Glenda how are you and Todd?

YESSSS, I was wondering if I'd missed an up date.  Thanks for brining it up.

Oh my gosh!! I'm so dense!
 
My apologies....I saw this yesterday Deb and responded to your EMAIL....which of course it wasn't!  Duh!!
 
Todd is doing very well.  The bruising did in fact go almost all the way down to his knee on the inside of his leg, but it's starting to fade.  It also encompassed one, slightly more personal body part! []
 
I put the exercise bike right in the livingroom and he hops on several times a day without my reminding him to, so that he's getting exercise besides what I initiate for him.
 
I got really frustrated with him last weekend when he decided he needed a "snack".  Yes, it's really good that he put the chex mix in a bowl instead of just munching out of the bag, but, he didn't READ the bag and had about 4 servings....and 5 plus carb servings in the danged bowl!  And he argued that he was being GOOD using a bowl!  So, I resigned as his chief food cop and it's made an amazing difference now that he realizes that HE has to read labels, abide by serving sizes and figure out how many carb servings he's already HAD and whether or not he can afford something else.  He even discovered that sliced apple spread with peanut butter (oh, that sounds GROSS) is something that he LIKES and that is a pretty balanced snack.....
 
Diabetes, even well controlled blood sugar, can cause additional heart problems, so that's really something that has to be carefully monitored.  He takes metforin as his only diabetes med, and the rest is diet and exercise.  But, since 1999 I have been the one reminding him and keeping him on the straight and narrow, and this past weekend was just too much.  So, I quit.....likely the BEST thing I've ever done for him!
 
He's starting to really learn to LISTEN to his body when it gently hints that it's had enough and wants a break.  That's a huge step for him, and I think its a biggie for all of us.  I know for myself I can ignore my body so completely that I forget to eat, and forget to pee until I'm popping! 
 
So he's getting there.  And I'm holding up pretty well too.  Now my son is having some back surgery in about a week and if I can get through THAT....here, not in upstate NY with him....maybe we'll be home free??

Hey - apple and peanutbutter?  I agree with Todd, it is one of the all time BESTEST snacks. 
 
glad to hear it's going well - and yeah, getting them to police themselves takes SO much tension away.  My husband had a nasty encounter with a physician's assistant about 18 months ago (there are times it's no WONDER your blood pressure is up when put in certain situations, you know?) -- but the end result was that my husband drastically cut down his caffeine intake.  This was a man who drank coffee 20 hours a day and would drink coffee to GO to sleep. 
 
But he re-discovered tea ... not just Lipton but specialty teas.  Stash Tea Company considers us GOOD customers at this point but it has helped so much to make caffeine intake measured rather than just "gotta have coffee".  And David even drinks water now quite often as his drink of choice rather than Coke. 
 
It's those decisions of their own that truly can make a huge difference -- if WE can just lay off and let them.

Yay for good news!  Good thoughts and stuff for your son's surgery, Glenda.

Hehehe....Callie, he thot apple and pb would be GROSS!!  I was eating MY snack, which was sliced apple and sliced colby jack.....and honestly, sometimes that's lunch with a little slice of crusty french bread.....and he was making all kinds of fussing noises about how cheese just doesn't taste right unless it's IN something so he couldn't possibly eat THAT as a snack......so in frustration I got out the pb and said he could use THAT as a protein source.  Ewwwwww!  Gross, says he.  I reminded him that our sons found apple and PB to be an excellent after school treat....ewwwwwwww!  Gross.  Then I put a little pb on a slice and told him to just shut up and try it......the rest is history......
 
When the diabetes was first diagnosed he wanted ME to go to the nutritionalist without him reasoning that I'm the one that cooks.  I refused since he's the one that EATS.  I did go, but we went TOGETHER since I didn't want to have to be the food cops, but he's over the years "let" me guide him.  Just like he "lets" me fill his pill sorter.......even the most competent and capable men tend to turn into little boys when it comes to health issues.
 
DS has been suffering with a couple blown disks for a few years now and the doc finally decided that epidurals just aren't cutting it and that he NEEDS to have them fixed with a pretty new procedure that isn't invasive.  He's looking forward to being pain free, but not so much to needing to wear the corsett!!

ORIGINAL: glenmar

He even discovered that sliced apple spread with peanut butter (oh, that sounds GROSS) is something that he LIKES and that is a pretty balanced snack.....

done for him!


