I bought an exercise DVD at Goodwill yesterday for $1.99 minus my senior discount. It is dance exercise, and it contained 4 DVDs. When I got home and opened it up it had a little booklet with a diet plan. I didn't really read it though, but it stated things like "no fruit after 3PM except apples or berries."
Some other pointers were dairy foods, fish, soy, nuts, olive oil and tea all push the fat-burning machinery to work harder. Fish oil and olive oil target abdominal fat. You can have some unrefined carbs, but combine them with the right foods and eat them before 3PM. If you eat an apple, add some peanut butter or a piece of cheese to slow the digestion down. Eat a lot of foods with high water content, such as soups, stews, vegetables. It has 7 days of sample menus. I'm going to enter them into my online tracker to see what kind of calorie count they're doing. The whole system is called Core Rhythms. It says it has an online community but I looked online and it seems it's no longer there. This was an "As Seen On TV" thing and anywhere I look it says it's "no longer available." I will be curious to see what the dance workouts are like. These 2 women are supposedly international dance champions, Jeana Kunitz and Julia Powers. Either way, I spent less than $1.99 for it.

SeeMyFeet, thanks for the article. LOL Not too appetizing. I think you could make some high protein bread with that flour.

I think you really needed the sleep. Don't worry about getting things done, those things will still be there when you are ready. Just take it easy for now.

I have some cut up veggies left over from Christmas and I don't want them to go bad. I ate some green, yellow, orange and red pepper strips this morning. For lunch I cooked some baby carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. I don't like that stuff raw. My grandson is coming this afternoon and he will help me out with the peppers and carrots. He loves them raw.

Jacqui, congratulations on the size 10 jeans. I haven't worn a size 10 since the 70s and they weren't real size 10s. They were 12s that got too big and I took them in. Never actually bought a 10. But back then sizes were a lot smaller than they are now. I weighed 125.

This morning my rings were loose so I thought I might be down another pound, but I was actually up one, to 199. I don't understand.

Trish, I have never tracked on MFP so I have a question. How does it know when you enter a food whether it is from Golden Corral? If you choose a food from their list, how would the sodium be different if it was from a restaurant or if you made it at home? I'm confused. I know that most restaurants use a lot of salt because it enhances the flavor of the food. I just don't know how MFP differentiates.

I too have some brand new clothes with the tags still on them. I even have some that I bought on clearance recently. They are a little too tight, but I liked them so much and the price was too good to pass up. So if I don't lose some weight to wear them, my step-daughter is going to inherit some really nice new clothes. LOL

Carol Sue, it's like you were reading my mind because when I put these pants on this morning, I wondered what their "real" size was, aka the size they would have been in the 1970's. Like you, I was MUCH smaller, a teenager, and typically wore 7's. There was no such thing as a 0 that I remember. I do remember the 5-7-9 Store had some size 3's and they were impossibly tiny! Well, I just looked it up. A 10 in today's sizes is equivalent to a 14 in 1970's sizes. I'd love to get down to a 12 in 1970's sizes because that was considered the "average" woman's size back then, and women looked very healthy, not too heavy, not twiggy thin. My mom wore a 12 and she looked great! :yes:

By the way, Carol Sue, Trish, PrairieQueen, SeeMyFeet (Mars, Rennie, Chickadeee), I think all of us who have clothes in storage which are a little too tight should keep them and do our best to strive toward fitting into them! And let's be sure to announce when we do! :dance: The scale doesn't have to be the only measure we use. I'll have to go to Goodwill and pick up some size 8 (1970's 12) jeans to play along though because 10 was the lowest size I had in my closet. Oh, and I AM going to clear out the bigger sizes to make it inconvenient and costly to go back up! :yes:

Carol Sue, that DVD set and diet sound pretty good! :yes: What a great buy! :cp:

SeeMyFeet, I hope you make (made) it through your day's menu exactly as you want(ed) it to go! :dust: / :crossed:

Just getting home from kids after a two hour wait n the wrecker. We had a blowout and I was driving. Our roadside assistance is sh*t! After an hour I said to send anyone, Ill pay. Two hours later a local showed up...he said they just called him and that he'd been sitting at home all evening. Wait until I talk to insurance guy.....for now on I'm calling this guy directly.

Anyway, today's menu.....

Breakfast - toast w/butter and apple butter & iced tea w/stevia
Lunch - leftover beef stroganoff
Dinner - bowl of baked potato soup and small piece of baguette
Now - a very tall skinny margarita

I'll be back later to post more, but I just wanted to say that I have a skirt that I wore back in the 70s. It's a size 13 I think. It buttons all the way down the side. If I hold it up to me it now goes half way around. LOL I need another identical skirt to button them together. I just keep it around for the memories. I will never fit in it again. I have a few things I know I will never fit in again.

Carol Sue, like the signature post! :bravo:

PrairieQueen, oh, I would have been livid to be treated that way! In any event, I'm glad you're safe! :hug:

169.5 today. Still in the 160's, so that's good. I've had Wendy's 2 nights in a row because I was at my son's helping with the grandbabies. I had a salad as my side the first night, but I had a large chili as my side last night and I think the sodium in it made a difference. I probably should not have had ham for breakfast this morning because of its high sodium content, but we need to eat it up, so oh well! I'll have to try to drink a lot of water and hot tea today! :coffee2: Tomorrow we are having dinner with friends for New Year's Eve, so I'm making tomorrow Carb Day. It looks like I'm going to start 2016 off in the 170's. Hopefully I'll end it at 164 or lower! :hat:

Week 29: High 171, Low 170
11/29--171
11/30--170.5
12/1--170
12/2--170
12/3--170
12/4--DNW
12/5--170.5 Carb Day

Week 30: High 173, Low 169
12/6--173
12/7--172.5
12/8--171
12/9--170.5
12/10--169
12/11--170
12/12--170.5 Carb Day

Week 31: High 172, Low 169.5
12/13--172
12/14--170.5
12/15--171
12/16--170.5
12/17--169.5
12/18--170.5
12/19--169.5 Carb Day

Week 32: High 171.5, Low 167.5
12/20--169.5
12/21--170
12/22--167.5
12/23--167.5
12/24--168
12/25--DNW :tree:
12/26--171.5

Week 33:
12/27--173
12/28--170.5
12/29--168.5
12/30--169.5
12/31--
1/1--
1/2--

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
Leftover ham
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Mio water

Lunch
Protein bar
Mio water

Tea Time:
Hot green tea

Dinner:
Large field greens salad with ham, pumpkin seeds, and ranch dressing
Diet Dr. Pepper
Mio water

Today's Exercise:

Bummer, PQ...Hope no one was hurt, and little damage to the car...I keep tow truck numbers in my address book. Never needed to call one (knock wood)...guess it's time I should update those numbers.

