Trish, it's my opinion that DH will want to go to the casino on Thursday, which is the day we have been going, lately. It is under new ownership from when we went years back. That was when we would win or break even 3 times out of 4. They have tightened up the machines so there isn't much winning. I try to get DH to understand it's not the same if you lose all the time, and he is starting to see that but by the time the next week rolls around he's starting to miss it and wants to go again. He is not content to stay home like I am. He needs to find a new interest, that is less expensive.

My FBS was 85 this morning, and I think that's why I feel so good. I can get good results like this if I am very diligent with my eating. Yesterday, I had no appetite for some reason so that is probably why blood sugar stayed so low.

mjf I have tried Ezekial bread. I do like that it is sprouted grain which is supposed to be healthy but Trish is right, it is very expensive and I don't feel that the benefit is worth the extra money. Trish and I use a different bread that is lower calorie and lower carb than most regular bread and that is helpful. But for me, we eat out a lot so there's no option to ask for Ezekial bread. So I eat what is available, but in smaller quantities and less often. The same with ice cream. There are low carb ice creams on the market now and recipies like you suggest that I could make. But I don't want that. When I eat ice cream I want the real thing, so I choose to have smaller quantities less often. There are many people who choose to have these substitutions, but it's not me. It's comparable to a person who does not eat red meat eating a soyburger instead. I have heard that they can be seasoned to taste "just like a hamburger." But when I want a hamburger, I want a beef burger, not something that is dressed up to taste like one. We used to go out for ice cream once a week or so. Now we go once or twice a year. If DH wants ice cream, he buys some to keep at home for himself.

Once again, I consider my own experience to be more relavent than a study. I take fish oil, I take meds for heart disease and I take my statins and keep my cholesterol in a good range. But I still get blocked arteries and have heart attacks. I often wonder what good is it to take this medicine? I guess if I didn't take it, I would be long gone. Everyone else in my family died young.

Carol Sue Congratulations on the 85 FGB. That is wonderful I do believe getting our bs corrected is key to our health. I agree with Dr. Fung that everything seems to be a result of diabetes. I think you are an example of that with you feeling better.

I think as long as your DH gambling doesn't interfere with your finances that it is no big deal since he enjoys it so much. After all I do remember his winnings met some bills and purchased an item y'all needed recently so I consider that a blessing.

fatmad I didn't see your post last night because we must have been posting about the same time. I have always enjoyed the things you explain to us medically. I get that from DH because of his time working in medicine. His DD is so good about explaining things too and I miss being around her. It has definitely helped you with learning how to lose weight. Thanks for always sharing with us because it helps me understand why I'm making the decisions I make too. Glad you enjoyed the time with your DS. When does your DD come in?

I checked my bs reading 4 hrs after dinner last night and it was 123. I like checking the bs results because using the A1c /blood glucose chart I found shows that my readings never went out of the 6s range even after going overboard with the nuts at dinner. I pushed it at 150 but it stayed good. I have to be more careful what I do when I'm really tired. I'm sure it would have been worse if we had eaten KFC.

Weight this morning was 213 and FBG was 117. I'm so glad to see this progress even if it is slow. Slow is supposed to be better. Whatever, I will take it. I really think the big difference is the fact that I am going to bed and getting a full nights sleep. Most of my exercise has become keeping my house clean, shopping and cooking more etc.

mjf Sometimes I make my own ice cream but don't eat it enough to make it any more. I do make my own yogurt. DH and I both take fish oil because our doctor told us to take it. I use Alaskan Fish OIl because the fish from there is fresh caught rather than farm raised. I don't know if it helps or not but the previous doctor we had when we first moved here had DH on a very expensive oil pills with instructions to take 4 a day. When we got our present doctor, we told him those pills were too expensive so he told DH to take OTC fish oil instead. Since we have changed our diet and use coconut oil, he is taking only 2 and I take 1.

I have to make a batch of yogurt today so we will have it tomorrow. I saved out a cup for a starter but decided I would rather have a fresh batch. Fish is on the menu today. I ate the same thing I had for breakfast yesterday except I had sausage in place of bacon and will check it 2 and 4 hrs after. Right now I am checking how certain meals affect my blood sugar rather than individual foods.

