I take metformin.. But my endocrinologist put me on it, i do not have diabetes.. They have found that overweight people tho they have normal range blood sugar levels do have a problem with the way that their bodies get the sugar levels down.. I tested with a glucose meter for a month and my sugar levels were always normal..

However, deeper testing revealed that my body was working overtime to get the sugar levels to normal.. if that makes any sense.. and to sum it up... if your body keeps overworking to keep your blood suagr levels normal eventually it will wear out (umm im not sure what wears out) But u can end up with diabetes..( you have a high insulin level not high blood sugar)

So drs have found that this action of working so hard to keep normal blood levels is what makes an overweight person.. crave the carbs, and sugars.. your body is working so hard to keep those normal blood sugar levels that u need/ want more carbs and sugar...

Now this does not show up in a regular blood sugar test, becuz i had normal to lower levels..

the reason i went to the endocrinologist is becuz in an ac1 blood .. it can see your blood sugar levels for the past 3 months.. also there is a simple blood test to determine how hard your body is working to keep those normal blood sugar levels..

the Metformin does decrease the cravings for carbs/sugar, Drs. are now using this medication to treat obesity.


Increasingly the type-2 diabetes medication metformin is being prescribed to increase glucose sensitivity and promote weight loss in insulin resistant patients. Insulin resistance can lead to the development of the metabolic syndrome (or syndrome x), a combination of visceral adiposity, hypertension, dyslipidemia (high blood fat levels), glucose intolerance and hyperinsulinemia (high insulin levels). These symptoms are risk factors for the development of heart and vascular disease, and type-2 diabetes.

In women, hyperinsulinemia may lead to the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition characterized by a circle of cysts on the ovaries, high androgen levels, hirsutism, and infertility. Many women with PCOS also are obese and display symptoms of the metabolic syndrome. PCOS women have 7 times the risk of having a heart attack or developing type-2 diabetes, and 4 times the risk of developing hypertension. They also have a higher risk of developing endometrial cancer. There is evidence that a downstream defect of insulin receptor signaling is responsible for insulin resistance in PCOS, although the exact mechanism is not known. Some of the hormonal irregularities of PCOS have recently been linked to the genes follistatin, CYP11A and plasminogen activator inhibitor.

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Metformin appears to work in three ways. First, it decreases the absorption of dietary carbohydrates through the intestines.

Second, it reduces the production of glucose by the liver.(2) The liver uses the raw material in your food to create a reserve supply of blood sugar. When your body experiences stress, the liver releases the reserve glucose to supply your brain and muscles with an immediate source of energy to cope with the stress. Glucophage suppresses the production of this reserve fuel.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, metformin increases the sensitivity of muscle cells to insulin.(2) Insulin is the hormone that delivers glucose into your cells to be burned as fuel, or stored. Women with PCOS frequently have "insulin resistance", a condition where excessive amounts of insulin are required in order to get blood glucose moved into cells, where it belongs. Glucophage helps your body to transport glucose with relatively less insulin, thus lowering your insulin levels. Chronically high levels of either glucose or insulin in your blood contributes to obesity, heart disease, infertility, and certain cancers, as well as the development of diabetes.

Hi Gals ~ I am taking a break from studying and have been lurking around the site.

Check out these pictures. This lady posts over on the maintenance board.

http://groups.msn.com/3FCLadiesWhoLi...um.msnw?Page=1

All I can say is WOW !!

Howdy ALL!!
Today was good!!!!!! Mallissa and I went on a long bike ride tonight. We went over the overpass bridge(we do have to walk our bikes up. LOL) then did a mile on the greenway, crossed over by the tunnel to the main road(might not do that again)it had sidewalks but you had to go through all the fast food driveways then around the golf course through the big tunnel to our big park! Rode through the park and the gardens and around the lake and went through the big tunnel again, around the golf course the other way towards home. We got about a mile from home and I had to call Dave to pick up Mallissa. It was starting to storm. The lighting was scaring her. So he picked her up at the top of the hill and I rode like H*LL home! I actually pulled up when they were getting out of the car. LOL Then a big crack of lighting. Wheeeeeee I made it. LOL I feel so much better when I exercise!

