I just finished and am beginning a very hectic week. All that I am facing is mostly good stuff -- including wrapping up the 2nd iteration of my current project while also writing a submission package for an award nomination for my last project-- but it is genuinely too much (and fwiw I don't often or openly admit to having too much on my plate). It is definitely impacting both my mental and physical health. This week my focus is on healthy but quick nourishment and plenty of sleep. If I can fit in some refreshing and rejuvenating walks outside, I will. I know they will help but last week trying to get out was making me feel stressed and anxious rather than sparked and eager.

I am feeling great about my increased water intake -- it is always a struggle for me to drink straight water but I have been really enjoying a big ol' glass of ice water with a half of a lemon.

Ive mentioned a few times that my scale has been wonky and now completely non-functional. I am ordering a new battery today. It's been too long that I have been out of touch with my weight. I know all too well that I am not the best judge of weight (up or down) so regular weigh ins are key to my continued progress.

How are you all doing? What is in store for your next week? Any special focus or goals for the week?

Are you still liking your Clean Eatz meals Funky? DS has been doing Factor meals at school which he likes a lot, but he's always looking for healthy options. He's not much of a cook yet.

We just returned from our California trip and had the best time. So my week ahead will be trying to get back in the food groove and stay in the walking groove. We walked everywhere - miles and miles everyday. The weather was absolute perfection. The food was so good! Now, back to reality. I am going to try to replicate some meals we ate, but I think a lot of it was the fresh ingredients that are just not in season here yet, if ever. Or maybe it was the spices I don't know about. I'm going to have to investigate. And our weather isn't so great either, but the sun is shining today at least.

The basics this week will be - more water - I never drink enough when traveling, more fresh food, and back on the sleep schedule. I have been wearing a sleep mask and that has helped I think. As long as I don't get too hot.

I still have a few clean eatz meals in my freezer but they aren't the great solution I was hoping for. They were all edible but I really only liked one and it is higher calorie than I usually target. I much prefer their fresh cafe bowls -- but they aren't convenient since they don't deliver and I don't drive.

I am going to give some sheet pan meals a try, I think -- and then make my own bowls. I ordered some brussels sprouts, carrots and cauliflower to roast and I have some (gasp) boil-in-bag brown rice to try and a lundberg brown and wild rice blend. We'll see how i do this week.

So glad you had a great trip, @legomom23 .. sounds like we are on parallel paths. Sleep and water are at the center of my plan too! Just filled my 30 oz yeti cup for the 3rd time... it is way short of 90oz because the cup is full of ice but I am still feeling good about it.

I have started out the week badly, with an omelette at the club for brunch :( Will make up for it with vegetables and fruit the rest of the day.

Missed one gym day last week and plan to go this afternoon if Inhave time after our historical society program on the history of the indigenous population in our area.

Other than lacking unbroken sleep at night I am feeling good and managing the Hashimoto symptoms fairly well. Stubborn A1C won’t budge from 5.7 - 5.8 no matter what I do. Not really dieting at this point but watching what I eat and exercising regularly, both aerobic and strength building. Am now down another size— not the goal but never thought i would see size 6 pants again in this lifetime, but would still trade that for normal cholesterol and triglycerides in a red hot minute.

Hair loss from Covid back in September is slowly reversing. At the speed of a melting glacier, pre- climate change 🙃

I am sorry to make this all about me, but I am still worried. I have two appointments this week that hopefully will go well and I can close the books on this chapter. I thought it would be easy to gain weight but I am avoiding sugar and I’m finding quest protein bars seem to have almost a laxative effect on me (I was having one day as a late morning snack). So I am cutting them out. Breakfast today was a bowl of oatmeal. Two slices of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and sliced banana. Any suggestions for snacks? That aren’t sugar but aren’t necessarily low cal? and I realize that you can’t turn a battleship on a dime, which means it took me eight months to lose this weight and adding a few pounds won’t happen overnight. My appointment for a glucose tolerance testing is on Thursday. Then I will cautiously add more refined sugar into my diet if I pass.

Jojoco - both my DS and DH struggle to keep or put on weight, so I get that it's as much of a struggle sometimes as it is to lose weight. Foods that will keep your blood sugar stable and have a lot of calories are fats - nuts, olive oil or butter on your toast, avocado. I usually add a big serving of rice to their meals. DS will eat toast with a TBS of olive oil on each piece with some salt. DH can eat a good bit of ice cream and I make their waffles and eggs with extra butter and whipping cream. Neither of them get hungry as much as I do, so they kind of have to remember to eat - and snack a lot throughout the day to get enough calories.