I just signed up for the 2016 challenge, Carol...I want me some of those stinkin' badges, too!

Whellll, the Will Power Dust came too late, Jac. For some stoopid :dizzy: reason, I sent DH out for a bottle of wine after work. I haven't had wine in ages on accounta the meds and the calories. I had more than one glass and woke up at 4am with a big dehydration headache. Kept drinking water, then finally caved and took some ibuprofen. Got some more sleep, but the coffee this am brought it back. Stoopid me. How much negative feedback will it take to cure my diet self-sabotage?

Ya know, I think it's the clothing. My clothing is not as snug, therefore, I feel "thin". Could always feeling fat in snug clothing be the key to sticking with a plan?

Carol Sue I just typed in Golden Coral in the food box on MFP and it had a lot of food items with the information on them. I pretty much picked most of my meal on MFP before I went to eat. However, I didn't notice the sodium count until later. MFP only allows 2300 mg of sodium a day and anything above that comes up in the red to let you know you have gone over. It does that with calories, carbs, fat, protein, and sugar. It also keeps up with the fiber but doesn't have limit so I don't even see how much fiber I'm getting until I go to the print page. On the print page, my exercise and calories I've burned shows up on the print page as well. It is pretty thorough.

I am back down to the 231.4 today as I still had more sodium than I should have yesterday. I decided to start planning meals the night before. A good lesson I learned to do when I was in OA (Overeaters Anonymous) years ago. I've decided that I need to really keep an eye on the sodium. I take a mild fluid pill, but heard they are really hard on kidneys and like Carol Sue it something diabetics should protect. I've decided that I really want my diet to be such that it not only reverses diabetes, but it improves my health as well. As my sister says, I don't want to lose my eyesight. I really don't want the complications that come with diabetes.

My doctor doesn't give me any medicine for diabetes that will cause me to gain weight. I was upset with him for a while because he wouldn't give me glimiperide or some medicine like that to help me get the blood sugar down. He told me I would gain weight if he gave it to me. He knows that I know what to do because he saw me do it in the beginning. He even told me once that he can tell when someone is working at it or not. I believe I am blessed because I believe he really cares about me and what is best for me and he works with me. He told me if I just exercised 15 minutes a day that it would be great.

The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet was created to help keep insulin under control. Most doctors back then who wouldn't let their patients do low carb would allow them to do CAD. I'm going ahead with it with a few changes which I believe not only help me stay OP, but we have learned through the years are not bad carbs like carrots for example. Using MFP to keep up with the calories. I think I'm going to lower them again maybe down to 1600 instead of 1700. I settled on the ratio of 30% carbs, 35% fat and 35% protein.

Today's food plan

Breakfast was Bullet coffee made with Chocolate Designer whey with 1/3 c blueberries and 1 T EVOO
Lunch will be a homemade hamburger and maybe a salad on the side.
Dinner will be ham salad.

The bullet coffee will be breakfast each morning, alternating chocolate whey protein powder with French Vanilla and using different frozen berries so that it doesn't get tiresome. I probably will ditch the ham eventually because of the sodium content but that will be my dinner for a while since I have a large package of it. However, the sodium does keep me from adding a lot other high sodium foods during the day. Right now the only thing that will be different each day will be my lunch. That will be my carby meal. I really don't like calling it a Reward Meal so I won't. I'm not planning any all day carb days.

Today's menu...

Breakfast - homemade hash brown, fried egg, Irish butter, ice tea w/stevia
Lunch - last of beef stroganoff
Dinner - grilled wings at pub, light beer

Mom up from Florida for a couple of days to see grandkids ages 4 to 28. She needed a break. I'm going back down in February for a four day weekend to see bro. He's still in hospital but using his phone on his own to call preprogrammed numbers. His feeding tube was moved to his side yesterday, so his throat can heal and the muscles can strengthen. We talked To him last night and today :) he seems to have his old personality except for the nasty outbursts directed at hospital staff. They said its normal and may get worse before its gets better....par for the course due to the amount and types of drugs that were being pumped into his system. AND he is completely off dialysis! His body is working on its own except for feeding tube because he can't swallow yet. As soon as he can eat and drink, he's off to rehab :) Yeah!

Night all....mom and I are having a drink.

SeeMyFeet, I thought you were going to say "I sent DH out for a bottle of wine after work and he never came back." I don't know what made me think that! LOL Glad he came back and brought you the wine. It sounds like you need to let your hair down a bit and chill. Tomorrow is another day, according to Scarlett O'Hara. You don't hear Prairie Queen worrying about how much she's drinking! LOL

I'm afraid to drink because of my meds. I mix a little red wine with some diet ginger ale. Have to get my reversital. LOL

Good job on signing up for the challenge! The Delicious for Christmas was the first challenge that I stuck to until the end, even though I didn't set any records on weight loss. Normally I start them and quit half way through. I hope I stick with this one for 2016. Riestrella makes it fun with giving out the badges. My badge isn't appearing the way it's supposed to. I'll have to see what I did wrong.

Trish, that's good that MFP will give you counts for Golden Corral. It's always so hard to figure out the nutrients in food that you didn't prepare yourself. I belong to MFP but have never used it. I can't figure it out. I have been using Fit Day for so long and I'm used to it.

So far I have not gained from glimiperide, but I think it keeps me from losing. I don't know what will happen now that my dose is upped. I want to use it as a tool until I can get my eating back in line and my exercise. I don't intend to stay on it for a lifetime if I can help it. I did very well avoiding carbs today. I had a few of DH's french fries, that's it. I went to visit a friend but she put out veggies so that's what we filled up on.

Jacqui, one thing about weight that comes from too much sodium, it's only water weight. When push comes to shove, we are concerned with fat, not fluid. Fluids fluctuate from day to day.

