All I know to do is to keep doing what I'm doing... exercise and eat less. Hopefully the weight will come down and maybe the fbs will eventually follow.

Carol Sue No I didn't think you were scolding me. I appreciate the input. I hope your psoriasis improvement is here to stay.

p.a. I actually wish I had never taken any diabetic medicine. I think it actually has made it worse. Although I am taking the Metformin 500 ER again and so far so good. My doc doesn't want to give me the glymiperide because he says I'll gain weight. Maybe he is right.

Since he won't give the med to me, I have to continue exercising and watching what I eat. If I could depend on the medicine, maybe I would get lazy and not do either one. I'm doing the 30 minutes a day on the recumbent bike. I'm not doing like I used to do this time. I do the bike regardless of how active/walking etc that I am going to be doing later in the day. I am actually getting to the place to where I am enjoying the bike. I read while riding it and do it early in the morning before I can talk myself out of it.

I only did the extra 15 minutes once this week. I've been having pain in my left hip and leg. Not the joint, just like a muscle. Finally got up this morning free of the pain and figured out it was a pair of shoes that I had started wearing around the house. I put them on and about 15 or 20 minutes later the pain was coming back. I'm using the 10s machine to get rid of the pain again and won't wearing those shoes any more. Talked to my beautician today and told her to stop wearing those shoes as she wears them to work and to gym to wear in the shower. She has been experiencing the same pain I have.

I wish I could be happy doing Atkins lc, but it just isn't me. I am using some of the guidelines of the Low carbing for Dummies hoping it works. Since I want to keep the the dairy in my plan, I have finally decided to go back to lowfat dairy instead of the full fat because this is what the book suggests. I still have some full fat dairy, but I will replace them with non/lowfat ones when needed. Still doing it with IE as well. I still don't want to eat when not hungry.

Trish, so far I haven't actually had a noticeable gain due to glimiperide, but I have had great difficulty losing and I think it could have something to do with that. Another woman on another forum gained 10 lbs as soon as she started taking it. I think it has something to do with your dosage. I am on 1gm twice a day, as compared to your DH who takes 4gm twice a day. Big difference. It's amazing that he hasn't gained, but you said he's been on it a long time. To me, it makes you lazy. You start to think "I can eat this because the glimiperide will bring my blood sugar down." But the way it does that is to increase your insulin levels, and you don't want that if it's not necessary. Insulin is the fat storage hormone. I think you will be able to find a way to eat small portions of the carbs you like and still control your blood sugar, maybe by controlling when you eat them and what you eat with them. They say you should start your meal with protein, then when you eat the carbs, the protein in your stomach will slow down the absorption of the carbs. If I were you, I would wait until you have your next A1c and see where you stand. If it's necessary to take it, then that's different. I am constantly trying to eat in such a way that I don't need it all the time and would love to get off it eventually. I don't mind the Metformin, because it doesn't cause weight gain and I have no other side effects from it.

I was having pain in my lower back and I figured out it was because my recumbent bike needed to be adjusted. After I moved it, the pedals were too far away for me and I needed to stretch to pedal. DH helped me move it closer. Then it was too close. I tried to push it out just a bit but I pushed it too far and now it's too far away again. I will get DH to help me get it just right, then I will put a mark with a Sharpie Pen so I know where it's supposed to be. I have had trouble with certain shoes, too. They just hold your body in the wrong position.

I can't stick to Atkins 20gm of carb but some days it just turns out that way. I don't track all the time so I really don't know what my carb count is. It has been much higher lately because I have had this cold and have been craving things like pasta and potatoes. In spite of that, my blood sugar hasn't been terribly high, and I was shocked to see I am down a couple pounds. But I've lost those pounds before and they always seem to find their way back. I still haven't learned how to keep going on my weight loss. But I still try. Even though some of my snacks are healthy ones, I have quit buying them. When I feel like having a snack, there's nothing here to snack on, so I just wait for my next meal and then I enjoy the meal more because I'm actually hungry. DH hasn't even been buying all his usual snacks. He has been eating apples lately, but he bought Red Delicious and I prefer Gala.

I use full fat cheese, but we still use fat-free milk and probably always will. The only time I buy full-fat milk is when I have a recipe that calls for it.

