Carol Sue here is a link to the breakfast casserole with the spaghetti squash (which also has a link to cooking it in the crockpot)
http://www.satisfyingeats.com/breakf...ghetti-squash/ and here is a link to another recipe I want to try this week after I actually make the squash in the crockpot
http://asweetlife.org/recipes/twice-...ghetti-squash/

Hi gang:
for me, I have gotten back to a bad habit of eating in the evening, even though I am not hungry. I have a bit of reflux, but I eat anyway.
SO the last couple of days, I have not done this. Its a start.
Today was a long work day, ( and very bitterly cold, and I was going from car into houses all day) but I got on the treadmill for a few minutes tonight.
I made a home made pizza with alfredo sauce instead of tomato for supper.
My resolution regarding my diet for this week will be to add more leafy greens, perhaps steamed stuff for now.
Carol Sue: you are right that your blood sugar will go down if you don't eat, but eventually, you will start to go "too" low. This will make you feel hunger, and also your body will start to mobilize its reserves, possibly causing "dumping" of stored glucose. Also, the feeling of deprivation may lead you to over eat, or eat "bad" foods. (how many times have we eaten a lot of junk food when we get too hungry?) All these things can cause your sugar to spike high.
While eating every 5 hours may not be for everyone (I agree, keep an eye on how your body reacts) the theory of keeping sugars stable and not high or too low is a good one. Personally, I find cheese is great, its a nice slow burn for me and keeps me satisfied for a while, likewise peanut butter.
Well, thats making me want to eat, and I don't want to do that before bed, so will sign off for now.
ttfn

Mad, you are making small changes, which is a very good approach. Sometimes when you jump in with both feet it is too overwhelming and you cave.

Today I am doing the test to see what my blood sugar does over time without food. I want to see at what point my body will do a liver dump. Anytime I had to fast for a medical procedure, it never went below 100, no matter how long I went without food. The one time I am thinking of I was scheduled for an outpatient procedure and didn't eat overnight. When I got to the hospital, they prepped me, then the doctor had an emergency and I didn't get taken until afternoon. They tested my blood sugar before the procedure and it was 113, and that was about 20 hours after my last meal. I might have gone up and down a bit during that time, but the end result was 113. Usually, the longer I go without food the less hungry I am. Eating seems to put my appetite in high gear. Once I start eating, I just keep eating, and eating. Hunger has nothing to do with it.

I was getting ready to do my exercise yesterday and DH wanted to go to WalMart. So I went with him, but took my cart and did laps around the store. I can do that when it's not too crowded. We went to Target after Walmart and I did the same thing there. It put a couple thousand steps on my Fitbit and 2 flights of stairs. No stairs in Walmart or Target, but it seems when I increase the intensity of my walking, my Fitbit recognizes it as a flight of stairs. LOL

Shannon, thanks for the links. I will check them out.

That is me - reflux and still eating late at night, and usually carby stuff. I will do good all day and then get crazy after my daughter goes to bed. I'm also very tired by that time of day. I need to just go to bed!

Well, I did it, I checked my FBS - 127 - yep, back up again. That night time eating is probably keeping it high. Well, now I know where I am starting.

I stayed up late last night working on my sewing room then Olivia woke with a bad dream and asked to get in my bed (since Daddy is away) so I let her. I hope this week doesn't totally derail her sleep progress. It is hard to keep her out of my bed when DH is gone. We both sleep so much better in the same bed, LOL. I get uninterrupted sleep, which is a rarity so it's hard to turn down.

I decided I need to get back on my probiotic. That helped me the first time I tried to go low carb last year. I have alot of it left since we bought a 6 month supply and I only took it about 2 months.

I used to have terrible reflux. I was diagnosed with a severe hiatal hernia. I haven't had reflux in years now. I don't know what I'm doing different other than not as much nighttime eating.

Shannon, what does the probiotic do that helps you with your eating plan?

I don't know if sleeping with you is such a bad thing if it can be limited to when DH is away. If it's helping both of you sleep better......

Hello everyone and Happy New Year

I have been away ~ the longest I have been away from home and the longest I have ever been gone from here.

We went on a road trip ~ 24 days. It started out ~ my husband's brother wanted to have a sort of mini family reunion (only one of our kids had ever met his kids ~ I had only met these nieces and nephew once) and he wanted to do it in Asheville, NC and go to the Biltmore Estate ~ he had never been there ~ and thought it would be neat to go at Christmas time when they have it all decorated for Christmas and lighted up special.