I ate well today! Had raisin bran and banana for breakfast, low-fat graham crackers for snack(good thing about these, I can have 2 and I will drink 2-3 glasses of water), nice veggie salad for lunch, no afternoon snack, but had tons and tons of water! Dinner I made roast beef hoagies with onions, mushrooms and peppers and ate another small salad. The sandwiches turned out really good. It was a WW receipe. I got all my veggies in

Curlylocks: thanks for posting the thing about PCOS. I have PCOS but I had a hystro 7 years ago and hate to say it haven't been back to gyno since. Figured I spent enough time in the strups! I know before Petra "yells" at me, I need to go. I am going to soon because I am hitting the time to get my boobs squeezed! I do go to the doctor when I am sick which is about once a year. I feel fine other than the extra weight! Great feeling when the legs don't rub, I can't wear panty hose. IT makes my skin crawl. LOL

Petra: I have read the PCOS boards. I like it here better. LOL I am going to sound real stupid here but I don't get the "low carb" thing. I figure I can lose the weight just as well with eating a balance diet and exercising. I might try it when I feel I need to shake it up a little.

KPE: we did the dance recital last weekend... A whole Sunday afternoon worth. LOL I feel your pain. LOL I want just the 5 minutes my baby is on stage and that is it..Since she is 5, they used to do the little ones first and the whole place clears out at intermission. Welcome to you, if I didn't before. I can't remember. LOL I have posted this before but any movement is good movement, start slow and do things like park in the further parking space and things like that.

Annie: the bread would get me at RL. I am thinking about getting some video tapes. I don't have any. I have the stair stepper, tons of other exercise equipment, and the Y membership but I might buy me a tape on ebay. Actually I am going to try Amazon because I bought a bunch of Disney movies for Mallissa on there. Is the WATP good. What is it like? I think I will go for Richard Simmons..so Mallissa can do it with me. LOL

Moonray: 3lbs..HORRAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!! Great going girl!!

Angel: Glad you don't live here..campers came back early..it rained..rained and more rain...but what is camping without it. Glad you are back and back op.

Clipclop: loved the motivator!! DOn't study too hard..enjoy the sun or better yet, study in the sun!

TerryNY: Didn't welcome you either! I am bad! Welcome, we post often around here. LOL This has been a great group of support!! I love it here.

Momx3: I did it..I exercised and ate good today.. I wasn't off program but really needed to get the exercise in. I feel so much better. Now will someone wedge me up the stairs..I am stuck and can't get up. LOL

Sky: good for you with the exercise! Any movement is good movement.

Lookin: where are you today girl? Missing you!!

Ok..I hope I didn't miss anyone! I am beat...going to shower and go to bed!! Got good news tonight, Mallissa friend's mom liked her so much they invited her back for Friday.>WAHOOOOOOOOO... I miss my little buddy but she does have a life too. Actually most of the time her social life is better than mine. LOL

Hugs, Night and drink your water!
Lisa
Wyoming

Curlylocks--I'm a doctor. I know how metformin works but I'm sure everyone else appreciates the info. I couldn't answer the lady's question because she didn't specify why she was taking it in the first place. I didn't know if she has diabetes, PCOS, metabolic syndrome, etc. I didn't want to give her a two page answer to what was probably a simple question.

I thought it was very interesting.. becuz I have always been curious y some people can eat all day and not gain an ounce, including my family.. and i can sniff a cookie and gain 2 lbs lmao...

I even told the dr I dont over eat... which i wasnt .. it was the things I was eating...

Have time for just a quick little hello from here at work. Did great last night. Ate at Red Lobster and didn't touch a thing after that. I also hopped on the bike for 15 minutes and went 5 miles. *Whew* Felt great after, though.

Lisa- I prefer exercise DVD's to going to a gym. I prefer, at this stage in my life, not to have anyone watching me sweat. I DO like WATP. It's a great workout. You work up from the 1-mile, to 2-miles, then 3-miles, and I guess she now has a 4-mile, but other various different workouts. Her name is Leslie Sanstone. I don't particulary care for the music, but after you get the gist of the workout, you can mute it, and play your own music! LOL

I'm a beginner, so I needed to start things slow. I didn't want to freak my body out too much! LOL

I was naughty and didn't eat breakfast this morning. I have been drinking water, though. My kids about drove me nutso this morning. I cannot wait until school is over and I can have a peaceful relaxing morning before work.

