An Epiphany

"Bailey's Girl" <.@.> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just wanted to say hello.

I've lurked off an on for quite awhile.

First tried Atkins about ten years ago. It worked like a charm, I felt
better than I think I've ever felt in my life. But I like a lot of
stuff that isn't "allowed" in a LC lifestyle, or any healthy lifestyle
for that matter. And I don't eat when I'm hungry; I eat just to eat.

Well, I'm back to LC and need to get serious after something that
happened recently. Hubby and I went to the movies and when the show was
over I couldn't get out of my seat. He tried to help me up; I waved him
off.

He made excuses for me later that the seats were leaning back, it's hard
to get up after sitting for two and a half hours, stuff like that. He's
a sweetheart, but the truth was I couldn't get up because my ass was
stuck; my hips were wider than the seat and my "love handles" got stuck
under the arms of the chair! lol

Also, a few months ago, I did a little experiment. I wasn't feeling
well and basically got sick every time I ate anything. Didn't matter
what it was, really, I felt worse after I ate, usually just having to go
to bed. My doctor wanted to run a bunch of tests, but I just could not
afford them. So he told me to get a blood sugar monitor and keep track
of what I ate and the readings.

Even these results were astonishing and have made even more of a
believer out of me; something I have on paper (my doctor thinks of
low-carb in terms of high protein and high fat and vehemently recommends
against it, how I'm feeling and looking notwithstanding).

So I just wanted to say "Hi" and thank you for all the interesting stuff
that goes on here.

Hey, been there done that...thanks for sharing and hope you'll share your
new experiences with us 🙂.

--
Sherry
360/?/195
low carb since 4/4/05
My LC Journey - www.livejournal.com/users/ShrinkingSherry
"Shrinkage" Photos: www.owly.net/Shrinking.html - - UPDATED 6/14!

Quoted message said:

Bailey's Girl said:

Just wanted to say hello.

I've lurked off an on for quite awhile.

First tried Atkins about ten years ago. It worked like a charm, I felt
better than I think I've ever felt in my life. But I like a lot of
stuff that isn't "allowed" in a LC lifestyle, or any healthy lifestyle
for that matter. And I don't eat when I'm hungry; I eat just to eat.

Well, I'm back to LC and need to get serious after something that
happened recently. Hubby and I went to the movies and when the show was
over I couldn't get out of my seat. He tried to help me up; I waved him
off.

He made excuses for me later that the seats were leaning back, it's hard
to get up after sitting for two and a half hours, stuff like that. He's
a sweetheart, but the truth was I couldn't get up because my ass was
stuck; my hips were wider than the seat and my "love handles" got stuck
under the arms of the chair! lol

Also, a few months ago, I did a little experiment. I wasn't feeling
well and basically got sick every time I ate anything. Didn't matter
what it was, really, I felt worse after I ate, usually just having to go
to bed. My doctor wanted to run a bunch of tests, but I just could not
afford them. So he told me to get a blood sugar monitor and keep track
of what I ate and the readings.

Even these results were astonishing and have made even more of a
believer out of me; something I have on paper (my doctor thinks of
low-carb in terms of high protein and high fat and vehemently recommends
against it, how I'm feeling and looking notwithstanding).

So I just wanted to say "Hi" and thank you for all the interesting stuff
that goes on here.

I find this absolutely stupefying.

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Enough said. And I apologize again, but I am always stunned by this
kind of stuff. The lord only helps those who help themselves.

Well, actually, if I were in your position, just reading what is above,
I would probably be stupefied, as well, and shaking my head in
amazement. Having actually lived my life, and been there, I'm not.

And if it makes you feel any better, I don't blame God for the fact that
I'm fat. I also don't blame McDonalds or Taco Bell or Blue Bunny, or
the job that I chose to do. I take full credit for my failures, as well
as my successes.

I won't bore you or anyone else, with my life story. What's past is
past and I'm not going to beat myself up over it, though some, of
course, will. That's their problem, not mine.

