Mern

I haven't logged the since Monday, but I know I'm doing OK and my scale is continuing to be nice to me.

Doctor follow-up today: cholesterol and triglycerides down some, but still not as far as doc and I want. Plan of attack is:

-- to reduce dietary cholesterol intake from a daily limit of 300mg to 250
--try to further reduce sat fat from 12% of total calories to 10%. Baby steps OK, so aim for 11% first, then 10% later.
--She suggested my looking into red yeast rice to see if it may be something I'd be willing to try to help further reduce cholesterol and tryglicerides. I'll read up on that to see what different forms there are, any warnings, and whether there are any side effects I'm not willing to risk.
--She approved of my going back to the 120 grams of protein per day because I lost weight better and my cholesterol and triglyceride numbers were responding better. I was going to do that with or without her approval since she found no adverse effects of 120 grams in my blood test results.
--I got kudos from her on the muscle tone in my calves. She noticed that herself when she supported the back of each leg to do an ankle range of motion test. Boy, did that make me feel good!
--I got kudos on losing just 7 lbs. over the past three months because she knows how hard it is for me to lose weight. She is so encouraging.
--I was planning on not exceeding my 15 minute scheduled conference, but she spent over 40 minutes with me today working on our ideas to manage my blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglycerides. When I thanked her for always giving me as much time as I need, she replied that she's always happy to do that with her patients who are willing to make lifestyle changes to improve their health.

I always come out of her office feeling so encouraged.

Enough about me:

First, thanks to all for your condolences and kind words on the second death in our family this month. We are holding together--I see a lot of unconditional love floating around these days.

To those of you I didn't address personally or comment on your daily reports, kudos to all of you who are doing well and big hugs of encouragement to all who are struggling.

Joanna, best wishes on all your goals, especially the August grad school exam.

Nobe, did you get your two lbs. off by today?

Hope, belated kudos to you and to your wonderful daughter. Wow, you had to be so proud of her getting all those awards--math and psychology awards, too! You have so many reasons to be proud of yourself and her. Big hugs to both of you. Ooh, 5 hours in the car after the auto accident and fall in the bathroom had to be just plain auful. I'm glad your back was feeling better on the 28th. How is it feeling today?

HKG, I hope your day went well on your Mom's birthday.

Jho, I'm sorry last week was a bummer for you. Congrats for being down to 160. I hope this week is a really happy one for you. Big hug to ya! Oh, on the tea--I do decaf for myself but I honestly don't know if everyone needs to do decaf beverages. I gave up caffeine except for in my sugar free chocolate when I was going through menopause and didn't take hormone replacement therapy for the hot flashes. Someone told me giving up caffeine might help, so I did that, added flaxmeal, and soy products and it really did decrease the length and intensity of each hot flash for me. Nice that you enjoy your Zumba.

Tracey, it must really be discouraging to have Weight Watchers meetings cancelled. Kudos to you for choosing to go back to something else you used to do and using it to kickstart a better work-out routine.

Jho82

Quiet bunch this week!

Mern - Awesome report!!! Your doc sounds amazing! I def need to increase my protein still!! I don't know why I find it so hard!! I guess I like my carbs... this too will come in time I'm sure. Keeping track the way you do would kill me! You are so focussed and determined! Good for you! Not sure if coffee has the same caffeine as tea but I cannot have coffee after 4pm or I can't sleep! I don't think I'll take chances with the tea - the decaf cinnamon spice I had last night was delicious! I am happy for the most part... my scheduled "go to the MIL" got cancelled meaning no zumba for me. I do have a lot of energy right now so I guess I'll hit some weights and get on to day 2 of interval training! yay! My MIL is not doing well with her grief. She is severely depressed and needs to go talk to someone professionally but she won't. I feel helpless at this point - she refuses to have the kids and I over, has not eaten in 5 days, and is back to drinking . Hubby and I are looking into maybe having an "in-home" grief counsellor if she keeps refusing. Not sure what else we can do at this point.

01gt4.6

Hey ladies, Tori wanted me to tell y'all that she'll be MIA because so got too many Cheez It crumbs on her keyboard and when she tried to lick them off she messed it up. She hopes to be back tomorrow.

Mern

Where is Quinn? Did she move over to that other thread with RunBikeSki Pam?

Jho, thanks for your encouragement. It means so much to me to have the support of you and the others in this group. Not all my protein comes from regular food. I do use a low carb protein supplement at 24g protein per serving, and doc doesn't want me to have more than two servings per day. I am not perfect at logging daily but I'm supposed to because I have to have specific targets for calories, carbs, cholesterol, saturated fat, protein and fiber to avoid having to take meds. I need to be more faithful about logging, too. I don't know if coffee caffeine is the same as tea, either. Glad you're enjoying that decaf cinnamon spice. Aw, I'm so sorry you lost your chance to Zumba. Good for you for doing weights and interval training. So sorry, too, that MIL is not doing well. Wow, that surely is a tough one, but it it sounds like a wonderful idea to try to get an in-home grief counsellor. I will put that intention on my prayer list. Big hug to ya!

Mike, LOL on Tori's accident with the Cheez Its!

01gt4.6

What is this "other" thread you speak of? Do you still have your trusty whip?

When it comes to Tori and Cheez Its, the only accident she has is dropping one or spilling crumbs before she can eat them.

01gt4.6

Okay it seems that my last post about Tori has upset her and now she's crying. She asked (in a not so nice way) for me to clear the air. Tori is busy at the moment finishing off her 2nd bag of taco flavored Doritos, a 2 liter of Mt. Dew and a pack of Marlboro Reds. Now she's upset with herself and is trying to cry herself to sleep. Whatshisname called and told her to put down the Doritos and walk away, she started yelling and screaming at him. I don't think she's doing too well today with her goals. She can be such a damn slacker!

Mern

Mike, the other thread I was talking about is "Who's got just 10-15 lbs.?"
Pam moved there and Hope posts there sometimes, but I didn't find Quinn there.

I HOPE I don't have to drag out the whip for anyone.

Tori's gonna beat your butt when she gets back and she won't even need a whip, but I enjoyed the chuckle. LOL

01gt4.6

I'm glad we finally get to see something other than red in your report!

Ya know... I was looking at your goals and come to the conclusion that if you put down the book in #5 you could probably leave #8 off the list. I kid, I kid.

RunbikeSki

Nope haven't seen her, although long ago she was an active participant. I suspect she is mega busy with family. Hopefully it is the good kind of busy... but I'm a bit concerned

Oh and yea Mern, you are soooo lucky to have such a supportive Dr. Even though there are still goals ahead you are doing awesome!

01gt4.6

Mern, I like your plan of attack but one thing stood out to me...
What kinda freaky deaky stuff do you and DH have going on? Does he have you prancing around all day in 6" stilettos (aka hooker heels/stripper heels)? That's a sure fire way to make them pop. Last summer when I was working Bourbon Street I was wearing some FMP's (hooker heels) and my calves were banging!