Oh. My. Goodness. Carol SUE! What are you tryin' to do to me?!?! I have enough to worry about! I think I'll give up the alcohol and keep the DH...that's the plan. Most days, anyway! Haha.."glimiperide"...sounds like some kind of dumbo merry-go-round. I tell ya, the px drug industry needs to re-visit its naming conventions.

I have not logged my calories for the longest time now. So many resolutions to make this year....

SeeMyFeet, I am laughing so hard I'm crying. You are such a trip! Glimiperide IS a dumbo merry-go-round. You take it to lower your blood sugar, then you have to eat some sugar to keep it from going too low, then it goes back up too high. More like a seesaw.

My blood sugar didn't go over 200 all day yesterday. That's a big "YAY!"

By the way, it looks like someone went in and deleted all the information on the 2016 Challenge Spreadsheet. Oops! If she cannot restore it, you may have to go in and enter it again.

:DI'm never concerned about my adult beverage intake:D

Happy New Year's Eve Everyone.

SMF and Carol Sue You girls are so funny. Y'all are right. The glimiperide is a merry-go-round medicine. I have decided that I'm glad my doctor never would put me on it. I think if he knew me very well. I would have used it as an excuse to eat things I cannot eat a lot of and I never would have lost weight. I'm not so sure the medicine makes you gain as it makes it easier to eat more carbs and either keep gaining or never lose.

I've finally got the nutritional balance I need using the basic MFP and my weight and my fasting blood sugar readings are coming down. Getting the sodium in check will help with the weight loss. I'm down to 230.4 this morning and my FBS is down 10 points from yesterday morning. Using CAD as a guideline is also helping a lot for me even though I've made some minor changes with it. I hope by WI next Monday I will be back down in the 220s. Nothing special going on right now for us so it should be easy to stay OP now that the holidays are basically over for us and life is pretty much back to normal.

I've got my food plan clocked in on MFP and all my numbers are well under the amount allotted for the day so that is good. I am going to try having 2 shakes today instead of the one. I notice the Nutrisystem's ad today on tv and they say 14 shakes which I assume that means 2 shakes a day and realized that my Designer shakes are much cheaper than going with somebody like Nutrisystem so I'm going to use it for a while at least until I get my stomach shrunk some. I don't like cooking for just me and it will work out nicely for me. Still have that high sodium ham in the fridge and freezer so will use it for a snack. Using the two shakes, my sodium count is way under 2000 mg. So that will help me a whole lot.

Now that I've thoroughly bored you, I will go.

Have a Happy and Safe New Year's Eve and I'll see y'all next year. LOL

Prairie Queen, I know that beer is not good for blood sugar, but I think I could do red wine. You're right, if you are an adult, you are old enough to make your own decisions about what you drink!

SeeMyFeet, the 2016 spreadsheet has been restored. I don't know if someone made a mistake or if Riestrella is being sabotaged. She puts a lot of effort into making this interesting and fun.

Not bored, Trish. I always like to hear about other people's plans. I might pick up some pointers.

Glimiperide forces your pancreas to release more insulin than normal in order to lower BG. That gives you a higher level of insulin in the blood, and insulin is the fat storage hormone. I also agree it give you that sense that you can eat carbs you would not normally eat and the glimiperide takes care of it. It does, but at a cost.

To everyone else, understand that this only applies to diabetics. If you are not diabetic, your body knows exactly how to handle the foods that you eat.

I'm going to look on Fit Day and see if it shows sodium levels or recommendations. I'm curious now. I'm going to be having sauerkraut for New Years and I know it has a lot of sodium.

Speaking of sauerkraut, where's Mars?

EDIT Just noticed that she's posting in the Dec Weight Loss thread and is really rocking that scale!! WTG Mars!!

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! if you're going out, be safe! :celebrate: Is everyone thinking about your New Year's resolutions? I want to reach my goal weight, to strive for my bonus goal weight, to maintain below "overweight" (once I get there), and to start exercising regularly. :hat:

PrairieQueen, I'm so glad to hear that your DB is doing so well! :carrot: I hope you have a very nice visit with your mom! :D

SeeMyFeet, sorry to hear about the dehydration headache, but you shouldn't feel guilty about having some wine now and then. In fact, the Slow Carb Diet I'm on allows 1-2 glasses of red wine a day! If I drank wine, I'd think that was pretty wonderful, lol! Too bad it doesn't say 1-2 apple ales a day. Then I'd be in business! :lol:

Carol Sue, hooray on keeping your blood sugar below 200!!! :woohoo: And you are so right about the water weight. I have to not allow myself to become overly concerned about it. :yes:

Trish, not bored at all! Wow, it sounds like you have a really caring doctor! That's wonderful! :flow2: Yes, take care of yourself. Diabetes is so insidious, so definitely stay on top of it! :yes: Great job on the drop on the scale and FBS!!! :broc:

Mars, Rennie, Chickadeee, Bewildered, a brand new year! Time to come back and post with us again! We miss you! :grouphug:

So today is my Carb Day and all these sweets that have been calling my name since Christmas are somehow finding their way into my tummy. It's the darndest thing! :dunno: :D

Week 29: High 171, Low 170
11/29--171
11/30--170.5
12/1--170
12/2--170
12/3--170
12/4--DNW
12/5--170.5 Carb Day

Week 30: High 173, Low 169
12/6--173
12/7--172.5
12/8--171
12/9--170.5
12/10--169
12/11--170
12/12--170.5 Carb Day

Week 31: High 172, Low 169.5
12/13--172
12/14--170.5
12/15--171
12/16--170.5
12/17--169.5
12/18--170.5
12/19--169.5 Carb Day

Week 32: High 171.5, Low 167.5
12/20--169.5
12/21--170
12/22--167.5
12/23--167.5
12/24--168
12/25--DNW
12/26--171.5

Week 33:
12/27--173
12/28--170.5
12/29--168.5
12/30--169.5
12/31-- 168 Carb Day
1/1--
1/2--

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
Leftover ham
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Half a slice of pumpkin pie in lieu of toast :D
Mint chocolate chip cookie in lieu of a 2nd pc of toast :lol:
Mio water

Snack:
Fudge

Lunch
Hershey's peppermint white chocolate bar--I had to eat it. Santa gave it to me! :hohoho:
Mio water

Tea Time:
Hot black tea

Dinner:
Pulled pork
Sauerkraut
Green beans
Mashed potatoes
Fried apples
Roll with butter
Pecan pie
Strawberry pie
Water with green tea-mango Crystal Light

Late Night Snack:
Mint chocolate candy
2 mint chocolate chip cookies
Mio water

Today's Exercise:

I watched my carbs very well today. It wasn't easy. At dinner, I checked my blood sugar to see if I needed meds and it was 88. I haven't had a reading that low in over a year. So that proves to me if I do what I'm supposed to do I don't need meds. I know I cannot eat this low in carbs long term, but from here if I add carbs slowly and sensibly I should be able to find my allowable daily carbs. I'm so happy! Happy Happy New Year!!

