Beautiful Blues challenge

shutterbug4674

It's almost the weekend!!! Go Blue!!!!
I may weigh myself Sunday morning...cause I always forget on Monday!

thumper44

Hey all,
Had a good week with food, but not enough exercise.

This weekend should be an ok weekend, working saturday , no alcohol and no bad foods tempting me.

Leigh14

Hello beautiful blues. :flowerforyou:

I've had a rough week. My grandma is a diabetic and she took her insulin shot Saturday morning, skipped breakfast and went straight to doing her housework. Her sugar dropped really low and she passed out. We called 911 and gave her some Dr. Pepper and she started coming around, but since her sugar was still low when the EMT got there, they took her to the ER. We spent all day Saturday in the ER and all day Sunday in Progressive Care while she got lots of tests. Turns out, she has an 80-99% blockage in her left carotid artery and a 60-70% blockage in her other. And it's hereditary! Along with the diabetes. So, we're taking extra good care of her this week ... she's actually feeling great for the first time in a long time ... and she's going in for surgery next Tuesday. I am pretty sure we're canceling Thanksgiving or spending it in the hospital.

This will be the first year our family is going into the holidays with three people having diabetes. I just urged my mom to get her blood checked a few weeks ago and everything came back fine. But, after this with my grandma, as soon as her surgery goes through, all her children are supposed to get a scan done on their necks to check for the same condition. I guess this is something I'll have to look forward to in the future, too.

I had to take four hours off from work to take my grandma to her doctor this week, so I've been getting up extra early to make up the hours at work and avoid taking sick time or vacation time. And, for some reason, I've either been really really really hungry or really really really not. One night I devoured a piece of cake ... the next I barely ate anything. Today was going great, till I had to stop at my mom's house on lunch, and I just grabbed chips and some candy and some cheese and it was like a crazy binge-fest. That is getting to be a problem.

I am staying after work and working out in our gym to make up for my food issues today ... but I am not sure how to stop it. I've had suggestions of writing down my feelings, taking time to think before I eat, etc., but I've realized that a lot of why I eat these things is simply because I enjoy the taste. I don't quite know how to make myself stop. :embarassed: I'm stuck.

And, every so often I leave long, frustrated messages with you beautiful people... and I apologize, lol

j_g4ever

Thank you Taradise and Sanifrey. I am doing better today, I've already had 2 waters and I packed a salad for lunch (no temptations). You are right, logging that food really makes you aware of what you put in your mouth!
Here's to a better day :flowerforyou:

it will be ok. :drinker:

j_g4ever

Had a friend over today and we re-did my pantry and then before supper my husband and I worked out. My dumb HRM stopped working so I'm going to bring it in tomorrow and see if it just needs new batteries. But now I don't know how many calories I burned I know I have several more calories to eat today. Popcycle you better run and hide because I'm coming to eat you. :bigsmile:

chrissyh

5 mile run with a 1.5 mile walk with my hubby - countered by Mexican for supper...still under overall for the day

Keep working hard everyone - we will do this!

chrissyh

Hello beautiful blues. :flowerforyou:

I've had a rough week. My grandma is a diabetic and she took her insulin shot Saturday morning, skipped breakfast and went straight to doing her housework. Her sugar dropped really low and she passed out. We called 911 and gave her some Dr. Pepper and she started coming around, but since her sugar was still low when the EMT got there, they took her to the ER. We spent all day Saturday in the ER and all day Sunday in Progressive Care while she got lots of tests. Turns out, she has an 80-99% blockage in her left carotid artery and a 60-70% blockage in her other. And it's hereditary! Along with the diabetes. So, we're taking extra good care of her this week ... she's actually feeling great for the first time in a long time ... and she's going in for surgery next Tuesday. I am pretty sure we're canceling Thanksgiving or spending it in the hospital.

This will be the first year our family is going into the holidays with three people having diabetes. I just urged my mom to get her blood checked a few weeks ago and everything came back fine. But, after this with my grandma, as soon as her surgery goes through, all her children are supposed to get a scan done on their necks to check for the same condition. I guess this is something I'll have to look forward to in the future, too.

