Trish, when I was in Wal-Mart today I saw Divinity! It was in the Christmas clearing aisle. So we do have it around here but it probably never caught my eye because its not chocolate. I think its just for Christmas here.

Last night when I went to bed I was craving cauliflower. Who craves that? I would not get out of bed for it though. We did not have dinner today. I ate so much ham with my eggs at brunch I wasn't really hungry. DH made a hamburger for his dinner while watching the football game but I didn't want any. Then I started craving cookies. I wanted 2 peanut butter cup cookies and 2 chocolate chip. But I was too lazy to go down stairs to get them out of the freezer. DH would go get them for me but if I eat them I will have to take G, and my blood sugar is good without it right now. So I'm resisting. I cooked some cauliflower instead. Not quite the same but better for me. I am planning on making 2022 my year and I'm starting now. I know I say that EVERY year! I want this to be different. My plan is to concentrate mostly on protein and vegetables in a shorter window, around 6 hours. And get back to exercise. And stick to it for consecutive days!

I dozed off during the game but DH was talking loud and woke me up. He gets on the phone with his brother and they watch the game, but each in their own home. Isn't that funny? I hope I sleep better tonight.

Carol Sue I think they only have divinity here around Christmas too.

I feel exactly like you do about 2022 being my year too. I really want to start this and make it a lifestyle not a diet. I did an 8 hr eating window today. Ate 2 meals and a snack. We ate the turkey and I ate dressing and DH ate a salad and we shared what the extra potato salad that I made the other day. Just have pork roast left and will have pulled pork tomorrow wih SF BBQ sauce. I will start back OP tomorrow.

I hope we both have a great nights sleep.

Weight stayed the same today. Since I have been eating this ham my blood sugar has been very good, but probably not blood pressure. I'm afraid to check it. I feel good and slept better the past 2 nights. Maybe I'm sleeping better because blood sugar is better. Yesterday I had back pain and leg pain, hip pain so bad I could hardly walk. When we left to go to the store I forgot to take my Tylenol Arthritis so I took a Tramadol I had in my purse. The pain went away and never came back. So I didn't have pain overnight or so far today. Maybe eating just cauliflower for dinner helped with sleep, too.

I don't think I have been off plan. My plan includes any and all foods. It limits carbs because of blood sugar but doesn't eliminate them altogether. And I observe a 6 hour eating window but not every day. I think its better to vary eating times. I've been maintaining in the high 180s. So I need to make changes to start losing. Less eating after dinner. More protein, smaller portions of carb. I have to keep reminding myself that I don't have to eat more just because there's food left. And try to wait until I'm hungry to eat. I don't feel like I'm overeating but apparently its more than my body needs. Or at least I'm not eating in a deficit.

I know we can do this, Trish. You have lost very well this year and I have maintained.

Carol Sue You have done very well with maintaining even during the holidays. I'm glad you found that you slept well. I've been sleeping pretty good but want to get back to that place where I want to get up in the morning again. I think the gloomy weather affects that but I think better choices of lifestyle helps and I think attitude plays a big part as well.

I got up and did what I call strength exercises because MFP doesn't have a listing for what I do. I will do 15 minutes on my stationary bike in a few minutes too. I want to build that back up to 30 minutes but will do it slowly. I do about 20 minutes with the core exercises and calasthenics which I've named strength on MFP just to count it. So for now I will be doing the 35 minutes total exercises Mon thru Thursday. I think I am going to fast until dinner on Tuesday and Friday since I go out on those days. Otherwise, I will do some 2MAD and some 3MAD depending on what is going on. I've got my plans on MFP for today and calories are less than 1200 and net carbs under 100. So I figure that is good. When I set my carb and protein limits on MFP it looks like I am on a high fat diet, but of course, I don't eat too much added fat.

Funny thing about my potato salad that I took to BS for Christmas. I was talking to my son on the phone while making it and realized after I had it all finished and in the fridge that it was a low fat potato salad because I forgot the butter. I just don't use a lot of butter and it just slipped my mind. Since I already had it beautifully displayed with boiled eggs on top, there was no way I could add it so we ate it that way. Everybody said it tasted great.

I put the cornbread dressing in the freezer for another time. I hate to throw it out since DBIL went to such great trouble to bake a small pan of it for me and I do like it. So it is there. So I am back OP today. DH has taken all decorations down and all the goodies are gone except for the SF cake DBS made and I will probably ditch it since I don't know how to track it so it won't even feel like the holidays any more to tempt me to eat off.

Now to get on that bike to get that done for the day.

Have a great day everybody.

Trish, I always do well over the holidays because ever since the first time I lost weight I have approached the holidays with a determination not to regain and mess up all my progress. Too bad I can't do that all year round!

Duncan Hines makes a Keto cake mix. If you enter Duncan Hines Keto cake in MFP you get a few selections.