I was the last one here yesterday and the first one this morning. I need to get a life. LOL

Trish, this morning I entered my food from yesterday in Fit Day and I noticed that it does show the amount of sodium I had. Yikes! I had double the daily recommendation. Later on I will go on there and enter each item separately and see where all that sodium was. I had some sauerkraut so that could be a big part of it. We had our pork and sauerkraut yesterday because we're going out today. I also ate pork sausage yesterday which I rarely have. But I only had 54 grams of carb. That was the only good thing about the day. There are a lot of features on there that I have never even looked at. I usually just enter my food and look at the calories and macros. Years ago I sent for a disk of the program. I have my information saved on a flash drive. That's why I like to continue using that program, but I'm not utilizing it the way I should.

Yesterday's menu was not stellar (but not horrible....just salty)....

Break - ham, fried egg, hash brown
Lunch- BLT wrap, cup black bean chili unsweetened ice tea
Dinner - spinach Parmesan dip w/pita strips and lite beers in front of the fire. Winter has arrived in Ohio.

I was up 1.0 lb today from yesterday. Hopefully, I can flush it out today.

I've got homemade bean/ham soup in slow cooker today and getting ready to make some honey oat rolls. We've got fresh spinach that needs eating before it goes bad as well.

PrairieQueen, most of my life I hated the taste/smell of beer. I had to be already drunk from something else before I could drink it. Now DH has started drinking Coors Lite AND I lost my sense of smell. Combining those 2 factors I now like beer, but it really does a job on my blood sugar. Darn! I was a fairly heavy drinker in my 20s and 30s, but lost the taste for it later on. Now a cold beer is so appetizing to me.

SeeMyFeet, I wanted to call you out on another thread where you posted all the things you have cut out and you included alcohol. I wanted to say, "What about the bottle of wine you send DH out for?" LOL But I didn't want to embarrass you in front of all your friends on that thread. I don't mind embarrassing you here. LOL

Winter has arrived in PA too, cold, but still no measurable snow.

I need to get off this computer and do something constructive.

Carol Sue I hated beer forever until I became a teacher :) I go through phases with my like for it. Right now I'll drink one or two on our weekly night out and then two or three on the weekend. However.....the holidays and being off work with hubs has created many opportunities for partaking. I've also rediscovered cocktails....reinvented to reduce calories of course. In the summer, I'm quite happy to have cold seltzer water or unsweetened lemon tea all the time.

Anyway, mom just left so things are going back to normal for the rest of the weekend. She tried on a load of my old shorts and they all fit! She was quite happy because she's grown out of hers in the past three years since retiring (and she won't spend the $95 a month for her hormone pills although she has the money.) I love my mom to death, but she used to make rude remarks all the time about my weight gain these past 10 years. Now that the tables have turned I've not said a word but have tried to help her get back on track. Before my bro got sick, he shared with me that she had told him that it won't last, I'll be fat again by next year....he said she was behaving like she was jealous of her own daughter! But that's how she's always been, she just hid it better when she was younger.

Anyway, she was quite the polite guest this week. She ate almost everthing the same as I ate, except for "sneaking" some of hubs candy, but leaving most of her Saratoga chips at lunch. And since I let her pick her own Christmas gift this year, she chose a Fitbit just like mine. ...... We'll see....

Happy New Year everyone!

Baha PQ...I never drank until after I had children...and they soo love to hear me say that!....Nooooo...don't call me out WBH! (That's a new thread, I think, and we're not "friends" yet, they don't "know" me anyway, so you might have come across as a food policeman. Ha!) Honestly, some of that white food has crept in to my diet every now and then, too, but not very often, and usually due to traveling or lack of groceries. In my defense, I haven't had wine in over a year...but every so often I'll have a sip or five of DH's light beer, so room for improvement. Wish I could do what I want, PQ, but I'm scared for my health...the RA meds are liver toxic and I've lost so much eyesight already...I'm trying to hang on to what I've got....well, everything but the fat!

Wow, sounds like your DM is trying to live up to your good example, PQ. I'd bet she's seeing how hard you've had to work for your progress and is both proud for you and scared for herself. It's funny...in my teenage years, I wondered what it would be like if I didn't like my own kids, or if I'd be jealous of them--because I'd be sure to give them a better childhood than I had. My foster parents were like that--letting me know how good things were for me in comparison to how they grew up. I wonder if those comments would have bothered me more if they had been my biological parents...prolly so.

....still need to write out my New Year's Resolutions...you can surely guess what a few of them will be!

Hey! I made Pan Cakes for the fam...and didn't eat any! Normally, this is not unusual, but the effit feeling has been coming over me lately. Eggs for breakfast. Day 1 of the New Year.

Whell, due to the elongating list of Things That Are (literally) Exploding Around Here, the DH is on a tear to run out and buy a new microwave today. Given that he never measures things, I'd better get dressed and supervise this purchase.

Happier, Healthier, and Skinnier 2016, all!

ooooooooooo !!!!! :tantrum:


I forgot to say

RABBIT RABBIT RABBIT

Me too!

White Rabbits!