Good luck with your glucose tolerance test. DH had similar symptoms years ago and passed his, but he gets twitchy and tired if he doesn't eat enough. I recognize his as low blood sugar, mostly from just not eating often enough or enough calories for his activity level. He's always on the move and doesn't have a lot of reserves so to speak. I don't know if that's scientific or not, but it seems to be the case with him. I try to remind him to eat protein and fats with everything in order to keep his BS more stable.

jojo...When Hollywood wants to gain weight...they eat meat. For the role of a werewolf, Taylor Lautner ate one 1/4lb hamburger pattie every 3 hours. Do you like French bread dipped in EVOO & a little basil? Cheese on crackers. Chips & dip. Guacamole. Ranch dressing or Blue Cheese dressing served on a tomato slice. These are calorie heavy snacks that are not pure sugar.

Also, if you’re looking for bars of some sort, without additives that might not agree with you, i really like this brand.

https://papasteves.com

I like the dark chocolate coconut.

Jojoco, when I met with the RD they emphasized snacks containing protein, fiber, and fat.

So if you have fruit, have a cheese stick (I like the Sargento mozzarella or colby jack)

Apple with PB

Edamame

Hummus and carrots

Small popcorn with cheese or yogurt or another protein (Oikos pro with 20 g of protein is my favorite)

cottage cheese and fruit and cherry tomatoes

Not much new since my last post. I felt a little full last night. I have so much grading to do it's going to be a treadmill day. Was hoping to do some weeding, but it's not that warm today either. Ugh. Need to get work done before more basketball later!

Kswl, my A1C is unchanged at 5.7, too, but I probably haven't lost enough weight or been on the medication long enough to see an effect. My cholesterol and triglycerides are great, though, but I take 10 mg statin since I had the TIA.

I lost my extra 20 lbs almost two years ago, when mt A1c went above 6.1, and have been taking 20 mg daily of Crestor for years now. And I eat little dietary fat. As the king of Siam said…..it’s a puzzlement.

Just jumping into this thread to say I'm sorry you are dealing with this Jojo, and hope you have good results with your test. Try nuts, popcorn, low-fat cheese, raw veggies, etc. I like to do raw veggies with lite ranch dip. Have you seen those little sargento snack packs? They come with 3 items. The one I like has chedder cheese cubes, nuts and dried cranberries.

Jojo, I agree with the snack recommendations above, and hope you can find something that agrees with you. I can see how the protein bars didn't agree with you. I tend to find them hard to digest, and not satisfying to start.

Funky, yes to sheet pan dinners! So easy, versatile, and the ability to double a batch to have for several leftover meals. I'm sorry the CE meals didn't work out, but you'll have more control over sheet pan ingredients. And there are so many recipes online.

For me, successes have been in the results I'm seeing and feeling from strength training. I feel strong. But the downside is my appetite has increased. I'm going to have to keep it in check. The weather is getting better, and my tried-and-true walking partner has recovered from an injury last year that kept her from walking. I'm looking forward to more walks in addition to time at the gym.

One strategy I've incorporated is "something is better than nothing." My gym is locally owned and has limited hours. If I cannot make it in time for a full workout, I use my home equipment (just a few weights and kettlebells). It's not as good as a gym workout, but "something is better than nothing."

Have a good week, everyone!

Hi Jojoco-- please post as much as you want! That's what this thread is for!

Your breakfast sounds great-- and filling!

I would try to focus on getting back to eating consistently and worry less about gaining weight, that will happen naturally when you are eating normally. Really, the last thing you need is one more thing to worry about!

All of the suggestions above are great! What do you like-- is your late morning snack "on the go"?

Nuts? Fruit -- berries and apples are both pretty good as far as not causing blood sugar spikes. I especially love Gs's suggestion of apple & peanut butter.

I have been on an orange food kick lately-- navel oranges and orange popper tomatoes are both regular snacks in my house. Also pink pineapple-- yum!

I make rolled up turkey with pesto (I get the Just Turkey-- with no added salt or chemicals) for lunch but it would make a great snack too!

Do you like guacamole or hummus? A quick snack or lunch is a piece of hearty bread or toast with hummus and veggies on top (open face).

I say to go with whatever you enjoy -- keep it nutritious and regular and your good to go!

Legomom, I saw your photos in the other thread, Just beautiful! Although I'm happy our friends moved back to the east coast, visiting them in California was very nice. Last time one of my conferences was scheduled for California, that was 2020 and it was canceled. But we had my nephew's Navy retirement ceremony last August and that was wonderful. I loved staying on Coronado Island, although I thought too late to look into a Pilates class during our downtime. I was just enjoying walking the neighborhoods.