Have a great day everyone.

Trish, remember, my FBG is still effected by the G, while you are getting your numbers without meds. It makes a difference. Yesterday I took less than half of my prescribed dose, so I am gradually lowering it. That makes me happy. I don't think I will be able to get off it completely unless I lose more weight, and right now I can't say I am doing anything for weight loss. I am eating less is all I can say. Not counting anything, but I can tell by my feelings of fullness that I am eating less than before. If there is any weight loss it will be slow, and I agree that slow can be better. I think it is more prone to stay off if you lose it slow. Others will say that fast weight loss is better because it gives you the incentive to try harder. It just depends on the person.

Our casino visits have always been AFTER our bills were paid. No worry about that, but if the money was not spent in the casino it would be available for other things, especially since we haven't been winning lately. We don't go on vacations, no movies, concerts, etc. I really can't think of what else we would spend that money on. We don't need anything new, and would have to get rid of something in the house to make room for new things. LOL We could spend the money on home improvements, but our house is OK for us. If we upgrade, we would be upgrading for the next person, so let them do their own upgrading! LOL

With personal experience, you can only try one thing at a time, so how do you decide what to try first? If you try something for a year, and it works, that's great. If it doesn't work, the disease might get worse. There's no diet which is guaranteed to work, but if you want to make the safest bet, I think it makes sense to look to look at studies.

For treating heart disease, I think the evidence in favor of a plant-based diet is strong.

In Esselstyn's study, 198 heart disease patients participated. 177 people adhered to the diet. In the next 3.7 years, only 1 of the 177 adherent patients experienced a cardiovascular event, but 13 of the 21 nonadherent patients experienced a cardiovascular event.

In Ornish's study, 48 heart disease patients participated. 28 participants followed a mostly plant-based diet (they were allowed to eat egg white and 1 cup of non-fat milk or yogurt per day). 20 participants (the control group) received usual care. After 1 year, the plant-based group, on average, reduced their LDL by 37.5%, and experienced a 91% reduction in the frequency of chest pain. The control group reduced their LDL by 6%, and had a 165% increase in the frequency of chest pain.

The evidence in favor of plant based may be strong in studies but the desire to give up animal protein is very weak. When I die you can say "I told you!". I'm sorry that I am not taking this more seriously.

Carol Sue I understand that you are still using the G pill, but don't sell yourself short. I remember when you weren't getting those good bs readings and you were taking much more G. You have made progress so give yourself credit because you are doing this.

I got to the part of The Personalized Diet that explains how to test foods differently than the article you shared the other day. I can check it 2, 3 or 4 hrs later, but there is no way I'm going to check bs 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes or more. I have no desire to spend most of my day checking it that way. I too am happy with my lowcarb/IF plan. I'm not sure I need to do any more tweaking. I think the best thing I can do now is just follow the plan.

I did check bs 2 hrs breakfast with sausage and it was 115. Before main meal was 109. I'm happy with my plan and results.

Trish I think the reason to check more often is to see how quickly your blood sugar comes back down. The longer it remains high more damage it does. But really I think that is excessive unless you really want to know.

Me too.

I am feeling very good today. I did have a bad night but now I am 99% sure my problem is neurapathy. The bad news is most sources say it is irreversible. The good news is I am finding a difference of night/day when I keep blood sugar very low. If I eat something that spikes blood sugar, especially sugar, I am ok for several hours but then I'm not ok. Last night I think it was cereal. I can do this. I know what foods make me feel bad and which ones dont. No more fooling around. . It is amazing now that i can predict what my blood sugar will be based on how I feel. It's a shame that I allowed this to happen but hopefully I will be able to manage it successfully without it progressing. It is a comfort to me to know I don't have to give up eggs or chicken, my two favorite foods. I can focus on the many foods that keep blood sugar low and not worry about the ones that bring me harm. Today is a very good day.

Trish I think you are doing very well. Your weight is in a range lower than I can remember in all the years I've known you. You have made significant changes in your diet and lifestyle, especially with the fasting. We make mistakes but see them as such and make corrections. We are on our way for sure.