So he's getting there.  And I'm holding up pretty well too.  Now my son is having some back surgery in about a week and if I can get through THAT....here, not in upstate NY with him....maybe we'll be home free??

 
 
 
 
Glad to hear he's doing so well.  You may want to check that jar of peanut butter, if it contains hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, toss it!  That stuff is what (helps) plugs your arteries.  I buy fresh ground at my deli, and recently tried the Natural Balance PB.  It's pretty good, but not as good as the fresh ground.
 
My nutritionist told me to read labels, and stay away from:  anything hydrogenated, anything containing corn syrup OR high fructose corn syrup, anything containing sugar as one of the first 5 ingredients, anything containing animal fats (saturated), and anything that contains enriched flour (stripped of nutrients and just a bit added back).  Boy, I was shocked at how many foods out there contain this junk!!
 
Will continue to our pray for you, and your son.

I'm a step ahead of you....already have been avoiding stuff like that....anything hydrogentated or even partially so, doesn't come in my house.  Ditto that other stuff!
 
Sara Lee makes a really nice whole wheat white bread and he actually LIKES, for the first time in his life, LIKES a whole wheat bread...SL's honey whole wheat. And, I bake a lot of our breads and sure don't use WHITE flour for anything!

Sounds like you're doing a terrific job policing the food supply.  I wish my SU would listen when I try to tell him.  He's good about the junk food, but he LOVES beef, and his portions are distorted.  I think my MIL cooked beef for every meal, and she has no sense of portion size.
Just to paint a picture, Thanksgiving, she made breakfast for 4 adults.  She cooked the entire box of bacon, toasted an entire loaf of bread, and scrambled 18 eggs!  My blood was boiling when she piled 8 slices of bacon onto SU's plate!!

Yikes!  Yeah, Todd's mom would put ice cream in his cream of wheat so he'd eat it.....make him something else for dinner if he refused to eat it, and his Dad's fav meal to cook involved beef.
 
What I do is simply not put as much on the table.  I do fix the plates, since I've always done that, but seconds are up to the eater.  However, whenit comes to meat, and especially beef, I limit what I cook and serve, and thereby limit what HE can eat.

Don't you just love the way men read food labels - NOT?  DH thinks that a portion is whatever he can make fit on the plate or in the bowl.[:@] Glad Todd is doing OK.

Joyce

Oh, I am glad he's doing so well. My hubby is so great about his diet it makes my job so easy. It was hard at first it took me about 5 years to come up w/ recipes for
Heart ,Cancer,Diabetes ,Cholesterol and Triglycerides [&o]AAAAAAAAAGGGHHH, but I have quite a few mostly chicken things, since that is the only meat that comes here. If you tell me what kind of food he really can't live w/o Glenda I 'm sure I can give you a substitute recipe, that he will love. As far as pasta, Dreamfields they make a asta that won't drive his sugar up it  is not starch, but you need to cook it less time and check it often, because it cooks faster then regular pasta. 

FUDGE!!!   Not that he gets it often, but I tried some last year with splenda and he HATED it.....so fudge that I can make with equal for recipes would be wonderful!
 
He's fine with a small amount of pasta.....I just give him what he can have and he can't have no more! hehehe!  I'm rather a meanie sometimes.  He can have 10 carb servings a day and that's pretty easy to work around.  But, you're right....combine foods right for diabetes, high BP, heart, high triglercerites.....OYE!!  And on top of that, try to keep it low enough in cals that he doesn't pack on the pounds.  Todd has Syndrome X and that includes the above AND the spare tire.....sigh.

I just found out I have diabetes, not a good thing. At this time we are doing diet. Since I found out I have lost 13 much need pounds and working on more.
 
There is a web site I use now to track my intake and such, I will post here will the expressed warning this is not spam, I get nothing for it and it is free.
 
[linkhttp://www.sparkpeople.com]www.sparkpeople.com[/link]
 
P.S. did you ever get my GC Glenda?
 
Dawn

I'm sorry to hear that.  If you can control it with diet, you're so much further ahead. Todd lost about 40 lbs after he was diagnosed and we were more careful to limit his carbs.
 
Yes I did get the GC and I'm guessing you asking means that you didn't get my email?