And the last thing I would like to add is that I know I come off as a
fool quite frequently, because I laugh at the stupid, silly things I do,
but I don't brag about my accomplishments. Hopefully, over time, you
will see I'm not as stupid as I seem. :-)

Nice to meet you.

"Bailey's Girl" <.@.> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Also, a few months ago, I did a little experiment. I wasn't feeling well
and basically got sick every time I ate anything. Didn't matter what it
was, really, I felt worse after I ate, usually just having to go to bed.
My doctor wanted to run a bunch of tests, but I just could not afford
them. So he told me to get a blood sugar monitor and keep track of what I
ate and the readings.

What kind of readings do you get? Do you test upon waking (i.e, a fasting
blood sugar level)?

Rich

Bailey's Girl said:

Quoted message said:

Bailey's Girl said:

Just wanted to say hello.

I've lurked off an on for quite awhile.

First tried Atkins about ten years ago. It worked like a charm, I felt
better than I think I've ever felt in my life. But I like a lot of
stuff that isn't "allowed" in a LC lifestyle, or any healthy lifestyle
for that matter. And I don't eat when I'm hungry; I eat just to eat.

Well, I'm back to LC and need to get serious after something that
happened recently. Hubby and I went to the movies and when the show was
over I couldn't get out of my seat. He tried to help me up; I waved him
off.

He made excuses for me later that the seats were leaning back, it's hard
to get up after sitting for two and a half hours, stuff like that. He's
a sweetheart, but the truth was I couldn't get up because my ass was
stuck; my hips were wider than the seat and my "love handles" got stuck
under the arms of the chair! lol

Also, a few months ago, I did a little experiment. I wasn't feeling
well and basically got sick every time I ate anything. Didn't matter
what it was, really, I felt worse after I ate, usually just having to go
to bed. My doctor wanted to run a bunch of tests, but I just could not
afford them. So he told me to get a blood sugar monitor and keep track
of what I ate and the readings.

Even these results were astonishing and have made even more of a
believer out of me; something I have on paper (my doctor thinks of
low-carb in terms of high protein and high fat and vehemently recommends
against it, how I'm feeling and looking notwithstanding).

So I just wanted to say "Hi" and thank you for all the interesting stuff
that goes on here.

I find this absolutely stupefying.

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Enough said. And I apologize again, but I am always stunned by this
kind of stuff. The lord only helps those who help themselves.

Well, actually, if I were in your position, just reading what is above,
I would probably be stupefied, as well, and shaking my head in
amazement. Having actually lived my life, and been there, I'm not.

And if it makes you feel any better, I don't blame God for the fact that
I'm fat. I also don't blame McDonalds or Taco Bell or Blue Bunny, or
the job that I chose to do. I take full credit for my failures, as well
as my successes.

I won't bore you or anyone else, with my life story. What's past is
past and I'm not going to beat myself up over it, though some, of
course, will. That's their problem, not mine.

And the last thing I would like to add is that I know I come off as a
fool quite frequently, because I laugh at the stupid, silly things I do,
but I don't brag about my accomplishments. Hopefully, over time, you
will see I'm not as stupid as I seem. :-)

Nice to meet you.

I did not mean to imply any lack of intelligence. And don't even think
of your experience as boring or anything like that. Your experience
will be what moves others to action, hopefully before they see ten
years go by, so I hope you will share it.

Your experience is important. You are important. And never, ever think
otherwise.

A few bits of wisdom for you:

1) From my photography background - after your pressed the button and
the shutter fires, the picture is taken. You can not go back and fix
it. Just go on to the next frame and do all you can to make sure it is
right. You cannot change what has already happened, so put it behind
you and go on to the next.

2) From Buddhism - everything is transient. When things are not going
well, be assured that it will get better, it will change. And when
every thing is going great, enjoy it now because that will change too.