My husband figured that since we are retired we could take our time and drive instead of fly. And since we were up that far (from Texas) that we might as well go a little farther and see some more of our family. So we went all the way north to the Buffalo, NY area where DH's aunt and cousins live, and a lot of places in between.

I am so thankful that on our entire trip, we didn't encounter any snow or ice/freezing rain. It was plenty cold and windy sometimes ~ I didn't enjoy that too much.

It was a good trip. We got to see and do a lot of things and see friends and family we hadn't seen in a while.

Just the same, I'm glad to be back home.

I was hoping to get to stay home and get stuff put away and kind of relax a bit, but end up having to go out today. Oh well......

Hope you all are doing well.

Hi all! It's my birthday! For the first time in ages, I weigh slightly less than I did this time last year. Woo hoo! I'll take it!

I've been having a lot of success with eating and keeping my blood sugar in check, but it's a little higher than I'd like in the mornings. Last night I was STARVING before bed and out of desperation I had turkey and Laughing Cow on a whole wheat English muffin. This morning I had the best reading I've had in weeks. Do night time snacks help or hurt you guys?

I will catch up with everyone else in a bit, I love reading everything but I'm out of time to respond. Off to take my kid's violin to school and just realized I sent her without lunch so...probably should pack something. Oops.

Gayle, I missed you. Glad to see you're back. I remember you said you were going on that trip, but I forgot. Glad you had a nice time and the weather cooperated. I would like to go on a road trip one of these days. Some friends of ours from around here (SW PA) went this past summer and drove all the way to the west coast. I would love to do that. I have seen some other parts of the country, New York City, Md, NJ, MO, FL, NV. But I would like to see more. My little doggy had to be put to sleep last week so now we have a little more freedom to travel. We never had anyone to watch him.

Secondhalf, sometimes bedtime snacks help me and sometimes not. I can't seem to get it right. It has a lot to do with what you eat and how much. I'm glad it helped you!

Gayle Welcome back. Sounds like you had a really nice road trip.

Secondhalf Happy Birthday!!! Congrats on weighing less than last year. That does feel good. I am thankful for the few lbs less than I did last year and although it wasn't as much as I would have liked to have lost, I am thankful it was a loss and not a gain. Since the Diabetic Miracle book has come up and shared on here, I'm testing the snack before bed. So far my FBS is still in the 130s which is fairly good for me.

Fatmad I've kind of eased into the plan that is working for me. It doesn't hurt to ease your way into finding what is best for you. I'm sure you will figure it out. Glad to have you back with us.

Shannon I agree that having Olivia sleep with you so you both get a good nights sleep won't hurt as long as she knows it will be only when her daddy is gone. Sometimes we just need the peace of mind.

lettingslenderin How did your first day on DM go? I got my MM book out and read some and I thoroughly believe it would work. I just don't think it fits into my lifestyle.

Carol Sue I got the Metabolism Miracle book out and looked up the 5x5 rule she had in it which as far as I remember was in Step 1. She allowed some low carb breads etc, but the rule is 5 grams with a 5 hr period. In other words, you could have 5 grams of net carbs (Dietary Fiber subracted from total carbs) every 5 hrs if you wanted it. As I just said above, I think the plan is great because it teaches the liver to handle glucose correctly, but I don't think I could do 8 weeks of it because we eat out so often. I could do it if I had 8 weeks to just eat at home, but I don't. I've thought about getting the DM book because I would like to see what she has learned and changed since the MM book.

I realized last night that I eat about every 4 hrs on my plan and as shared above, I'm experimenting with having a snack of cheese with almonds a few hrs before I go to bed. That puts me over the 8 hr eating window, but as long as I keep losing weight and the FBS improves, I will continue doing that. Although I am not going to do the extreme low carb that she mentions in the MM book, I don't think it would hurt to even change my plan a little to eat every 5 hrs and end with the snack. She says in MM that it works out to 5 meals, but I don't think it would for me even if I change and eat within the 1st hr after I get up in the morning. A lot of good points.

I finally started my exercising again yesterday. We are going out to eat and then to Sam's. I usually do so much walking when we go to Sam's that I count that as my exercise, but I think I'm going to try to do the 30 minutes 5 days a week that DM/MM books recommend so I just may come home and do 30 on my recumbent bike. I do enjoy riding it and since I believe a lot of this has to do with making new habits, I would like to make 30 minutes 5 days a week on the recumbent bike a habit. I am kind of a routine person so if I can get my eating and exercise into a routine, it should really be a big help for me.

