Insulin Resistence or what

[Nomad]

I am very concerned and so are my doctors. I have been gaining weight over the last several months....almost a year now. I have increased my exercise, lowered my food intake and have drank more water. I still gain weight. I am taking suppelments like Chromium, and that is not helping (although I think it may help ever so slightly...a minisule amount). I have tried eating every two hours, only lean protein and healthy carbs. This helps a miniscule amount as well. But, truth be told, I am still gaining a tad. My thyroid is said to be fine.
Has anyone gone through this....and what was the final word? I am considering lipo suction now. I have an apt. in July with a hormone specialist. My gp is doing some hormone testing next week....but I am a little worried now and would love to hear from someone who has been down this road before and gotten some help from their doctor and good results. Thanks.

 

[Shari]

This is not fun.

I had the same problem, tho lipo was never considered. I was gaining weight, despite appropriate measures not to, and was chronically tired, so my GP went ahead and started me on synthroid, despite my levels being "ok". And that seemed to make the difference with me. I've since been told that thyroid function shouldn't be measured on levels alone.

Good luck!

 

[ML]

I've also been told that a saliva test can be more accurate in measuring thyroid. Wouldn't it be nice to be something they can actually pinpoint instead of like most things. You'd think with all that "practicing" they'd get more right lol. I hope you get to the bottom of it No, but please let lipo be the last resort. Hugs, ML

 

[trinityroyal]

Nomad, I agree that it's worth getting your docs to have a deeper look at your thyroid function. The dietary changes you've made would account for insulin resistance if it were just that. There must be something more going on. I think it's definitely worth investigating all of the medical options before you opt for lipo.

My husband was on levothyroxine for a long time, but his weight loss was completely stalled. His endocrinologist switched him to a combination of synthroid, T3 and insulin drops, and it kick-started his weight loss again.

Hope you're able to find answers soon.

Trinity

 

[Star*]

Hi Nomad -

I have insulin resistance, and glucose intolerance. I am what is considered borderline diabetic. When I went to my doctor I had always been a healthy 135-150 lbs and easily fit into a 5-6, to a 9-10 and looked very svelte. I had an athletic build, and being somewhat tall, I hid the few extra pounds very well. So imagine my surprise when I started packing on pound after pound. Nearly an extra person to be precise. I went from a healthy 135ish to 290 in a matter of 6-8 months. It was unimaginable. My clothes went from sizes 5-6, to 22-24. NO ONE could tell me what was wrong. EVERYONE told me I was sneaking food. I spent most of my time hiding from everyone, in tears and miserable, moody and starving myself; which did no good. I kept diet diaries, I did Weight Watchers and gained 22 lbs. I tried to exercise and thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was overwhelmed. I saw specialists who put me through tests over the last six years that you can not imagine. I had diagnoses' thrown at me that scared me so badly I literally made out a living will, DNR, got term life insurance. Among the scariest were scleroderma, brain tumors, lupus (which takes years to diagnose), Wilsons disease which I think has something to do with heavy metals or copper or something. I was told I had to get a COMPLETE hysterectomy and even went for a pre-surgical consultation and almost did it until I found out how much, how long, and realized I couldn't afford it. I was told I had Poly cystic Ovarian Syndrome. I'm sure there were other things the doctors had tried to rule out but I finally got to the point where I said "Just don't tell' me the more I checked on line the more worried and anxiety ridden I became.

This went on with specialists, second opinions, third opinions, endocrinologists, psychiatrists, dietitians and finally after I was with an MD that had me on about 12 pills a day for things that just seemed redundant? I switched doctors and thought I had finally found a man that cared, only to get the 'uh huh' man and said something off the wall - and he said 'uh huh' and in tears I picked up my list of troubles (carefully written out hoping he would see a connection in my symptoms and pinpoint my problem) and left in the middle of the exam very angry and crying. To know me is to know - I do not cry easily. I was walking down the hall and just happened to pass a Nurse Practitioner who grabbed my arm and asked what was wrong. I told her No one cared. Six years I've been begging for help....I'm a healthy person trapped in THIS nearly 300 lb. body and I'm sick to death of being uh huh'd. So she took me into a room and talked to me and listened to me for nearly 45 minutes.

