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Post by Slinger on Jun 26, 2022 16:14:32 GMT
I use quite a lot of spread. Living alone it's often convenient to have sandwiches as a dinner option. Why throw food away when you can whack it between a couple of slices and make a dinner of it, and that's without " planned" sandwich dinners. For instance, last night I had some delicious Artisan Halkidiki Olive Rolls, filled with Brie, grapes, and cranberry sauce. Tonight, I shall have the second half of the Brie, along with grapes and cranberry again, on slices of toasted Sourdough Pave. Doubling up like that not only keeps costs down but also saves waste, especially as the larger size of brie was on offer this week. The remainder of the sourdough pave with be used, toasted again, for lunches. Shopping for one, especially when being restricted to online grocery shopping is a tricky balancing act unless one just orders seven different ready meals per week and lives on microwaved food. I've got the makings for this too, for later in the week (minus the posh mushy peas).  Any surplus tomatoes will be used in a lunchtime sandwich, with cheese, I've got Lurpak Garlic Butter in the fridge to replace the butter and the garlic. For the lemon wedges I'm using Odysea Preserved Beldi Lemons which not only have a much more intense flavour, but the remainder of them will keep in the fridge. Expensive, but no waste. The "Lemon & Parsley" couscous will be replaced by a packet of Sainsbury's Coriander & Lemon Cous Cous, which I've used before, and is quite tasty. No waste, no need to buy fresh parsley. My next task will be to " run down" the freezer because at the moment I'd be lucky to get a slice of ham in there. I feel some inventive combinations coming on in the near future. The final problem with cooking for one is that it really is VERY easy to get lazy, and " not bother," cos " it's only me," and it's " Hello Microwave," again. Depression also makes it extremely easy to not be arsed. It's a constant battle, and now I've got Diabetes to factor in. Oh joy!  I've already completely rewritten next week's online shop. |
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Post by speedysteve on Jun 26, 2022 17:07:37 GMT
Isn't it the process that makes it pretty unhealthy? Hydrogenation -> transfats. You are better off dizzling or dipping in EV olive or quality Rapeseed etc. Aha. Seeing Hydrogenation was not mentioned I assumed it was not, used to be What tells you it is Steve ? Yeah, they are not going to advertise that the process of making yummy butter like stuff out of relatively harmless ingredients, turns it into killer shit🙂 Do you remember Terry Wogan endlessly advertising Flora! Lower your cholesterol, yeah maybe a bit verses full salty butter, but hey, see what the other side affects are! Marketing at its finest. Never did Terry any harm... |
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Post by Slinger on Jun 26, 2022 17:48:33 GMT
www.diabetes.co.uk/food/trans-fats.htmlLooks like I'll be sampling different spreads until I find something healthy that doesn't actually taste awful. Recommendations will not help, thanks, as I'm used to the taste of my regular spread, so ANYTHING NEW will taste strange to me. All I can do is taste different products after having gone through their ingredients etc.
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Post by rfan8312 on Jun 26, 2022 17:52:19 GMT
Can anyone mention if they have any interest, as well as proximity, to a good location for walks, jogs, bicycling?
I ask because I do have a nearly empty business park only 7 minutes drive from me that is filled with nature and trails.
2 years ago I went to the doctor and my A1c number was 12.9, bad.
By the time I got back to him 3 months later I'd reduced it to 6.9. Eventually 6.7 then 6 2. He asked me how I did it and I wasn't exactly sure.
But it happene in a time in my life when I needed to stay out of the house on weekdays so I went walking every night.
I ate canned mackerel in sunflower oil on soft wheat bread every morning. One apple or one banana each morning. Marinated chicken every night with potatoes.
And ate 2 sticks of celery per day, 2 pieces of carrot per day.
And would drink from a pitcher of home made lemon water mixed with cucumber slices each day.
And I took metformin and glyburide religiously.
And I did have occasional slip ups with sweets.
Though now I'm noticing that having my own little place and not actually needing to be out of the house to stay out of peoples way I'm finding it harder to be motivated to go walking even in such a beautiful place as I've described. Though I am lifting weights and doing pushups everyday alternating between the two.
