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Topics - jackibar

Pages: 1 [2]
16
General Discussion / Update on Me
« on: April 02, 2014, 09:32:12 AM »
Hi, Everyone...!

I'm so sorry I've been out of commission for a while on these forums...  It has been VERY rough lately...  My almost 94-year-old mother-in-law lives with us and has dementia and about 9 weeks ago she had some kind of incident (possibly stroke) where she has gotten MUCH worse.  She goes for days (24 hours even at night) talking to people who aren't there - sometimes VERY loudly - and this is really messing up my sleep and that's messing up my other health problems.  Also, I'm the one here with her every day while my husband is at work, so it's been quite hard on me.

I'm down 65 lbs. total now, but it has really SLOWED down and that's bugging me so badly because I still have so far to go (130 more lbs.) and I don't want it to be THIS sloooowwwwww.  I'm doing okay with my eating most of the time still but at times the stress of this whole situation gets to me and I give in.  Also, people are bringing SO many sweets over for my mother-in-law because that's about all she will eat these days - and watching her eat them and so many being around and me being here alone so much - dang, it's hard!!  And when I'm not giving into "real sweets" and other carbs, I'm craving something sweet or carb-y just to ease this stress and I go for too many of the sugar free candies, bars., etc., just to feel like I'm eating "something" sweet like everyone else in the house is doing...

On the positive side, when I think of how far  I've come since just September when I started this way of eating - and how badly I was doing then - it's amazing to me.  Can't remember if I shared about my A1C - ?  But it was 9.8 in September when I was in the hospital - and last month I tested at 5.6!!!!  That is actually considered "non-diabetic" levels!!  My doctor said she'd never seen anyone do that much that fast and especially being on insulin. I am TRULY hoping to get totally OFF the insulin and hopefully SOON!!!!  I know the more weight comes off, the quicker I'll be off the insulin - which is another reason I'm hoping it will hurry UP already!  Also, I realized I'm now only 35 lbs. away from being able to get a knee replacement - IF I still need one at that point...  but at least I'd have the choice...

Thanks so much for being there, everyone, and I'm going to try to make the time to stay on these forums more even with everything that's going on...  I'm having such feelings of guilt about feeling so selfish with being forced into this position of caretaker when I have so many of my own health problems that WERE getting better and are now getting worse again :(

17
General Discussion / Does Low Carb Cause Very Frequent Urination?
« on: January 23, 2014, 05:12:59 PM »
I've been following the book's suggestions for 4 months now, have dropped 54 lbs and brought my A1C down from 9.8 to 6.4 (though I think it will be even less when I get tested next week). However, I've been having very frequent urination since eating this way (every 2 hrs at night and many times during the day - sometimes 7 times in 2 hours). I  wondered if eating this way could be causing kidney problems? I noticed when I had my mini binge two weeks ago, the urination slowed wayyyy down...

I'm just still really exhausted all the time from the lack of sleep - can't even rest during the day really... Any insight? Or anyone else have this problem?!

- Jacki

18
Ask Umpa / Hamburger Strogonoff?
« on: January 17, 2014, 05:06:59 PM »
I love beef stroganoff and wondered if it would work to use the Bertolli Alfredo sauce with ground beef somehow? Any ideas? BTW I have cone to the conclusion I do NOT like pork rinds at all, so nothing using those please!

Thanks!

19
Lean On My Shoulder / VERY Upset With Myself
« on: January 14, 2014, 11:52:12 AM »
After doing SO well since starting this way of eating back in September after being in the hospital and losing 51 lbs., bringing my A1C down from 9.8 to 6.4, and MANY other health improvements - but still needing to lose another 130-ish lbs. - I went CRAZY this past Sunday and had a major carb binge.  I didn't mess around - I ate EVERYTHING I could find that I hadn't been eating all these months - knowing full well it was going to shoot my sugar through the roof and mess me up in every way.  I don't know WHY I did this - it's crazy and makes no sense.