She asked me questions, went and got my list from Dr. Uh Huh. The things she asked? Were spot on with how I felt, how I woke up, how I was out of breath, my swollen ankles, my thinning hair nearly bald on top, my facial hair like women need a moustache -pft, like being irritable so far beyond PMS you think you could be locked up or harm someone, having super colossal periods that can keep you out of work 1-2 days and in bed, Rosacea on my face - I mean WHAT is this now? No matter what I use my face is blood red and lumpy, I'm ALWAYS exhausted. I could get 52 hours of sleep and I'm exhausted, I'm foggy, can't concentrate, hypersensitive more than usual to sounds, smells, people in general, short tempered, I get frustrated very easily over silly stuff, my bones hurt, my joints hurt, I can't loose weight no matter what I do, my right foot is always swollen like a foot ball and no matter if I prop it up? It's stays swollen. My vision has gone up 2+ points....I'm guessing my next glasses exam they're going to offere me a scholarship to the braille institute and/or a seeing eye dog. I have migraines constantly - non stop. Have for months.

So with that she says.....Okay here's what I want you to do. And I will preface this for ANYONE in your shoes because I am living proof that it works and if you do what she says to the letter - there have been NO failures. NONE. But if you cheat, stretch it....try to wedge your lifestyle back into it? You won't loose weight. Period. I started at 290 something. Friday I got weighed and I was 179. I started this in September. My waist was 52" and now it's 37". I have pictures and proof. My doctor saw me Friday and said I look 10 years younger and is very proud of my success. I have not cheated once. There are three basic principals to her lifestyle change and it is a lifestyle CHANGE NOT a diet. It has to be a change because if you are borderline diabetic? You are going to be that way for life. So your lifestyle HAS to change for life. The minute you stop eating the new way? Your weight will come back and so will all the other health problems. GUARANTEED.

My hair is growing in and getting longer. I did try using Rogaine...but it dried out my hair and turned it ashy....so I stopped. On women? It does not regrow hair - It just maintains what you have. On men? It does regrow hair. Everyone things once you stop using it your hair will fall out - thats a lie. Once you stop using it - you just stop using it. I asked my dermatologist. So if you have been tempted? You go right ahead. You have to use it for six months before you see any results. Women CAN use the mens strenght which is stronger, but if your hair gets dried out or brittle? You may want to go back to using the womens strenght. Using more than is prescribed (twice a day) is not going to help. It's absorbed through the skin into the blood stream. Basically it's high blood pressure medicine. Oh and by the way - if it grows hair on your face ladies? You can either stop or shave....(little hair humore there)

Now as for the three basic RULES to the NEW WAY OF LIFE?
FIRST......HIGHLY RECOMMEND asking your doctor for a FASTING GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST. I Did a Four hour one. (ugh)
This is a really accurate way for the lab to get results to your doctor to see how your body is processing sugar.
IF your test results show that you have glucose intolerance? This NWOL is FOR YOU and WILL DROP about 1-2 lbs a week...or rather than use an ugly old lying unreliable scale - just toss that sucker out and use your clothes as a guide. ALSO....familarize yourself with either a smaller size friends closet for borrow-zies or a second hand store - because once you start loosing? You're going to go through clothes so fast? You won't want to buy things for your 'forever' wardobe until you really attain your goal size. See I say size not weight - this isn't about weight .....it's about feeling good, and looking good.

Oh yeah -----three principals of this
1.) YOU MUST EAT BREAKFAST (RELIGIOUSLY) LUNCH (RELIGIOUSLY) DINNER (RELIGIOUSLY)
2.) YOU MUST EAT 2 SNACKS EVERY DAY (10:00) and (2:00)
3.) YOU MUST NOT EAT ANYTHING AFTER 7:00 PM. (THIS IS DIRE)

Why not eat anything after 7:00? Well...it's kinda like this. After a certain age -(over 30) the body needs time to work and put things where they go. Sort of like a secretary in a busy office with an in basket. All day long people come into her office (like food in your body) and dump things on her desk. She's only one person and can only do so much with the work load but she has a boss that wants that desk cleared by the time he leaves at 5:30. So instead of putting the files and work where they really need to go - she starts shoving stuff anywhere just to clear off her desk. Kinda like you eating after 7:00....whatever you eat after 7:00 the body is not being given enough time to process the sugars and put where they need to go - so it basically starts shoving it in spots and most of those become fat. (In some twisted theory) The adult bodies organs need about 12 hours to process all the food you have eaten all day ----so that it has some down time to clean up your internal office and get ready for the food you're going to send down tomorrow. Something kinda like that - If you don't give your body time to process what you eat? You're just shoving more work down the hatchet .....and it can't keep up with the work load - PLUS....you probably have been eating the wrong stuff anyway, AND not giving it enough fuel to do the work because you skip meals and don't snack to give it a boost to get through to the next big meal. Going without food is not good. Eating MORE will cause you to loose weight.

