Kevin's Watch

Friday, 9/16/11

ok, I am scared. Last Tuesday I felt an old feeling I hadn't felt in several years. My sugar was up. I know it was up even though I didn't test it. I don't have a meter anymore. It is that tired that is saved only for high blood sugar. Then on Wednesday I went for my eye exam and was told my pressure was 150/92. I knew my eyes had deteriorated but thought it was just an age thing. But there it is.........the old enemy is creeping back. It is a sneaky little bastard. Three years ago I was closing in on 300 pounds, my blood sugar was 400, my pressure was 210/120. January 1st of this year I was 175, sugar was 90 and my pressure was 110/70. But it's creeping back. I feel it. I know it. Stress eating, Stress everything. I look at food for sooth my nerves. And I am a friggin outstanding cook. Bad combo. So on Wednesday I started back on a serious health regime. I already am a big walker (in more than one sense ) so I am ok there. But the food is the issue. So I started by eliminating ..... again....all the sugars, simple carbs etc. Same routine. Already, this morning, I catch myself wavering. I love to cook, so I make up reasons to cook, always for other people. But lets face it. It is really for me. I think I have regained about 10 - 15 pounds. This cannot happen again. I will not survive.

I have to find another outlet for my stress. And my loneliness. And my anger. I do not want to gain this weight back. I do not want to go back to all those injections and pills. I do not want to go back to the huffing and puffing, the sweating, the headaches, the bloat, the size 24, the embarrassment, the humiliation. I just do not want to go backward. So I am putting my diet woes on virtual paper. It is sort of like Weight Watchers. I hated getting weighed in public but the humiliation can be turned into motivation. So please, if you are silly enough to actually read this thing, please chime in. I need help. I am scared.

Cutting out sugars is an important step. Just make sure you get enough glucose, it's what your brain lives on! One thing that helps me is to buy high quality ingredients. I'm a cheap bastard, so I end up buying less food, so I'm not starving but I also don't have the opportunity to 'eat for the sake of it'.

Go lorin!

Turns our I am right there with ya, girlfriend. Thanks to SD's nagging, I finally went in for a physical. Non-fasting blood was drawn, and mine was at 324. I am now on 1000 mgs of metformin twice a day. Hyperception has me on a modified Atkins. I am trying to walk for twenty minutes everyday.

I started testing exactly a month ago, on August 17th. At that time my fasting sugars ran from 227 to 280 that first week, with one spike to 329 the day after the family and I went Olive Garden for their "Never-Ending Pasta Bowl." That was the same week we brought Beorn to school, so maybe some stress was involved as well. I was only on one 500 mgs metformin a day that first week, and introduced a second in the evening the following week. The fasting numbers then fell to between 170 and 225 for that week, and continued to drop to about an average of 150 fasting.

I had a follow up visit with my doctor last Friday, and while he is pleased with my progress, he increased my medication to 1000 mgs twice a day. I had my lowest fasting reading yet this morning, of 130. But I still have a long way to go. Thank goodness I am a protein and veggie eater; I'm not missing sweets and sugar all that much.

...but I do miss pizza and pasta on occasion.

Hang in there! We can do this!

I have been fighting the diabetes battle for over five years and the high blood pressure battle for 15 - 20. Maintaining the necessary discipline is rough, especially when one is the "cook of the house." Dam-et is a teen and he eats like one. Dam-sel is supportive, but also likes my cooking.

Of course, the immediately prior poster is a recurring guest, a fabulous cook, and a major fan of the menu...but at least she will now be trying to follow a more sensible nutrition regime, both at home and when here. Having someone who is doing the same thing helps a lot.

Anyway, when I was slipping a couple years ago, lorin's posting of her story of dropping all the weight, getting her numbers under control, and being able to maintain that without medication was exactly the nudge I needed to get back on the wagon.

