Breakthrough!

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  • AlexandraCarlyle
    AlexandraCarlyle Posts: 1,603 Member
    edited June 2017
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    My H and I are absolutely determined that we will NEVER go back to the way we used to eat.

    He is far more sweet-toothed than I but still kicked his diabetes to the kerb; he has had the occasional 'lapse/treat', but has never succumbed to the extent that he bitterly regretted it.
    Frustratingly, his weight-loss has never fluctuated, although it has faltered, and his loss has been steady, gradual and evident.
    Mine has occasionally gone up a half, quarter or at times, full pound or so; but I have to honestly put that down to water retention and the time of year.
    We are having really good weather here at the moment. Sunny, and seasonally warm, with temperatures in the mid 20c range. Which is impressive, for UK!
    So the warmth induces perspiration and I am drinking like a fish.
    I can always tell my fluid intake is good. And here's a tip:

    Look at your earlobes. If they're puffed up and soft, you're hydrated. If they're thin and flaccid - you need water.

    If you pinch the skin on the back of your hand and it takes longer than 3 -5 seconds (depending on personal age), to go back to normal - you need water.

    If your lips are thin, dry and peeling - you need water.

    If your scalp doesn't move freely across your skull when you move it - you need water.

    ETA: If it helps, I also have an app on my phone which reminds me when to drink, because I tend to get busy and forget....


    (Android, Hydro Coach.)
  • Retrofit55
    Retrofit55 Posts: 68 Member
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    Just popping in to congratulate you. :)

    TY!
  • Retrofit55
    Retrofit55 Posts: 68 Member
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    My H and I are absolutely determined that we will NEVER go back to the way we used to eat.

    He is far more sweet-toothed than I but still kicked his diabetes to the kerb; he has had the occasional 'lapse/treat', but has never succumbed to the extent that he bitterly regretted it.
    Frustratingly, his weight-loss has never fluctuated, although it has faltered, and his loss has been steady, gradual and evident.
    Mine has occasionally gone up a half, quarter or at times, full pound or so; but I have to honestly put that down to water retention and the time of year.
    We are having really good weather here at the moment. Sunny, and seasonally warm, with temperatures in the mid 20c range. Which is impressive, for UK!
    So the warmth induces perspiration and I am drinking like a fish.
    I can always tell my fluid intake is good. And here's a tip:

    Look at your earlobes. If they're puffed up and soft, you're hydrated. If they're thin and flaccid - you need water.

    If you pinch the skin on the back of your hand and it takes longer than 3 -5 seconds (depending on personal age), to go back to normal - you need water.

    If your lips are thin, dry and peeling - you need water.

    If your scalp doesn't move freely across your skull when you move it - you need water.

    ETA: If it helps, I also have an app on my phone which reminds me when to drink, because I tend to get busy and forget....


    (Android, Hydro Coach.)


    Thanks, AlexandraCarlyle, I've been struggling with moderate to severe dehydration since the onset of the statin catastrophe last year and, despite the recently improved hydration with keto, the skin pinch test just tested out at 15+ seconds. I clearly need to work on this more. And big congratulations on your husband's victory over diabetes! Fabulous!
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
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    Retrofit55 wrote: »
    My H and I are absolutely determined that we will NEVER go back to the way we used to eat.

    He is far more sweet-toothed than I but still kicked his diabetes to the kerb; he has had the occasional 'lapse/treat', but has never succumbed to the extent that he bitterly regretted it.
    Frustratingly, his weight-loss has never fluctuated, although it has faltered, and his loss has been steady, gradual and evident.
    Mine has occasionally gone up a half, quarter or at times, full pound or so; but I have to honestly put that down to water retention and the time of year.
    We are having really good weather here at the moment. Sunny, and seasonally warm, with temperatures in the mid 20c range. Which is impressive, for UK!
    So the warmth induces perspiration and I am drinking like a fish.
    I can always tell my fluid intake is good. And here's a tip:

    Look at your earlobes. If they're puffed up and soft, you're hydrated. If they're thin and flaccid - you need water.

    If you pinch the skin on the back of your hand and it takes longer than 3 -5 seconds (depending on personal age), to go back to normal - you need water.

