New month and a busy one. I am glad to put November behind me with all its sadness.

Weight is up three pounds this morning but BGL is OK at 5.0. Go figure. I sat at the table with my friend Karen last night and we talked about death. It was very cathartic but we also "snacked" on cheese, crusty bread and wine, finishing off with Christmas cake! Duh! I know I didn't have an extra 10,500 calories but still ... Good old water retention strikes again and I refuse to change my ticker yet.

Food for today needs more control so I'll be doing the usual yogurt, flax, fruit breakfast and finish the black bean soup for lunch. I need to work in more calcium as my nails are getting bad again. Dinner will be a bit tricky as it's my Hort. Society Christmas bash which is done by a really good caterer. I'm hoping for nice salads along with protein and will avoid dessert completely even though she is a terrific pastry chef.

On we go into a tricky month.

Went to 2 deliveries today so things were busy to start. (both healthy baby girls) I got breakfast before getting called out, and got lunch in between. Supper when getting home. TIming worked out ok for it all. So sugars were just fine. Even after supper I was only up a pound from my ticker. So maybe that pound down will be consistent and I will change the ticker this week.
Ruth, you are right, the holidays will be tough. Thinking positively, I will seize the opportunity to eat properly in these social situations. The Grey Cup party on Sunday provided lots of temptations. I had to move my seat away from the food. THe table in from the couch had so many goodies I couldn't sit there and resist. So I moved. Truthfully, I don't know how I stayed skinny when I was young. I know I hoovered it all up then just like I want to now. I guess those habits just caught up with me.
Tomorrow is meetings all day, so I have to take good stuff to eat and be prepared.
I also have to make a doc appointment. I decided on my own to increase the metformin, so need to go and check in with her.
ttfn, happy december friends.

It just seems I can't sleep more than 5-6 hours a night. But I'm exhausted by 9 pm, (no wonder) but just can't stay asleep. Oh well, maybe in an hour.
I have no doubt that this is affecting weight loss. In the past I had a high carb snack and went back to bed. Can't do that now. blah

Mad, my sleep pattern is all screwed up too! I am positive that is what's affecting my weightloss - aside from my most grievous sins!

Had salad and meat at the Christmas party last night and focused on conversation during dessert. My dinner companion (charming man) brought me a slice of lemon pie which I dabbled in. BGL is fine this morning and weight is still up. Grrr!

Finally ordered shiritake noodles from lowcarbgrocery and they arrived today. I'm doing shrimp, red peppers, broccoli and celery in a low carb peanut sauce for dinner. It's a bit of an extravagance but I'm worth it! If the salt isn't too high, I might be down a smidge tomorrow. (If the serving looks too skimpy, I'll throw in some baby spinach.)

I'm not sleeping but 5 - 6 hrs a night either and it is affecting my FBS and my weight a little as well. If I can sleep at least 7 hrs, they are both good. Not sure what is going on. Staying OP though and hopefully everything will even out.

have managed to stay at 168 all week, so moved the ticker. I was afraid to jinx it. BUt also noticing a lightening so feel its real.
the last two nights, I dealt with my middle of the night insomnia by taking something to help me sleep, (zoloft on Wed night, 1/2 gravol last night) and read or browsed web for an hour then slept. This is not ideal, I realize, but was getting desperate. I often have to get up for work (like most people) so its not always practical. But yesterday I was able to sleep to eight, and today I didn't have a time I needed to get up so I was freer to sleep. Glad for the weekend. I spoke with my doc about this previously and she said there really isn't a treatment for middle of night waking type of insomnia, unless its to take something to sleep then. If a milder remedy works (like gravol) thats fine, most folks can't take a sleeping pill then. For a long time, melatonin before bed worked well to keep me sleeping longer. not doing the trick now.

Have been doing well sticking to plan, and today fbs was 5.0 mmol so am really happy about that.
tgif everyone

fatmad Glad you got some sleep even if you had to take something. I hate doing that too, but sometime I do. I actually went to bed when I got sleepy last night around midnight. I didn't have to get up early so I tried having about 3 oz of red wine before I went to bed with some cheese. I actually slept almost 9 hrs. It is so amazing to me how that rest helps my FBS. It was 107 mg/dl this morning and my weight is only up 1 lb which is okay since I'm OP and probably comes from salt in the cheese. So probably isn't a gain at all. I also know that I need to drink more water which is difficult for me when the weather is so cold. I'm trying to drink more hot green tea since I use no sweetners in it making it count for 1/2 my daily liquids.

Since I've added more volume (volumetrics diet) to my eating, I find I don't need as much water, but still trying to get the 64 oz any way. I am getting more satisfied with my food and that is good.