YUP -----knocked my sock snob socks right off my tootsies too - EATING MORE _ is the KEY to loosing weight. I thought - ARE YOU NUTS doctor? She said - "WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOOSE?" Everything else you have tried has failed? Give it one month. So I did. I thought well this should be impossible. Then she told me what I could eat. Ahhhhh....HA!

So here's the assignment -

1600 calories give or take but don't get crazy - and it's not really that hard BECAUSE.....you are NOW going on a SUGAR free to LOW sugar diet. If you truly are glucose intolerant the ONLY way you are EVER EVER going to loose weight is by cutting out sweets and lowering calories.

ANYTHING you eat -----that has more than 8 grams of sugar in it PER SERVING IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!!!!!!! NOT. FOR. YOU.

Yogurt? Yeah - well check the lable......HIGH IN SUGAR. Activa in the little green container - has 8g. Thats the only one.
Jello - Comes sugar free in a variety of flavors
Jello- Pudding - sugar free --mmmm
Sugar free cool whip and Redi whip - is fairly low in sugar
Animal crackers by stauffer

Most Snack crackers are under 100 calories per serving - 100-130 c and low in sugar
Baked Lays - 15 crisps...low in sugar

Start having FROZEN vegetables - canned veggies are high in sugar

Fresh meat - grilled ----fry as little as possible

Crystal lite - Diet Dew, Coke Zero, Diet Coke, (most diet drinks are zero sugar)

1% milk or soy milk...(again check the sugar)

Bread - Eat the 45% calorie reduced wheat -

Wheat pasta - much better for you anyway

Aunt Jemima Frozen French Toast, Waffles -
Take 1 bottle sugar free syrup/ 1 bottle of regular syrup mix 1/2 & 1/2

Splenda blend instead of sugar

Cereal?? Cheerios, Multigrain Cheerios, Bran (raisin bran? ULTRA HIGH IN SUGAR)

Oatmeal is excellent, cream of wheat, Farina

Peanut butter (excellent - again watch the sugar)

Welches makes a reduced sugar grape or strawberry jam

Orville redenbecker makes a 100 calorie pop corn - small bags -

Grapes, oranges, pears, apples, celery, carrots - all good in moderation

Baked potato on occasion

Any fresh steamed veggie
(nom nom nom)
Keep in mind - 1 Tsp of margarine has 70 calories in it....(i know 70 ugh)

Drink as much water as you like.....you can find all flavors of crystal light knock offs at walmart - apple is delicious)

Lunchmeat, cheeses, - great.

Hunts makes pudding and jello cups. Sugar free.

Most anything baked snack wise is okay - the rest of the potato chips and pretzels? Not so good for you -

Just keep in mind - portion size is the size of your fist.
Use a plate that isn't gigantic....if you have none - find a smaller one .....gives the illusion you are heaping it on.
Drink fluids.....make it fun....with ice, fun straws.....new cups, coolers.

Booze, wine, beer, mixed drinks - are out - HIGH IN SUGAR. Window food, fast food? OUT. 1st off its junk. 2nd of all it's way too tempting to say "Well I'll just this once, or sneak one, two three fries, with ketchup." If you must eat out have something that is conducive to your way of living. Make sure you know where you are going 1st.

Coffee? Okay - take your splenda blend in a baggie at all times - Cream? I use 1/2 and 1/2....it's my evil.

Exercise? This is where I think I could have done better. I didn't. I just felt better and walked a lot more. A LOT. I did more things .....parked at the farthest point in a store parking lot. Had more stamina. I did get a bike and rode it once or twice but OH Momma what it did to my......(another story).

Make sure you have fish at least once a week. Try to avoid things like bagles, muffins. Orange juice? Even sugar reduced is too high in sugar. Sugar free is nasty but you may like it.

Don't tell yourself I can't. because of work. Pack a lunch, pack a snack.