I had to take four hours off from work to take my grandma to her doctor this week, so I've been getting up extra early to make up the hours at work and avoid taking sick time or vacation time. And, for some reason, I've either been really really really hungry or really really really not. One night I devoured a piece of cake ... the next I barely ate anything. Today was going great, till I had to stop at my mom's house on lunch, and I just grabbed chips and some candy and some cheese and it was like a crazy binge-fest. That is getting to be a problem.

I am staying after work and working out in our gym to make up for my food issues today ... but I am not sure how to stop it. I've had suggestions of writing down my feelings, taking time to think before I eat, etc., but I've realized that a lot of why I eat these things is simply because I enjoy the taste. I don't quite know how to make myself stop. :embarassed: I'm stuck.

And, every so often I leave long, frustrated messages with you beautiful people... and I apologize, lol

Give Gramma big hugs! Hope she's feeling better!

Taradise

lcorrell14 - I am so sorry to hear about your grandmother. I can relate. Both my dad and my grandmother have diabeties. Twice my dad passed out due to dangerously low suger. One of those times, he fell and hit his head giving him a bad concussion. It was all really scary and we spent a while in the hospital. I am constantly worring about him even though there is nothing I can do - he lives in Maryland, I live in the UK now. I'm sure you deal with the same worry. Watching what both my dad and grandmother are going through with diabeties - I vowed do do everything I can so I won't get adult onset diabeties. And you should too. Take care of yourself and exercise. Also, get checked for diabeties every now and again. For you and me, we have to be extra careful because diabeties runs in our family. Use that for motivation.

Taradise

Ok Blues, time for the weekend! We gotta be lean and mean this weekend for our biggest loser weigh in. The team is counting on you!!

Today I am celebrating. I took my measurements this morning and I've lost all around. But most notably, I've lost just about 4 inches off my waist! What?! REALLY! Didn't know I was holding on to so much. And I can really see that my tummy is flatter. Yay!

Spin class tonight. Let's take care of business this weekend blues!!

sanifrey

Ok Blues, time for the weekend! We gotta be lean and mean this weekend for our biggest loser weigh in. The team is counting on you!!

Today I am celebrating. I took my measurements this morning and I've lost all around. But most notably, I've lost just about 4 inches off my waist! What?! REALLY! Didn't know I was holding on to so much. And I can really see that my tummy is flatter. Yay!

Spin class tonight. Let's take care of business this weekend blues!!

Congrats on that loss!! AWESOME!! Enjoy your spin class tonight!!

sanifrey

Hello beautiful blues. :flowerforyou:

I've had a rough week. My grandma is a diabetic and she took her insulin shot Saturday morning, skipped breakfast and went straight to doing her housework. Her sugar dropped really low and she passed out. We called 911 and gave her some Dr. Pepper and she started coming around, but since her sugar was still low when the EMT got there, they took her to the ER. We spent all day Saturday in the ER and all day Sunday in Progressive Care while she got lots of tests. Turns out, she has an 80-99% blockage in her left carotid artery and a 60-70% blockage in her other. And it's hereditary! Along with the diabetes. So, we're taking extra good care of her this week ... she's actually feeling great for the first time in a long time ... and she's going in for surgery next Tuesday. I am pretty sure we're canceling Thanksgiving or spending it in the hospital.

This will be the first year our family is going into the holidays with three people having diabetes. I just urged my mom to get her blood checked a few weeks ago and everything came back fine. But, after this with my grandma, as soon as her surgery goes through, all her children are supposed to get a scan done on their necks to check for the same condition. I guess this is something I'll have to look forward to in the future, too.

I had to take four hours off from work to take my grandma to her doctor this week, so I've been getting up extra early to make up the hours at work and avoid taking sick time or vacation time. And, for some reason, I've either been really really really hungry or really really really not. One night I devoured a piece of cake ... the next I barely ate anything. Today was going great, till I had to stop at my mom's house on lunch, and I just grabbed chips and some candy and some cheese and it was like a crazy binge-fest. That is getting to be a problem.

