sigh
I was doing pretty well until today. Talk about falling off the diet wagon: a huge waffle cone of gelato and about six ounces of smoked gouda.
Yikes.
I will get back on, tomorrow, though.
I didn’t really count points yesterday, and I’m sure I overate. BUT, I haven’t done it yet since I started dieting at the end of February, so I don’t feel too bad. RibFest was a blast, and I even had a beer - something I never, ever do.
OK, this is weird. I hadn’t fallen off, but I was leaning over the side of the wagon the last few days – extra snacks here and there, less exercise as I described above, and yesterday I went to a family graduation party and, dammit, enjoyed the homemade food.
This morning I got on the scale: a solid 205. 3 pounds less than last weighing, and 10 pounds lost total! <Scarlett scratches her head, and decides not to look a gift horse in the mouth>
Today I am climbing solidly back on the food wagon, even if I still plan to give my foot a rest for a few days. There’s a milestone for when I hit 200: I have a beautiful top that I love, but it always was just a bit too loose on me. As I keep losing weight, it will become too big to wear. I’m going to give it to a friend of mine who has broad shoulders and the jugs to fill it out properly. I know she’ll love it.
First, norinew, good luck on your surgery!
Also, I’m hoping to pick up the Tanita scale this week - I think I can use a morning "ZAP* to wake me up! 
Well, I got back from the doctors tonight to review my physical results.
Apparently, I am insulin resistant.
It was a mixed review. The good news is that basically I’m as fit as a horse. Triple Crown, here I come! (For the first furlong, maybe. 
) My triglycerides were very very low, that’s good. My cholesterol was higher than the last time I had them done, not good. My HBA1c showed very low levels, but my insulin level was quite elevated. Blood pressure was a bit elevated, but not as high as 7 weeks ago.
So, doc put me on Glucophage. We’ll redo the blood chemistry in a couple of months. He says keep up the Atkins. This I can do!
And, as an inspiration for what a healthy body can do for you, I’ll keep my BIL in mind. He is a health and fitness kind of guy (actually, he’s a public health officer for USAID in the Congo), always eating right, making weird but healthy juice concoctions, wearing vests with weights in when he plays basketball. And last month he was medivac’d to South Africa with a Guillain-Barre diagnosis. Basically, the myelin sheath of his peripheral nerves was disappearing. :eek: Holy crap! At one point, his loss of muscle control was such that he couldn’t even close his eyes. Fortunately, the death rate is quite low for that, but many can expect an extended period of recuperation, like an average of 8 months. And fortunately, he is well on his way to recovery, with a large part of that due to him being so healthy is the first place.
Well, this insulin resistance has been the shot across my bow. I’ve been pretty darn healthy most of my life, but I have abused my body with on and off again dieting and junk food. Everything ranging from reasonable, healthy diets to 300 calories a day diets to diet pills (good lord, amphetamines, in the 70’s). I’ve lost and gained and lost and gained.
I can’t do that anymore. My body won’t let me. But I can try to make my body as healthy as I can be. I owe it to this carcass that has carried me this far through life.
And I dropped one more pound this week.
Well, for those of you who know about my damn arthritis problem, it now seems that I have “gouty-arthritis” from all the meat I’m consuming on Atkins.
That’s the prevailing theory anyway. The lab work’s not all in yet.
This means I may have to make some adjustments in the diet. I would be grateful to hear from any of you who are experiencing symptoms like mine (joint pain the middle finger of my right hand only, and what you may have been told the cause was.
Thanks and keep on with whatever you’re doing if it’s working. Sending Quasi-Huggs to norinew: I’ll be thinking about you! 
Q
brachy and Quasi, thanks for the good wishes. The procedure is scheduled for just about three hours from now (can’t eat or drink this morning, so I’m fooling around on the puter instead).
I don’t know how much food the hospital will have available that is compatible with my “no sugar, no white carbs” plan, and they will be putting me on a full diet as tolerated immediately following surgery; so I’ve got hubby standing by to bring me anything from no-sugar-added ice cream to sugar free jello to a Subway meatball and provolone on whole wheat, depending on what I feel like eating!
I know I’ve been sort of lax on the quality of food I’ve taken in over the last few weeks or so, but I’ve stayed within my points. Today was my weigh & measure day at the gym, and I am down 22.75 total inches, 32 lbs, and 18.55 lbs body fat. I’m sorry to report that of that, the total lost this month is 2.25" and 6 lbs, but a whopping 5.79 lbs of body fat.
