Dr. Bernstein's Plan...and Some Adjustments

[dawnyama]

Originally Posted by JuneCC

Thank you Dawn & dogman. I'm going to re-read Dr. B's book to freshen up on the thyroid stuff before talking to the doc again.

Dawn, my mom was put on statins and her cholesterol was always still too high, and she didn't eat real eggs or real cheese or much fat. My poor mom, she did everything "right" for her heart (even taking supplements and this was a woman who *hated" even taking an aspirin!!) and then she goes and dies of emphysema (even after quitting smoking). But there was nothing else wrong with her so the high cholesterol wasn't a problem. She went off the statins after getting arthritis-like pain in her elbows and all her doc could do was give her cortisone shots in the elbow joints. The pain was gone within 3 days of stopping the statins (at my suggestion). Here's a well-researched essay on statins that might help you with your mom. How Statins Really Work Explains Why They Don't Really Work.

I don't think my mom ever had her thyroid checked. We didn't know there was a connection to high cholesterol then.

I was a little nervous about fasting this morning. I usually test in the mid 80s first thing in the morning and have to eat right away to stop my numbers from going higher. This morning I tested at 87 but I was 4th in line at the clinic and got home within an hour and was only up to 90 by then.

I can talk to her til I turn blue. She would take the doctors recommendation over mine any day. I totally believe that if she would get her thyroid in line her cholesterol would be too. But she does state that her doctor is only treating her for the thyroid because of many many years of pestering because her thyroid panel comes back normal all the time. She feels that she is properly treated now because she is on medicine for that, finally!! But I don't think she is taking what she needs for it. Because she is on at least 20 different pills. She is treating her symptoms and not the real root cause. Her biggest complaint currently is arthritis--she is having hip problems, has trigger finger and so on. I just wish she would listen to me I will pass on those links and maybe she will read on her own how bad the statins truly are. Thanks for passing those along.

[shunsweets]

Hi everyone. Glad we are "talking" more on this thread!

Dog man I have used the relion Aic test twice. Tested very close to the one I had done at the Dr office so for me I think it is accurate.

I'm jealous of all these fastings in the <90 range. Mine runs around 115 and that is with 2000mg of metformin and strict Bernstein diet. Sigh. Think my insulin production is very low and getting worse but I'm putting off insulin for now. Need to go back to a Dr for new labs but I need to find a new Dr first as my last one thinks LC is bad and an A1C of 7 is great. He also didn't seem to realize the significance of positive antibodies and low C peptide and low fasting insulin with a high fbg. May just keep controlling my diabetes myself but need kidney and liver function tests.

My cholesterol is very high (almost 400 but 100 is HDL) but I too have refused statins as it's a familial problem. We all have high cholesterol even sob sibs who faithfully take their statins. My mom had heart surgery in her 70's but it's years of poor diabetes control that has caused her vascular problems and dementia not cholesterol another reason I'm working so hard to keep bgs as good as I can. Mom, unfortunately, followed her Dr advice to eat a lowfat diet with lots of grains and fruits and never tested her bg.

So I have the 3 grandaughter's here for the next 4 days. Ages 9,4, and2. Phew I'm beat already LOL and it sure felt strange to put bread, cereal, and fruit in my shopping cart for them! My diet will be a bit crazy for the next few days but no carbs for me!

Today's food
B- 2 eggs, coffee with almond milk
L- 2 celery sticks chopped up and dipped in sunflower butter, 1 hb egg, diet pepsi ( day off treat)
S- plan on cheeseburgers at the county fair. We're taking the kids!

[PlainlyJane]

Dogman: I made her stuffed crab mushrooms....her short ribs....the meatza (which I will write the recipe for)....chicken wings.....goolash.....her grandmother's casserole which she uses spag squash i/s of noodles. YUM.

Meatza:
1 1/2 # ground meat or 3/4 # ground beef mixed with italian style sausage
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed

[PlainlyJane]

SORRY....i'm always hitting the wrong key! I'll start again

Meatza

1 1/2# ground meat or 3/4# g/beef mixed with Italian style sausage
1 small onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano or italian seasoning
8 oz sugar free pizza sauce
Parmesan or Romano cheese
8 oz shredded mozzarella
toppings (green peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni, olives...etc.
olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix ground meat with onion, garlic and seasonings, in a large bowl with clean hands.
3. Pat meat mixture out in an even layer in a 9/12 baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes
4. When the meat comes out, it will have shrunk a bit, or a lot depending.... Pour off grease. Spread pizza sauce over the meat. Sprinkle the Parmesan on sauce, and then distribute the shredded moz evenly over the sauce.
5. Top with whatever you like on your pizza.
6. Drizzle the whole thing with a little olive oil. (optional)
7. Put your Meatza 4 inches below a broiler set on High. Broil for about 5 min or until cheese is melted and starting to brown.

Yeild: Six servings, each with about 5 g carb, trace of fiber, and 27 g protein. If you use high carb veggies...don't forget to count those!

My family loved this.

[JuneCC]

Jane, thanks for the recipe. I'll be making it tonight!

