. Now I'm getting scared, thinking it could be diabetic nerve pain. The only difference is the symptoms list numbness and tingling and I don't have them. I just have pain, with some occasional burning. I stayed home yesterday with my foot mostly elevated and it was pretty good. But I woke up with pain this morning and all I did was lay in bed sleeping, so I don't understand that. I will continue to rest it the rest of the week if I can, and if it's not showing improvement I will go to the doctor.
Just now I got the thought that I could probably do my recumbent bike without aggravating my foot, so maybe I will try that today. I have been doing some upper body exercises while sitting in my chair. They showed me these chair exercises in the hospital, and on TV I see invalids doing exercises while in bed, so my sore foot is not a valid reason for not doing some type of exercise.
I noticed that you said we should do 150 min of exercise per day, but I think you meant per week. The physiologist at cardiac rehab said 150 min is for health and 300 min is for weight loss. I used to do 300 min per week but haven't done that for a long time.
Carol Sue Yes I meant 150 minutes a week. I don't know if I could do 300 a week or not, but I think that probably is done doing other things. I will have to see on MFP how many I do a week since I count some other things I do around the house although not all.
I decided to get up early and go to Walmart to shop before meeting DD and DS. I went early enough to get 60 minutes of walking done this morning. I figure since the doc wants me to walk, I can do that at least once or twice a week besides the doing the bike. I don't think I will do the bike today although sometimes I go ahead and do it if my back is hurting since it eases it. I usually go get DD and DS drinks, through away our trash and get drink refills for us at Whataburger. Daddy actually decided he wanted to get his second cup of coffee himself and walked without his cane in spite of us trying to get him to use the cane. He actually walked very well without it which was surprising to the 2 of us. I always tease them and tell them that when I'm waiting on them, I am getting extra exercise. I always walk him out to his car to be sure he is safe. I probably don't have to, because he goes a lot of places alone now, but I just feel better doing it.
I did get the taquito and cut it in half and ate the eggs and bacon from the other half. We are having codfish today for main meal and I light dinner and a snack and since I don't have to count all carbs, I will have 61 grams of the carbs I have to count and even my total count isn't all that bad either. In fact, I have changed my goal percentages of carb, protein and fat. It is hard to be precise, but I try to keep it close. I am eating more fat that I used to although they are good fats, less overall carbs and lower protein because I have heard women don't need a whole lot of protein although I am getting enough. I am eating more calories close to the 1800 calories because this lc for dummies book says eat a snack of nuts and of course I think fat cost a little more in cals. I bought nuts at Sam's club yesterday that have good nuts not all peanuts, in fact, I don't think they have any at all and no salt. That will give me the magnesium I need naturally without a pill and they are good for lowering cholesterol and triglycerides. I found a big jar of the same kind w/o peanuts by Planters at Walmart with sea salt for DH since he likes the salted ones and is supposed to eat a little more sodium.
My FBS is inching down was 172 this morning from 179 yesterday. My weight was down .4 of a lb. I am pleased with that. I don't care if it is coming down slowly as long as it is going down instead of up. I am sleeping so much better eating this way too. I don't really worry about the higher FBS because I think you, Carol Sue, read that many times it is the last thing to go down. The fact that my bs reading at 1ish yesterday was 103 is very encouraging. I think that may be why my new doctor told me not to waste my money checking bs every day and I know that at some point I will stop, but I like knowing how I'm doing for now.
I think I'm glad DH won't be able to get the Jardiance any more because he is having a difficult time staying hydrated taking it. I am wondering if that is why our Part D won't cover it.
I'm sorry about your friends Daddy. I wonder if he was on Xeralto or some other blood thinner. You know the doctor told me if DH falls and hits his head to get him to ER immediately even if he feels alright because he could have a bleed and die. This is one reason we try to keep a close watch on our Daddy.
Have a blessed day and I hope your food feels better soon.
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Trish, I don't know anything about my friend's father's medication. In fact, I didn't know her father was still living until her husband told us he had passed away. What happened to him was sad, but I feel that he lived a very long life living until age 94, still able to get around, and not lying in a bed in a nursing home. So now he will rest in peace. I was surprised to hear that he had a girlfriend. At 94!!
It's probably OK that your DD walks without his cane when you are around so you can see how he's doing without it, but I hope he uses it when he goes out alone. It is a good sign for you how well he does at his age.
Yesterday we ate dinner at the same place where we usually go for breakfast. I had the salad bar, but I included some pasta salad and chocolate mousse, and my BS went higher than I liked. When it goes that high (200), it seems to take a very long time to come back down, so I try to avoid it. My mistake, which I won't make again. I noticed that they have some new breakfast specials and one of them is a breakfast burrito. I will have to check that out the next time we go. They often have these specials, and then any that sell good are put on their next new menu.
I didn't eat anything after dinner again. My blood sugar when I finally got up was 135.
I would like to go to TX Roadhouse again one of these days. We haven't been there for a long time. I would like to get ribs, which is something I never eat any other time. Theirs are the only ones I have had that actually fall off the bone. I like their baked sweet potatoes, but sometimes I just get a veggie and a salad for my sides instead. Just depends on how I feel at the time.
A woman across the street from us had a bleed on the brain and they brought hospice for her. She ended up pulling through very well and they took her off hospice, and she lived a few more years. I think that's what my father died from but I was only 11 years old so I'm not sure.
I don't know if I could do 300 a week or not, but I think that probably is done doing other things. I will have to see on MFP how many I do a week since I count some other things I do around the house although not all. 