    If your lips are thin, dry and peeling - you need water.

    If your scalp doesn't move freely across your skull when you move it - you need water.

    ETA: If it helps, I also have an app on my phone which reminds me when to drink, because I tend to get busy and forget....


    (Android, Hydro Coach.)


    Thanks, AlexandraCarlyle, I've been struggling with moderate to severe dehydration since the onset of the statin catastrophe last year and, despite the recently improved hydration with keto, the skin pinch test just tested out at 15+ seconds. I clearly need to work on this more. And big congratulations on your husband's victory over diabetes! Fabulous!

    I was wondering if anyone else was "skin testing" while reading. :p I opted for the scalp test. :)
  • AlexandraCarlyle
    AlexandraCarlyle Posts: 1,603 Member
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    Thank you so much, @Retrofit55 , I will pass on your good wishes to him... The back-of-hand pinch test is also very good for elderly people. These poor souls are constantly dehydrated because I'm told by a Geriatrics specialist that as you age, the drink reflex doesn't function as it does when young...the elderly simply don't feel thirsty, which is basically down to the body's slowing-down process.... (I was going to say the reflex 'dries up' but that would have been an unintentional joke....)

    It's a good gauge to use if you're (or better, if one is) looking after an elderly relative, or visiting them in hospital.

    I well remember an elderly aunt of mine being hospitalised because she kept having dizzy spells, and felt light-headed before, during and even after admission. They wanted to give her anti-sea-sickness medication! I created stink and nagged my aunt's doctor stupid to get her a drip inserted, because I insisted she was dehydrated. He finally succumbed and her condition improved in under a half hour, to the extent that she was discharged the following morning.
  • 2t9nty
    2t9nty Posts: 1,609 Member
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    kpk54 wrote: »

    I was wondering if anyone else was "skin testing" while reading. :p I opted for the scalp test. :)

    Wanting to confirm my data, I did both.

  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,370 Member
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    First, congrats to both retro and ladi!

    Second - is there such a thing as super-hydrated??? I pinch the skin on the back of my hand and it pops back almost as soon as I let go of it!
  • Retrofit55
    Retrofit55 Posts: 68 Member
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    Thank you so much, @Retrofit55 , I will pass on your good wishes to him... The back-of-hand pinch test is also very good for elderly people. These poor souls are constantly dehydrated because I'm told by a Geriatrics specialist that as you age, the drink reflex doesn't function as it does when young...the elderly simply don't feel thirsty, which is basically down to the body's slowing-down process.... (I was going to say the reflex 'dries up' but that would have been an unintentional joke....)

    It's a good gauge to use if you're (or better, if one is) looking after an elderly relative, or visiting them in hospital.

    I well remember an elderly aunt of mine being hospitalised because she kept having dizzy spells, and felt light-headed before, during and even after admission. They wanted to give her anti-sea-sickness medication! I created stink and nagged my aunt's doctor stupid to get her a drip inserted, because I insisted she was dehydrated. He finally succumbed and her condition improved in under a half hour, to the extent that she was discharged the following morning.

    Well, Sweetie, that dizzy, dried-out geriatric prune you just described is me over the past sixteen months, complete with repeated ER IV hydration and electrolyte supplementation. (Did your aunt mention that IV potassium BURNS like the living blazes going in, and often continues to spread beyond the IV site throughout the whole arm? No fun at all. I'd much rather drink my potassium in -- my latest discovery! -- yummy keto bone broth, thank you.) And the declining drink reflex you mentioned that comes with aging certainly helps me better understand why it's been so difficult to discipline myself to keep up my fluid/water intake.

    How fortunate for your aunt that you were there to "run interference" on her behalf in the hospital! Having been there, it's scary to think of what could have happened if the (yes, stupid) doc had succeeded in packing your sick aunt off with a pointless anti-nausea med without resolving her dehydration first! You gotta watch these doctors. Good for you!
  • AlexandraCarlyle
    AlexandraCarlyle Posts: 1,603 Member
    edited June 2017
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    Another good test you may want to consider, given that the skin's elasticity varies and changes with age.