[JuneCC]

Jane, your Meatza was a huge success with half of the family (the half that was home for dinner; the other half being still at work).

Knowing my family's tastes, I made it with the added sweet Italian sausage, the Italian seasoning & mozzarella cheese with no Parmesan or Romano. Suggested refinements from the willing guinea pigs are to use a larger pan next time so the meat is spread out thinner and to add more mozzarella cheese & some veggie toppings. I was lucky today and found a new no-sugar-added pizza sauce at my local store.

Altogether, a definite keeper. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

[Mobear]

Think I am going to try the Meatza cause it sounds really good.

Curious about the no sugar added pizza sauce or even the no sugar pizza sauce. Can't seem to find either of these in the Cleveland area. Can you give a brand name? All of the pizza sauces I'm finding are 5 or 6g a serving so it would really up the carb count.

Thanks for any info!

[dawnyama]

Originally Posted by Mobear

Think I am going to try the Meatza cause it sounds really good.

Curious about the no sugar added pizza sauce or even the no sugar pizza sauce. Can't seem to find either of these in the Cleveland area. Can you give a brand name? All of the pizza sauces I'm finding are 5 or 6g a serving so it would really up the carb count.

Thanks for any info!

I buy on a regular basis the Great Value brand of Pizza sauce. That is what it is simply, "Pizza Sauce". It is the Walmart brand. I have been buying recently the Kroger brand (I get a discount!!) and it is no sugar added. The carbs in the sauce come from the tomatoes themselves. They have it in the make your own pizza section, both at Kroger and Walmart. Hope you can find it!!!

[Mobear]

Thanks Dawn. I'll check Walmart tomorrow. Unfortunately we don't have Kroger in northern Ohio....for some reason they are only from about Columbus OH south. I wish we did have Kroger nearby cause it seems they carry a better assortment of lc products.

[dogman]

PlainlyJane, Thanks for the Meatza recipe.If I didn't know better I's say this recipe is very similar to meat loaf. Anyway, at step 2 you say to have cleans hands? It that optional?
I got my Relion A1C test on Friday. I thought I'd try using the USPS to see how long the response time would take. I guess I wanted to make it feel more official by getting in the mail. Next time I'll try the email response. OK, there I was at the mail box, it felt like waiting for college acceptance/rejection letter. I open the letter and with a pleasant surprise I got a 5.2, that makes it 103 mg/dl average. In view of making it to the Bernstein College of A1C's I just missed it . From what I remember listening to Dr.B's webcasts he say that a A1C between 4.6 to 4.9 is good. So, I'll try harder next time, but that's going to take a real effort but for now I'm pretty happy with the results.
Sometimes I think back and wonder what my BS must have been a few years ago. Most likely off the charts like my triglycerides were.

dawnyama,I hope there are no "walmart people" pictures of you floating around out there...

[JuneCC]

Mobear, I'm sorry I didn't right down the brand of the no sugar pizza sauce and the recyclables have been taken out already.

dogman, congrats on the low A1c! I would be tickled pink with a 5.2. I don't know how or when I'm going to get my results but if they think I'm waiting until my next appt in Oct to find out, they have another think coming! I might have to order a copy from the records dept. sigh

I haven't had much blood work done over the years but in Jan 2009 I had two seperate BG readings of 82 & 91, both taken in the afternoon having fasted for the day except for light & sweet coffee early in the morning. (Long story but back then I used to have to skip eating if I was going out anywhere and I only went out later in the day.) Somewhere between then and Nov 2010, everything went haywire on me and my reading at dx was 313.3.

Speaking of low carb foods, I tried Walden Farms 0 carb BBS and Chocolate sauce and I think they're nasty. They leave a definite aftertaste for me.

Trying to find a commerically made low carb BBS without HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) is really tough! If the beef short rib crockpot recipe I'm making today comes out good, I think I'll just stick to making that as my BBS. Got my fingers crossed 'cuz I love BBQ flavor anything!

[JuneCC]

Ha! Found my grocery receipt in my jeans pocket and the no sugar pizza sauce was on it! lol

It was Ferrara Pizza & Focaccia Sauce. Ingredients: Water, Whole Peeled Tomatoes, Crushed Tomatoes, Canola Oil, Onions, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Salt, Garlic, Basil, Oregano, Black Pepper.

5g carbs per half cup (4 sugar, 1g fiber)

[Mobear]

Thanks for the info JuneCC!

[dogman]

Will be hunkering down for the weekend as hurricane Irene passes by. The dog house is securely tied down. I'll keep my nose in the wind and my tail in trim...
Got plenty of low carb dog chow and the water bowl is filled for me and Mrs. Dogman

[JuneCC]

I've been through many, many hurricanes but this is the first one on a low-carb diet. I bought lots of canned meat!! lol

[chiody]

Originally Posted by dogman

Will be hunkering down for the weekend as hurricane Irene passes by. The dog house is securely tied down. I'll keep my nose in the wind and my tail in trim...
Got plenty of low carb dog chow and the water bowl is filled for me and Mrs. Dogman

Let's hope Irene will be a "tropical storm" by the time she's in your neighborhood???

Great results on the A1C.... KUTGW....