Lorin, you can do this. As Menolly said, we can do this. You have had a very bad few months since Elohimfest...but you can make it just a blip. With your friends backing you, you are stronger than the stress, the anger and fear, and the damnable loneliness.

ok i'm in. i'm with you ladies (and SD). so menolly? 20 minutes a day walking? is that a significant amount? is that what was recommended to you? i'm sitting on my ass in front of this computer most of the day (since i am unemployed) and not getting any exercise.

i'm mostly a South Beach Diet person, which is similar to Adkins. but i go on and off on and off. i can go 2 weeks on pretty easily but then the bread and starch start calling to me. and i have a real hard time with the sugar.

should i go to kaiser and have them check my blood sugar? diabetes runs in my family (paternal grandmother, her sister, their mother)

i need support on this. i want to be healthy enough and lose enough weight so that i can quit smoking. i'm terrified of quitting smoking because i don't want to gain more weight. i know i should start going back to the yoga class at least 2 days a week but i can't afford it right now. unemployment is bad for the booty. i get sick of salad and "the right kind of" nuts and i crave fruit a LOT once i've been off sugar for any length of time.

lucimay wrote:ok i'm in. i'm with you ladies (and SD). so menolly? 20 minutes a day walking? is that a significant amount? is that what was recommended to you? i'm sitting on my ass in front of this computer most of the day (since i am unemployed) and not getting any exercise.

At the pace I walk, I would say, "no. Twenty minutes a day is not a significant amount." However, considering I was totally sedentary prior to this, it's a start, you know? And with the humidity at this time of year here in Gator Town, it really is about all I can handle at this time. I do hope once it cools down here, and our daily rain fall passes, that I'll increase my walking time to twice a day for thirty minutes. But as those who are Torah observant say to those who wish to start observing mitzvot such as keeping kosher, "baby steps. Add new things gradually. Taking on too much at once burns you out, nu?"

lucimay wrote:i'm mostly a South Beach Diet person, which is similar to Adkins. but i go on and off on and off. i can go 2 weeks on pretty easily but then the bread and starch start calling to me. and i have a real hard time with the sugar.

I know very little about South Beach, although I have heard it cuts back on carbs and tries to go lower fat. So I don't know how dangerous yo-yo'ing on and off of South Beach can be. I do know that it is very dangerous to do so following the full fat Atkins. Adding carbs back in to a life-style eating plan when you have been ingesting high fats causes the body to retain them in dangerous levels, whereas cutting the carbs cause them to pass through the body and be excreted more readily. Or so the Atkins literature claims and I have personally observed via Hyperception following Atkins for the past few years. But I find being able to indulge in full fat meats, real butter, and other fats helps stave off the cravings for sweets and sugars. I am literally full most of the time.

...although, as I mentioned above, if I drive by a pizzeria, the smell of Italian food is torture. I must experiment with veal, chicken, or eggplant parmigiana, dusted with crushed pork rinds in place of bread crumbs, soon. And there is always that Atkins induction deep dish "pizza" that I shared the recipe for on the low carb thread awhile back. Definitely not low fat, but is pretty tasty for those low carbing and fulfills my craving for pizza.

When I do have a craving for a sweet, I am finding the pre-made sugar free Jell-O jello cups (not the temptations or pudding) with a topping of Land O'Lakes sugar free whipped cream satisfies me in the evenings, and during the day the Extra Desserts Delights sugar free gum (I really like the Mint Chocolate Chip flavor, although the apple pie and the key lime pie flavors are pretty good as well) satisfies both a need for something in my mouth and the dessert craving.

lucimay wrote:should i go to kaiser and have them check my blood sugar? diabetes runs in my family (paternal grandmother, her sister, their mother)

With that family history, I would. You may also be able to find free diabetes screenings at places like Walgreens or Sam's Club. I know "health fairs" are done pretty frequently here; I think I hear about one at least once a month.

Of course, a fasting blood draw at a lab would most likely give the most accurate results, but whatever means you can have done is better than nothing.

lucimay wrote:i need support on this. i want to be healthy enough and lose enough weight so that i can quit smoking. i'm terrified of quitting smoking because i don't want to gain more weight.

I truly think the key for both of us is activity. If we can keep moving, when will we have the time to eat? This is coming from someone who despises exercise and being motivated to walk even twenty minutes a day is hard. Again, "baby steps." Take a daily sunset stroll in your beautiful city, if only for twenty minites. It's not much, but it is a start.

lucimay wrote:i know i should start going back to the yoga class at least 2 days a week but i can't afford it right now. unemployment is bad for the booty.

Are there free exercise classes that meet in a park or anything? Perhaps even a walking "club?" Again, anything which will get one moving, and a class with others instead of doing it alone for socialization and motivation, is better than being sedentary.

lucimay wrote:i get sick of salad and "the right kind of" nuts and i crave fruit a LOT once i've been off sugar for any length of time.