And now, 2 days later, I'm still feeling VERY down and disheartened.  I did very well yesterday and so far have done well today (back on track 100%).  But the scale is showing an 8 lb. weight GAIN in just that 1 day - is this even POSSIBLE??!!  I can hardly believe it...  I don't even want to write down that number or put it in my tracker that I gained that much back so fast...  Will it take long to come back off?? Is it possible most of this is water retention? I know when I started low carb before I immediately (overnight) lost a TON of swelling all over my body... or is this wishful thinking.

My blood sugar DID go crazy - almost up to 300 - hadn't seen those numbers since before being in the hospital and NEVER want to see them again - EVER.  I had to KEEP taking more and more insulin just to get it to come back down...   I'm still just about in tears and though I'm only even MORE motivated and convinced that this is the ONLY way to eat for my body - I'm still angry and upset with myself and the weight gain.  I have my labs next week and I am hoping I didn't mess them up too badly by that one day of stupidity.  I had been so excited about my upcoming Dr. visit and was looking forward to him seeing how much more weight I'd lost since my last visit 2 months ago.  But now I've gained so much back.  I'm just very discouraged that I did this and hope it comes back off quickly so I'll stay motivated.  I know it's not "JUST" about weight loss - but right now that's all I can think about.

:(

20
General Discussion / Does Low Carb Raise Vitamin D?
« on: January 10, 2014, 04:58:23 PM »
Just wondering if eating a low-carb diet can raise your vitamin D levels? Because I've always been low in vitamin D and have been supplementing for many years. But ever since I started the low-carb diet back in September, my vitamin D levels have gone through the roof! It was at 98 up from around 45! My doctor is having me stop my supplements completely for a while to see what happens.

21
General Discussion / Hit the 50 lb. Mark!!
« on: December 24, 2013, 10:53:41 AM »
Just so excited I had to share!! As of this morning I've lost 50.4 lbs! This is just since September 16th!! I'm absolutely amazed at how this woe works!! I'd been hoping to get into the 270's for my Christmas present!!  This is definitely motivation to keep it going right through Christmas  ::)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

22
General Questions / Where is This Blood Sugar Coming From?!
« on: December 23, 2013, 10:28:26 AM »
Hi, everyone!

As I've mentioned before, I'm a Type 2 diabetic using insulin and metformin to control my blood sugar.  It was VERY much out of control even on massive doses of insulin before I started FTS back in September and since then it has come way down and I'm taking much less insulin and have dropped 49 lbs.!

My frustration is coming from high blood sugar happening in between meals and in the mornings when I wake up. I don't understand HOW! I'm eating virtually no carbs at most meals and staying under 20 grams daily - so where is my body getting this glucose from?!  For example yesterday my post lunch reading was 82. But before supper several hours later it was up to 156!! I hadn't eaten a bite! This is happening pretty much at every stretch before I eat again - post meal will be great, but pre-meal will be high again, forcing me to take more insulin than I want to. I was really hoping this would get me OFF the insulin, but not if this keeps happening  :'(

23
Ask Umpa / How Much Alfredo Sauce?
« on: December 22, 2013, 11:26:24 AM »
When substituting Alfredo Sauce for cream of mushroom soup, how much do you use per 1 can of the soup?

24
Is there any kind of list for this? Or what would be the average carbs in a bun so I could just subtract that out?!

I've been thoroughly enjoying getting Wendy's Baconators with no bun! Just 5 carbs! Their site has great customizable info but others just always include the bun...

Thanks!

Jacki

25
Click Here To Share Your Success Story / AMAZING Dr. Appt.!!
« on: November 21, 2013, 02:53:40 PM »
Hi, everyone!!  You might recall that when I first joined back in September I'd been in the hospital and was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure...  I finally had my follow up visit with my cardiologist last week and he was totally amazed at how well I'm doing!  I've only been following this way of eating for 2 months and already have dropped 40 lbs.(!!!!!), brought my blood sugar down to normal (and reduced my insulin from 120 units before each meal down to 20-30 units before each meal), and just SO happy with all these positive changes finally!!

