How Do I Start?

[BriTer]

A friend of mine had a serious weight problem he just couldn't beat. One thing he was doing that he thought was great, he ate lots of fruit.
It didn't work.
His Dr. told him to stop eating fruit, the sugar content was doing him in. It worked. This is a simplified version of what went on with his diet and involved more than eating fruit but the point is, become informed.
There's a world of info available on the internet. Weed through it, compare notes.
There's a lot of great advice in this thread from you people

[grammafreddy]

Well, I have to add my 2 cents worth in here, too.

I used to weigh over 200 pounds.

I am mid-50s, 5 feet 5 inches tall.

For the past 15+ years I have weighed somewhere in the 140s. Today I weigh about 125.

How did I lose the weight??

All I did was increase my fiber.

Here's the story ...

I came down with a serious dose of diverticulitis. The doc said, "Surgery or diet?" I said, "Ummmm ... diet." He said, "Increase your fiber". He recommended oat bran as a best choice. So I went and found some chewable oat bran tablets, ate 3 of them a day. Also switched to high fiber breads and had oatmeal for brekkie instead of nothing.

Added snacks instead of just 2 or 3 big meals a day. I still eat many little meals and almost never do I have a large meal, unless I eat out with someone. Large meals make me feel sluggish and then all I want to do is sit or nap.

I have never cut out anything because I feel that just dooms a person to failure. When you feel you can't ever again have something you really like, it creates a mental craving for it. So, instead of cutting something (like chocolate or biscuits and gravy) I "allow" myself to have it but in limited amounts or less often. Example - mashed potatoes once a week instead of every other day, chocolate or a cup of hot cocoa maybe once a month in winter.

I cut way back on the veggies that are high in sugars and bumped up the veggies that are high in fiber - usually the green ones. I love all veggies so that was not a huge deal for me, but my fav veggy is kernel corn - not one of the good ones, for sure! I let myself have it once in a while, or I add it to stews and homemade soups, and then I am making a can go much further, instead of pigging down a whole can at once.

So all of that cured my diverticulitis, and then people started to tell me I was losing weight - I had not even noticed that! So I jumped on the scales and lo and behold - I had dropped nearly 25 pounds!

Sure, it took a while, but I sure felt better. My pains in my guts had completely disappeared and they were sure double-me-over pains! So I continued to eat smarter because I didn't want to get them back again.

I dropped another bunch of weight over the next year to two years until my system stabilized itself at about 130 to 140. It moved around a bit and went up and down depending on the seasons and how active I was. In winter I am less inclined to do anything so it naturally goes up a bit then.

These days I find my weight has dropped even more - down to about 120 and I am now perhaps slightly underweight.

There are a number of reasons for this. One of them is financial - I look at the prices of pork chops or chicken breasts and I just cringe and put them back. Choices, choices. Eat meat or pay the electric bill. So I buy a large can of salmon and make sandwiches on whole grain bread. I also eat a lot of peanut butter.

I also am far more active now than I used to be. At work I am on the go all day and am bending and stretching and lifting and walking much more than I ever used to. One of these days I will get a pedometer My ratio of calories burned has exceeded my number of calories consumed. I suppose in a perfect world at the ideal weight, the two should be about equal.

I eat my porridge for brekkie before work, I have snacks at my break times and a slightly bigger and more filling "snack" at lunch time. Then when I get home from work, I have another snack that is called "supper" and before bed I do what my mother always did and have a couple of graham wafers. My lunch meal is usually my biggest meal of the day.

One of my biggest problems health-wise is drinking enough water. I have never been a water drinker and quite often I find myself getting "stupid" because my brain is thirsty. My memory is terrible then and that's my first indication that I need to bump up my water consumption. That, plus the fact that my ribs start to hurt. Go figure! So I drink more for a day or two and try to keep it at my work station, but I always find myself slipping back into old habits and forgetting to drink it.

I have never been one to sit in front of a TV or eat out of boredom, a common problem.

I find because I am now cooking just for one, I don't cook as much as I used to. Sometimes I will buy TV dinners, but I know they are high in chemicals and salt and sugars. Once in a blue moon I will go on a cooking binge and make my own TV dinners and freeze them. That usually only happens when I find I have extra $$ to buy the groceries to make them, though.