Atkins allows a small amount (less than a half a cup) of berries, the darker the better, or watermelon, once one is in Phase 2 and onward, as long as slow weight loss is maintained. And while not on Atkins, one of the modifications Hyperception and I have made is to have half a red grapefruit once a day. Not every day, as they are not always affordable, but when we have a supply in the house, once a day.

You can do this as well, luci! We can do this!

thanks menolly, thanks very much for advice, suggestions, and support.

I'm hesitant to offer my opinion on this as you USers really do live in a different world to those of us on this side of the Atlantic.

BUT it's the Galley and I love the lot of you, so time for some tough love.

Atkins? South Beach? YOU MUST BE KIDDING!!!!!! (I've edited that several times so as not to cause offence)

ok here's a good link www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/F ... fAodYnj_3g

If diabetes is an issue, the most important thing is a BALANCED diet, with SMALL portions, OFTEN. Cutting out fruit????????

If anyone's interested, I'll post more tomorrow when I calm down a bit. I can't remember a thread on KW that's got me as wound up, or made me delete so much that I've typed, in the interest of civility!

still 9/16/11

so the day ends. It was not totally successful but an improvement. I ate a decent breakfast. One slice of low carb flatbread with almond butter. Then I took helldog for a long walk in the woods. I walked too far and overdid it. Something like four miles of hills. When I got home I ate a packet of oatmeal with flax. All good so far. Then I went to Costco...........big mistake. My sugar was too low, I had the shakes and sweats. And the little lady with the samples offered me a one inch square of the food court pizza. Yep.....I bought a slice. So that was my day. Not that bad. Probably no more than a thousand calories. But the slip was low quality high fat. I still have some mental work to do.

...although, as I mentioned above, if I drive by a pizzeria, the smell of Italian food is torture.

As far as I am concerned eating can become an addiction. Any reovering alcoholic will tell you "people, places and things" meaning we have to avoid things that trigger your hunger. I should have avoided costcos when I was hungry and you need to find another route home.

i'm mostly a South Beach Diet person, which is similar to Adkins.

I am a south beacher too. It is the most sensible approach to food, imo. That and Weight Watchers but that point thing makes me nuts. I think Atkins is just too hard on the body. And I would miss fruits and veggies.

Luci, 20 minutes is a start. I started at 15 minutes and built up five minutes every week. I am at about 70 minutes at night and 30 minutes in the morning. On the weekends I try to find somewhere fun to walk. It is amazing how the walking becomes second nature. The body begins to crave the walks. And let me tell you, if you want motivation, get (or rent) a dog. I swear, at 9pm that little nut case is staring at me saying in doggie looks......"ok lets go lets go lets go.....gotta go.....gotta go.....gotta go" And btw....it is GREAT you are walking, Menolly. I know from experience how much you are not into it so I appreciate you effort.

Stonemaybe wrote: Atkins? South Beach? YOU MUST BE KIDDING!!!!!! (I've edited that several times so as not to cause offence) ok here's a good link www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/F ... fAodYnj_3g

I think moderation is the key. South beach is really a moderation diet, as is Weight Watchers. I am not willing to give up all fruits. I am willing to give up certain fruits like bananas and watermelon. I have controlled my diabetes for 3 years practicing moderation and although I recently slipped, I am hoping I can get back to a good place.

SD, how is your sugar now?

lorin wrote:SD, how is your sugar now?

113 this morning and my 90-day average waking number has been between that and 120 since February of 2010.

Stone, I agree with you and my approach since I got serious about this back in 2005 has been a sustainable program that I can stick to everyday. I know low-carbing has worked for Menolly's husband when he has stuck to it and he has certainly dropped some weight... but I do not believe in famine-or-feast diets, and my household culture is built around meals that everyone can (and will!) eat together. I would not rage at the SouthBeach or Atkins adherents, but that is not what I advocate.

I am working on slowly making further changes in our eating habits here, so that when Menolly next visits, I will neither greatly disrupt the habits she is working so hard to establish nor make sudden changes to what Dam-sel and Dam-et are used to. To reiterate a phrase used upthread, "baby steps!"

stone, i appreciate your link but damned if i can make heads or tails of it in a practical sense!