Well, my blood pressure that day in his office was 110/52!  Heart rate was 52!  So he walks in and said, "NO WAY do you have congestive heart failure with these low readings!!"  He was TOTALLYl impressed with my weight loss and asked what I was doing - he seemed to be fine with me doing low carb since it's obviously working!  Just to be sure about my heart's condition, he did do another cardiac echo test right there that day and also an EKG.  My husband and I were waiting (I was quite nervous about this appt.) and he walks in and said I have NO signs of congestive heart failure or cardiomyopathy(!!!) and that I have the EKG of a 20 year old!!!  WOW!!!  I don't think I could've smiled any bigger!!  He said most likely I will need to reduce or stop the blood pressure meds if I keep losing weight (and I've already lost 4 lbs. since then!) and that I no longer even NEED to take the lasix for swelling since I HAVE no swelling any more!  WOO HOO!!!!!  So I point blank asked if I have heart failure, and he said, "Not today you don't!"  LOL :)

Just wanted to share this wonderful news with you since you've been so wonderfully encouraging and supportive as I go through all this!!

- Jacki

26
General Discussion / Update - Been Having a Hard Time
« on: October 28, 2013, 11:27:07 AM »
Hi, Everyone!

Well, after my "big start" with the 30-lb. loss, ALL swelling gone down in my legs/ankles (they're BONY now!!), blood sugar coming down DRASTICALLY, etc…..  I just plateaued BIG time for over a MONTH.  I have felt SO awful (am also still having withdrawal symptoms from coming off prescription opiates that I'd taken for 10 years - never abused or anything, but just found out I was physically dependent on them and have had AWFUL restless legs, diarrhea, insomnia, etc. for 7 weeks straight now)… Plus, I guess I'm also detoxing from the sugar.  It's just been rough physically and I'm SO sleep-deprived - just sitting in my recliner awake for most of the night, most every night. I honestly don't know how I'm even functioning at this point, but I have NOT given in and will KEEP GOING…

Anyway - FINALLY this past Friday 2 more lbs. decided to drop off and I went under that 300-lb. mark into the 200's!!  I was SO excited!  I mean 298 doesn't sound that great for a 5'4" woman, but for me that was HUGE!  I haven't weighed since then - am almost scared to in case it was a fluke - but hopefully this will be the beginning of the END of that plateau.

On a positive note - my HbA1C (diabetic average for the past 3 months) was 9.7 in the hospital in the middle of September.  That's AWFUL!  Right out of the hospital I started eating low carb and my sugars pretty much came down immediately except for a few spikes here and there for no apparent reason.  I was retested just 2.5 weeks later and it had already dropped to 7.8!!!  That's a BIG difference for such a short time!  And I'm sure that by now ( 4 weeks later) it's even lower because my readings are all much lower than they were even at that time.  PLUS I've drastically reduced my insulin requirements!  I WAS having to take 120 units of fast-acting insulin before each meal - and was having readings over 200 most of the time!  NOW - I'm taking 15-30 units ONLY - and getting readings after meals of 80-120 - AMAZING!!!!

So…….. Even though I'm pretty discouraged about the drastic slow-down in weight loss - I AM seeing the amazing health results of eating this way and that is a huge incentive to keep at it.  Just wanted to explain why I've been "vacant" on these forums for a while - I was feeling down and kind of hiding out I guess.  But I'm back :)

- Jacki

27
Ask Umpa / Squash Casserole
« on: September 26, 2013, 10:39:43 AM »
This has been a family favorite for years...  Mine basically consists of 2-3 tubes of Ritz Crackers, frozen squash, onions fried in bacon grease, cream of mushroom soup, 1 egg, 2-3 cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese, and a dab of mayo.

How would I low-carb this one but still have the good taste?!

28
General Discussion / Panicking!
« on: September 24, 2013, 12:49:50 PM »
I'm in a situation where dr has said I must weigh every day due to congestive heart failure (which I'm hoping will reverse the more weight I lose)...

Anyway I just started last week and the scale was dropping 2 lbs every day! Very encouraging since I had 200 to lose... But now ever since Friday it's been stuck :(

I'm eating the same things as last week - almost NO carbs yet because I haven't finished the book to see what exactly to do so I've stuck with protein... I can't afford to have the weight quit coming off already! I'm panicking because for some reason everything I try works great at first and then stops.