I took grapes in a baggie for my 10:00 snack, or crackers. I did frozen french toast (2) slices for bkfast, with coffee. weight watchers for lunch, I had a pudding for dessert, I did animal crackers or a Kellogs fruit crisp, or Nutrigrain bar, or animal crackers for my after noon snack and then a regular supper.

Just remember - This all depends on you getting with your doctor and having a glucose tolerance test FIRST.

Reason being is that if you are? HE / SHE will probably put you on a diabetes preventative called Metformin. It helps balance your sugar AND somewhat curbs your appetite. After you get your weight under control? Maybe in a year I can completely go off it. (Goal) I take 1 a day. I also take Topamax 2x a day for the migraines which I am told helps with the appetite supressant as well....but I got a mantra from one of the girls here -----that I would say to myself EVERY time I thought I would cheat and it stuck in my head......
NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS THIN FEELS.......and it is SOOOOOOooooooo true.

Hope this helps ya'll out.

My Mom has been doing it for 2 months and has already lost 12 lbs. ----First month you really don't see much results - 2nd month middle to end is when it all starts to happen. Then just look out.

Hugs, Love and Loss....
Star

 

[Nomad]

Many thanks Star and Congrats!! I recall a post from you earlier that was similar and also super helpful. I believe I might have more than one thing going on. Unbelievable. Spoke with- the doctor last night and he DID mention Wilson's Syndrome. But this diagnosis is a tad controversial. He has mentioned it before. My T4 is fine, but my T3 is not okay. The thought is that something bad is happening to my T3 thyroid hormone, which is the one we all need to lose weight. It might be an autoimmune problem. He is unsure how to treat it. I happen to see an anti-aging specialist tomorrow who has a reputation for understanding hormones. I am well aware that I have shown signs of insulin resistence as well and on my own have been (although inconsistently) trying to follow a diet similar to the one you mentioned. I don't eat bread, have limited sugar and have begun to eat 3 meals + two snacks daily. I have found that when I eat sweets or go out, I put on weight ALARMINGLY FAST. Too fast for any human explanation. I believe you totally understand this. It just is NOT explainable. I can eat small portions and exercise "extra." But the next day, I put on three (3) REAL pounds that do not come off. I have been amazed, saddened and stressed out by all of this. Now, I am semi on some meal replacement plan by www.usana.com that are three low glycemic shakes a day and two bars, although sometimes I replace one of the bars with a Greek Yogurt. I will check into Activia instead. Do you take Meformin? How many days a week do you exercise and for how long? I have recently realized that jogging is doing me NO good. That was my latest attempt. I am back to moderate walking 30-45 minutes, 5-6 days a week, plus some light weights a few days a week. Do you ever use a replacement bar or shake? Please let me know about exercise, Metformin and meal replacement. Thank you again...means sooo much to me. I will print out your response. (Hugs, right back at ya!)

p.s.
If it is not too much trouble, could you type out a "perfect" day in your mind...what you would eat for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner. MANY thanks!!!!

 

[Star*]

Hi Nomad,

Okay - the Greek Yogurt - WAY too much sugar per one cup of yogurt.

The power bars? Usually the same - way too many grams of sugar per serving for me. No, I don't do them.

I do eat bread. I do the Lite Wheat - 45 cal. slice - I don't eat bagels, muffins, buns - but I am in LOVE with the new flat breads for just about everything that are 45 calories and come in wheat varieties. Yum.

The glycemic shakes? Again - I would have to check the sugar.

Activia? I'm not sure that's the name of the one I buy. There is one 4 pack - the peach or strawberry - they are smaller than everything else of course - but the sugar grams are the lowest. Check the packages - I think the one I eat has 4 g. I know it's not much more than that.

NO NOT EVER SHAKE - This is why women NEVER EVER loose weight on Slim fast - 21 grams of sugar PER SHAKE. WOW. I did slim fast and got fat fast.

Yes I started metformin in September. I take 1 tablet in the morning. Perhaps by September I won't need it any more. It does curb appetite. So does Sylvetri - (herb) makes everything sugary taste nasty. Cinnamon helps with digestion too. I love cinnamon. I don't take it anymore - I belch it all day long.