Ruth and others reading

Have a great Friday and weekend!!!

trish, that is great that volumetrics is working for you. But keep up with the water, its so important. Yes, the sleep does make a big difference. I can't do wine or other alcohol, it keeps me awake and GIVES me insomnia. but glad it helps you. Do you think you are having trouble sleeping due to stress or anxiety? It would make sense with what is happening with hubby etc. If thats the case, maybe the herbal stuff for insomnia or nerve tonic (the ones with valerian, hops, skullcap and passion flower etc) would be helpful. They are great for helping you relax at bedtime. I have no trouble falling asleep, just wake up way too early.
Staying on plan well today, with tons of veggies.
Its Friday night and I am catching up on laundry. ! Have a good weekend

Wow! I slept solidly from 10 until 7:35 this morning. My bladder slept too. Today will be a much better day.
I work at the Mill 5 to 9 tonight but will take a proper light supper with me. Hot chocolate and donuts are available but not part of my eating plan.

fatmad I have no problem going to sleep most of the time either. My big problem is that when I know I have to get up early, I either wake up too early and can't go back to sleep or wake up almost every other hr. I have my clock set so it's not like I might sleep late. I guess things could have to do with DH. I know I've been rather depressed lately. Don't usually bother me so bad, so maybe it is that plus we used to go back to TX to see my family every other year. However, I didn't think Tony could make the trip so we didn't go. That may have something to do with it too. I hope we can go in the spring.

Ruth I'm sure you needed the rest. I loved the sleeping bladder... gave me a chuckle. Great you have a plan for tonight.

Nothing new going on here. Staying OP. That lb gained is back down this morning. Now to keep it off and keep going down.

HI LADIES ~ RUTH, you are correct -- December is a tricky month trying to manuever around all the goodies out there and all the parties and celebrations too. Went shopping today and pretended not to notice all the chocolate and cookies and goodies out there; stuck to my list and did well.

I picked up some meat pies; and some Scotch Shortbread for our guests on the big day. Will be making a nice turkey with lots and lots of veggies for sure. My guests have asked for apple pie this year, so I will oblige them and it should be eaten all up by them (I hope) or DH can help them too.

WE have been busy lately; and since my old PC is slower, it takes me much longer to post so they are far and fewer in between ... My eating has been pretty good; sticking to my healthy fiber breakfasts and correcting any small slips as soon as I can (nothing too big though).

Glad that you all are doing well; and hope that continues for this month as well. I have some sleeping issues myself; I am the same when I have to go somewhere ... I wake up every hour or two and then have to play catch-up the next few nights. I don't seem to need as much sleep these days either; can go on about 6 hours most nights now (use to sleep 7 or 8) ...

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend ... Rosebud

A bit of Montezuma's revenge this morning. I wonder if a Margarita would help. (Just kidding!) I'm actually down a bit of a pound and BGL is good. Now to keep going.

Sleep? Bed after 11 and wide awake at 5:30. 6½ hours is not enough. I'll pick up some Meltonin this week.

Today will be a tricky day with an afternoon "celebration of life" event and dinner at Heather's house tonight. I'll flex my resistance muscle in the afternoon and persuade Heather not to load me up with potatoes, gravy and dessert. I'm hoping she'll do dinner family style so I can serve myself and allow me to skip dessert.

Tomorrow I have my Quilting Groups pot luck lunch which I can manage but must plan a light evening meal.

amazing how life is planned around food isn't is? Ruth, everything you are doing is around food. It makes things hard. I wasn't busy with work yesterday, so did the groceries and didn't buy junk, except some preventia cookies for my daughter. Did make an atkins cheesecake for dessert since I was having friends over. We played board games and had a lovely time. Made cabbage rolls with meat and quinoa instead of rice, so maybe a bit of carbs, but not too bad. Bs was 5.2 this am, so am happy with that.
Have a long drive this morning to see a new baby, so will pack a careful lunch.
Rosebud, we miss you. Glad you can come by every now and then.
have a good Sunday everyone.

Rosebud Glad you could drop by. I've been missing you; I understand about the slow pc. Drop in when you can.

Ruth I get around 6 hours of sleep most nights. It doesn't seem to matter what time I go to bed either. DH asked me one day why I get up so early, but when I wake up and can't go back to sleep I may as well get up. DH has some Melatonin here that he doesn't take any more, but I've never tried taking it. Maybe I'll do that tonight and see if it helps. I also have Sleepytime herb tea that I haven't taken in a while, because I have no trouble going to sleep. I just wake up around 6 hrs later ready to get up.

Fatmad It does seem that everything is planned around food. We have 2 church parties this month planned around fellowshipping around food. However, it is bring finger foods, so I will be able to take some diet friendly foods for both parties which should help me stay OP. Our kids from FL are coming for 8 days for Christmas and I'll be doing a lot of cooking, but DD doesn't like for her kids to eat a lot of sweets so I plan to have a lot of fruit, cheeses and veggies for snacks that they love.

When I married Tony and moved to FL, we kept the grandkids there when their Mom worked. She wanted them to eat healthy and I was losing weight eating lots of fruits and veggies. So I always bought enough to share with the kids. One day we went to a birthday party for grandchildren of a friend of Tony's first wife. There were loads of food... junk and healthy snacks & snacks. Everybody commented on interesting it was that our kids didn't go for the chips and dips etc, they kept going back for the raw veggies and fruits. That is when I learned that given a choice, kids will choose healthy over junk. Even the then 3 yr old. She is now 8 and last year she and her step-brother who is a yr older than her kept coming in to eat out of the veggie tray of food I always purchased when they are here.

Hope everyone has a great week.