Catch up on ya'll later

Good Morning !! Work has been so quiet lately that the boss told me to take another day off.. and I couldn't argue with that !! So just doing a last review of the material for my exam tonight and then will take it easy this afternoon. The exam isn't until 6:00, so lots of time yet.

The one thing that I do notice when I stay home is that I don't seem to eat as frequently.. drink lots of but don't have as many snacks during the day. Actually I just realized that I haven't even had breakfast yet.. yikes I better get to it !

ANNIE ~ I need to find a good exercise regime that I can stick to I have been so good with my eating, now just need to be a bit more disciplined with the workouts. Good for you for getting them in !! You asked about what I am studying.. I will be writing my exam next summer to become an accountant.. so just doing my prep courses right now.

LISA ~ i am trying not to study too hard, but don't know if I am being very successful at that ! Glad that you beat the lightning home.. yikes I think I would have been with Mallisa and taken the ride

PAIGE ~ don't worry about not responding to everyone. You miss a day and you miss a whole lot on this thread !! Glad to see you again.. have a good day

PETRA ~ I am glad that Kobe is doing better and was able to go for a walk with you and Buddy. To get the smilies you have to choose "advanced" when you go to reply... instead of just a quick reply.

ANGEL EYES ~ welcome back !! Glad that you had a good time camping.. and well done on getting caught up with the laundry. YUM marshmellows.. nothing better than toasting mellows when you are camping.

JENNIE ~ don't worry about the 2 lbs..it will be gone by Sunday ((skinny vibes)) I do the same thing and jump on the scale mid week.. always to see bad numbers.. but then by weigh in day i turn it around. Maybe seeing that "bad" numbers makes us work harder in the days leading up to WI.

MOMx3 ~ Yeah baggy clothes.. ya gotta love that feeling I look so forward to being able to fit into all the nice clothes that I have in my closet !! Glad that you are feeling better !!

HOTCUPOJAVA ~ hope you are enjoying your days off .. we miss your turtle circle stories !!

DEE ~ hope you are doing okay and are still going strong !

LOOKING2LOSE ~ hope you are doing well !

MOONRAY ~ hope to see you soon !

SKYSTHELIMIT ~ hope your first day went well and you are sticking with it!

Well that's a wrap.. hope you all have a great day and TTYS.... ClipClop Out !

Hey everyone
hope you are all doing great. Congrats to all the loosers I have been doing my best to make the healthiest choices possible I'm just doing bad with the exercise I'm just going to have to try harder.

MoonRay

Hi Everyone . I tried to get on last night to post but my daughter was working on homework and I can't kick her off when she is doing that now can I . I wish I could have got on now I feel so far behind I may never catch up. I am doing really well on my eating and exercising although I only did 5 days last week . I went online yesterday and ordered a jogging stroller. I should get it next week. I am so excited. This way I can take the baby and she won't fall out if she falls asleep .

My son's last day of school is tomorrow and my daughters is the 9th. Yeah!!! I have to leave my house at 7 am to get them to school by 7:50 because between the 2 schools (that are on the same street) there are almost 5,000 students. That's alot of traffic!!!!

Curlylocks - congrats on no whoop-whoop sound. That must be so exciting.

Jennie - I bet the 2 lbs is just because you are on a different scale. Don't worry you are doing great . Tell your son the bike is my favorite too. It's fun to watch the legs pumping so fast

Clipclop - love the motivation and the pictures. Damn that women is buff. She looks so amazing. That's going to be us in a year . I hope you have taken some before pictures. Yeah on your day off!!! I have clothes in my closet from when I went to Mexico with some girlfriends in 2000. I really got on the ball before I went and was down to 160 from 210 in 5 months. Now I wish I would have kept that up . Oh well I would'nt have met you wonderful ladies if I had so I'm o.k.

Angel - Glad to see you back. Good for you on the camping and having so much fun with your family. These are the things the kids remember for life
.

Petra - So glad Kobe got over his fear. When we had our other dogs who have since passed away they were really bad about trying to get out of the yard so we had to put up an electric fence. One day the male lifted his leg to pee and got zapped you know where. I know I should'nt laugh but he stayed away from the fence from then on. Poor baby .