I need a slap, because a loss is still a loss - but come ON. I’m working out 5 days a week and eating only up to my points level. I’m getting tired of dieting and working my ass off at the gym, and getting such pathetic results.
Lab work’s in and my uric acid levels are way high, so the doc’s strongly recommending I come off the low-carb and find another way to lose weight, and I’m gonna do it.
It actually hurts to use my right hand to type this, because the uric acid cystals in the tissues of the middle finger of my right hand feel like slivers of glass everytime I try to use it, so some drastic measures have to be taken. (I mis-type a lot more often now too:D).
The pain is also interfering witgh my job, so I’m gonna fall back and rfe-group, but continue to monitor y’all’s progress, so keep up the good work, ya losers
Love Y’all
Q
PS: For Ginger:
SLAP!
Hi guys, I thought I would jump into this thread and greet the good guys as I will be joining you soon. I have lost about 20 pounds since November, and have been futzing around for a while, so based on your sterling recommendations, I will be joining Weight Watchers this Friday when I get paid.
Congratulations to all of you on your hard work, and feel better soon, Quasi.
Hey you all, I’m back from two weeks in Great Britain. Damn! Huge emphasis on gluten-free products; virtually no diabetic low-carb processed treats (I found products with maltitol only in Cardiff). And the airlines supplied me with diabetic breakfasts with over 50 grams of sugar each, when they managed to find and deliver the diabetic meals I’d pre-ordered at all. Despite this, and a paucity of vegetables (especially in Scotland), I was able to keep my weight the same over the two weeks–probably by schlepping a heavy backpack everywhere and by spending some days with a family with a refrigerator and nearby Sainsbury’s. Also, those Scottish oat cakes are not half bad for carbs. I enjoyed the trip but it’s great to be home with real food. While I was gone, raspberries, strawberries, peas, and lettuce did very well in my garden, so I was able to eat something good immediately. Okay, I stayed in bed and read the new Harry Potter instead of exercising yesterday, but that only happens every 3 years, right?
All this to say that I may not make my weight goal for the end of July, but I did stick to my diet and exercise as well as possible, and have kept my blood sugar in range.
brachyrhynchos, I am also insulin resistant and have gone from 207 to 164 in 5 months using diet and exercise. The book I’ve primarily based my regimen on is Whitaker’s Reversing Diabetes. You may want to talk to your doctor about re-evaluating glucophage after you’ve lost some weight. I’ve found it extraordinarily helpful to use a glucometer to test my own blood sugar twice a day. If your doctor will write you a scrip, the pharmacist can help you find a meter with a deep refund.
Quasi, so sorry to hear the diet’s having negative side effects. What are you thinking of doing instead?
Hey Shosh’!
Sweetie, right now I’m so full of steroids to stop the swelling/kill the pain that I don’t know whether to shit or go blind!
I’m HONGRY almost all the time, and I’m afraid to get on the scales! Right now, I can still fit into the 36 reference jeans, but at work, when they order out, I feel like Merry in LOTR: “Yeah, but that was ninesies! What about midnight brunch? And the 3 am hongries?”
I exaggerate. It’s not that bad yet, but I am noticing an increase in appetite. My SO wants me to go on Weight Watchers with her, so I guess I’ll do that.
I’ve been a champion of Low-Carbing for so long that I kinda feel like a traitor for leaving it, and I am wondering if others on LC have had the same reaction, but at the same time I have a new appreciation for chronic pain that I did not have before, so a lifestyle change is definitely in order.
I’m still with Y’all though, okay?
Love
Q
Hey Shosh’!
Sweetie, right now I’m so full of steroids to stop the swelling/kill the pain that I don’t know whether to shit or go blind!
I’m HONGRY almost all the time, and I’m afraid to get on the scales! Right now, I can still fit into the 36 reference jeans, but at work, when they order out, I feel like Merry in LOTR: “Yeah, but that was ninesies! What about midnight brunch? And the 3 am hongries?”
I exaggerate. It’s not that bad yet, but I am noticing an increase in appetite. My SO wants me to go on Weight Watchers with her, so I guess I’ll do that.
I’ve been a champion of Low-Carbing for so long that I kinda feel like a traitor for leaving it, and I am wondering if others on LC have had the same reaction, but at the same time I have a new appreciation for chronic pain that I did not have before, so a lifestyle change is definitely in order.