Carol Sue Hope your cold is better. I understand about the Atkins 20 g carbs. I'm trying to keep mine below 75 g.

I saw an article on yahoo just before I went to bed and made a copy of some of the important info from it. I wish I had bookmarked it because I could have shared it on here. It convinced me to follow the idea of The LC dummies book.

I think it was shared from Prevention. I really thought it would be on there again today since I found it after midnight, but can't find it today. Any way, when I read it, I could see why my sister loses weight so quickly. The article shared the fact that people who eat more yogurt, seafood, skinless chicken and nuts the less they gain weight. They also said that when it comes to dairy that it didn't seem to matter whether they had lowfat or full fat as the results were the same. They say that eating meat along with low-GI foods such as vegetables helped reduce weight gain. The problem seems to be when we eat high GI foods with eggs, cheese (protein) is what causes the weight gain.

They seemed to have decided that the best diets for weight loss were high in rich protein foods such as fish, nuts, and yogurt which they say helps prevent weight gain. Of course as we all know they say avoiding sugar, refined grains and starches helped.

So I really believe that keeping my carbs down under 100 g mostly around 75 g and making most of those good grains rather than refined, eating lots of fruits and veggies and protein rich foods along with my exercising should eventually bring the weight and the bs and other health numbers down. I am still taking the Metformin. I hope I will be able to take it as according to the doctor it does have some good benefits like protecting us from damages caused by diabetes. So far so good. I may not be able to take a stronger dose of it, so hopefully it will help with my plan. I can live with that.

I've done 4 days of 30 minutes on the recumbent bide and 1 day of 45 minutes. I'm not really going to worry about doing more than 30 minutes a day right now. I also am not going to worry about IF/IE right now. Because of trying to lower and steady the bs, I am going to eat smaller (3) meals and have a small snack at least 2x a day. This morning I had a good healthy breakfast and then around noon right after my 30 minute exercise, I had a small helping of blueberries and yogurt. I will have apple and peanut butter or peanuts tonight for a snack after dinner. Dinner will probably start being egg or tuna salad.

If I can get into a healthy routine, I will do okay since I'm kind of a "routine" person any way. I remember reading in the book Thin for Life where the Masters "Practiced" eating they way they were going to eat the rest of their lives until it became a habit. I figure what I am in the process of doing is "creating a habit" of the way I am going to eat the rest of my life. Another thing that impressed me about the Masters was that, they never saw themselves as being "On a diet". Diet means way of eating and that is how they described it... their way of eating. Also I read to day that they never let a slip/lapse become a "Relapse". They choose to see it as a "choice" to eat a treat or whatever and then moved on. They never allowed it to make them feel like they were "weak and couldn't do it". This illuminated the idea of "Well, I blew it so I might as well give up" and end up binging and gaining back what they had lost.

I want to make these things a part of my "way of thinking". I consider myself a "work in progress". LOL

p.a. Are you enjoying that new baby?

Y'all have a great weekend.

Trish, I think this sounds like a good plan, and is actually more like "normal eating," not a diet. I don't consider myself to be on a diet, either. I eat low carb sometimes and sometimes have some carbs, but just try to keep it in control. I don't know if I'm doing 80/20 but I try. Yesterday we went to the casino and ate the buffet. There is so much protein on that buffet that I rarely eat any carbs, other than vegetables. Yesterday, they had baked macaroni and cheese and it looked so good, so I ate some. It was delicious, the way I make mine when I used to make it. I didn't feel guilty, because I had made the decision to eat it and it's not something I do every day, and it didn't set off a binge. I ate it, enjoyed it, and moved on. I think guilt over food is gone from my life. Sometimes I use discretion and sometimes I indulge. Try to keep it 80/20. I used to eat until I was stuffed, so I think that's the biggest change I've made.

I have always heard that there's something in dairy that helps with weight loss but I don't remember what. It is such a contraversy. So many diet plans say to omit dairy. When I was first diagnosed, the doctor had me on this diet where I drank 3 cups of milk a day, and I lost weight. That's what I go by.