If you can afford to do that, and if you have freezer space, and if you find you are eating junk because it is quicker and easier, then making up some homemade TV dinners might be a solution for you.

Life is a roller coaster, with all its ups and downs. Eating habits and emotions are directly tied to each other. Learning to try to stay on the positive side of life makes for better eating.

I wish you luck!

Hope this ramble helps you.

Cheers,
Gramma

[Bubalouie]

I did the weight watchers thing after son was born long long time ago and it for sure works............going back.

Illeffect, where do you live...........I am going back to Curves as well and having someone to meet there sure helps............

[ILLEffect]

You guys have been very supportive. I knew I could come here and ask for help and not get judged for being a big girl.

My dr and I are going to talk about weight loss medications as well today. The only thing is, the side effects scare me to death (ever notice how the side effects would be a billion times worse than the actual disease you're trying to "fix"? I could s*** a brick no problem, but I'll go blind and have electricity shooting out of my nipples doing it). But seriously, along with the "plate method" (I spoke with a nutritionist yesterday), I'm thinking of trying something along the lines of pills.

My goal today is to eat as such:

Breakfast - coffee/creamer (it's not real coffee, it's Postum)
Snack - toast with some turkey
Lunch - turkey soup (has lots of veggies in it!)
Snack - fruit (I can eat some fruit, I just have to up my insulin dose) with cheese (cheese provides the protein to help keep my sugar level from spiking rapidly with the fruit)
Dinner - rice (brown!), fish, salad
Snack - bowl of hemp cereal with hemp milk (I don't drink cows milk anymore and the hemp stuff is higher fiber, same with the cereal, it's a good source of fiber)

I don't generally eat a breakfast until mid morning because I usually have the dawn phenomenon (high blood sugar upon rising in the morning). So I'll have a coffee and take my insulin, wait about 1.5 hours for my sugar to go down, THEN eat something more substantial (toast with turkey). It just keeps my sugars from spiking more (I used to follow this method of eating before I started having binging episodes).

There are a few different fruits that I can eat - and a lot I have to avoid.

My Dr has been wanting to put me on a weight loss aid for awhile now so I think I'm going to cave and actually do it.

[eyepop]

A friend of mine had a serious weight problem ... he ate lots of fruit. It didn't work.

oh ya...fruit.

"...a little-understood simple sugar found in fruit: fructose. Fructose came into favor years ago because of its low glycemic index. But there's more to the fructose story....

..fructose is easily converted to body fat. Because of fructose's molecular structure, the liver readily converts it into a long-chain triglyceride..."

that's right, fat.

http://parrillo.com/sngdetails.asp?sng=qa&id=12

eat moderate amounts of fruit for vitamins and fibre,
not for fat loss.

think back 10000 yrs ago when we were hunter/gatherers..

fruit was only available and ripe for a couple of weeks..

we 'evolved' (it's inevitable) to take advantage of this temporary calorie source by adapting to STORE those calories...

so we gorged and stored.

(think portly polynesian or husky hawaiian)


___________________________
aloha,
froot loop

[kgcayenne]

I don't generally eat a breakfast until mid morning because I usually have the dawn phenomenon (high blood sugar upon rising in the morning)...

Not eating after a certain time in the evening will solve this problem. It may take a while to determine that time. Not eating on time in the morning will hinder progress. How long have you been a diabetic? I have lots of experience with diabetic family.

[gardengirl]

I don't generally eat a breakfast until mid morning because I usually have the dawn phenomenon (high blood sugar upon rising in the morning)...

Not eating after a certain time in the evening will solve this problem. It may take a while to determine that time. Not eating on time in the morning will hinder progress. How long have you been a diabetic? I have lots of experience with diabetic family.

I was going to say exactly the same thing. Eating at 10pm will do that for sure. It may also make a difference what type of Insulins she is using.

The newer ones are much better at keeping things under control, especially if you do not have a really regimented diet.

Humalog is the fast working one that you can take right when you eat. You do not have to wait 40 minutes like the old fashioned Toronto stuff.
This makes it way easier to gauge what you need according to what you are eating.