I am staying after work and working out in our gym to make up for my food issues today ... but I am not sure how to stop it. I've had suggestions of writing down my feelings, taking time to think before I eat, etc., but I've realized that a lot of why I eat these things is simply because I enjoy the taste. I don't quite know how to make myself stop. :embarassed: I'm stuck.

And, every so often I leave long, frustrated messages with you beautiful people... and I apologize, lol

Give Gramma big hugs! Hope she's feeling better!

Hugs from me too! For the both you you!
Hang in there with the food issues. You're going through alot & not taking the time to think about your meals, probably not eating much at all & when you're tempted with yummy, sugary, salty treats you gotta have them! Try arming yourself with some small meals, fruits, protein bars, pretzles, almonds - smal snacks that you can grab & go so that when you're hungry or bored, or even stressed you'll have something to keep you busy! Lots of love to you & yours!

Leigh14

Thanks for the support beautiful blues. :flowerforyou: And thanks for letting me have an outlet, lol. I am feeling SO much better today ... I just hit these lows sometimes and it sucks. :indifferent:

I am *definitely* using the diabetes as a motivating factor. I do not ever want this disease. I've seen how it has affected not only the people in my family that have it, but all of us. And, yes, I definitely relate with the worry Taradise! Hopefully if the rest of my family starts taking care of themselves now ... they won't have this to deal with later in life. And I actually had my blood drawn on Wednesday and should have the results back by next Tuesday. My doctor recommended I do this every three months. Definitely going to keep track of that and urge others in my family to do so, too.

I weighed myself this morning and have stayed the same, so I am actually happy about that. Official weigh-in for me is on Saturdays, so we'll see if I can drop a little between now and then! I'll be drinking tons of water today! I got to work extra-early today and am just now having breakfast: Kashi Very Vanilla Oatmeal. Hope it's good! Never tried it. I also picked up some sugar free spiced apple cider mix at the store last night. At 15 calories per packet, it was actually pretty yummy! That, paired with my occasional Swiss Miss Diet Cocoa, should keep me pretty satisfied today. :drinker: Feels a little like cheating ... only, not as many calories as the real thing. :bigsmile:


Sooooo... I'm pretty sure I've warned you guys before, but we have new members, so I'll say it again. I'm a Journalism major and type, type, type all day long, so a lot of my messages may be long! LOL, but ... it doesn't matter if they get read or not... sometimes I just need to get it out. And, I have a feeling I *really* need to start coming here more often during the day than I have been. It really does make a difference.

Go blue!

Any Turkey Day plans? Anybody?

Leigh14

Ok Blues, time for the weekend! We gotta be lean and mean this weekend for our biggest loser weigh in. The team is counting on you!!

Today I am celebrating. I took my measurements this morning and I've lost all around. But most notably, I've lost just about 4 inches off my waist! What?! REALLY! Didn't know I was holding on to so much. And I can really see that my tummy is flatter. Yay!

Spin class tonight. Let's take care of business this weekend blues!!

Woohoo!!! Congrats!!! I'll bet you're seein' some abs!

debnu1

Me too! One of my motivating factors is avoiding Diabetes. I had gestational diabetes and that puts me at a much greater risk to develop Type two in the future. I also have taken care of many diabetics watch some who don't take care of themselves and loose parts of their body and others who are diligent and live very normal lives. I want to be a diligent non-diabetic. The best thing to do is maintain an even blood sugar--the way I understand it is the pancreas (the organ that releases insulin) either burns out or no longer can produce enough insulin to keep up with the demand. Insulin is what forces the sugar out of the blood stream into the muscles to be burned as fuel. Too much sugar in your blood acts as little shards of glass that scrape the linings of the blood vessels damaging them and allowing plaque to adhere (hence why clogged arteries are more prevalent) the damage to the vessels also scars them to make them less pliable. Your blood travels everywhere that is why high sugar levels prevent good healing, can cause strokes, loss of limbs and loss of vision. In the hospital they have actually found that keeping blood sugars at an even level can improve patient outcome significantly. Recovery time is shorter and the number of complications are minimal! So now that I have scared myself--what can we do to prevent this. Here is what I know. It certainly isn't easy but it is basic healthy living.