Anyone interested in trying a workout or walking routine as a group to keep stay motivated?
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Post by MartinT on Jun 26, 2022 18:05:30 GMT
I don't know what units your HbA1c are in. My most recent test gave 59mmol/mol, which is just inside normal, but it's still improving and should be lower now.
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Post by rfan8312 on Jun 26, 2022 18:24:13 GMT
I actually didn't know until I just looked it up now but 6.9 is literally a percentage.
So if blood sugar level is 6.9 that's very close to "7% of the hemoglobin in your blood is saturated with sugar".
I'd really like to.get my numbers back to a good hbA1c. What I've noticed is that my weight is always hovering a few pounds under or over 200 pounds. As low as 195 as high as 203 but usually right at 200.
I'd like to gey back to 180.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 26, 2022 18:53:47 GMT
Aha. Seeing Hydrogenation was not mentioned I assumed it was not, used to be What tells you it is Steve ? Yeah, they are not going to advertise that the process of making yummy butter like stuff out of relatively harmless ingredients, turns it into killer shit🙂 Do you remember Terry Wogan endlessly advertising Flora! Lower your cholesterol, yeah maybe a bit verses full salty butter, but hey, see what the other side affects are! Marketing at its finest. Never did Terry any harm... I changed from stuff that said "Hydrogenated" some years back. What are we looking for now if not Hydrogenated ? |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 26, 2022 18:59:15 GMT
Can anyone mention if they have any interest, as well as proximity, to a good location for walks, jogs, bicycling? Anyone interested in trying a workout or walking routine as a group to keep stay motivated? You could join in with what I do every day Just added lifting weights in my morning session to sort out my biceps Early days but also added a little more sun exposure and outside time |
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Post by rfan8312 on Jun 26, 2022 19:07:01 GMT
I could match you with my 20 lb weights that I do in the evenings after work.
I'll look for the names of the routines I do with those weights about 20-30 reps each arm. How are biceps currently? Mine need work.
Yes getting some sun would be good. That business park is full until 5pm but empty I believe Saturday mornings. I gotta go and walk/jog soak up some sun.
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Post by petea on Jun 26, 2022 19:09:11 GMT
Normally blood glucose is measured in mmol / L or mg / dL (100 mL). 'Normal' blood sugar levels (fasting) is between 4 and 6 mmol / L which is equivalent to 70 to 100 mg / 100 mL (ie 0.07 - 0.1 % w/v). Hopefully, Martin your measurement was in mg / 100 mL or mg / dL.
HbA1c is a more 'long-term' measure of blood sugar than the instantaneous 'finger-prick tests'. A value of 7 % would indicate that your blood sugar has been, on average' at least 50 % over the upper range of normal for the past few months.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 26, 2022 19:14:55 GMT
I could match you with my 20 lb weights that I do in the evenings after work. I'll look for the names of the routines I do with those weights about 20-30 reps each arm. How are biceps currently? Mine need work. Yes getting sone sun would be good. That business lark is full until 5 but empty I believe Saturday mornings. I gutta go and walk/jog soak up sone sun. 2 kilo weights in each hand for me, 4 reps each All from waist height Up to armpits Forwards to shoulders, front ways and sideways Straight up the the ceiling Straight arms sideways to shoulder height Straight arms forwards to shoulder height |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 26, 2022 19:37:51 GMT
Normally blood glucose is measured in mmol / L or mg / dL (100 mL). 'Normal' blood sugar levels (fasting) is between 4 and 6 mmol That's what my test meter measures. My morning readings are now between 4.7 and 6.8 or so. These are the best readings yet for me. |
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Post by Pinch on Jun 26, 2022 19:40:02 GMT
Sorry to hear this Paul. It's quite an extreme move, but you could look into putting yourself (if only temporarily) on a ketogenic diet: www.diabetes.co.uk/keto/I've been doing keto for nearly five years now - I find the upsides easily outweigh the downsides. |
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Post by Slinger on Jun 26, 2022 19:49:26 GMT