"blah blah is low GI but don't eat it with blah blah blah because then the GI gets neutralized and blah blah blah blah is high GI but don't leave it out of your diet because you need the blah blah it provides and combine blah blah blah with blah to equalize the affects of blah blah blah blah blah...."

arg. it just confused me!

i walked for 20 minutes today after i finished my household dailies.
i had to go out to pick up smokes a block away so instead of turning
right and walking back the block home i turned left and walked down
geary 4 blocks then crossed the street and walked back up geary then
headed one more block past my street and walked around that block to
home. took about 20 minutes or so.

my gosh it's lovely outside this evening!!

GI is glycemic index, which (as I understand it) is a measure of carb content and how readily the body processes it. It confuses me too.

Yes I pay attention to refined vs. occuring-in-nature carbs and I am aware that even some natural carbs convert quickly and can cause blood sugar spikes, but I have not yet embraced the kind of quantitative analysis that GI adherents seem to favor.

Sigh. I should join up too. I'm back up to my highest-ever weight. Currently on BP medicine; my blood pressure at the doc's today was -- well, they said it was fine, but it was a titch higher than 120/80 and I just don't want to go there again.

I've had the "D" word mentioned in my hearing. Managed to dodge the medication bullet last time by dropping about 15 lbs. Of course, that was before I gained the most recent 10. I'll know more when I get back the bloodwork results from today; among the things they did was a fasting sugar rate.

Stone, I hear you. I'm not crazy about the idea of *any* diet that forces you to cut out a major food group. I just don't see how that can lead to a balanced diet. That's why I've avoided South Beach and Atkins.

I'll be honest with you guys -- I haven't tried to watch my weight at all in the past year, and here's why. Last fall, I was all wound up to do Geneen Roth's eating system (eat only when you're hungry, stop when you're full -- there are a couple more guidelines, but you get the idea). I am totally a stress eater and a binge eater, and it was SO HARD for me to eat *only* when I was hungry. One of the changes I made was to not eat breakfast first thing in the morning. Now, I take thyroid medication as well. You're supposed to take it on an empty stomach, then wait between 30-60 minutes before eating. So my routine had been to wake up, take the thyroid pill, then get a glass of water and cruise the Internet or write morning pages or something for about half an hour, and then eat some cereal. But with Geneen's plan, I was delaying breakfast sometimes for 3 hours. And then I would eat lunch at, like, 3pm or so, and then I wouldn't be hungry for dinner 'til 8:30pm or so. *Totally* threw off my usual eating pattern, in other words. Anyway, l stuck to it for a month or two, and it was working in terms of losing weight -- and then my thyroid went haywire. First I had to almost stop taking the pills, and then I went into a tailspin (I had a pretty serious anxiety attack in mid-January which coincided with my thyroid low point) and needed to up the dosage higher than it had been before. It's just been within the past couple of months that the levels have evened out again. And I can't help but think that changing my eating pattern had something to do with the whole thing.

So I believe in Geneen's plan...but I'm scared to do it again, for fear of futzing up my thyroid levels again. Stone, since you're checking in on this little blog, do you think I have anything to worry about?

And yeah, re exercise, I've been doing a lot of sitting on my butt. I need to start walking again. Sigh. Maybe now that the weather is cooling off, I'll get out there again.

maybe I am missing something but I just don't see the S.B. diet is extreme or excluding any food group. Maybe it's me that is not interpreting the diet correctly.

Both Atkins and South Beach have pretty restrictive induction phases, as I understand it.

Don't overdo it on the exercise ... that's all I can add here. I dropped 30 pounds (I wasn't very big to begin with ... 5'7" 174 lbs). I was jogging 4 miles three times a week. Weights four times a week. Counting my calories. I got down to 146 and looked awesome. But I overdid it, starting running every day, and ripped a muscle in my calf. I haven't been the same since (back in May). I'm 39 years old, and up until this point I could always whip myself into shape by willpower alone. This is the first time in my life when I can no longer exercise as hard as I want. It's no longer an issue of willpower. My body can't take it. I've tried jogging since then, and have barely been able to walk for a week afterwards. Now I'm biking. But I have to be really careful.

Ki tore the same muscle just walking. Age sucks. Don't overdo it. If you hurt yourself, your exercise will drop to even lower levels.

Ki says Weight Watchers is the best.

Stonemaybe wrote:I'm hesitant to offer my opinion on this as you USers really do live in a different world to those of us on this side of the Atlantic.

BUT it's the Galley and I love the lot of you, so time for some tough love.