I recently read Ultra Metabolism by Dr Mark Hyman and he said that no one was meant to eat only 20 gm of carb per day. He says that between 50-100 is the best range and to choose a number that works for you. But that doesn't mean sugar, cakes, cookies etc. Healthy carbs. If you think about it, Atkins is only 20 gm of carb during induction. The way the original plan was written you are supposed to add carbs after induction until you find the range where you can still lose weight.

I agree that the Atkins 20 gm was never supposed to be a continual way of eating. If you think about it even the Phase 1 of South Beach diet is only supposed to be for 2 weeks. They were supposed to be a jump start not a for life woe.

I also find that some days I want a little more carbs, but I'm trying to keep them around 75 to 100.

I may have overdone the exercise this past week. Leg is achey between hip and knee. I can tell it is a muscle. It was a little better this morning. I don't know if I will try to go to church tomorrow or not. I want to stay off of it as much as I possibly can.

Did I share that DGS is going to graduate May the 5th after all. DH and his DD think that DGS may have still have some ADD problems and need meds. She wants him to have an MRI and DH told her that they need to do it where she can see to it as she knows a lot of docs where they live because of her job. The college has helped him change his major and minor so that he will be able to graduate with his class. I know we will miss him , but I believe it will be a big stress reliever for both of us.

I think it is good the way it has worked out because from what he said to me recently, he seemed to think as long as he could live here and not pay anything and us take care of him, he didn't have to think about taking any responsibility of himself. I actually said that he could just stay with us and things stay like they are "unless we decide to move" which is exactly what he said to me. I informed him that was not fair for him to think that way because we are sacrificing to do what we are doing and if we ended up losing our house not only would he have no place to live neither would we. What do these kids think?

Our preacher said Sunday that they have created a "new word" for the young people up to 28 yrs old. It is called kidults. These young people do not want any responsibility for anything. They only want to play games, have fun and sleep. DGS had made this statement almost exactly as the preacher described them just a few days before our preacher told the church this. DGS even admitted that this is exactly how he and his friends at college feel and think. What a shame. When I was his age, I couldn't wait to get out and work and take responsibility for myself. Things have really changed over the years.

Trish, I understand how you feel about DGS. I know you love him and have shown that in how much you have helped him, but he is like a baby bird that the mother has to push out of the nest and let him fly on his own. I know I won't be around to see my DGS reach that age, but he is being raised to have everything he wants simply because they can afford to buy it. My friend is doing the same thing with her 2 kids who are now teenagers. They get everything they want no matter how high my friend has to run her credit cards, and they have no responsibility. My friend doesn't understand that she's not helping her kids by treating them that way.

When I graduated from high school I went right out into the working world. Eventually I had enough money to go to night school after work and get a bit more education, but I paid for it all, plus room and board. I think it's nice to do things for your kids but they never learn responsibility that way.

I hope your leg feels better. You're right to take it easy until it heals. I really have to get back to my exercise.

Well, my leg wasn't hurting when I got up. However, it did return somewhat as the day progressed. The change is that it is bearable with Tylenol, Ibuprofane and Advil alternated. I used the 10s machine last night along with heat when I went to bed. As much as I hate not to exercise, I think I may have to either slow down or even back off until this leg is well.

I have figured out my eating plan routine. I will be going low carb most days by keeping my carb count (counting the way the dummies lc book suggests) around 45 gms. I think I remember reading in one of the Atkins book that most of the Atkins dieters keep their carb count around 45 gms on average. I think that is more doable. This way I will use only 1 carb serving at each meal. Using the dummies book, the carbs in nuts and dairy don't count as part of those carb counts. Doing it this way, I've decided to not subtract the fiber mainly because I didn't see any place where she even suggests subtracting them.

Carol Sue Has your cold left you? Hope so.

p.a. and those reading

My cold is still here, Trish. Everyone is telling me to go to the doctor but I want to wait and see how it goes this week. Tonight I had a couple cups of hot tea and then I coughed up a lot of mucus, so maybe the tea is helping to loosen up the congestion. That's the biggest problem. I didn't have many chills today.

Carol Sue I understand how you feel, but don't let that go too long.