    Not that any of us need to consider such matters (*ahem...!*)
  • Retrofit55
    Retrofit55 Posts: 68 Member
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    kpk54 wrote: »
    Retrofit55 wrote: »
    My H and I are absolutely determined that we will NEVER go back to the way we used to eat.

    He is far more sweet-toothed than I but still kicked his diabetes to the kerb; he has had the occasional 'lapse/treat', but has never succumbed to the extent that he bitterly regretted it.
    Frustratingly, his weight-loss has never fluctuated, although it has faltered, and his loss has been steady, gradual and evident.
    Mine has occasionally gone up a half, quarter or at times, full pound or so; but I have to honestly put that down to water retention and the time of year.
    We are having really good weather here at the moment. Sunny, and seasonally warm, with temperatures in the mid 20c range. Which is impressive, for UK!
    So the warmth induces perspiration and I am drinking like a fish.
    I can always tell my fluid intake is good. And here's a tip:

    Look at your earlobes. If they're puffed up and soft, you're hydrated. If they're thin and flaccid - you need water.

    If you pinch the skin on the back of your hand and it takes longer than 3 -5 seconds (depending on personal age), to go back to normal - you need water.

    If your lips are thin, dry and peeling - you need water.

    If your scalp doesn't move freely across your skull when you move it - you need water.

    ETA: If it helps, I also have an app on my phone which reminds me when to drink, because I tend to get busy and forget....


    (Android, Hydro Coach.)


    Thanks, AlexandraCarlyle, I've been struggling with moderate to severe dehydration since the onset of the statin catastrophe last year and, despite the recently improved hydration with keto, the skin pinch test just tested out at 15+ seconds. I clearly need to work on this more. And big congratulations on your husband's victory over diabetes! Fabulous!

    I was wondering if anyone else was "skin testing" while reading. :p I opted for the scalp test. :)

    Tried the scalp test too, with equally unsatisfying results. How'd yours turn out?
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    edited June 2017
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    Retrofit55 wrote: »
    kpk54 wrote: »
    Retrofit55 wrote: »
    My H and I are absolutely determined that we will NEVER go back to the way we used to eat.

    He is far more sweet-toothed than I but still kicked his diabetes to the kerb; he has had the occasional 'lapse/treat', but has never succumbed to the extent that he bitterly regretted it.
    Frustratingly, his weight-loss has never fluctuated, although it has faltered, and his loss has been steady, gradual and evident.
    Mine has occasionally gone up a half, quarter or at times, full pound or so; but I have to honestly put that down to water retention and the time of year.
    We are having really good weather here at the moment. Sunny, and seasonally warm, with temperatures in the mid 20c range. Which is impressive, for UK!
    So the warmth induces perspiration and I am drinking like a fish.
    I can always tell my fluid intake is good. And here's a tip:

    Look at your earlobes. If they're puffed up and soft, you're hydrated. If they're thin and flaccid - you need water.

    If you pinch the skin on the back of your hand and it takes longer than 3 -5 seconds (depending on personal age), to go back to normal - you need water.

    If your lips are thin, dry and peeling - you need water.

    If your scalp doesn't move freely across your skull when you move it - you need water.

    ETA: If it helps, I also have an app on my phone which reminds me when to drink, because I tend to get busy and forget....


    (Android, Hydro Coach.)


    Thanks, AlexandraCarlyle, I've been struggling with moderate to severe dehydration since the onset of the statin catastrophe last year and, despite the recently improved hydration with keto, the skin pinch test just tested out at 15+ seconds. I clearly need to work on this more. And big congratulations on your husband's victory over diabetes! Fabulous!

    I was wondering if anyone else was "skin testing" while reading. :p I opted for the scalp test. :)

    Tried the scalp test too, with equally unsatisfying results. How'd yours turn out?

    Scalp skin seems pretty good. Loose. Just did the hand test and have a glowing report there too but geesh. My hands sure don't look like they did when I was 20. Or 30. Or 40. Or even 50.
  • Retrofit55
    Retrofit55 Posts: 68 Member
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    kpk54 wrote: »
    Retrofit55 wrote: »
    kpk54 wrote: »
    Retrofit55 wrote: »
    My H and I are absolutely determined that we will NEVER go back to the way we used to eat.