3) You did not get to your weight quickly, it will not go away quickly.
Be prepared to take on this challenge over a long period of time and
before you know it it will be your way of living.

And it is my pleasure to meet you.

TC

rich said:

"Bailey's Girl" <.@.> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Also, a few months ago, I did a little experiment. I wasn't feeling well
and basically got sick every time I ate anything. Didn't matter what it
was, really, I felt worse after I ate, usually just having to go to bed.
My doctor wanted to run a bunch of tests, but I just could not afford
them. So he told me to get a blood sugar monitor and keep track of what I
ate and the readings.

What kind of readings do you get? Do you test upon waking (i.e, a fasting
blood sugar level)?

Hi, Rich --

He asked me to keep track of the fasting levels, yes, but during the day
as well, one, two and three hours after a meal, which basically
translates to all day long. 🙂

Without a change in diet (1 week) the fasting blood sugar levels were
over 150. With the doctor's "low fat diet" (2 weeks), the fasting blood
sugar levels were even higher and I gained another five pounds. He
insisted that I "stick with it" to "see what would happen", but after
doing a little research (no diabetes in my family, so had to start from
scratch), I decided to ignore him. After the first day of low-carb, my
fasting blood sugar was under 100.

My doctor still isn't convinced, but I really don't care. He's the only
one for 50 miles, but he's good for broken bones. 🙂

"Bailey's Girl" <.@.> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Also, a few months ago, I did a little experiment. I wasn't feeling
well and basically got sick every time I ate anything. Didn't matter
what it was, really, I felt worse after I ate, usually just having to go
to bed. My doctor wanted to run a bunch of tests, but I just could not
afford them. So he told me to get a blood sugar monitor and keep track
of what I ate and the readings.

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/Newly%20Diagnosed.htm

--
No Husband Has Ever Been Shot While Doing The Dishes

Bailey's Girl said:

Without a change in diet (1 week) the fasting blood sugar levels were
over 150. With the doctor's "low fat diet" (2 weeks), the fasting blood
sugar levels were even higher and I gained another five pounds.

Your fasting blood sugar was much higher than the level which diagnoses
Diabetes. MUCH higher. 125 mg/dl is diagnostic. Even worse, many women
develop diabetes diagnosed by post-meal numbers long before their
fasting gets anywhere near as high as yours is.

With a blood sugar level like yours you are facing much worse problems
than weight. You may already have developed early kidney disease and
your retinas may be showing early signs of the kind of diabetic damage
that can cause blindness. You may have tingling in your feet and hands
which are signs of early diabetic nerve damage of a kind that eventually
can lead to amputation. In addition, that kind of blood sugar level is
associated with a high potential for heart attack.

All this is not what you want to hear, but it is possible to greatly
improve the situation with a combination of diet and, possibly,
correctly selected diabetes drugs. Some of us can do it without the
drugs, others need the drugs for long term control. I controlled my
diabetes successfully with a low carb diet for about 5 years, but then
needed prescription drugs to retain control.

You must find a good doctor who will run the basic tests--microabumin to
see how your kidneys are and a dilated eye exam to see what's going on
with your retinas.

You can't afford to trust a second rate doctor. Your life depends on
what you do now.

To help educate yourself, I'd advise you to read Gretchen Becker's book,
"The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes." Another excellent book is Dr.
Bernstein's Diabetes Solution by Rickard K. Bernstein, M.D. These books
will give you the tools you need to begin what is, unfortunately, a
lifetime's work.

Most importantly, low carbing will help with blood sugar control, but it
does NOT reverse the underlying condition for most people, and you need
to educate yourself about diabetes so when the initial excitement of a
successful diet wears off, you are able to keep yourself healthy.
Controlling your blood sugar not only helps avoid the really nasty
diabetes "complications" it also eliminates problems with hunger, energy
swings, and compulsive eating.

I've put together some research and thoughts about strategies for
controlling diabetes at http://www.geocities.com/lottadata4u

Hope this helps!