Atkins? South Beach? YOU MUST BE KIDDING!!!!!! (I've edited that several times so as not to cause offence)

ok here's a good link www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/F ... fAodYnj_3g

If diabetes is an issue, the most important thing is a BALANCED diet, with SMALL portions, OFTEN. Cutting out fruit????????

If anyone's interested, I'll post more tomorrow when I calm down a bit. I can't remember a thread on KW that's got me as wound up, or made me delete so much that I've typed, in the interest of civility!

ah...
Your professional side is showing, stone...

I know most medical professionals are highly skeptical, or at least strongly disapprove, of Atkins. But I informed my doctor that I am following Atkins, and for now he has said nothing against it. I did have a fasting lipid profile done on Tuesday morning, but have not had a follow up visit to receive the results yet. I do believe the Atkins literature regarding the effect of fats in a low carb life-style though, so I'm pretty sure I am going to stick with it, regardless.

Savor Dam wrote:Both Atkins and South Beach have pretty restrictive induction phases, as I understand it.

My understanding is induction should never last longer than two weeks. At least on Atkins. It is too restrictive to do it longer, and those who have done Atkins long term manage to do so because they do eat a more balanced diet starting with Phase 2. From those I know who tried to do induction longer, they tend to burn out on the diet after three weeks or so.

Plus, supplements are pretty much required. While I know the best place to get certain nutrients is via food, Atkins readily admits following their plan will limit the intake of some nutrients so supplementation is necessary. I've taken supplements ever since I was a chiropractic assistant, so that is not a problem for me.

From my own experience, and what I've read online, Atkins and other low-carb diets which rely upon hitting ketosis aren't as effective if you've already done them before, and they get less effective each subsequent time afterwards. I had great success the first time, and then couldn't lose weight the next time.

lucimay wrote:i walked for 20 minutes today after i finished my household dailies.
i had to go out to pick up smokes a block away so instead of turning
right and walking back the block home i turned left and walked down
geary 4 blocks then crossed the street and walked back up geary then
headed one more block past my street and walked around that block to
home. took about 20 minutes or so.

my gosh it's lovely outside this evening!!

I figured it would be in your beautiful city.
I envy you your walking climate.
Enjoy it as much as you can!

I'm planning to up my veggie intake and downplay my carb intake. I'll not give up any one thing altogether just eat without stuffing myself and eating better things and no more junk food. My store in Berkeley had nothing but junk food surrounding it. Not one healthy place that was reasonably priced. I need to drop about 20lbs. A big one for me is not eating late at night and now that I am not getting home at midnight this should help me big time. AND I need to make myself have a breakfast in the morning. In the big picture though, we all have different metabolisms and different nutritional needs based on our own private body chemistry. I find a meat/veggie diet works really well for me. Heavy on the protein including steaks and cheese...and green veg such as my fave brussells and lots of broccoli and mixed salad greens and a daily dose of citrus help me shake off weight pretty well. It also helps to prep meals in advance so that you have food ready to consume when you get hungry. That leaves less excuses for eating out or grabbing quick junk food. AND everyone, make sure you drink lots of water during the day. For soda junkies, mineral water with a splash of 100% fruit juice is a reasonable way to wean yourself off the sugar drinks and if you need the caffeine, add a sploosh of black tea. Zainab dropped ten pounds in a month by getting off the coca cola and drinking calistoga laced with apple juice and black tea. And before any of you start spouting crap about diet soda, LISTEN UP! Acesulfame, aspertame, sucralose, saccarine, not sure the spelling on all those but that crap actually blocks and confuses the body from being able to process natural sugar which can severely up your stakes on diabetes. These are all long term effect reports that my Mom has access to since she spent her life working for the FDA. It will soon be publicly and reputably announced that prolonged diet soda consumption can actually LEAD to diabetes. Your body actually processes the chemical "sugar" and forgets how to process the natural sugar WHICH is incidentally what any CARB breaks down into before it's processed in the body. EVERY bite of bread or pasta breaks down into SUGAR. Think on that and be dismayed.

One other thing that makes a huge difference, eat SLOW! Take the time to breathe and think between bites. You will fill up with a LOT less food and you won't end up with that stuffed to the brim feeling. Seriously, everyone trying to lose weight, count to 25 between bites tomorrow and when you are full STOP EATING! it makes a HUGE difference. I know I am far from perfect but please think about what I said and take it into consideration.