Basically all you have to do is pair carbs with protein and spred out the amount of carbohydrates that you eat. The sugars and simple carbohydrates are what raise you blood sugar the fastest. So you pair with fiber and or protein the amount of time to digest is prolonged therefore decreasing the spike in your blood sugar. This way you don't work your pancreas as hard.

So eat 5-6 small meals a day. Each time having a protein, carbohydrate and a fruit or vegie--vegetables are free foods, the amount of carbohydrates in them are contradicted by the fiber. Eat at will. :bigsmile: Now the trouble is to do it. I have found that when I am eating this way my cravings and needs for foods are significantly less, I don't binge and I have a lot more energy. I just have to plan ahead in order to do it!

Hopefully this wasn't TMI!:blushing: I sometimes get on a rant--and this is something I know and don't practice so writing it down helps me to remember! We are all on our way to a healthier lifestyle and that (getting to a healthy weight) will significantly decrease our chances of being diabetic!

Heres to low Blood Sugars (BS :laugh: )

:flowerforyou:

Taradise

Thank you debnu1 for such a thoughtful and through explanation. I had never heard the sugar in blood described as pieces of shard... I didn't know about that.

thumper44

I hope this isn't too much reading, but it's helping people understand another peice of the puzzle with health and our body.

My mother had diabetes, and even though I've never craved and eaten alot of sweets. I know I should be getting checked often. In fact being over weight I thought I might have developed diabetes previously, but tests say no.

Most people know about the connection between high cholesterol and diabetes. But now scientists are finding evidence that diabetes itself wreaks havoc with cholesterol, significantly increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke even higher.

The close ties between these two risk factors means that if you are diabetic, you have to be extremely vigilant about controlling your cholesterol.

Link Between Insulin and Cholesterol

Researchers are still figuring out exactly how diabetes changes cholesterol levels at the microscopic cellular level. They do know that high levels of insulin in the blood tend to adversely affect the number of cholesterol particles in the blood. High insulin levels act to raise the amount of LDL cholesterol (the "bad cholesterol") that tends to form plaques in arteries, and lower the number of HDL colesterol particles ("good cholesterol") that help to clear out dangerous plaques before they break off to cause a heart attack or stroke. Diabetes also tends to cause higher levels of triglycerides, another type of fat circulating in the blood

I've heard quite along time ago about the body producing more cholestrol when your body is acidic.

Nobody talks about your body's Ph Balance. Doctors, nobody. I've asked people who were sick what their Ph balance is, and nobody knows. Seems like the doctors don't care about this, or it's too general, i'm not sure.


It's so easy to find out. Remember those little sticks in class when we were kids that changed colour when we pricked our finger and touched our blood. You can buy them at any drug store, very cheap.

Most people who have a disease are acidic. I've heard people who have cancer or life threatening disease have Ph of 5.5 (7.4 is normal/average).

When your body is more acidic, your body notices the acid in the blood, and produces more cholesterol to line the arteries and veins to protect the acid from burning through the artery walls.

Double edged sword if you ask me. Your body protects your lining of your arteries but can cause another problem With North american diets, no wonder people have high cholestrol and arteries are being blocked. They are doing bypasses and triple bypasses like normal surgery now.

For those who don't know, i'm not too favourable about doctors and the health profession.
Let's fix the symptom. Arteries that are being blocked, instead of what is causing the problem.