[dogman]

Thanks, chiody. Apparently, Vermont took a real beating. Not all too bad for me I got off pretty easy. No power today at home and news has it it could be that way til the weekend.could be much worse if it were Winter.I'm at work today with power. I really think it's "good" to go without some luxuries including lights and water. I was prepared for something similar like this for several years. As a side note I believe something called EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) is a real threat to the US and the need to be prepared (Like a Boyscout) . After work I'll be going back to the cottage style living...
A book I read called "One Second After" by William R. Forstchen, was for me very interesting if you like that kind of survival genre of stuff, makes you think...Anyway, not going hungry yet...

[shunsweets]

We got slammed here in NJ too but we had no major property damage. Still no power at my work so I'm roughing it there but we have power at home. Just glad it wasn't worse.

Thanks for the book suggestion Dogman I'll look for it on Amazon.

Bernstein is easy to follow during a power outage. We ate spam and hardboiled eggs I had cooked the day before then the power was back and life as usual continued.

[dogman]

shunsweeets,
Ah, So you're a Jersey Girl ! Don't tell me you're a Yankees Fan or Mrs. Dogman will get biting mad ...

[shunsweets]

Not a Yankees fan - grew up in CT and love the Red Sox. Here we go to the Phillies and Flyers games.

Power finally came on at 2pm where I work. Now just waiting for the rest of the roads to reopen as the flood waters recede.

Got in two walks for 6 miles today. Feel so much better. Now Mother Nature leave us alone for a couple weeks! Earthquakes, tornados, and hurricanes oh my.

[dawnyama]

Originally Posted by dogman

shunsweeets,
Ah, So you're a Jersey Girl ! or Mrs. Dogman will get biting mad ...

I am a Jersey girl!! After the Giants won their Super Bowl a couple of years back, I wore a Giants shirt to the supermarket. Someone down here said "ey, a Jersey Girl"!!! It has been a long time since I heard that term, but it suited me I am not a Yankees fan, despite being born in NY, though. Never really followed baseball. Not into sports at all actually. But will watch the occasional football game.

Glad to hear that everyone is safe after this hurricane came through.

[JuneCC]

We just got power back. No damage otherwise. My daughter, who lives in the same town, still has no power, but again, no other damage. I think we lucked out that it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Looks like there could be another one on the same track for next week, Katia.

[dawnyama]

Originally Posted by JuneCC

We just got power back. No damage otherwise. My daughter, who lives in the same town, still has no power, but again, no other damage. I think we lucked out that it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Looks like there could be another one on the same track for next week, Katia.

Thank goodness for that. I am sure your DD is happy you have your power back so at least you can see her a bit more often, huh? That is great that was no damage in your area. Wonderful!!

[JuneCC]

Thanks, Dawn. Daughter just got her power back today so the grandchildren are back home with her tonight. They've been here since we got our power back.

[dawnyama]

Here are some pictures of our 9/11 weekend. We unveiled a memorial here in South Carolina to remember those who perished on that day as well as those First Responders and Military that have died in the line of duty since then. It was a beautiful tribute and I was honored to be able to speak as a 9/11 family member. For those of you who don't remember, my brother died in the World Trade Center on that day. I hope y'all can pick me out, there are so many pictures!!

https://picasaweb.google.com/NobuoYa...C2taeBp7iWzQE#

[Mobear]

The pictures are very touching. I think you were wearing a black dress with white trim and some very cute little ones! Was that your DD with you? It was a very emotional day - even though I didn't know anyone personally who perished. Hope you and yours are ok.

[dawnyama]

Originally Posted by Mobear

The pictures are very touching. I think you were wearing a black dress with white trim and some very cute little ones! Was that your DD with you? It was a very emotional day - even though I didn't know anyone personally who perished. Hope you and yours are ok.

Yes, that is me!! You picked me out of the crowd. Yes, that is my DD with me. We are always worried about her being out in the sun and with that type of heat, but thankfully they put her onstage with me so that we could at least have shade. Still unbearably hot, but at least not in the direct sun. My poor boys though. All 4 of them (my DH and 3 sons) had to endure the heat for an hour.

[dogman]

Dawn, thanks for sharing those pictures, very nice family!

[JuneCC]

I still don't know how you do it, Dawn, but thanks for sharing the pictures.

dogman, did you once post a recipe for a coconut oil candy that was like a mock "Mounds" bar? I finally bought some unsweetened, grated coconut but I can't remember where the recipe is now! lol

[dogman]

JuneCC, I played around with coconut oil quite a bit. I can't take credit for "Mounds" bars though . I regularly make what my family calls "hippie" candy. It's simple and quick. Chopped up nut of your choice, put a Tbsp in a small cupcake paper. Mix some cocoa with coconut oil and stevia together, than add about a Tbsp to the chopped nuts. Sprinkle with grated coconut and add a berry of your choice on top. Put them in a the fridge until they get solid and they're ready in about and hour. Pretty good, I think.
I'll tell you, if there's one recipe I'd like to know is how to make "Quest Bars" . Man they are delish but cost way too much for my budget.
Let me know if you find the recipe you're looking for, I'd like to try that one too.