Me three! RABBIT! RABBIT! RABBIT! We need to remind each other the night before, haha! :gossip:

Carol Sue, like your ticker, and that is such great news on your blood sugar reading of 88!!! That's awesome! :woohoo:

PrairieQueen, winter certainly has arrived in Ohio and your bean/ham soup sounds perfect for it! Yum! :T I have no doubt your weight loss is going to stick! (After all, now you have us! :lol: ) You have been doing so great! :carrot:

SeeMyFeet, yay on avoiding the pancakes! That's a great way to start the new year! :cp: Smart to go with DH and pick out a microwave that you like and which fits the space, lol! :yes:

Trish, I hope y'all had a great New Year's Eve and Day! :hat:

Mars, I hope things slow down for you so you can jump back in with us here! Happy New Year! :hug:

Rennie, Chickadeee, Bewildered, missing y'all! I really hoped to see you posting today! Have a great new year and please come back to us as soon as you can! :grouphug:

I ate all kinds of cookies, candy, and pie yesterday, and pulled pork and sauerkraut last night. I'm at 171.5 today, which isn't bad considering how much I ate! :ink: It will be interesting to see if tomorrow, the day after the day after Carb Day, is going to be an up or down day on the scale. Anymore, I never seem to know! :crossed:

Week 29: High 171, Low 170
11/29--171
11/30--170.5
12/1--170
12/2--170
12/3--170
12/4--DNW
12/5--170.5 Carb Day

Week 30: High 173, Low 169
12/6--173
12/7--172.5
12/8--171
12/9--170.5
12/10--169
12/11--170
12/12--170.5 Carb Day

Week 31: High 172, Low 169.5
12/13--172
12/14--170.5
12/15--171
12/16--170.5
12/17--169.5
12/18--170.5
12/19--169.5 Carb Day

Week 32: High 171.5, Low 167.5
12/20--169.5
12/21--170
12/22--167.5
12/23--167.5
12/24--168
12/25--DNW
12/26--171.5

Week 33:
12/27--173
12/28--170.5
12/29--168.5
12/30--169.5
12/31-- 168 Carb Day
1/1--171.5
1/2--

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
Leftover ham
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Mio water

Lunch
Chicken wings
Salad with ranch dressing
Mio water

Tea Time:

Dinner:
Chicken wings
Salad with ranch dressing
Mio water

Today's Exercise:

I typed a long post this morning and lost it out in cyber space. Makes me so :mad: at myself when I do that. My fault... I hit the wrong button and out it went. Had a few phone calls and didn't get back to writing until now.

I never was much of beer drinker although I did like a couple of beers I drank when with other people and never knew what it was. I used to like mixed drinks when I was younger and learned to make them low calorie. I've tried drinking red wine because it is good for your health but I never can remember to drink it. I can't drink the beer or mixed drinks because I don't know how it will affect blood sugar and while the red wine helps lower some peoples blood sugar, it doesn't do a thing for mine. So I don't bother. I had planned to have a glass of red wine at midnight last night and forgot it. :dizzy:

I am happy to say that I'm starting Jan 1 under 230. I was 229.4 this morning and my fasting blood sugar is slowly coming down too. It was down 4 pts from yesterday. So the new year is starting off for me.

New Year Resolutions? I lost almost 70 lbs doing CAD 13 yrs ago. I looked at last years records I keep on weight, blood sugar and bp and I weighed 8.6 lbs less this day last year. So I gained this year. My bs and bp was better although my bp was low. Today the bp was really in a more normal range instead being so low. So my goal is to stay OP. New diets come out and I have a tendency to think maybe I should do that. I want to stop doing that and stick with what I know works for me. BTW I like a description for CAD on FB today. Someone as what CAD was since she was told it is not low carb. Someone said that it is lowcarb for 23 hrs. I like that and intend to use it from now on when someone asks what I'm doing. I really don't care what it is called as long as it works.

The other goal I have for this year is to exercise 5 days a week. I am going to keep my 2 miles on the recumbent bike and I am going to work up to doing 1 mile of Walk Away The Pounds by Leslie Sansone.

Carol Sue It is shocking to see the sodium content of the foods we eat. I just wasn't aware. I am thankful that we don't eat out as much as we used to. It really helps to do most of my cooking at home.

I personally think we have all come through the holidays pretty good. My feeling is that if we (I) can do it during the holidays then surely I can keep going when I'm past them. I am actually proud of all of us.:cp::bravo:

I hope everyone's New Year's got off on a good start. Mine has. My resolution is to continue what I'm doing for weight loss and exercise and trying three new recipes a month, including at least one out of my comfort zone (next week it's African peanut chicken soup.)

Today's menu...

Break - Irish bacon, fried egg
Lunch - ham/bean soup and side spinach salad
Snack - 1/2 homemade bun
Dinner - pizza burger w/o lid, leftover spinach dip & pita strips

O I dunno, PattyGirl...I could eat an awful lot of carbs in that one hour! ;) And yea, beer was something you stepped in in college, so I was never fonda the smell either.

Well, I skipped the pancakes at breakfast, but ate some sweet potatoes at dinner....weeeelllll....they're not white potatoes, so can I cut myself some slack on accounta that? Anyway, back on track with MFP. Calories and carbs were on the mark today. Not enough protein...but golly, where'm I gonna put it?

I re-set the MFP goals for macronutrients to:
118g carbs
80g protein
60g fat
1500mg sodium
4700mg potassium
...not sure how MFP came up with their default numbers. And I'm not sure how anyone can get that much potassium --which is the AHA recommendation.

It's difficult to decide what kind of plan is best. I'm getting less concerned about what works (fast) and more concerned about what is healthy. This article (a summary of the original) is steering me away from Atkins or Ideal Protein--this plus my age and my taste buds!

I cannot believe it's just Friday. WooHoo! Whole weekend ahead!

Prairie Queen, this comment is astounding! LOL I can't think of a comeback. It left me speechless. LOL Me? Speechless?

Do not invite me over the day you serve the African Peanut Chicken Soup.

SeeMyFeet, I've forgotten the significance of the phrase Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit. Remind me.

I will occasionally have a rum and diet coke. That used to be my drink of choice when I went out. I keep a bottle of rum in the bottom kitchen cabinet so it's handy when I want it. One day my 47 year old step-daughter was here looking for something and said to me "There's a bottle of rum in here." She said it accusingly, like she was telling me something I didn't know, like she was a mother who just found a bottle in her teenagers room. Gawd, at 69 years old I think I'm old enough to drink!! LOL Why do kids think they invented being bad?

How were your sweet potatoes prepared? Candied is not good, with the sugar and marshmallows, but roasted or baked, which I love, are much healthier and provide some much needed fiber.