Just did a quick search. Some more reading.
http://www.enjoying-life-with-diabetes.com/ph-balance.html

http://www.balance-ph-diet.com/ph_scale.html

The pH, which is an abbreviation for ‘power of hydrogen’, is a measuring unit of acidity and alkalinity of a solution. It is numerically equal to 7 for neutral solutions, increasing with increasing alkalinity (14 = maximum alkalinity) and decreasing with increasing acidity (0 = maximum acidity).
The urine, blood, saliva, digestive juices and the fluids inside and outside the body’s cells each have an optimum pH level, whereby blood pH is the most telling of all.
At rest, the normal blood pH of a human being is slightly alkaline, with a pH around 7.4 on the pH scale. Anything above that value is considered alkaline; anything below is described as acidic. Both, in their extremes, are life-threatening for the human body; if the pH value drops below 6.8 or increases above 7.8, the cells of the body cannot function properly anymore and the human will die.

Ph was explained to me this way and it makes perfect sense.
For arguments sake, I'm going to call "electrons" and/or nano electricty through the body as body electricity.

In a perfect person, we have 100% body electricity flowing through a body with a Ph balance of 7.8 and splits off inside the body electricly giving 'power' to all the organs.

When the body is more acidic, the body electricity is not at full power to all the organs. Hence each organ is not working to it's 100% capability.

Sorry for the length. I've been meaning to post this on this forum as I don't believe many people are aware.

debnu1

Peter, that is reallyinteresting. I have never heard of a link to acidity in diabetics. There are many differesnt factors that can effect it. the kidney function--respirations. The most we check pH in the hospital is when they are coding--or if there are major respiratory issues. It really isn't a general check. But we all know that the body has to be in balance though. I am going to do some more research on that. Doctor Oz once described the doctor patient relationship as one lacking trust. There are ways to prevent needing a bypass--the problem is the doctor doesn't believe that the patient will comply so there for goes for the extreme method instead of preventative/non surgical. I have to admit a strict diet doesn't sound like fun. But perhaps medicine should be more preventative then curative.

msh0530

I bought a new water bottle - intak by thermos. Just got it, and I like it. I'll see if it helps, since I dislike drinking water.

There is nowhere in town to buy a decent breakfast, and hubby and I wanted to go out. So I called my daughter and asked if she was a short order cook. The sweetheart agreed, so we are headed out for breakfast! Don't know what she's fixing, but it will be fine, I have all day to make up for the sins of the morning. Better rush! Have a good weekend!

chrissyh

Mary I'll cook for you anytime!! That's very sweet!

Just finished my longest run ever ---- 7 miles! Whew it was tough but I DID IT!!!!! I AM WONDER WOMAN!!:laugh: Ok so maybe not but it was awesome anyway!!

msh0530

Way to go Chrissy! My nephew just ran in his first race today, after finishing couch to 5k last week. I am proud of him. He has lost 50 lbs. in the past year, and has joined me on MFP.
I just found a great cure for evening snacking. I make my own dry onion soup mix to use in cooking. For the first time I just decided to try it as soup. I put about a tsp. in 6 oz. of hot water. It seems to be keeping me out of the junk, for about 5 calories. Woo hoo!
The new water bottle is great so far. I have had a record 72 oz. of water today, and 16 oz. of herbal tea. Hope the new doesn't wear off!

j_g4ever

I have a procedure on Monday and I'm so nervous to say the least. The nurse called me on Friday and I asked a few questions. I will have to have an IV. I don't think I have a vain in my body and they are going to put me to sleep. Last time I was put to sleep was for my wisdom teeth and I didn't wake up good at all. :frown: I just hope all goes well. I won't be able to exercise for well I don't know how long. Going to watch my calories. And this thanksgiving I'm going to eat on a small plate. :flowerforyou:

Taradise

chrissyh - congrats on the 7 mile run!! Huge accomplishment! Are you sore??

msh0530 - fantastic job with the water!! AND great job finding a low cal food that works for you.

j_g4ever - sorry to learn about your procedure on Monday. Take care of yourself and do what the doctor's tell you. I'm sending you best wishes vibes through MFP for a easy, safe experience. <--- the vibes being sent

Don't forget weigh in tomorrow morning. Everyone seems to be doing pretty well. Keep it up!! We can do it Blues! The team is counting on you! :flowerforyou:

This was the easy week for us. Our biggest test is Thanksgiving this coming week!! I'm scared!