Meal replacement? No. Unless you count 1 frozen Weight Watchers lunch a day - that's it. And the desserts? BAD FOR YOU. Too much sugar. Thats the hook of the count points - you're so busy counting points - you forget to count the sugar in that brownie or icecream. If you are borderline diabetic THAT point system WILL NOT WORK.

I mean you can't go crazy - but you have got to start thinking - to yourself ------I can't have sugar. Sugar is not my friend. Sugar wants to make my butt fat. Sugar doesn't care if my husband every wolf whistles at me again. Sugar doesn't care if my brain is foggy and I act like I'm 109 when I'm 49. Sugar doesn't care that I have giggly jello arms and hunny bun thighs. Sugar is NOT MY FRIEND. Sugar doesn't care if my hair is thin, doesn't care if my boobs sit on my lap, if I have a muffin top, wear stretch pants for the rest of my life, buy 3x shirts with sailor motif on them, or have to buy my clothes from Catherines or Lane Bryants and NEVER EVER wear stilhetto heels again (if I want to), sugar doesn't care that God gave me a body to be a temple...and I turned it into a trash can at a carnival. I AM BEAUTIFUL....I KNOW WHAT THE ENEMY IS....IT'S SUGAR......AND I CAN BEAT THIS....THERE ARE AND HAVE BEEN GOOD FOODS IN THE WORLD BEFORE McDONALDS.....AND IF I CAN RESIST THE WILES OF A difficult child - I CAN MAKE MYSELF RESIST A MILK SHAKE....AND OREOS. BECAUSE EVERY TIME I GO TO EAT SOMETHING LIKE THAT????? IN MY MIND I MENTALLY PICTURE MYSELF GLUEING IT TO MY KIESTER.....JUST LUMP AFTER SUGARY LUMP....NOW I LOOK LIKE BERTHA BUTT ......PRETTY IMAGE....and it's not so hard to walk away from that slice of OFFICE PARTY CAKE.....or that glass of wine when everyone else's tiny hiney fits in the booth and I have to pull up a chair.

So a perfect day???? Oh and by the way ??? I have not exercised at all. Not one sit up.....not one anything - BUT I will say this. I feel so much better? I just NATURALLY feel like doing, and walking more.......tonight I walked 3 miles and nearly killed Pootie. She's the hyper go-go dog. I've taken to picking up aluminum cans on my walk - and I just go like Forest Gump.....The dogs USED to beg to go with me - now when I grab a leash ------they all shoot out the back door into the yard. So I would say - just walking at a decent clip, talking to God, the dog, and trying to work out being unemployed in my head.

What I eat? Pretty much the same stuff - then i get bored and switch -

Breakfast:
Cheerios or Aunt Gemima, pancakes, French toast with 1/2 and 1/2 sugar free and regular mixed syrup.
Hungry jack pancakes light and fluffy.
Multi grain cheerios
Bran Flakes with strawberries
Rice Flakes
Oatmeal is EXCELLENT
1% milk
a banana
a HUGE cup of coffee with 1/2 & 1/2, Splenda blend - my morning medications.

10:00 - an apple (use that cutter I told you about - and Gala apples are the best) Peanut butter sandwhich with sugar reduced jelly, or almost anything I listed at the 3:00 snacks. Sgar free hot chocolate.

12:00 Lunch - ANY weightwatchers frozen lunch, or a packed lunch with 2 slices of low cal lite wheat bread, thin slices of hilshire farm turkey, ham or whatever meat. Dukes mayo and maybe 1 slice of swiss cheese. 15 baked lays chips. a bunch of white or red grapes the size of the palm of my hand. Bottle of water - either with or without crystal like 0r some walmart crystal lite knockoff.

3:00 (I know I said 2:00) that was wrong) it's 3 - a hand full of animal crackers by Stauffer - you get them at the dollar tree. A package of 100 calorie crackers, Wheat thins, Ritz crackers 100 calorie, lance 100 cal pack crackers, apple, orange, pear, any fruit, celery and a small bit of cream cheese, 15 potato chips, 30 hot fries like potato chips, any 100 calorie - 130 calorie snack with less than 8 grams of sugar...it's fun to find these things.