Jacqui, I took my ticker off a while back when I decided I was going to concentrate on my blood sugar rather than my weight. I felt it was time to bring it back, even though I am not planning on weighing every day. I don't have a specific weigh-in day but only weigh when I feel that I lost, or when I feel I better see how much damage I've done before it gets out of hand.

Trish, didn't you tell me that you used to take Tumeric/Curcumin? I don't normally take supplements, but I bought some a while back but quit taking it when I didn't notice it doing anything. Some things do change the way your body is working inside but don't have any outward signs. Recently I was reading about Tumeric, but I can't remember what they said it was good for, but I have started taking it again. I will have to look it up again. I think it had something to do with blood sugar, and a woman on a forum I'm on is really big on it. They said that you can buy it with added black pepper, which is supposed to boost it's efficiency. Mine does not have the black pepper, but each time I eat a food with black pepper on it, such as my morning eggs, I take a Tumeric. I remember when I was reading about it, it said that if you are preparing a recipe that contains curry powder, to add a few shakes of black pepper, too.

The thinking behind CAD is good. I think a lot of people don't like it because they want to go 100% low carb instead. But everyone needs to do what works for them, and something they can do for a lifetime. It's not much different than what Jacqui is doing, only having carbs once a week. It's the same theory. The only time I lost weight before was when I was 21. I just ate smaller portions of what my mother cooked and eliminated snacks/junk food and lost 25 lbs. I have never been able to lose more than a few pounds since then. It has always been an upward trend. I blame that on DH's eating habits, but you know the old saying..."You can lead a horse to food but you can't make him eat." (paraphrasing) I don't have to put things in my mouth just because he is doing it.

Trish, I read up on Tumeric and found that it is good for many things, but the ones that apply to me are lowers inflammation, like in RA, lowers blood sugar or reduces insulin resistance, and effective in treatment of psoriasis. They cautioned against taking it if diabetic as it can lower blood sugar too low, but I will be cautious about that. With my readings, I don't see my blood sugar going too low. Also, it says it can thin the blood, which is a good thing with my heart disease. A dose of 400-600 mg 3 times daily is considered safe and effective. It said to take it with food, preferably a fatty meal. I take mine once or twice a day with a meal where I use black pepper, like my morning eggs, and they contain fat. I have 42 capsules left which should last 3 weeks or so depending on how often I take it. If I don't see an improvement in my arthritis pain, blood sugar and/or psoriasis in that time period I will probably not buy it again.

:rofl:

..but why you bash me on the sweet potatoes :?: Can't I be bad, too?? :devil: I whipped the sweet potatoes ('cause they're naughty :o) with some butter, small amt of brown sugar and spices and threw in a few raisins. Not as sweet as the standard, syrupy candied potatoes, and no marshmallows....(what ARE marshmallows anyway? bleah). I put my exact recipe in the MFP and accounted for everything....oh my! this is reminding me of my awful experience with candied onions and Ian's "Calories in Farts" thread. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I take turmeric and put it with pepper on my eggs, too. Not sure it does much, tho. Best supplement I've found for RA is Bromelaine--an enzymmatic extract from the core of the pineapple. I was taking that, in desperation, before I got on the hard-core RA meds, and it helped a bit! It was demonstrated to be effective in controlled scientific studies, which is why I searched this town over to find it. I found it in a local organic grocery. I also eat a lot of pineapple for the same reason--which is why it's hard for me to keep my carbs low.

Ok, Ladees, I need some help. I have GOT to get this weight off and get my brain in a more peaceful place. I have not been losing weight and I have not accomplished what I wanted this year. I feel like I am just letting time slip through my fingers. I want my life to matter.

SeeMyFeet, I know you've told us before, but so I won't have to go back and find it, please remind me: What foods do you mostly eat (besides pineapple) and what foods have you cut back on or cut out? Also, is there anything that you feel you need to do and are not doing (or vice versa, anything you're doing and need to stop)? I know you swim, which is excellent! We will definitely help you in any way we can! :yes:

Trish, I agree with Carol Sue, your plan is like mine, only I cram my all my quick-burning carbs into one day and you eat one meal a day with carbs. I do have a question, and maybe this is how our plans differ. I allow slow-burning carbs every day and cram all my starchy/sugary carbs into Carb Day. Are you allowed slow-burning carbs in your 2 other meals a day or do you eat no carbs at all except for during that one carb meal each day? Either way, I think CAD sounds like a good plan, and I hope it works really well for you! :crossed:

Carol Sue, I like your plan for weighing yourself. I wish I could allow myself to do that but I'm afraid if I don't weigh every day, I'll slack off. It's that darned all-or-nothing mentality of mine. In the past not weighing every day has eventually led to me not weighing at all. I really don't want to weigh every day though, especially since my weight loss has slowed down. I don't see the point. Well, except for the fact that if I stop, I'm afraid I'll allow myself to eat a little more of this and a little more of that and just not step on the scale when I know I should. Anyway, I guess this has been working for me and I better stick to it, but I like your "scale plan" much better! :goodscale:

PrairieQueen, I'm so glad to hear your year is off to a good start! :carrot:

I think the leptin factor has kicked in for me. I'm recognizing I feel hungrier now each day than I had earlier in this journey. Knowing I'm going to feel hungry because my body is sending me those signals as a way to get me to eat even if I've already eaten enough, I need to make a more concerted effort to battle those feelings! The late night snacking, even if it's only on raw non-salted pumpkin seeds, has to stop. And I need to start walking again. I really do believe the body tries to sabotage you after a while to get your weight back up. I know that not everyone believes in the leptin theory, but I do! Supposedly it starts around 6 months and I will be at 8 months tomorrow (woohoo!), so I feel fortunate that I haven't had to battle it until now, but I'm aware of it, and this time, I'm going to win this battle! :club:

Week 29: High 171, Low 170
11/29--171
11/30--170.5
12/1--170
12/2--170
12/3--170
12/4--DNW
12/5--170.5 Carb Day

Week 30: High 173, Low 169
12/6--173
12/7--172.5
12/8--171
12/9--170.5
12/10--169
12/11--170
12/12--170.5 Carb Day

Week 31: High 172, Low 169.5
12/13--172
12/14--170.5
12/15--171
12/16--170.5
12/17--169.5
12/18--170.5
12/19--169.5 Carb Day

Week 32: High 171.5, Low 167.5
12/20--169.5
12/21--170
12/22--167.5
12/23--167.5
12/24--168
12/25--DNW
12/26--171.5

Week 33: High 173, Low 168
12/27--173
12/28--170.5
12/29--168.5
12/30--169.5
12/31-- 168 Carb Day
1/1--171.5
1/2--171.5

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
2 slices of bacon
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Mio water

Lunch
Protein bar
Diet Dr. Pepper

Tea Time:
Hot green tea

Dinner:
Ham
Pumpkin seeds
Mio water

Today's Exercise:

Nice lazy today :)

Today's menu....

