jjrudd

Wow, that's great Mern!! You go girl!!
Did you balance your diabetes by diet and exercise alone?

Thanks Cassie, that's kind of what I thought too. Will check glucose this afternoon since I had more of a balanced breakfast and lunch today.

Mern

Hi, Mike.

Nobe great deal on the pants and shirts for kiddo! Ah, some people are just scared of what people would think of them for buying used clothes. Sorry, but I had to chuckle out of "I may or may not have eaten 8oz of deep fried halibut and about 20 pounds of fries." We all know you will get back on track.

Darlene said "Mern Ok goals I will talk to you guys every day even if I feel like I am failing and I will log my food again." There ya go! Know that we're here for you whether you're doing well or struggling. But as Cassie admitted, I, too, have fallen into staying away from FitDay when I wasn't on the wagon, and it did indeed make things worse for me. I posted part of my blood test results a few minutes ago. Thanks for your interest.

Cassie, kudos for being back on the wagon today after a night of "reckless disregard." Glad to hear the boys first semester is going well. Second semesters often are bears. Wish it could be more evened out. First semester of college for GD starts Monday, Aug. 27, majoring in PSYCHOLOGY. She has two courses she expects to be a breeze (Spanish and math) but is also expecting a bear of a second semeter. So she is adding a second semester US History course to the first semester to lighten the second semester load.

Jenn, I don't understand your dietician's remark about blood sugar spiking if one is hungry unless she just meant one may eat too much in carbs if too hungry? I'm also not familiar with that reading of 19 for blood sugar. Was that a typo or do you not live in the USA? What number is considered normal? Thanks for your cheer. Yes, I did balance my blood sugar and my cholesterol with diet and exercise alone (no meds) and my doctor's supervision.

Ann, Kudos on the running. Just be proud that you are a work in progress--that third mile will surely get easier. I'll bet your be back in those work pants you already own in plenty of time.

April, aw, I'm thrilled for you that you officially got the new job. We all know how well you've done in your weight loss--being such a role model for the rest of us. You will do fine without FitDay during the day and we'll look forward to your evening reports. Kudos on your great day goal-wise yesterday!

cjohnson728

Mern,

FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!!

Truly, you are a role model that this can be done. I am so glad you are here and sharing your thoughts.

jjrudd

Sorry Mern, forgot that numbers are different in States than Canada.
Fasting glucose normal is between 4 and 6--like this would be the number it should be before having breakfast.
2hrs after eating a normal range would be between 7 and 10.

I was told when my blood sugar spiked in the morning it was because I hadn't had enough to eat the day before. I don't really understand it myself and I have never had a reading higher than 11.5 and that was 2 hrs after eating.

cjohnson728

Oh, Mern, just saw the other post. I hope your GD enjoys psych. I went into college as an English major but fell in love with my Intro Psych course and that was that .

I can't switch the boy's classes, but I had the same thought as you...I know the books he'll need to read for classes next semester so I already got them, and plan to buy the AP US History prep book soon, too, even though that's not till Spring. Unfortunately, spring is when the tennis season starts, but I suppose that's what separates the men from the boys.

Although it gives me a chill to think about him as a man, still, yet .

I think that's very cool that you can get your results so quickly. I'm thinking that the good news will be very motivating for you. Heck, it's motivating to me and it's not even my bloodwork, lol!

Mern

Jenn, I am fortunate that I don't have to test my blood at home. I just have a fasting blood test at my doctor's office every three months; she sends it to a lab and I get the results the next day, except for my A1C which takes two days. Thanks for explaining your 19 to me. I found a chart for converting your mmol/L to the USA mg/dL (milligrams of glucose to deciliter of blood) at mmol/l to mg/dl conversion Two hours after eating USA glucose levels should be under 140mg/dL. Your 19 translates to 342 mg/dL, so WOW, that really is high! Yeah, I still don't understand the reasoning for the spike. My doctor serves as my nutritionist but if she told me my blood sugar spiked in the morning because I hadn't had enough to eat the day before, I'd have to ask her to explain what she meant by that.

Cassie, thanks so much for your cheer on my blood test. I am so lucky to have found this doctor. I'm actually looking forward to my visit with her next Thursday to confer with her on the triglyceride issue. I expect my GD will love psych as I did. I started out with the intent to become an elementary school teacher and then changed to accounting, but I had two or three psych courses and remember really enjoying them. Kids can't switch semester courses around at our high school, either. My GD didn't take AP US History in high school but she's interested in US History that subject, too, so it was a good course to add to her first semester. I'll bet the boy will do great in his AP US History course when the time comes. I have a son, too, and I found it harder accepting him growing up than I did for my daughter growing up. You are right that the good news of finally getting my cholesterol normal after 15 months of working on it is motivating for me. I've already conquered the blood glucose issue, so the triglycerides is all I need to work on--besides maintaining the normalcy of the other things.

So that brings me to my new plan of attack on the still high triglycerides. I'm taking these guidelines from the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet recommended by the US Institute of Health in their National Cholesterol Education Program. Even though aimed at reducing cholesterol, it was given as a suggested diet in a WebMD.com article about reducing triglycerides. I just need doc's input on this next Thursday:

My new diet targets starting this morning will be
--Calorie limit 1500 (no change)
--Carbs 25g net (no change)
--Protein average minimum 120g
--Cholesterol average 200mg limit (down from 250mg the past 3 months)
--Total fat limit 35% of total calories--don't know if I CAN do that with a fixed net carb limit of 25g and fixed protein target of at least 120g
--Saturated fat limit to average 8% of total calories (down from 11-12% the past 3 months. Should be target of 7% but I'm not that brave)
--Polyunsaturated fat limit to average 10% of total calories (never tried that-no idea how that will go)
5 oz. maximum lean meat, poultry or fish. (Don't think that will be a problem--can still have cheese, nuts, beans, protein shake)

cjohnson728

I say it's high time for your second career as a dietician. I would hire you in a heartbeat .

Seriously, I really needed the reminder that being vigilant does make a difference, so thank you for sharing the details with us.

Mern

Cassie What I did to reduce my cholesterol and blood sugar is what works for ME--it's been hit and miss, trial and error for the past 15 months. I can only preach that slow and steady wins the race. Now I just need to be more vigilant on the WEIGHT LOSS! UGH!

cjohnson728

I hear ya, and you're preaching to the choir on that one. I just meant that you have so thoroughly researched everything and become so informed and willing to share what you know.

I hope the Triglyceride Summit goes well!

Mern

Thanks, Cassie. Glad to have helped a bit. I surely have learned a lot from this group as well--and a lot of that was from you. That's what we're all about.