Sorry to hear this Paul. It's quite an extreme move, but you could look into putting yourself (if only temporarily) on a ketogenic diet: www.diabetes.co.uk/keto/I've been doing keto for nearly five years now - I find the upsides easily outweigh the downsides. Thanks. Before I do much of anything I think I need to ring my surgery tomorrow and get an appointment with the practice's " Diabetes. nurse," who deals with such things, and hopefully, she can give me some pointers, targets, and a bit of inspiration.  |
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Post by petea on Jun 26, 2022 19:57:29 GMT
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 26, 2022 20:08:14 GMT
Sorry to hear this Paul. It's quite an extreme move, but you could look into putting yourself (if only temporarily) on a ketogenic diet: www.diabetes.co.uk/keto/I've been doing keto for nearly five years now - I find the upsides easily outweigh the downsides. Long term is unknown From the link "There is generally a lack of long-term studies into the safety and effectiveness of ketogenic diets and, this is why a doctor’s opinion is needed before starting the diet." They also have www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/vegan-diet.html |
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Post by rfan8312 on Jun 26, 2022 23:05:15 GMT
Normally blood glucose is measured in mmol / L or mg / dL (100 mL). 'Normal' blood sugar levels (fasting) is between 4 and 6 mmol / L which is equivalent to 70 to 100 mg / 100 mL (ie 0.07 - 0.1 % w/v). Hopefully, Martin your measurement was in mg / 100 mL or mg / dL. HbA1c is a more 'long-term' measure of blood sugar than the instantaneous 'finger-prick tests'. A value of 7 % would indicate that your blood sugar has been, on average' at least 50 % over the upper range of normal for the past few months. Hmmmm. Are you sure Pete? I thought I understood the doctor told me that my initial 12.9 was bad, and that 6.9 is something I should shoot for but ultimately 6.5 on the a1c is a good number. According to what you are saying if a 7 (6.9) is bad then I should be shooting for a 3.0? |
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Post by petea on Jun 27, 2022 8:27:51 GMT
That is right, 6 is at the top end of the normal limit for sustained blood sugar. Between 6 and 6.5 is typical of someone with pre-diabetes and above 6.5 is typical for someone with diabetes. Do you also measure your blood sugar daily, say first thing? Ideally you do want the average to be lower, but it has a 3 month lag phase and so daily measurements are a useful way to assess the impact of lifestyle changes, diet, medication etc.
A few years back my blood sugar crept up into the pre-diabetes region, basically because I was getting fat and lazy! I immediately read as much as I could (including the research papers that Michael Mosely references in his book - I'm a biological scientist by training if you hadn't guessed) and started to avoid sugars etc and get more exercise. The Mosley summary / diet was a real turning point though and I implemented it with enthusiasm. I lost 15 kg over a couple of months and within a couple of weeks my fasting blood sugar was already in the normal range. I still only rarely eat bread, potatoes, pasta and rice and never eat / drink foods with a high sugar content (including tropical fruits such as bananas and mangos). I have not eaten meat for many years (except for Turkey at Xmas) although I do eat fish in moderation and enjoy mediterranean-style foods, which is a blessing.
One of the things I found that really helped was to measure my blood sugar, blood pressure, pulse rate, weight and waist size every morning and plot them using a spreadsheet. I found the steady improvement of the figures to be a great encouragement and when they went the wrong way it allowed me to assess the likely cause and correct it: it became like an internal contest. Later, having to have 6 suits re-tailored so they fitted me was a great reward!
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Post by julesd68 on Jun 27, 2022 11:19:31 GMT
Gosh your approach and experience is remarkably similar to mine Pete, except I didn't manage to lose quite so much weight. And my suits and jackets haven't been re-tailored yet!
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Post by petea on Jun 27, 2022 11:47:20 GMT
I put on a bit weight (3 or 4 kg) during the lock-downs, but only because I was sitting at the computer working for 8 - 10 hours each day and just not moving enough. Much of that has now been lost again and the suits still fit (although I rarely wear them these days due to meetings being online mostly). The one thing I have yet to do is to return to the gym in the UK when I'm there (a small private one run by a personal trainer). I walk a fair bit here in Germany (we don't have a car) and I have WaterRower and weights etc in the studio and I use them most days.
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