We went to the regular grocery store today to get meat and cabbage for cabbage rolls tomorrow. While I was there I bought a loaf of bakery pumpernickel bread. Its my favorite so I rarely buy it. I came home and made a ham sandwich with it. I told DH that's my dinner. I only made a half with one slice of bread but it was satisfying because it was what i wanted. I havent over eaten for a while, but in reality I'm still over eating because i never get hungry. If I eat later it will be vegetables.

_____________________________

Tomorrow is DHs birthday, 79 years, and guess what he wants!! Right! He wants to go to the casino. So we will start the cabbage rolls in the morning. Get ready while they are cooking, then eat before we leave. I made sure I have plenty of reading material on my Kindle. I don't know if I will read or play the slots.

I guess 7 is my number. If I can sleep 7 hrs, I am good and it seems that I do well with a 7 hr eating window. Although I did eat a slice of velveeta cheese with 2 Wasa Crisp 'n Lite crackers, my calories were still under 1300 and net carbs aroumd 100. So a good day.

We are going to UPS tomorrow to return a package to Amazon. DH flashlight he wanted for Christmas was broken so they are replacing it. Not sure what we will be eating since DH hasn't decided what he wants as of yet. I plan to fast until we eat so it probably won't matter what we eat.

Hope you have a nice day at the casino whether reading or slots and yoour Hubby will have a good birthday at the casino.

I am delighted to be 159 today. After 3 days of enjoying and excess, I fasted yesterday, and this is the result. It will probably take until Epiphany before I am back to 156, but for now, I am thrilled to be under 160. Kudos to both of you for doing so well over the holidays.
I will eat and break my fast after Buddy has his walk. Have a lovely day.

Well I haven't been around for quite a while. In my absence I have found quite a lot of lost weight so I'm pretty much starting over, but on a positive note I am here. My A1C has been steadily increasing over the past year due to my lack of good diet and last month it got up to 8.5! Also my blood pressure has been up and I was having chest pain earlier this year and ended up having a dobutamine stress test which was normal. I am only 49 years old and I don't want to continue on this track of poor health and inability to enjoy life around me. My doctor added Trulicity to my metformin and I can honestly say that it's helping my blood sugars and decreasing my appetite! I have lost 5 lbs since December 8th! Current weight is 280.4. I don't know if the appetite suppression will last but I have started training my mind to cut back on portions, can't eat large ones anyway, so that I can get and stay on a more healthy eating plan. I know what to do, I just need to be consistent. My kids, 16 and 18, are helping me and being very supportive. They want mom healthy too! I have been having chronic back pain for a few years but it has gotten much worse in the past couple of months. I went to the back doctor and he gave me a steroid shot and 5 days of prednisone which, of course, has increased my blood sugars. Today was the last day of that so hopefully they will go back to where they were before I took the meds. This morning it was 126. Since starting the Trulicity it ranged from 100-120 with a couple of 80's and 90's. I also have been trying the Freestyle Libre tracker and I love the fact that I don't have to stick myself all the time. Sorry this update post was so long. I hope to check in much more often and look forward to chatting with you all in the future.

Adrienne

Adrieinne! I am so happy to see you back here. Its so easy to drift away when things aren't going well but this is where you need to be. We will do our best to encourage you. Is Trulicity an injection? I'm glad its helping you without any bad side effects and I'm glad you are starting to lose.

Are you still working? How is that going?

Mad, good for you for staying below 160. That's how I feel about 190, but I'm ready to earn a new number.

Trish, 7 hours is a good eating window. I don't think I have ever had the Wasa crackers. I've stayed away from crackers ever since they stopped making the high fiber crackers. I think I was the only person buying. them. That was a great habit for me to break. I always had several types of crackers in the house at a time and I could really over eat on them. Apparently giving them up hasn't helped on the scale. I must be eating more of other things. That's great that you can limit them to just a few.

The cabbage and halushky are cooking. DH brought McDonalds breakfast sandwiches. WE are celebrating his birthday. No cake though. He had a layer cake last week. Cabbage will be done at 1 then we will eat then leave. I will only eat one because I probably won't be hungry.

I'm finally tired of ham. DH will slice it down and I will vacuum seal and freeze it. He won't eat it from frozen but I will.

Carol, thank you for the welcome back! I agree that it's easy to fall away from support but I'm glad to be back and appreciate the support here. I will try to do the same!

Yes Trulicity is a once a week injection. I was very afraid of that but I don't even feel it. It is the wonder drug so far. Same with the continuous glucose tracker I'm trying out. It looks intimidating and I had my daughter place the first one. Never once felt it going in and it stays put.

Yes I'm still working. Us single moms have no choice so this is yet another reason to get myself moving in a more healthy direction! There are some nights that are much more difficult and working 3 in a row is sometimes almost more than I can do but I did notice that when I am eating healthier and out walking/working out, the back pain lessens considerably and makes working much easier. Hopefully I can get back into walking a bit more. My knee is the issue here so I have to take things very slow. However, once around the track while my daughter and son skateboard and walk has been fine.