"Bailey's Girl" <.@.> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Without a change in diet (1 week) the fasting blood sugar levels were over
150. With the doctor's "low fat diet" (2 weeks), the fasting blood sugar
levels were even higher and I gained another five pounds. He insisted
that I "stick with it" to "see what would happen", but after doing a
little research (no diabetes in my family, so had to start from scratch),
I decided to ignore him. After the first day of low-carb, my fasting
blood sugar was under 100.

Jenny has already told you the bad news. With your numbers this is not even
a close call. Low carb is good for diabetics, IMO, although there is a
great deal of debate on low carb for diabetics on the alt.support.diabetes
newsgroup. But just because you can get the blood sugar levels under 100
with low carb doesn't mean you don't have diabetes. Any time you want to
prove it to yourself just eat a couple of pieces of white bread and watch
your blood sugar soar.

The good news is that this is a disease that is controllable. I was
diagnosed a year ago and since then I have lost 100 lbs, gotten my blood
sugars under control, gotten my blood pressure under control, gotten my
cholesterol under control - primarily through diet (very low carb - I keep
induction levels of carb but without the induction specific food
restrictions) with some sporadic (needs to be more consistent and I am
working on that) exercise. My health is far better than it was before I got
diagnosed. Of course one of the most strking things about diabetes and how
it reacts to different diet/exercise/med regimes is YMMV (Your Mileage May
Vary) so I am not sayng you should necessarily do what I do. The trick is
to discover what works for you. And your best tool, in that regard, is your
meter, IMO.

One thing you might want to think about. If you think you are ever going to
need life insurance you should get it before you get officially diagnosed.
Afterwards will be too late.

Quoted message said:

My doctor still isn't convinced, but I really don't care. He's the only
one for 50 miles, but he's good for broken bones. 🙂

But he doesn't seem to be good at diabetes. You better get used to driving
farther or move, because in this day and age a Dr. that doesn't recognize
such a clearcut case is either not very good or is completely out of date,
which is the same thing. One of the diagnosis criteria is more than one
fasting level of 126 or more. Another is two blood sugar levels in excess
of 140 one hour after eating. You qualify on both counts.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/981015ap/mayfield.html

Good luck and don't be a stranger. You also might want to check out the
alt.diabetes.support newsgroup. It can get pretty contentious at times and
there are some real horse's patooties there (some think I am one of them)
but you can also glean a lot of information. Jenny 9who you already met),
Jennifer, and Alan S are particularly helpful to newly diagnosed folks.

You can beat this thing. It just takes a lifetime to do it.

Rich

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A few bits of wisdom for you:

1) From my photography background - after your pressed the button and
the shutter fires, the picture is taken. You can not go back and fix
it. Just go on to the next frame and do all you can to make sure it is
right. You cannot change what has already happened, so put it behind
you and go on to the next.
. . .

Good recovery.

Rich

rich said:

"Bailey's Girl" <.@.> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Without a change in diet (1 week) the fasting blood sugar levels were over
150. With the doctor's "low fat diet" (2 weeks), the fasting blood sugar
levels were even higher and I gained another five pounds. He insisted
that I "stick with it" to "see what would happen", but after doing a
little research (no diabetes in my family, so had to start from scratch),
I decided to ignore him. After the first day of low-carb, my fasting
blood sugar was under 100.

Jenny has already told you the bad news. With your numbers this is not even
a close call. Low carb is good for diabetics, IMO, although there is a
great deal of debate on low carb for diabetics on the alt.support.diabetes
newsgroup. But just because you can get the blood sugar levels under 100
with low carb doesn't mean you don't have diabetes. Any time you want to
prove it to yourself just eat a couple of pieces of white bread and watch
your blood sugar soar.