Annie - I love Red Lobster . What tapes did you buy? I always love new tapes. I did my old Richard Simmons Disco Sweat last night and realized I had never actually done it all the way through before (used to hate cool down on all tapes). Anyway there is a ab portion at the end that kicked my abs!!!

kpe - Don't give up on the exercise. Once you start doing it you will wonder how you ever lived without it. It gives you so much more energy!

Lisa - Good for you getting out there. Here's your boost up the stairs ((BOOST)). I did my tape like I told you. Here's to us . Have fun with your freedom on Friday!!

I hope everyone has a most excellent day!! Love you guys.

Moon - You snuck in on me. Don't sound so down girl. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!
Don't give up on yourself. You have been doing so well. Just fit it in when you can and don't beat yourself up if you can't it's o.k.

Hi ladies!!!.. sorry I havent been posting... the good news is that I finally caught up in reading everyones posts, but the bad news is I was eating Church's fried chicken during the process I'm having such a hard time getting back on board.. I don't want to give up completely, but every time I've tried to get back on the PIC train this week, I've seem to take a detour to McDonald's and I never get to the train station.

CLIPCLOP: wow.. that web site was very motivational.. hmm.. I wonder if I could get into bodybuilding??

today is 2 weeks that I've been cheating I can't believe it!!!.. I'm soo mad at myself. I do this everytime.. I do good for a little while.. I slip up once and I don't get back on for a really long time.. NO NOT THIS TIME.. I need to do this.. I need to get back on track.. I applied for a Work at home job for a company that I used to work for years ago (they didnt used to have work at home, if they did, i never would've quit ) .. please pray for me and keep your fingers crossed that I get it.. It would be so much easier for me to stay on track if I didnt have to leave my house.. I don't like to leave the house to pick up junk.. but at here at this job it's a different story.. I have to take a 1 hour lunch (and I definately like to leave this place,, I hate my job) and the closest things are junky. Sorry to babble on, but I need to clear my consience (sp?)

well ladies.. today is my mothers b-day, so we are going to take her out to dinner, I'm going to try to make better choiced tonight, but I plan to be on track starting tomorrow.. wish me luck..


PS... welcome newbies..

how about arby's ? they have a new chicken salad wrap that sounds yummmy.. or umm subway where u could get a wrap? or ummmm pack ur lunch, and just eat outside, I am very lucky in that even tho i only get 30 min for lunch my mom lives just 1/2 mile from my work and she makes me a salad or soup for lunch..

i buy the soup and salad fixins and just leave them at her house.

for dinner i only buy healthy choice dinners and thats all that is in my freezer, and my cereals for breakfast..

Maybe buy a weight loss book and read at lunch? or make a wrap and eat it while u walk?

oh Deerod..... I share your pain. I usually go for several weeks/months and then fall off (deeply) from plan. I think if you are to get serious with this, that you have to "go for a fail proof environment". Curlylocks has a great idea, lace up your shoes and go for a walk or go to another 'better' fast food restaurant. McD's would do it for me also....can't resist the Big Mac's but stay away from whatever is your evil. I find a good book or a nice walk helpful. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! I am one to talk, today is the first day OP for awhile. I did a HUGE grocery shop and stocked up with all my low pt foods and a large variety of fruits and veggies. This is mind over matter....and you matter!!! {{hugs}}

Today I took a 30 min walk with the boys (my son and stepson). I had to clean out my son's wagon (it was full of leaves), I put him in it and we took off. My stepson didn't complain one bit like I thought he would have, he actually was a big help he pulled the wagon most of the time for me (I figured that he has been couped up playing his gameboy in his room ever since school was out he needed the excercise just as much as I did ). My son LOVED being pulled in the wagon as long as it was moving . *Whew* though it was hot and muggy out there very icky feeling you know YUCK! It looked like it was going to rain too yet again so I couldn't go very far from the house unless I wanted to take the chance of getting caught in it.
Although that would have felt good, now that I think about it.

I just stepped on the scale a little bit ago it said I lost 5 pounds . So I got off played with it over and over making sure it was right and it still says I lost 5 pounds. I don't have a digital one either. So I'll take it I guess.

way to go!!! the walk sounds really nice... heres an idea i got from my X , when we used to ride bikes in the hot summer, he would take his water bottle and fill it up each nite and put it in the freezer to take with him, that way u have ice cold water! u can drink it or hold it on ur neck lmao