Adrienne, I would like to try the continuous glucose tracker but I don't think my insurance would cover it.

Adrienne Wedcome back. I used Trulicity for a while and loved it but it was too expensive so I had to stop using it. I was never hungry on it and wished I could have kept using it. Congrtulations on getting back to healthy eating and the 5 lb loss. I think that is a great accomplishment during the holidays. Look forward to getting to know you. My sister uses patches for pain on her knee that she gets from Amazon. Have you tried them? My knee gives me pain once in a while but I find as I move around it goes away. My back pains have gotten better with the weight loss but I think some of mine is also posture. I bought some of the patches for back and knees but haven't had to use them as of yet. Maybe with the walking you won't have to continue the steroids either. Don't worry about long posts. I'm bad about them.

Fatmad Glad you have been able to stay under 160 after enjoying the eating. I really believe your fasting is the key. I know I will never do EF but intend to do some form of IF as I go along. You do inspire me to do it.

Carol Sue WASA has 2 types cracker. I bought a box of each to see which one I could eat. I didn't like them when I was in WW years ago, but the crisp n light are really good. I have learned to have 2 of them 40 calories with a slice of Velveeta cheese which I think is 45 or 50 calories. I break it in half and eat it half on each cracker and it not only helps me sleep but it causes my FBG to be low the next day. FBG was back down to 96 this morning. I have it with my collagen coffee around 6 or 6:30 pm. Wierd I know but whatever works.

Weight was 182.2 this morning. I don't know if I can get back to 180.6 by January 1st but sure hope I can be close.

I looked at my brownie mix from Pillsbury and it is made with Splenda. Knowing my DBS, she used it to make her fudge cake she gave me. Glad I didn't throw it out because I can eat it. LOL I will be more careful about looking for some of the things DH and I like to see to it that they have Splenda in it and not sugar alcohols. Oh that reminds me. I had potty issues after breakfast. I think I found the culprit. SF Smuckers jelly/jam. It is whatever sweetener. Glad to know.

Happy birthday to your DH Carol Sue.

Another good day. Calories less than 1300 and eaten within 4 hrs with an approximate 20 hr fast. Happy to have 2 successful days in a row. Exercise today was the strength exercises plus walking at the store. Hope to have a good nights sleep again tonight.

Carol Sue Hope y'all's casino trip was a good one for your DH BD.

Trish, we had a good day at the casino. I'm glad because I wanted DH to enjoy his birthday, and he did.

I haven't tracked yet for today but I had the McDonalds breakfast sandwich then 2 cabbage rolls, then nothing at the casino, and 3 cabbage rolls when we got home. I don't know the nutrition info for the cabbage rolls except that they are low carb.

I agree you had 2 good days and the scale shows it.

Hi friends: 158 today. I don't usually weigh after my eating days, but I want to see how I am doing leading up to New Years and was pleased that my sensible eating yesterday paid off.
I will fast today again. Will see how things go the next couple of days. I usually make a nice romantic supper New Years eve, even if we don't stay up to midnight. But I am not sure about that.
I also have an odd sore throat.
I have had this odd thing with my throat for a while now, and say the doc about it in November, and went on a PPI medication for reflux. Did not feel it helped at all. So I went off it after a month after chatting with the doctor about it.
This feeling is not generally terribly painful, but kind of how you feel at the start of a sore throat, but its also lower in the throat. However, last night was worse and it was more painful.
No one I have been with over the holidays is at all sick. The kids all did rapid tests before coming over as well, to protect us. Since its not really different, yet, I don't want to go for testing. There are not enough tests or appointments right now, and I don't have a fever so I will just see what happens for now, as its not new.
But I did not sleep as well and wound up taking pain meds last night, so am out of sorts today. Planning to fast if it feels ok. I will have broth and hot and cold beverages all day though. Started taking my PPI and taking Pepcid complete to see if that helps. Blah, dislike this!

Adrienne, welcome back. We have all been there, started on a better path, then gone off it for some reason. After losing a lot of weight and getting my A1C much better, eventually Covid Life got the better of me and I gained some back. Its been so difficult losing it again, still not quite there, but I hope to keep going and getting down more eventually.
What have you decided to do to get back to a healthy weight and blood sugar?
I am glad the Trulicity is working for you. My friend and neighbour who is also very overweight and has T2 has recently gone on it. She was complaining about her low appetite, that she can't fit in the treats and foods she wants to have in a day anymore!. She is suffering many effects of her weight and blood sugar issues, and as you can see by her comments, is also truly addicted to foods, especially sugars. I certainly feel an addiction to sweets etc.
I hope you are able to really use this time to add diet changes and exercise to your regime and really get onto a healthy path. Being there for your kids is number one.
I always said my ultimate goal was to reach 75 with my eyesight, all my toes and my kidneys working, and to be able to be active enough to enjoy my family.

I hope to chat again before New Years eve everyone, stay well and safe.