While the evidence for plant based diets is good, so it is for low carb-higher fat diets as well. There is mounting evidence for IF and EF, and that can be used with any diet plan. For each of us, we have to find something that both works and is workable, within us. For me that is LCHF with IF and some EF.
I know from doing a low FODMAP diet last year, that I am sensitive to dose based legumes. I can eat any and all of them, but not in amounts that are satisfying to me. I get gut symptoms with larger servings, and I don't do well with the enzyme supplements.
Some people are both interested and willing to do mostly plant based eating, and will do well on it. Some will do it and not be as successful .
Same for LCHF. Its not for everyone. I also actually eat less meat that I did before. If I eat only two meals a day, and one is dairy based and one meat based, I am only having a small serving for meat, (usually not more than 4 ounces) about 4-5 times a week. Less than what I had with SAD.

After two days of "regular" meals with carbs from rice and corn, weight is temporarily at 153. I expect it will be right down to 150 tomorrow after fasting today, because I will lose the water weight I am carrying after those meals. Otherwise feeling pretty good.
Weather is lovely here, sunny and warm but not hot yet.
Out to the garden and to do some walking now.

Mad- Love how you explain things! Sorry to hear enzymes don't help you. I happened to see an enzyme aimed at breaking down gluten. It's definitely not for those with celiac's. However, the thought crossed my mind - would help temper accidental cross contamination exposures for those with celiac's? LIkely wouldn't stop the symptoms- but maybe lessen them?

Still hanging in there at my current steady state (numbers unchanged) and always trying to make enough changes to get things moving. I have been doing more planning and I make reasonable plans. However, I seem to make a last minute bad choice and do not follow my carefully laid out plan. Plus, this fatigue really gets to me.

I have been also testing to see how different food choices affect me. I typically test 2 hours after the start of eating. My numbers are great when I eat according to plan and meet the normal standard. When I am off plan or simply eat too much, the numbers drift into the pre-diabetic range. It is interesting how much variation there are in normal ranges that are out there. One source indicated that BS should be <85 two hours after eating (wildly inconsistent with other sources). For a while, I was checking at 1 hour and 3 hour after the start of eating too but those were always within non-diabetic normal. It seems my body is a little behind the mark at the 2 hour point so that is the one I focus on.

My daughter is officially out of school for the summer. We are looking forward to our summer trips and make the most of them since time is so precious. The next trip is camping in a place with a river that only runs in the spring. We go every year and will be taking our dogs. Last year was really a great trip aside from the mishap on the way down. One of our dogs, the burly one, pressed the window button and jumped out on to the interstate highway when the window opened. The other dog was trying to follow her but my quick witted daughter (who is mowing the lawn right now!) grabbed him by the tail. He is quite spindly (skinny, fine boned with longish legs) so he would have been really hurt. Luckily when it happened we were in slow traffic, so everyone behind us stopped and were already trying to round our dog up. Aside from some scrapes and being really sore, our dog was fine. When we stopped at the next rest stop, a kind trucker who saw the whole thing asked about our dog.

This year we will make good use of the window lock button! We will also have to make sure to bring dog booties for their feet. There is a lot of sand and sandy hills where we are going. Last year, it was too hot on their feet. It really showed the difference in our dogs personalities. On the last hill we needed to go up, they both stopped half way up because it was hot. After a little encouragement, one (the one who fell on the highway) raced the rest of the way up the hill. The other one just stayed and cried. He didn't run up the hill or back down the hill to me or move over to the nearby shade or lay down on his side or dig a hole in the sand- not a lot of survival instinct there, poor fellow. My husband who was in the lead raced back down to carry him up to the top and the dog was fine. That was the trip where we had a deer that would come right into our campsite. She would also eat the dog food. I was glad it was the lamb variety and not the venison variety! Who knew deer would eat dog food? Long story short, camping is really friendly for staying on plan. In addition to the extra exercise and good sleep, we have to plan all of our food ahead of time. There are only a few places to stock up in the willy whacks and the prices are really high. We try not to buy anything when we are out there unless we really need it because of the cost.

It took me three tries to post this- my apologies if it appears multiple times. Hope everyone keeps up the good work!