Lantus is the new long acting one. This provides a much better baseline as it does not have a peak. This can help to even out the highs or lows people experience at night. It is more expensive, but makes things way easier.

[ILLEffect]

It may also make a difference what type of Insulins she is using.

Unfortunately, I'm allergic to insulins (I have to take antihistamines and inhalers for the Humulin N and Novorapid that I'm on now). It's not the actual insulin I'm allergic to, but most likely one of the preservatives. I'm not a candidate for Lantus because there have been reported cases of allergy to it from people who have never had allergic reactions to other insulins. We've tried other insulins and had worse reactions than with what I'm on now. I still get giant welts wherever I inject myself and have asthma like reactions within about 20 minutes.

I've also tried the pills but got no control on that. On the pills, I was constantly in the 18-21 range.

I do need quite a bit of fiber in my diet because I'm on daily narcotics for back problems (which would be eased by losing weight).

I've been diabetic for just over 2 years.

If my glucose is under 10.0 at bedtime, I will have a snack because if I don't, I generally go hypoglycemic and then wake up with high blood sugars again (rebound effect). If I eat before bed, my glucose levels tend to be on the low side of high (around 8-12). Without eating, I'm closer to 15.0. We're still playing around with insulin levels, trying to find the right dose, but it's going slowly.

[gardengirl]

It may also make a difference what type of Insulins she is using.

Unfortunately, I'm allergic to insulins (I have to take antihistamines and inhalers for the Humulin N and Novorapid that I'm on now). It's not the actual insulin I'm allergic to, but most likely one of the preservatives. I'm not a candidate for Lantus because there have been reported cases of allergy to it from people who have never had allergic reactions to other insulins. We've tried other insulins and had worse reactions than with what I'm on now. I still get giant welts wherever I inject myself and have asthma like reactions within about 20 minutes.

I've also tried the pills but got no control on that. On the pills, I was constantly in the 18-21 range.

I do need quite a bit of fiber in my diet because I'm on daily narcotics for back problems (which would be eased by losing weight).

I've been diabetic for just over 2 years.

If my glucose is under 10.0 at bedtime, I will have a snack because if I don't, I generally go hypoglycemic and then wake up with high blood sugars again (rebound effect). If I eat before bed, my glucose levels tend to be on the low side of high (around 8-12). Without eating, I'm closer to 15.0. We're still playing around with insulin levels, trying to find the right dose, but it's going slowly.

The above statement is confusing. I am guessing what you mean is that if you don't have a snack, you get low and then overcompensate which pushes you into the 15 range.

I think you should try to have your main meal later in the day. 4:30 is too early. Shoot for something closer to 6pm. Then you can still have a snack around 8 or 9 if you need to. Make sure the snack is not a high glycemic food, no white flour, rice, potatoes. Whole grain crackers or bread with cheese might work. This will break down slowly and help to maintain your sugars over night. You can adjust it as you go if you are still high or low in the morning.

If you do get low, keep some juice boxes on hand. They are about 20g carbs and the right amount. What happens often is that people panic when they have low blood sugars and take in way too much sugar.
The best recommendation we got recently was the juice box suggestion.
It is a measured amount and does not need to be refrigerated. It is enough to bring up the sugar without going overboard. Follow it up with something like crackers and cheese or peanut butter to level things out.
The juice is a fast acting sugar which will burn off quickly so you need something extra to hold your levels.

[ILLEffect]

I never thought to have a juicebox at 3am! Maybe that would help bring the numbers down! THANK YOU.

In the middle of the night, there is a surge in the amount of growth hormone the body releases, followed by a surge in cortisol, which effectively cranks up glucose production in the liver, presumably to prepare the body for daytime activity after a period of fasting. In people who don't have diabetes, these processes are offset by increased insulin secretion by the pancreas, so blood glucose levels remain relatively stable. However, in people with Type 1 diabetes, whose pancreases don't make insulin, and in people with Type 2 diabetes, whose livers may not respond to insulin well enough to stop glucose production, changes in glucose metabolism during sleep can have a profound effect on morning blood glucose levels. Typically, the blood glucose level rises between 4 AM and 8 AM.

