Good morning everyone… it does kinda look like a ghost town here. How is everyone doing? I haven’t been around much these days as a lot has been going on. I had not been feeling well for a long time but thought it was fibro issues or something of that nature. Well I started losing weight w/o dieting, (in fact had a hunger that was never satisfied and was eating twice as much) had an insatiable thirst, was very lethargic and depressed and didn’t want to do anything. I felt old and like I was dying. I finally went to the doctor and found out I have diabetes, my sugar was 420 and my cholesterol was almost 400. Not good. Wake up call for me. That was around the beginning of March. I have now lost about 25 lbs. total and realize I am no longer on a diet, that this is it and this is how I am going to have to eat.

I eat a very large amount of salads, keep the carbs to 25-30 mg per meal, and lots of veggies. My nutritionist suggested, half the dinner plate with salad and veggies and a deck of card size protein and a little, maybe half cup of rice or pasta (whole wheat). Some times I have a dinner plate size of salad and a small piece of meat. I have basically been following this, feel like a new person and I don’t feel like sleeping all of the time anymore. I have my diabetes basically under control now and am walking every day. My goal is to start swimming again soon or some other such thing. All of this is a result of poor eating habits and being overweight. NOBODY in my family has diabetes, which is unusual, so this has been basically my fault. As much as diabetes is a crappy thing to have to deal with, it has turned into kind of a good thing.

I hope that by gettting this weight off I can beat the disease and not have to be on medicines. I work in a podiatry/orthopedic department and I have seen what uncontrolled diabetes does. I do not want to lose my feet, legs or any other body part, I do not want to go blind or have my kidneys fail. So…. eating right is the alternative and I don’t really see it as a choice anymore.. it is a necessity. My lab values scared the hell out of me but the good news is that they are dropping quickly back to a more normal value. Dealing with this and trying to find a new job and home have been really stressful but exciting. Finding an affordable home in California near employment is a very difficult challenge. We found one we like and put an offer on it. Now to see if the payment will be doable.

I hope everyone is doing well and being good to themselves. I want to try to stay current with PTG as I think Leanne has such a great site here with lots of useful things, as well as all the nice ladies here. Hope to see everyone back.

Sue