5:30 - 6:00 -
a steak, fish, pork chop, either broiled, forman grilled, bbq on the grill.....any kind of soup.....hamburger fried with a slice of cheese, meat loaf, mashed potatos......all the time steamed veggies - or frozen microwaved veggies - NO NEVER NADA ZIP canned - except for beets....rice.....noodles......or tuna casserole......occasionally captain D's fish dinner. basically ANYTHING I want for dinner ---I use a smaller plate than everyone else - fill it......and my portions are the size of the palm of my hand. I can have baked potato, maccaroni and cheese - anything....chicken....you name it.

For dessert? Snack pack Hunts - pudding or jello - sugar free with Ritz cream on it....in the can.....sugar free or not - it's still only got 15 calories and 2 g sugar at most.

Orville redenbacker if it's before 7 for a movie.......

WATER - OMgoodness I love water -

Diet green lipton tea too......nummy ........

1% milk - 2% is too sugary for us now.

My big splurge is the 1/2 and 1/2 in the morning with my coffee.

As far as a treat? Walmart makes sugar free candy of ALL kinds.......reeses, and there are just stuff you can't believe - even the dollar tree carries chocolate covered pnuts.....and Target? (sinful) carries sugar free turtles. O.M.G........and russel stover carries sugar free easter bunnies.....chocolate....yup.......at 50% off and frozen they are now in our freezer at .50 each. down from $4.97. yeah - score.

I even found cookbooks at the library for sugar free cakes, cookies.......unreal - some of the stuff is sick most of it is really delicious and I'd challange anyone to tell the difference.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Star,

thanks for posting this - I'm going to the doctor next week to have my blood draw and will have her look closely at my sugar levels - Last year they were ok, but close the the border.

Sharon

 

[Star*]

I had been tested - nearly 9 times or more over the last 6 years for thyroid problems - over and over - ugh. They kept going back to Hashimotos. I would look up what they suspected and FINALLY? I just stopped looking stuff up. When they said Scleroderma? I nearly passed out when I found out what that is. They said Cushings too. I DO have Raynauds and at times it is very uncomfortable, but it's been very manageable. I also have Thalassemia - which is basically nothing but glorified anemia (pft) as I am a carrier/trait. I mean after brain tumor? Everything else is like - Wha? Okay - bandaid. But like I've said before - even in the MRI tube? I asked jokingly for an 8x10 of the xray so i could prove to my mother after my 1st marriage that "Yes Mom I did have a brain." Of course amid snickers I heard "You must lay very still and be quiet. No one tells you that the machine is NOT quiet and is going to pound your head WHOM WHOM WHOM WHOM for the next 15 minutes - or that your veins are crud and you have to take contrast in an IV the top of your foot - FUN....(not) but I think of the kids in the cancer ward and it was all just so painless. Before that? I had my adrenals CT scanned for some tumor thing. (don't you love my medical terminology? Note to self - (this is exactly why I am not getting that job in the hospital - no medical terminology background....describes CT adrenal tumor scan as a thingy) And the buffalo hump I had that gave them the Cushings indication? Yeah - well probably just a fat hump like a camel who stores water because as I've lost weight - I've lost the hump-d-hump. I'm so glad - now necklaces fit...I don't have a desire to wander in the desert, I've stopped spitting. (mostly)

As far as the committment? Well there it is. The test itself for the fasting glucose tolerance wasn't a huge one - so Little DM...if you are going to the doctor? Nothing to eat or drink after midnight - that way if you do get it - you can have it that morning. Problem solved with one visit...Know what I mean?? Maybe you can call ahead to make sure the lab has room and talk with the nurse to put you down for it that day. You can only be told no. They can do a finger prick for regular sugars testing - but to really see what is going on and how your body is processing all of this? I was told you should have a glucose tolerance test - and that sugary soda (yum) .....icsh. Ask for orange. Grape was NOT tolerable. Hold your nose too. Talk about wonky donky. I manage with the metformin to hang out around 114.....so with NWOL, some walking and medications - she said that's a LOT better than when I came in - I was over 200. Which isn't bad but for a borderline - not very good. I know diabetics that have been over 500 - I have no idea how your brain functions at those levels. Mine was foggy at 200 and nearly stupid at 270.

They did other tests. She just tested me again for thyroid imbalance -------I mean after I tried to take out the woman in the SUV over cutting in line a couple of weeks ago and got on the anti anxiety medications? She sensed maybe my thyroid or hormones were off. I'm thinking - Yyyyyyyyep yep yep.....that would just be the way of it wouldn't it? I finally start to get it together and NOW? NOW I'm going to forget where I put it. Time of life change? Or just nerves. I had to laugh - even DF said - If most people lived one week of what she endures in a day? They would be in the nut hut. And yet - here we all are. Still going strong. There's something to be said for CD Mom's.....we're just very unique.

pft. Nut hut.....does it come with air conditioning?