Are you talking about heart disease, or health in general?

I'm not aware of any low-carb non-plant-based studies that treated heart disease with as much success as Esselstyn, but if you know of such a study, then I'm very interested in reading it.

You might say that low-carb high-fat works for some people, but if you have heart disease, then how do you know if it's working for you? Wait and see if you get another heart attack? Have an angiography every month to see if your artery blockage is improving?

Hi Pipsicle. Good to see you for your Sunday checkin. It sounds like you really enjoy your camping trips. I only went camping once with friends when I was single. DH wants no part of camping. Any time we go away it has to be in a hotel and eating in restaurants. No roughing it for him. Glad to hear your dog s are ok. Scary!

I'm not surprised that the deer eat dog food. Anything they don't have to forage for. One time I noticed that my dog was eating all his food every night then I figured out we had mice that were eating it.

I kept my blood sugar down all day. As far as I know it peaked at 127 after dinner. Pain level still low. I walked all over Walmart with no problem. Hope it stays this way. I'm finding it hard to get back to eating a small dinner and nothing afterward. I feel as though I need some sugar, almost like a hypo but I know it's not that. My body just feels that something is missing.

Carol Sue I'm glad you are figuring out what causes your pain. Congratulations on a day of low bs readings. I agree, we are learning what works for us. We will succeed.

I decided that not to check the bs all the time. I"m not going to check every 30 minutes after a meal. Yesterday was one of those days when I couldn't get enough to eat and over ate although I kept to healthier foods OP. My FBG was 129. The nice thing was that 1 hr after my BPC made with HWC, Stevia and 1T coconut oil that my bs had dropped to 114. I ate my berries and yogurt for breakfast with a c of coffee it was 147 @ 1 hr check, 125 @ 2 hr check. We left to go see Daddy so I didn't get to see what it was at 3 and 4 hrs. However, by the time we got back home to eat reading was 100 before dinner. I actually went 8 and 1/2 hrs without eating after the yogurt/fruit brunch. I'm drinking another BPC and ate a serving of SlimJim beef sticks hoping that will hold me over till brunch tomorrow morning.

I think I will go back to checking FBG and also checking before we eat our early supper. I have pretty much figured out what I can and cannot eat. I really think if I continue with a low carb moderately high fat and I know I do so well with a 5 hr fast in between 2 meals and a snack with a 16 hr fast from evening to brunch the next day works very well for me. I have found that getting 7 to 8 hrs sleep at night helps a lot with my bs readings as well.

Pipsicle I enjoyed reading about your camping trip. My 1st 2 hubbies loved camping out, but DH #3 has no interest in it. He would rather stay in a hotel/motel with all the conveniences and I have to say at this age that I do too. Funny thing is that if DH#1 or 2 were still living and wanting to camp, I probably would too. I have just been spoiled by DH#3. I'm not surprised that the deer ate dog food, I'm just surprised they were able to come into your camp without fear. When DH #2 and I had a little farm, we had a difficult time keeping them from wandering into our garden to eat. DH rigged a speaker with music playing during the early mornings to keep them out of our garden. LOL

fatmad I find when I eat off that I have a 2 lb gain, but I notice the more control I have of my bs that it goes back down within a day or two. I really think IF is key to that although I don't do EF like you do.

As DH and I were walking to Daddy's room the NA told me that Daddy was going to be surprised that we were there. She said he told her that he hadn't seen his daughters and they know I'm here. I will start going 2 times a week again. I told him that my hair appointment is going to be at 11 Friday and that I would bring him a Whataburger. I thought my nephew and niece were going but I guess they didn't. Still couldn't get his phone to receive calls. DS is bringing new phones for them when they come back from her daughters so he will have a new phone in a few days. I will be glad. I don't like it when I can't call him to check on him. The new phone will be exactly like DS hubby's so I am going to suggest that he keep it working. My DH is the only one who works on Daddy pc and keeps it working and I think DS Hubby should be in charge of Daddy's phone.

A little about evidence (taken as a whole) for LCHF
https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aH...=1558955160103

This is a great podcast. The next week give the same time to plant based diets, so no, this doc is not biased at all.