I know what you mean, Trish, and other people are telling me the same thing. Right now since I feel as though it is improving gradually I am going to let it go a while longer. I don't feel sick anymore, but just have the symptoms of watery eyes, runny nose, and cough, and I cough 24/7 anyway. Right now it feels more like allergies than a cold because I don't feel sick. I slept until 9:45 this morning. I was up a couple times during the night but fell back to sleep, and I feel that I really needed that extra sleep. I'm eating good now and think I am on the road to recovery. I might take a Claritin or use my nasal spray and see if that relieves the nasal issues. I was reading symptoms online for bronchitis and there are a lot of them that I don't have, such as dark mucus, bloody mucus, fever, and I haven't had any chills for the past couple days. It only says to go to the doctor if you have those symptoms. I am doing a very good job of talking myself out of going! LOL

I'm losing it,,,,I thought I posted on Sunday...guess not.
Carol I hope you feel better soon,,,,there is a nasty cold going around.
Trish you do have to find your happy balance of carbs. I'm still tweaking ... But trying to cut out a few more these days.

p.a. I am trying to figure out how many carbs I need if any.

Carol Sue This does seem to be the time of year for allergies. I think I've had a touch of something like that along with the leg pain. Not sure. If you are feeling better, that is good.

I talked to my sister each week and I find it interesting that she her program is mostly protein and nuts. She doesn't like many veggies and she doesn't eat fruit any more because they raise her bs. Then I read the article last week about how people who eat more protein including nuts don't gain weight and/or lose weight easier.

Today, since I can't exercise as much as I did last week, I am trying to eat more protein and nuts. Not sure how much veggies I will eat and I may have to give up the fruit as well. I am taking it one day at a time. Of course, no exercise doesn't help my FBS at all.

Trish, if you think this will help you then go for it, but you have tried eliminating carbs in the past and were not successful with it. What works for your sister might not be right for you. I'm sorry to hear that you are having so much anguish over this and I hope you get it figured out soon.

Maybe it would be better if you just cut back on carbs and fruit and increased your protein. Don't try to eliminate anything altogether. I just don't want to see you try this and get frustrated again.

Until you can get back to your bike, try doing some seated exercises, moving your arms, just to be getting some movement. That way you won't feel that you're not doing any exercise at all. When I was in the hospital, they had me doing seated exercises twice a day. If you don't have hand held weights to use, try using some cans of soup or something similar.

I heard a doctor on a TBN program that I partially recorded yesterday. I think from what he said that my problem is gluten. He explained things so clearly about obesity saying that people have been made to believe that obesity is caused from overeating etc, but he said that since the medical field decided that and started people eating more grains that obesity has become worse not better. A lot of grains have gluten in them. He also talked about us missing minerals and vitamins etc.

He explains that you don't have to have celiac or chrons (sorry don't know how to spell) disease to be gluten sensitive. He said that by missing certain minerals (women lose these during pregnancy) and being gluten sensitive can cause people to gain between 20 lbs and up to even 200 lbs. You remove the gluten and take right vitamins and minerals and you will lose 1/2 to 2 lbs a day. It seems that the gluten causes us to experience the munches.

The man is Dr. Joel Wallak. He started out as veterinarian who did a lot of comparative autopsies on animals and humans when he worked with the Wild Kingdom back in the 60s. From these autopsies, he wrote a book that is in the Smithsonian Treasury. He ended up taking what he learned and became a doctor with humans. He speaks of the fact that he can reverse diabetes within 2 weeks. Any way, he does have a lot of youtube videos which DH and I are going to listen to.

For the 1st time, I understand that I really am gluten sensitive. I was told this many years ago when I worked for a Health Food store. The owner did some tests which I didn't take seriously enough at the time. Maybe if I had, I wouldn't be having these problems now. Although, the doctor does explain why being a vegan isn't a good idea. He has his experience with animals and humans to back what he says. I am certainly impressed with him.

I am going to work myself toward a gluten free eating plan.

Morning everyone
Trish you may be on to something. I have a friend who was feeling very bloated and had noticeably started gaining weight around her tummy....she was quite active to and started thinking something was seriously wrong. Well, her and her dh went to Italy for a vacation and while she was there she ate pasta every day! But, lost weight.turns out they use a different kind of wheat there .... It's more 'naturel' then what we find here. I know with myself if I eat a lot of wheat my stomach is very bloated... I ate pizza last week and owwwww my stomach! But my body isn't used to higher carbs these days.
I hope this is your answer, I know how you have struggled.