I'm also eating very small portions!

Jacki

29
General Discussion / Quick, no-cook Breakfast Ideas
« on: September 21, 2013, 04:00:31 PM »
Hi, I'm totally new here and am reading the book as fast as I can... In the meantime, I wondered if anyone has some breakfast ideas that you don't have to cook but are basic and simple. My husband has been making me eggs and bacon all week since I got out of the hospital, but he'll be going back to work on Monday and I need to fix things that require very little effort since I'm still really tired and weak...

Thanks so much for any ideas!

Jacki

30
General Discussion / New, Sick, but Excited!
« on: September 21, 2013, 10:32:42 AM »
Hi, Everyone...

I have struggled with yo-yo dieting since age 7 when I was put on a diet and wasn't even fat - it's just what our family did...  I ended up in the 200's in my twenty's and then into the 300's in my 30's.  I'm now 53 and have suffered as well with Type 2 diabetes for 20 years, what we thought was Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since age 29 (eventually diagnosed as Lyme Disease), Fibromyalgia, sleep apnea, etc.  I have been virtually chair-bound for MANY years - sitting home while my husband does all the "going out and living."  Most recently I found out I have bone-on-bone arthritis in both knees and just went through a series of injections in the left one - really hoping this will buy me some time, because they refuse to give me a knee replacement now because of my morbid obesity. In a nutshell, this is NO way to live...

Upon the verges of just giving up and accepting this is "it" for me and that it just will never get any better, my Lyme doctor recommended a low-carb diet for me since my diabetes is totally out of control and I weigh(ed) 330 lbs. and need to lose 200 lbs. I'm only 5'4!

So I started my quest...  I originally found Dr. Bernstein's "The Diabetes Solution" and have also started reading that one, but then I was talking with my sister and she recommended this one, so I just downloaded it in iBooks yesterday - was so excited to find it! Anyway, I had spent a few days reading and "thinking about it" but thinking I probably needed to jump in and do this even though it sounded daunting. Then last Wed. I ended up in the hospital with confusion (didn't know my own birthday) and that turned into rapid heart rate (165) which caused an admission for 5 days.  I just got out on Sunday, along with a diagnosis of Cardiomyopathy and Congestive Heart Failure.  Not to mention the VERY high blood sugars that weren't coming down even on almost 400 units of insulin a day :(

After I got home, I realized I now had no choice - SOMETHING has to change or I'm not going to make it much longer (I'm 53 BTW). So I started just cutting out the carbs for the most part, and tracking my sugars a lot more closely to see what was really going on.

THE VERY FIRST DAY my husband and I were both totally amazed that my sugars came DOWN - pretty drastically(!) - and have stayed much lower than before my hospitalization.  I did some figuring and here is the difference (in just 3 days!) between what I was doing and what I'm doing now:

Insulin 2weeks ago - 240 Novolog, 120 Lantus daily
Glucose 2 weeks ago - 256.5 avg. (with some 500+ readings)

Insulin this week - 110 Novolog, 75 Lantus Daily
Glucose this week - 125.7 avg. (with readings like 88
66
84
99
100
89 - which I haven't seen in YEARS!)

I've also already taken off 29 lbs. (20 in the hospital, but 9 since I got home and started low carb!). I know some of this is water, but still - it's quite encouraging.  And I'm thinking that since I'm so large, it might come off pretty quickly.  My Lyme doctor said it would melt off me similar to people who have gastric bypass surgery... I'm absolutely AMAZED at how fast it's melting off me - and even a long-standing SEVERE lower leg swelling condition literally totally resolved after just ONE DAY of eating this way!!  I looked down and saw ANKLES!!  And BONES, etc.!!  I thought something was wrong with my feet until my husband showed me that's how they're supposed to look!!

Just wanted to share all this and introduce myself!  I'm excited - and am finally feeling some glimmer of HOPE to finally resolve this all-encompassing problem "for good".  I told my sister I'm going to do this if it's the LAST thing I do - but then I changed my mind - it's going to be the FIRST thing I do - and then I can finally get my life back!

So glad to have found you!

- Jacki

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