Ruthie I forgot to say anything to you when you stopped in here at the beginning of the year. It was good to hear from you. I know you are one busy lady, but I hope you will pop in here more often.

Bonnie If you are lurking, pop in and say hello and let us know how you are doing.

Anyone I missed and all lurkers

Have a great day.

I pop in nearly every day but don't have much to say. My FBGL is good and my next HA1c results will be soon. Went to the doc with an earache yesterday and Dr Jack insisted we do bloodwork again while I was there. (The last was in August and was in normal range.) I suspect the "deviations" of December may show up this time. I gained 10 pounds that month and it sure is slow to come off.

Carol Sue it helps with the sugar cravings. Supposedly it is killing off candida growth and repopulating the gut with the proper intestinal flora. Hubby was the one who saw a video about it and ordered them but then he didn't take them so I did. I took them for a full month before I went cold turkey off bread, pasta, potatoes, corn and sweets (with regular sugar). I *think* it helped me but of course, there is no way for me to really know if it truly was a contributor. I am not a big believer in the whole "you have yeast" thing - it's controversial at best - I can remember a friend telling me a chiropractor had told her that years ago about herself and inside I was rolling my eyes - but I have been noticing for the last several weeks that my morning breath is worse than normal and today I noticed my tongue was all white looking so I figure it can't hurt and maybe it will help.

Shannon, a friend of mine has been going to a chiropractor for over a year, taking various supplements. She originally went to him because she had excessive gas. He tested her, then began giving her so many different supplements to treat the things he says she has. Spent tons of money! She said she feels better but her weight didn't go down, and neither did her A1c. She is at 7.1 but won't take any meds for it. Something, probably the probiotics, did help with the gas.

I lost my sugar cravings when I started eating tons of vegetables. Now to find something to make me quit craving bread. LOL

Ruth, I don't think 1 month of holiday indulgences will effect your A1c that much. You have been doing good otherwise.

Trish, if I eat meals at 7am, 12pm, 5pm that is only 3 meals. 5 hours later would be 10pm, and that would just be a snack. She mentions eating another snack if you wake up in the middle of the night. If I got up to fix a snack I would never get back to sleep! I did do it one night. Maybe because you are eating every 4 hours instead of 5 you are adding one more than I am, but it could be a snack, not actually a meal.

The 5 gm of carb can only be certain things. Most of them are breads and crackers that you have to buy at speciality stores or online. I don't want to include them because my mind would see that as "I am allowed bread and crackers." I do better when we eat out because DH and I are ordering separate meals. I can order a completely carb free meal. If I cook at home, I'm making carbs for DH.

Seconghalf, I forgot to say Happy Birthday! Hope you had a good day.

Dgramie said she would be back after the holidays. Well, it's after the holidays! Where are you dgramie?

I have just about given up on seeing Rennie here again, but I would be happy to see her just the same!

What was Rennie's screen name? We can search her out.

I have texted with Rennie since I moved but probably not in the last couple months. I know she is now working full time and only has Sunday off, she gets home late from her route. I think she's just not online as much anymore.

Rennie is Love2b150. I see her posting on 3FC, but she is more into weight loss challenges. I just thought maybe she's lurking and mentioning her name would get her to pop in and say Hi.

Same with Donna. She is also busy with "lotsakids" but does pop in here once in a while.

I am always concentrating on lowering my BS for health reasons. Maybe if I focused more on losing weight the BS would naturally come down along with it. Rennie and Donna have both lost a lot.

My test for the liver dump was a miserable failure. I forgot to consider that it would mean I couldn't eat. I went a couple hours and then DH made breakfast, so it was all over. I did stay low carb most of the day and my BS stayed under 200 after meals until I got to dinner. I made beef stew, with the intention of eating the meat and veggies and leaving the potatoes for DH. Well, it was so good, I ate potatoes. I was so mad at myself that I didn't even test after dinner.

Breakfast and lunch are always low carb. Dinner and evening is where I waver. Today I'm making beef vegetable soup at DH's request. That is relatively low carb. If I can keep myself from eating after dinner I can do my "over 5 hour" test. Today will be an IF day with a 6-7 hour eating window. IF makes me feel good. Maybe I should go by how I feel, not by someone else's idea of what I should be doing. Isn't that what I always tell you, Trish? LOL I need to formulate Carol's plan.

Either way, I love our little group here, and always like to hear what everyone else is doing and about their success!