The good news is that this is a disease that is controllable. I was
diagnosed a year ago and since then I have lost 100 lbs, gotten my blood
sugars under control, gotten my blood pressure under control, gotten my
cholesterol under control - primarily through diet (very low carb - I keep
induction levels of carb but without the induction specific food
restrictions) with some sporadic (needs to be more consistent and I am
working on that) exercise. My health is far better than it was before I got
diagnosed. Of course one of the most strking things about diabetes and how
it reacts to different diet/exercise/med regimes is YMMV (Your Mileage May
Vary) so I am not sayng you should necessarily do what I do. The trick is
to discover what works for you. And your best tool, in that regard, is your
meter, IMO.

One thing you might want to think about. If you think you are ever going to
need life insurance you should get it before you get officially diagnosed.
Afterwards will be too late.

Quoted message said:

My doctor still isn't convinced, but I really don't care. He's the only
one for 50 miles, but he's good for broken bones. 🙂

But he doesn't seem to be good at diabetes. You better get used to driving
farther or move, because in this day and age a Dr. that doesn't recognize
such a clearcut case is either not very good or is completely out of date,
which is the same thing. One of the diagnosis criteria is more than one
fasting level of 126 or more. Another is two blood sugar levels in excess
of 140 one hour after eating. You qualify on both counts.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/981015ap/mayfield.html

Good luck and don't be a stranger. You also might want to check out the
alt.diabetes.support newsgroup. It can get pretty contentious at times and
there are some real horse's patooties there (some think I am one of them)
but you can also glean a lot of information. Jenny 9who you already met),
Jennifer, and Alan S are particularly helpful to newly diagnosed folks.

You can beat this thing. It just takes a lifetime to do it.

Rich

Thank you Jenny and Rich for the resources. I appreciate them very
much. Especially the books, Jenny; thank you!

Unfortunately, I'm on my own. Well, with the exception of this one
doctor, and I can see you already realize how futile that is. Actually,
Rich, he's really not much good at anything except handing out pills and
taking payments for office visits. 🙂

I had already accepted that I'm just going to have to do what I can do
myself. There's just no alternative at this point. And thank you for
the reminder about the life insurance. I had forgotten about that and
will attend to it ASAP.

Thank you both so much for the info. It's greatly appreciated!

Jenny said:

With a blood sugar level like yours you are facing much worse problems
than weight. You may already have developed early kidney disease and
your retinas may be showing early signs of the kind of diabetic damage
that can cause blindness.

Hi, Jenny --

I forgot to mention this in my other post . . .

This is only a small thing, but I did have a complete eye exam that
included the retinal tests last year and all is well there.

Again, thank you for all the good information.

"Bailey's Girl" <.@.> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Thank you both so much for the info. It's greatly appreciated!

You are so welcome. Most of what I learned about diabetes I learned on my
own from other diabetics. The diabetes "class" my MD sent me to was a joke.
Feel free to ask question either on alt.support.diabetes or, if you prefer,
here. Besides Jenny and I there are a handful of other low-carbing
diabetics who post here who have a lot of knowledge and wisdom about how to
cope (not implying that I have a lot of knowledge or wisdom - but what I
lack, Jenny makes up for).

Just don't let it get you down. By taking control of your own treatment and
seeking out the knowledge and experiences of others you are ahead of most
diabestics, whose way of dealing with the disease is denial.

Rich

In article <[email hidden]>, .@. says...

Quoted message said:

Just wanted to say hello.

Hi Bailey's Girl, welcome to the group! You'll find a lot of incentive
and support here to help you stay on track!

--
Saffire
205/137/125
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

no kidding....with friends like him......

"rich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:6f_re.13936$lb5.10463@trnddc04...

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm sorry, but I really cannot fathom this. Ten years ago you were
given the key to health and you hide it on a shelf for ten years.

Enough said. And I apologize again, but I am always stunned by this
kind of stuff. The lord only helps those who help themselves.

Boy, that was really supportive. That's really going to want to make
people come here and be honest about where they are. Isn't it nice that
you are so perfect.

Rich