Break - 1/2 bun w/butter and apple butter
Lunch - one bourbon chicken thigh and brown rice, fresh pineapple
Dinner - 2/3 T-bone steak, asparagus, potato pancake
Snack - Saratoga chips

SeeMyFeet Here's my helpful hint. Lose the sugary sweet potatoes!! :rofl:Hey, did you ever try Splenda Brown Sugar? Maybe you could put that in your whipped sweet potatoes.

Actually, I rarely use sugar substitutes except in my tea. If I'm going to eat something with sugar I just do it and move on.

Isn't it funny how you can post a comment anywhere on 3FC in reference to "Ian" and everyone knows right away who you're talking about! LOL He has had me rolling on the floor many a time. (Don't take that literally.)

So my blood sugar was 132 this morning and my weight was 198. I got on the scale first thing and that balance beam just sat there. Didn't waver. That always means a loss. Yay me! I have been really watching my carbs, but I am contributing this to the Tumeric and will continue it with my pepper as long as I'm seeing favorable results. I might even buy some in a spice jar and start adding it to my cooking. I noticed DH is getting a belly. He could use some Tumeric and pepper.

Prairie Queen, I notice you skipped the lite beer yesterday, but you just had to get that booze in the bourbon chicken, didn't you? LOL

I haven't had apple butter in ages. It was a staple when I was growing up.

Jacqui, everyone is different on their weighing schedule. After my heart surgery I had to weigh myself every day because a gain of 3lbs in one day could mean water retention and I would have to contact the doctor right away. Some kind of complication. So I did it for a while, and I found that the little fluctuations really bothered me. If I went up a pound I got the "why bother" attitude. I can tell other people not to let it bother them, but not myself. This is why I cannot enter challenges that require a daily weigh in. But others feel the need for it. When you consider your results against mine, your way is working much better!!

Oh, yes, your body definitely wants to hold onto that weight. You have to stay at a certain weight for a while before your body accepts it as the new setpoint. That's why we plateau. LOL If you are noticing continuing hunger you could increase your vegetable consumption to fill you up with more low calorie fiber. Or maybe check your fat intake. Fat seems to increase satiety. And you're right about exercise. It tends to block appetite. I'm sure you will figure this out and not give in to it. You have to get past this mark and continue on.

Is Mars ever coming back? Doesn't she like us anymore? I know there are others who have come and gone, but Mars was a staple here!

SMF I only know what's worked for me, and it's not for everyone....almost zero processed foods. And what is processed (flour products mainly), I make myself. If organic is available, I chose that over conventional and nothing knowingly w/GMOs. I am fuller and the carb cravings are almost non-existent (I do crave them and salty foods right before TOM). I don't use nonfat/low fat either and the only sugar sub I use is stevia in my tea. I drink a lot of water as well. I'm off the Lipitor and doc thinks I'll be off the bp meds by the summer. She's advised to keep aware of dizziness and when it happens I should start cutting my pills in half. Now my friend whom is 4'11", lost 80+ lbs and has kept it off by starving herself basically, biking, and spinning. It helped when she started getting hormone replacement too.

Carol Suecongrats on your numbers! Great way to start off the year :) I really hate using my good bourbon in the chicken (it's sold out for another year even though I get it straight from the distillery). My son gave me name of another small craft bourbon to try, but I can't remember what it's called. I'll have to text him when I'm ready to purchase again.

Bro Mark surprised me with a phone call from the hospital this morning! And, he was quite his old self. I could understand most of what he said (he still has no teeth...he'll get fitted once he's transferred to rehab facility) and we were back to chatting about our normal stuff. He is completely off dialysis and only has a side feeding tube.....they're going to do swallow test again tomorrow, fingers crossed. They want to get him on his feet with support tomorrow. He's optimistic that he'll be recovered enough to fly up here in summer to eat lots of garden veggies and just hang out. He misses that part of Ohio for sure. He's still having hallucinations but not as frequently. He's apologized to everyone at the hospital and brought one nurse to tears while doing so. He's a super nice and kind person and can't believe what's come out of his mouth! He's already got my mom planning a luncheon kind of thing for them before he leaves :)

The water weight is gone today and I managed to lose 1.2 lbs since I've been on my holiday break. Back to school tomorrow!

No problem with losing the sweet potatoes, WBH...DS ate them ALL! Btw, I only put 1/4 C brown sugar in 6 C sweet potatoes! I know you know I don't eat orange food very often....I should actually eat sweet potatoes MORE often as they have some good nutrition inem; I guess the 'potato' part scares me away.

I don't use sugar substitutes. I don't do low fat, either, except for purchased salad dressing and 2% milk (I prefer half/half in coffee). I've never purchased margarine, having made the connection between the artificial synthesis of solid fats in chemistry and the non-biological nature of trans fats in biology classes when I was 18. Tho maybe if I had used all that stuff, I wouldn't be in this shape. :dizzy: I track everything on MFP, and salt is not a problem--I may not be getting enough (900mg yesterday)--so that's an indicator of how little processed food I'm eating.

oooooo...I guess I asked for advice and now feeling frustrated to get it. I know this stuff and I do this already. I'm like your friend PQ--I just have to starve myself. I started to post my menus for the past few days, but was afraid you (meaning, Jac ;)) would start hollerin' at me to eat more. Even with the sweet potato "splurge", I only had 1300 cals that day, which is too high for me to lose.