Thanks, you guys. I'm trying to see what works and what doesn't work. But there is much I don't know as this is still an unconfirmed diagnosis on my part--that too many carbs or sugar will cause me to crash. Fortunately all the tests show that I don't have diabetes. All the results fall into the normal category (with the exception of vitamin D which was low but I'm now taking prescription Vitamin D for 8 weeks). But I know what I experienced and don't want to experience it again. Forewarned is forearmed and all that.

I'm trying to avoid added sugars and too many carbs since that is what caused the problem. I'm eating faro vs white rice, avoiding white bread, plain yogurt vs fruited ones, etc. This morning's breakfast looked healthy on paper, however I think I may have overdid it on the carbs. (bowl of plain oatmeal with a packet of stevia, two slices of whole wheat toast with a little natural pb and sliced banana.) A few hours later I felt shaky. Not awful, but something was up. I quickly ate a tuna sandwich on whole wheat and felt fine again shortly afterwords.. As I said, I may be psychosomatic, but yesterday I had scrambled eggs with cheese and one slice of toast and felt great. I think this morning I didn't have enough protein so I'll go back to eggs and cheese tomorrow. Late this afternoon I had a cheese stick and dinner was a mug of homemade veg/sausage soup and then a turkey burger on whole wheat bun. PSA to everyone--99% fat free turkey is no bueno. DH grilled it perfectly, but it is so dry without the fat. Next time I'll go with the dark meat option. (I don't like beef).

I love yogurt, hummus, cheese, all fruits, but not nuts, unfortunately. I can bring myself to eat peanuts or cashews for nutritional value, but there isn't much love there. Love pesto and I can definitely see it as a snack with a piece of cheese.

I think my dh thinks the three-hour glucose tolerance test is overkill. As in a reaction in the first hour may say it all. He may be right, but in my case last weekend, it took me three hours to have a problematic reaction. I just want to be sure.

And of course Funky, you are so right about not obsessing over the number on the scale. I'm working on that (but not quite ready to get rid of the scale.)

And if I don't tell you enough, you all are simply amazing.

Hugs.

Jo

Stress and inconsistent eating can cause low blood sugar on an already stressed body... but the tests will give you better insight and information. Hopefully it is all good news and you will have peace of mind.

Are you drinking enough water? Dehydration can also have similar symptoms.

Alternatives to turkey burgers: I don't know how they'll do on the grill, but I have been eating Bell & Evans chicken burgers -- they are all white meat with just salt and pepper (so not overly processed). I like them much better than turkey burgers. Also, if you prefer to make them yourself from scratch, I like Giadai's rosemary turkey burger recipe (but it has mayo in the meat mix). Never grilled those either and they are kinda wet/sticky so maybe try a grill basket?

Jojo, when I had all the strange things happening to me following surgery, my vitamin D dropped. It had never been low. I'm a mystery. They suspected a bacterial infection but nothing ever showed up on tests, and believe me I have had much blood work and several scans. My vitamin D dropped, my white count went up, my iron level went down, my sugar briefly went up and a few other hinky things with my blood. That was mid-June. My sugar is now fine, my white count has come down but not quite into the normal range. I was going to have an iron infusion but two weeks ago (blood test), my iron has come up just a bit - on it's own!!?? Another mystery. So my doctor decided to wait two months for more bloodwork to see what happens. Hopefully it will continue to go up.

It does sound like you had too much bread/carbs for the breakfast. I do eat meat and chicken but most days I eat only two meals as I do not like to eat soon after getting out of bed. I prefer to eat around 11:00 am and then eat dinner. I will sometimes have a piece of fruit or yogurt or nuts as a snack, sometimes not. My dr thought I might not be getting enough protein, so I make sure I have protein with both meals. It's strange what our bodies do. I hope you get answers soon! Do keep us posted and good luck with your test.

If anyone finds podcasts motivating- this is another good one about getting back to the basics.

https://dhrupurohit.com/dp-ep483/#ql-video

You can find it wherever you listen to podcasts.

Jojo - I am sure you are experimenting this week and I hope you find some successful foods. I will say, oatmeal is the first thing that gets either skipped for breakfast or modified a great deal when people first start wearing a glucose monitor. It is known for its sudden glucose spike. Accompany that with two pieces of toast and the sudden spike followed by a sharp fall could certainly have you feeling that way. I do best with fat, fiber and protein for breakfast, but sometimes I will have oatmeal. But only 1/3 cup mixed with 2 T chia seeds and some cinnamon and walnuts, along with breakfast chicken sausage for protein.