debnu1

chrissy--you are definitely wonder woman!! I am amazed and inspired by you--keep it up!!

msh--I find having a water bottle keeps me on task for water. It is amazing how much easier it is to drink when it isjust sitting there.

j_g--good luck tomorrow. Especially with waking up--If you feel nauseated, ask for nausea meds--especially if that has happened before, maybe ask ahead of time, never hurts to be prepared. Take care of yourself and Good Luck!! :bigsmile: :flowerforyou:

Weigh ins scare me lately. My son came down with stomach flu this weekend. All I have done is change very wet stinky diapers--TMI? sorry. I don't pay attention to my eating when I am dealing with sick kids. I should probably fix that. :laugh:

Happy good vibes for tomorrow morning to all of us!!

:flowerforyou:

MayLan

debnu- I have always thought medicine should be more preventive than curative. I have seen doctors that have directly told me that they don't practice preventive medicine. But I guess it's not their fault, since this is what they are taught in medical schools. I think I read that they don't really study nutrition as much. This is unfortunate, because I believe proper nutrition can prevent many medicines, and for some people has even cured diseases.

So, yesterday went to a baby shower and I behaved really well in terms of eating. I ate before going, because the baby shower was very late. I planned in my head, that I wouldn't be eating. What I did was serve my 15 month old a small portion of food, and that way was able to taste some things so that I didn't feel left out. Also, I have noticed this is a great way to kind of fake it out, so that people don't think that you are not eating. I noticed most hosts like people to enjoy their food and eat, and sometimes letting people know that you are on a diet is a bit difficult- since they keep insisting that you eat.

Now, today it's back to the gym. I'm dreading going...but right now my foot is out the door to the gym. Have a good day all!

Leigh14

debnu and tttthumper - thanks to both of you for all the wonderful information!! One day at a time... lol, there is so much to learn about our bodies. Ya know, it looks like some of this stuff would be taught in school, lol. I don't remember learning anything like that!

chrissy - congrats on the 7 miles!!! That is wonderful, Wonder Woman.

j_g - goodluck on your procedure!! You'll be just fine. :flowerforyou: Good idea on using a small plate for Thanksgiving, lol

My weekend has been pretty good! I did not lose anything at my Saturday weigh-in, but I wasn't expecting to. So my weight this week again is 237. Doing a 5K with a friend on Thanksgiving morning this week. :bigsmile:

RachVR6

Hey guys, I know I've been mia again but I've been busy with the move to Texas. I've only been here a couple days and so far I'm loving it! I can't really commit to weigh-ins but I'll come chat when I can. You guys always have the best advice and support! I'm down a couple pounds since I got here...hurray!

dawn717

Thanks for all the helpful info. I learned a lot this morning. It's great that debnu1 and tttthumper have such good information to share.

Leigh14

Happy Monday! :flowerforyou: So far I've had two pieces of 100% whole wheat bread and Fiber One cereal for breakfast (a little bit of a carb overload, lol), and a Weight Watchers Berries n Cream yogurt for a snack. I'm on my fourth glass of water. :drinker: Getting ready to go into my 11 a.m. Monday meeting with the rest of our staff. Thinking about brewing some coffee ... mmmm ...

How is everybody today??

debnu1

Hi everyone--feeling a little down as my weight was up today. I need advice as to how to get over the excuse factor. I have hundreds of excuses and even the best of intentions are being eaten up by them lately. What keeps you on the right track??

smadag1

Debnu1 I wish I could give you some advise but I am in the same boat.
My hubby and I were watchung one of our favorite shows last night and it showed one of the main characters without her shirt on just a bra and I made the remark "Damn I wish I had that body" and my hubby said "I wish you did too" I know he loves me and the shape and size of my body doesn't bother him but that is just extra motivation for me to work my *kitten* off. I know he did not mean anything negative by his comment but I am using it as an extra push. Hopefully my ab circle pro will be at the house when I get home tonight so I can start working my abs.

Sorry I have been absent for a few day just been thinking about a lot of stuff