I’m still with Y’all though, okay?
Love
Q
Whoopsie!
Was in der Frigg?
Q
Welcome, CadburyAngel! I think 20 pounds since November sounds great!
Quasimodem here’s hoping you can give gout the figurative finger rather than your real one, ouch! And norinew, I hope your surgery went well and that your feeling better.
Thanks for the information about Whittaker’s book, Shoshana, I’ll check it out. I’ve been reading up on this, recently read a book about vegetarianism/Mediterranean diets and controlling diabetes. Information is power!
Anyway, my (fasting) glucose level is normal. Not even pre-diabetic. But because of the HBA1c (low) and insulin level (high) results (and variable BP and family history), I’m probably at what Reaven would call a stage 1. Apparently glucophage is a recommended treatment for insulin resistance, and I’ll be on it for 5 more weeks. We’ve also kicked up the multivitamins, especially chromium and Vitamin C. When I get down to 180 pounds and maintain it, we’ll retest the blood chemistries.
I can do this! Now, if I can only kick this lower respiratory thing I’ve got goin’ on. Sheesh, no energy.
Thanks, brachyrhynchos! (By the way, what does your name mean?)
So I did join Weight Watcher’s on Friday and have been on The Plan since Saturday morning. I came in over my points on both weekend days, but was so pleasantly surprised to learn that I can make up those points by staying at the lower end of my point range and using the spares to refill the “bank.” This is an absolutely brilliant idea on their part, as now I feel like all is not lost when I have bad days. I was always okay with keeping to a diet after a slip, but now I don’t have to write days off as lost causes!
The points system is also pretty fun as such things go. I ate plenty of good food today, like lasagna and pancakes and mochi ice cream, but I’m not overfull and I’m well within my points.
The biggest revelation so far for me has been just how bad everything at McDonald’s is. I knew it was bad, but not THAT bad!
I work there and can get the food at a big discount or free, and it’s so tempting every day to eat just a hash brown or an apple pie, but they all cost so many points that I’ve decided I can live without until such a time as I have saved up points for them. (Believe me, it’s not easy when you’re around such diet-devilling food for eight hours every day!)
I don’t know if it would mess up your intake amounts, brachy, but those Halls Vitamin C drops are really tasty. They come in cherry, strawberry, and citrus flavors.
Hey, Q, just a thought - you might try just cutting down on starches. That’s how I’ve had the best success. I have 4-6 ounces of lean protein a day, no more than two fruits a day, unlimited vegetables and a total of no more than 45 g of starchy carbs. It did better for me than Atkins, although I have to point out that I was on Atkins only for a week before I had to quit it, for the same reason as you - too much protein, although it was getting to my sick kidneys, not my joints! I was NEVER hungry and seldom had cravings, unlike Atkins. Of course, you could even cut the starches altogether.
Just a thought!
Thanks brachy and lo’! Gotta re-think the whole plan once I get offa them damn steroids. I’ll be sure and post to let y’all know what I decided and how it’s working. Thanks for keeping me in y’all’s thoughts, ya “losers”! :D:D:D
Q
Well, brachy, from the point of view that the doc retrieved three out of the four stones he was going after, I guess it went reasonably well. From the point of view that I came out of the anasthesia with a blood infection, and ended up in the hospital for an entire week instead of just over night, maybe not so much. Nevertheless, I am now on the mend (came home this morning, limited activity).
Weight update: have lost 52 pounds, a total of 8.5 inches off my waist, 4.5 inches off my upper thigh. Of course, there was no working out in the hospital, but my weight-loss was assisted by the fact that hospital food sucks!
Quasi, you may wish to consider talking to your doc about my plan, which has a lot more carbs than Atkins, just no refined sugar, white flour, etc. If you feel this might be an option for you and you would like more details, feel free to email me and I’ll outline it and give you some “typical” days of eating.
Great job, everyone!
nori, e-mail’s on the way, and I’m glad you’re okay, hon.
I agree about hospital food, and I gotta tell ya that the majority of our patients (unless they are on cardiac or diabetic diets) send out for pizza!
Quasi
Can’t hardly blame 'em! Well, even now my appetite is not back to normal, so it wasn’t so bad, but three different times I called my hubby and said “bring me real food!!” Sweetheart that he is, he obliged!