I'm trying very hard to minimize my processed food, and it is so hard for me. I really do enjoy eating out and snacking. I need to cook more, but it takes so long :) And I can never figure out what to make. Today I thought I was doing well, but I still had a Papa Steve's Bar for breakfast and Masa chips with my avocado. Now, technically papa steve's has no junk and the Masa chips are made with beef tallow instead of seed oils, but they are still processed in some manner. I will keep trying to eat more whole foods! I am very good with fruit and nuts, so there's that :)

I have been walking this week and got in several hours of pickleball and one strength training workout, so that part is going well. The podcast I listened to today said 20 minutes 3 times a week for strength training, and after that the returns start to diminish. I can do that - 20 minutes is nothing in my day. I am going to try harder to be more consistent with that.

Keeping up with the gym and walks and now planning to try one of the tai chi classes that are held outdoors in fine weather. They have always intrigued me and I’ve been meaning to go and somehow never make it.

I had a big dental appt yesterday and between the anxiety and valium before going and sleeping off the medicine and the nitrous afterward I didn’t eat anything except a few crackers and PB and blackberries.

Today is our town fundraiser that pays for the food that elementary schools send home on the weekends with kids who are on the free and reduced school lunch program. We have a soup lunch that is served in our historic city hall building; tickets are $30, and an art studio gets volunteers and civic and church groups to make the ceramic bowls in which the soup is served, which the ticket holder can take home. DH and I both made bowls at one of our Wednesday night Lenten suppers and we look forward to taking one home someone else has made. The soup is usually very good and I am looking forward to having that for lunch!

You're right feather - it's so true about all the hacks, if the basics aren't in line. I'm working on all three all the time. I feel like I'm in a mostly good place, but with room for improvement in all aspects still. I can't seem to give up my phone early enough at night. Plus, I get too hot. I'm looking at trying to find some sort of bed cooling system before summer comes.

Thank you Feathers, that’s very nice of you to say but I’m a very minor cog in that wheel 🙂 The woman who spearheads this effort (for many years now) owns her own business and has two kids at home, she is a true inspiration! The volunteers who pack the bags for kids to take home come from all walks of life; a few sorority alumni groups have taken this on as a special project and volunteer weekly throughout the school year. and some of the volunteers are food pantry recipients themselves. I’m really proud of our town for working together to the extent that we do!

adding some pictures of the event today. I got there near the end of lunch so it wasn crowded. This is our historic city hall building that has been repurposed for big gatherings:

High ceilings and beautiful windows! At one time it was used as a fire station too.

People enjoying lunch. It was open for several hours in the middle of the day.

This is the remarkable woman who started the program. The big glass garage door opens onto a lovely patio with tables and chairs but it was far too windy to eat outside today!

Sorry for the hijack Funky…. although it could be considered health related 😎 because as Feathers said, social engagement is a key part of living well and aging well.

Speaking of food drives, we had one this week for the campus food pantry, so i dropped off a paper bag full of supplies.

Had good Pilates private session and group class this week. A little off schedule due to the Easter holiday. I am working from home today because of holiday weekend traffic is usually miserable on the interstate. Weather is supposed to be great all weekend. Finally! MIL will come for Easter brunch.

Increasing the dose of the Zepbound this week seems to have helped as I’ve lost 2 lbs. this week. Finally some movement. I’m going to hold off on my dose until Sunday so I stay on that schedule. I get very full those first few days and I’d rather it not be on the weekend. There are a lot of shortages and that buys me a little time when it comes to renewal. But things are supposed to be better mid April which is when I’d need my next refill.

Jojoco, hope things are going well.

Enjoy your Easter weekend.

@gsciencechick is your school not closed for the holiday? I worked at a university and Good Friday is a day off there. I am with you on the good weather! It's been up and down here (which of course is normal spring weather), and I am SO itching to plant!! I have been going through many plant websites and catalogs and ordered a few things. I received a rosebush yesterday and have two dwarf buddelia plants coming. Two new azaleas came a week ago or so and last night were moved inside due to frost warning. Of course we did not get frost, but better safe than sorry! Happy Easter to you too and everyone here on HD Convos!

No, we just had spring break and don't get any more days off. Good news is finals are a month away! But many people are WFH or taking days because their kids are off school. Next week the school districts are on break.

DH is closed because the Register of Deeds is closed and they can't record any real estate closings, so it makes no sense to be open.