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Unique, that's nice!

The lab is right down the hall from doctor's office and I always fast after 8 pm when I go in for blood work. But I will ask about the glucose testing. Thanks!

Sharon

 

[Nomad]

Many thanks Star! (hugs)
What does NWOL stand for?
Not sure, but perhaps lately I have been eating even less carbs than you!
I am having either an egg with- veggies or a protein shake mixed with- water and cinnamon most mornings.
I use Rice Bran Protein mixed with Egg White Protein. This has 0 sugar.
I don't have any bread at all.
The yogurt I have switched to is Fiber One .... sugar is 4.
I see the doctor again at the beginning of June.
So excited! I figure once I get on thyroid, I should do better. I do believe I need to take additional tests re: they insulin and do wish she had arleady ordered them. She did one test...but I believe I need the one you mentioned. One thing at a time. As it is, my arm looks pretty messed up right now.
by the way, I have lost three pounds and am pretty psyched. Many thanks! Please keep a gooood thought. This has been an outrageous struggle. I graudate in a month (MS degree) and I really would like to fit into my dress. Thanks.

Question: I know sugar is the enemy. This has proven true for me. What about carbs in general?

Warning: Green tea is a Catch 22 for me. It DOES help people lose weight. It is proven scientifically. HOWEVER, for me, the most I can drink is one glass per day. More than that, and I get a headache.

P.s. YOu are totally right re: Power Bars. I had one, and almost fell asleep in the car. So, NOT going to do that again. I have found Atkins Advantage Bars okay in a pinch. I cut them in half and put them in a baggie. Keep them in my purse for emergencies only.

 

[KTMom91]

OK, Star...you've answered some questions I had. I've been doing WW for a couple of months, and keep losing and gaining the same poundage. The week I sat at home, doing nothing but eating Percocet and watching TV (I'd blown my knee out AGAIN), I lost four pounds. The weeks I work a lot, with more physical activity walking around the classroom, yard duty, etc., I gain. I've managed to keep off about three pounds. Whee yippee.

Is the sugar to cut out added sugar, or does fruit sugar play into that? Farmer's market started two weeks ago, right down the street, and we get wonderful fruits and veggies all summer long, since we live in an agricultural area. I gotta have my blueberries!

 

[trinityroyal]

Is the sugar to cut out added sugar, or does fruit sugar play into that? Farmer's market started two weeks ago, right down the street, and we get wonderful fruits and veggies all summer long, since we live in an agricultural area. I gotta have my blueberries!

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My husband has also been on a low carb eating program for the last few years, and he successfully lost 225 lbs on it. Mary, when they say low sugar, they mean ALL sugar not just added sugar.

Fortunately, berries are very low in sugar. Probably one of the best fruits you can choose. Especially as they are also high in anti-oxidants and other good-for-you things. Blue-, straw- or rasp-. All fit in with a low-carb, low sugar diet. The fruits to steer clear of at first are are grapes, pineapple, bananas and melons, especially watermelons. As you get used to being on a low-sugar program and you better learn what your body can and can't handle, you can gradually start adding these ones back in.

If you're looking for a good reference, find a book on the Glycemic Index (G.I.) diet. It was a diet originally developed for people with diabetes, but it was found to successfully help people manage their weight too. It provides a chart at the beginning of the book with 3 columns. Red lists all of the thou-shalt-not foods, Yellow is all the eat-only-a-little-bit foods, and Green is all the have-at-'er foods.

In thinking about your dilemma with the weight gain when you started moving around more, my first thought was muscle mass. Lean muscle mass weighs significantly more than fat, so if you're improving your muscle tone by walking and moving more, it might show up as a bit of extra weight on the scale.

Trinity

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Star, upon your recommendation and the fabulous progress you have made on getting healthier, I just ordered the GI Diet and the Living with the GI Diet. Unfortunately, neither was available on ebook but I found them used at barnes and noble! They had a number of GI books but this one had the highest reviews and is probably the book you have because a number of reviewers mentioned the red, yellow and green light system!

Sharon