One of you ladeees started a thread on timing of meals, and I suspect that is a major influencer on my weight loss. Circadian rhythms play a big role in the processes that have affected me, like glaucoma, RA, even the sinus issues I had a few years ago. Maybe I'm more affected that way than others? DH often eats a 500+cal snack past 11 pm and he's thin :devil:. I just intuitively know I cannot do that, and I feel that a small cal snack at night is a bad idea for me, even if I ate nothing all day long.

Maybe it's Just That...and if I can Really And Truly stop snacking Forever after 7 or 6 or whatever the magic hour is...I can lose weight like everyone else. I'm constantly looking for Things To Blame (not just in the weight loss area, but other health areas as well)....things like MSG, which is in Everything-- another reason I should start making my own salad dressing.

School starts tomorrow, PQ!! My kids start back on Thursday.

PrairieQueen, oh, that is such great news about your brother! And how sweet that he apologized to the nurses. He sounds like a wonderful man! I'm so glad he's doing better, and I hope his swallow test goes well tomorrow! :goodluck: Yay on the 1.2-lb loss! :dancer:

Carol Sue, woohoo on losing a lb! I'm so glad the tumeric and pepper are working for you, and great job watching your carbs! :broc: Yes, I think you're right: I definitely need to increase my veggie intake! :hungry: I eat lots of veggies and salads in the summer but in the winter, they just don't seem as appetizing. I'd much rather have a big ol' helping of spaghetti and meatballs (but of course, that's a no-no except on Carb Day)! Nevertheless, veggies are exactly what I need! :yes: Also, yesterday when I was hungry, I decided to eat ham for dinner with seconds so that I was no longer hungry. I was afraid it would cause me to continue to hold water but I knew that would be better than eating late. I still had a bit of hunger last night but it was manageable so I was able to avoid eating anything after dinner. And it paid off because I actually lost some of my Carb Day water weight! :cp: So you are right about the fats too! :D I agree Mars is a staple here! I don't think she's avoiding us. At least I hope not! (Maybe I should go back and see what I wrote! You know how blunt and clueless I can be!) My guess is after her trip, she just got really busy and probably has time just to jump on and post her weight, which is why she is posting on the "Chicks Up for a Challenge" monthly weight loss thread and not here. If she posts here, she'll probably want to stop and comment to everybody and that may take up more time than she has. I believe she knows we want her here, and I have to think she wants to be here too, so hopefully when her schedule lightens up again, she'll be back! I hope that's right, Mars! We miss you! :grouphug:

SeeMyFeet , lol! Yeah, you're right. I would, haha! But just do like Carol Sue does and tell me no mother-henning, and I'll do my best not to! :lol: And I think I'm like you. I don't do well snacking at night. I lose much more easily if I make dinner between 5-7 pm the last thing I eat for the day. :yes:

Trish, I hope you're having a good day! :wave:

I am back into the 160's today! :carrot: I want to go exercise but my stomach is kind of gurgling and a stomach bug has been going around here so I'm hesitant. The Y closes at 5 today, so we'll see how it goes. :crossed: I also need to go to the grocery and pick up a few things, so getting sick would be really inconvenient today! :lol: Ain't nobody got time for that! :D

Oh hey, today is my 8-month anniversary of committing to better health, dedicating myself to the Slow Carb Diet, and posting continuously on 3FC! (And believe me, they all go hand-in-hand!) On to many, many, many more! :cheers:

Week 34:
1/3--169.5
1/4--
1/5--
1/6--
1/7--
1/8--
1/9--

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
2 slices of bacon
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Mio water

Lunch
Protein bar
Black olives
Mio water

Tea Time:

Dinner:
Salad with ranch dressing
2 cheeseburger patties
Mio water

Today's Exercise:

SeeMyFeet, I hope you get to the bottom of your inability to lose weight. I rarely lose more than a few lbs, but I've accepted that for me. You are eating healthy foods and counting calories, and should be showing a loss. I was kidding about the sugar in the sweet potatoes. It wasn't a lot of sugar, you are not diabetic, and it shouldn't have made a difference. The sweet potatoes are full of nutrients and belong in your diet. I am down a lb from yesterday. I stayed around 1300 calories and I can lose below 1500. But we are all different. I think the people who say that you will not lose on low calorie are full of hooey. Look at the anorexics. Their body doesn't care about starvation mode.

By the way, margarine no longer contains trans fats. They stopped that a while back. I sometimes use spreads such as Smart Balance that contains plan stenols or sterols, whatever they are called, and they are supposed to be heart healthy. Right now I am using spreadable butter, but I'm not impressed with it. I don't know what I will switch to next.

I would like to see your menus for the purpose of seeing why you sodium is so low. Yesterday's eating brought both my blood sugar and weight down, but my sodium intake was 4900. Yikes! Everything I eat is high sodium.

Prairie Queen, so happy that bro was able to call you. He is recovering well.

Jacqui, you mentioning that the Y closes early today reminded me that I wanted to go to Goodwill today. They close at 7, but DH is watching the Steeler game and won't leave til it's over. Yesterday I bought another exercise video for $1. When I got home, I watched a bit of it and realized it is used with an exercise ball. DH said he saw one there and I want to go back to get it. DH says I will probably fall off an exercise ball, but if I give this video to someone else I would like to be able to include the ball. It might even be gone by now.

I have a roast in the crock pot. I put it in late so I don't know when it will be done. I hope I get to go to Goodwill before we eat dinner. I love Goodwill. Since shopping there, I really get sticker shock when I go into a store and see the retail prices. LOL You can get anything you want at Goodwill if you're willing to wait for someone to donate it.

By the way, it's snowing in Cleveland. So it can't be far from Pittsburgh.

It's ok to be selfish and keep your snow ALLLL to yourself, Carol.

Did Mars go someplace exciting? Again?

Oh, PQ, I just cannot comment on your brother. You see, my brother had the same name. It just tears me up inside to see it written out...but I am so happy for you and him.


I can lose weight, ya'll, but it seems to require an illogical and unreasonable amount of effort, given my size.

Ugh. I just deleted a long-winded post that included the menu from yesterday....it seems like too much whining and complaining...Carol, yesterday's menu was coffee and 1/2 C oatmeal (Quaker quick oats, not the pre-packaged flavored stuff) for breakfast, homemade salads for lunch and dinner. A vegetarian day yesterday, except for butter and milk in breakfast foods. No fruit. And a 0.7 mile swim.

....whatever it takes, ladees....