    He is far more sweet-toothed than I but still kicked his diabetes to the kerb; he has had the occasional 'lapse/treat', but has never succumbed to the extent that he bitterly regretted it.
    Frustratingly, his weight-loss has never fluctuated, although it has faltered, and his loss has been steady, gradual and evident.
    Mine has occasionally gone up a half, quarter or at times, full pound or so; but I have to honestly put that down to water retention and the time of year.
    We are having really good weather here at the moment. Sunny, and seasonally warm, with temperatures in the mid 20c range. Which is impressive, for UK!
    So the warmth induces perspiration and I am drinking like a fish.
    I can always tell my fluid intake is good. And here's a tip:

    Look at your earlobes. If they're puffed up and soft, you're hydrated. If they're thin and flaccid - you need water.

    If you pinch the skin on the back of your hand and it takes longer than 3 -5 seconds (depending on personal age), to go back to normal - you need water.

    If your lips are thin, dry and peeling - you need water.

    If your scalp doesn't move freely across your skull when you move it - you need water.

    ETA: If it helps, I also have an app on my phone which reminds me when to drink, because I tend to get busy and forget....


    (Android, Hydro Coach.)


    Thanks, AlexandraCarlyle, I've been struggling with moderate to severe dehydration since the onset of the statin catastrophe last year and, despite the recently improved hydration with keto, the skin pinch test just tested out at 15+ seconds. I clearly need to work on this more. And big congratulations on your husband's victory over diabetes! Fabulous!

    I was wondering if anyone else was "skin testing" while reading. :p I opted for the scalp test. :)

    Tried the scalp test too, with equally unsatisfying results. How'd yours turn out?

    Scalp skin seems pretty good. Loose. Just did the hand test and have a glowing report there too but geesh. My hands sure don't look like they did when I was 20. Or 30. Or 40. Or even 50.

    Ha, ha! Aging is a trip, hm? Reminds me of the time I got some long-overdue reading glasses, took one look at my hands and gasped in horror, "Oh! My cuticles! I had no idea they looked like THAT!"
  • Retrofit55
    Retrofit55 Posts: 68 Member
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    Another good test you may want to consider, given that the skin's elasticity varies and changes with age.

    Not that any of us need to consider such matters (*ahem...!*)

    What a useful, handy (no pun intended) test. But, darn it, I flunked it too. I'm a mess.
  • AlexandraCarlyle
    AlexandraCarlyle Posts: 1,603 Member
    edited June 2017
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    It's ok, have a drink. Flavour it with some floating apple and lemon pieces... drink all you can.
    I downloaded the app I mentioned earlier, and the only fault I can find with it is that if your phone screen is off, and in standby mode (not flight mode; just screen off and 'dormant') the alarm doesn't sound, unless you flip the screen on and go to the app.

    So I may re-think downloading a different app. Or maybe setting a timer to hour intervals..... That could be an easier option!
  • Retrofit55
    Retrofit55 Posts: 68 Member
    Options
    It's ok, have a drink. Flavour it with some floating apple and lemon pieces... drink all you can.
    I downloaded the app I mentioned earlier, and the only fault I can find with it is that if your phone screen is off, and in standby mode (not flight mode; just screen off and 'dormant') the alarm doesn't sound, unless you flip the screen on and go to the app.

    So I may re-think downloading a different app. Or maybe setting a timer to hour intervals..... That could be an easier option!

    I've never tried apple slices in my water. It sounds so refreshing...looking forward to it!
  • redoux33
    redoux33 Posts: 20 Member
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    It is incredibly relieving to read this. I am in the middle of week 6 and no movement in the scale in two weeks. This gives me the hope and encouragement to carry on. I would be thrilled to have your experience!
  • ginnysue21
    ginnysue21 Posts: 6 Member
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    That's so exciting!! I get so discouraged when I am putting in so much effort with trying to stay disciplined with food and exercise then I don't see any movement on the scale. So Frustrating!!