It is important to realize that high morning blood sugar may be caused by something else: the body's rebound from low blood glucose levels at night. Rebound hyperglycemia, also caused by the release of counterregulatory hormones, represents the body's defense mechanism against low blood sugar. The only way to tell the two phenomena apart is to check your blood glucose level in the middle of the night (around 3 AM). If your blood sugar is high, you are probably experiencing the dawn phenomenon; if it is low, rebound hyperglycemia is probably at work.

I hope that explains it better than I can! If I don't get one, I get the other. I am increasing my insulin slowly and this morning my glucose level was only 9.2 (at least it's under 10.0!!!!!).


Also, anyone with diabetes experience - is there truth to "insulin obesity"? I've heard/read that if you're on insulin it's almost impossible to lose weight. I can't remember where exactly I had read about it, but I do remember Googling "insulin obesity". I see my Dr this afternoon and will ask him about it, but if anyone has any experience with it, let me know. NO, I'm not looking for an excuse to not lose weight, just wondering if anyone has lost weight on insulin or had troubles losing weight on insulin.

[lefty]

Having a dog that needs to be walked constantly forces you to get out for a walk I've found. Not that I think you should get a dog just so you can lose weight of course.

[gardengirl]

I never thought to have a juicebox at 3am! Maybe that would help bring the numbers down! THANK YOU.

In the middle of the night, there is a surge in the amount of growth hormone the body releases, followed by a surge in cortisol, which effectively cranks up glucose production in the liver, presumably to prepare the body for daytime activity after a period of fasting. In people who don't have diabetes, these processes are offset by increased insulin secretion by the pancreas, so blood glucose levels remain relatively stable. However, in people with Type 1 diabetes, whose pancreases don't make insulin, and in people with Type 2 diabetes, whose livers may not respond to insulin well enough to stop glucose production, changes in glucose metabolism during sleep can have a profound effect on morning blood glucose levels. Typically, the blood glucose level rises between 4 AM and 8 AM.

It is important to realize that high morning blood sugar may be caused by something else: the body's rebound from low blood glucose levels at night. Rebound hyperglycemia, also caused by the release of counterregulatory hormones, represents the body's defense mechanism against low blood sugar. The only way to tell the two phenomena apart is to check your blood glucose level in the middle of the night (around 3 AM). If your blood sugar is high, you are probably experiencing the dawn phenomenon; if it is low, rebound hyperglycemia is probably at work.

I hope that explains it better than I can! If I don't get one, I get the other. I am increasing my insulin slowly and this morning my glucose level was only 9.2 (at least it's under 10.0!!!!!).


Also, anyone with diabetes experience - is there truth to "insulin obesity"? I've heard/read that if you're on insulin it's almost impossible to lose weight. I can't remember where exactly I had read about it, but I do remember Googling "insulin obesity". I see my Dr this afternoon and will ask him about it, but if anyone has any experience with it, let me know. NO, I'm not looking for an excuse to not lose weight, just wondering if anyone has lost weight on insulin or had troubles losing weight on insulin.

There is a bit of a chicken/egg situation there. It could be that you are diabetic/insulin resistant due to the excess weight. The catch here is that insulin also causes you to store fat. Whatever is not burned for fuel is stored, that is kind of the purpose.

If you lose weight, you may not need as much insulin, or even need it at all. You might be able to control it with pills or diet alone.

Diet and exercise is the answer. (I don't mean to Go on a "diet", I mean learn to eat properly.)

[Triple 6]

Having a dog that needs to be walked constantly forces you to get out for a walk I've found. Not that I think you should get a dog just so you can lose weight of course.

Exactly. I have 2, I take them one at a time, Just so I can get a good hour of brisk/dragged walking in!

[lefty]

Having a dog that needs to be walked constantly forces you to get out for a walk I've found. Not that I think you should get a dog just so you can lose weight of course.

Exactly. I have 2, I take them one at a time, Just so I can get a good hour of brisk/dragged walking in!

Ours gets walked as many as three times per day! Fortunately with me only once most of the time, but it certainly has helped me get some extra excercise.

[gardengirl]

She opted for a snake instead of a puppy. I don't think that would provide much exercise.