Comments on: Remember we forget

By: Nikki

Nikki — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:21:21 +0000

Your entry spoke to me. I’m recently 87.5 pounds down from 252 and I have the same issues as you. I beat myself up all the time over those extra slices of cake or big heaping seconds at dinner. I wish I could be more dedicated like I was before but what you said is true. I’ve been keeping an online journal at 3fatchicks for almost four years now and it’s great to look back. Maybe we think when we are fatter we have an excuse to eat extra m&ms but when we are fit and healthy we don’t need that garbage in our life and feel guilt by it when we eat them. Who knows? Anyway, I really enjoyed this entry. Thanks.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:07:17 +0000

I’m wishing I journaled more of my feelings when I was successful in the weight loss. Last fall I did great & lost some weight, now in the spring I want to give up, and I’m thinking, how did I do it? Why can’t I do it now? What was the magic key that kept me on track? I journaled & blogged a little. Maybe I’ll go back to what I do have & search for clues. The cynic in me is thinking I was only successful because it was somewhat new (by “it” I mean sticking to an eating plan). Now that it’s old & tiresome, I need to find different strategies.

But I, with all the commenters, give another shout out to the great insight that Hello! It was hard then, it wasn’t easy, for sure & I shouldn’t expect it to be now. True, true.

By: Jean from NY

Jean from NY — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:17:41 +0000

What I really need is a walking buddy….

A1C measures glycolated hemoglobin — the percentage of glucose your red blood cells have taken up over the last few months. Its an indication of longer term control.

Amercian Diabetic Association says for diabetics a reading under 7 indicates good control. Many physicians feel that a reading under 6 is a better goal. To compare, a reading of around 4.5 -5.2, depending on the lab, is the value a non diabetic would get.

By: AvidReader2008

AvidReader2008 — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:59:11 +0000

Just found this website and I find your writing to be very inspirational. I am going to look for your book. Thanks for sharing your fantastic journey.

By: debby

debby — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:16:32 +0000

Good deal, Jean! I am a nurse, and I don’t even know what those A1 etc. numbers mean. But my dad, who’s 81, also lost weight as a side effect of one of his meds, and now he feels so good, he’s working hard at keeping it off. But of course he has some pretty significant permanent disabilities from being diabetic for so long. I mostly wanted to encourage you on your exercise. I was so out of shape, and had some hip and knee problems, that I would shuffle downhill for about half a block, and then limp home. I started telling myself that if I would just go to the next tree, I could eat a little more. And now I can walk 6 miles every day, if I choose to. It’s just a miracle. Do you have a support group? I didn’t want the accountability, but think it really helped me.

By: Jean from NY

Jean from NY — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:01:25 +0000

Thank you for responding Debby. I didn’t set out to loose weight last summer. I had decided to go off avandia since there were some reports out with medical concerns about the drug and wanted to give metformin another try. My feet were so swollen from the avandia edema that it was sometimes impossible to close the velcro straps on my sneakers. I had been pretty successful keeping my A1C level around 6.5 for the past 8 years, but my weight kept creeping up and up.

Once I switched drugs, the edema went away and I lost the associated water weight.After about 4-6 weeks I finally got brave enough to get on the scale and realized I must have weighed over 450lbs when I had the edema. Since I have no idea what my highest weight was, I decided to use 450 as my “official” starting point.

My A1c is running around 5.6 these days and I’m pleased about that. I just wish that getting more excercise was easier. It is a little easier to move around now, but I still get tired after only a few minutes. Still, I’m making progress and I’m enjoying the journey. I’m not doing this for anyone but me.

By: debby

debby — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:40:10 +0000

Jean, Just wanted to write to encourage you to keep up the good work (fight, battle, whatever this weight loss thing is.) I am your age, and also have a dad with diabetes, so really relate. I have lost 94 pounds in the last 3 years, still fighting with the last 20-30. it is a daily battle, but a good one. I love the new way of eating I have, and that I am finally starting to enjoy exercise, but there is the daily temptation to overeat. I find it really encouraging to read blogs like PQ’s to see that people who have been so successful still have the same struggles as me, but we are living with it, and succeeding one day at a time.

By: debby

debby — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:34:09 +0000

Thanks for re-mentioning the m&m blog–I just read it and laughed out loud so much–expecially the baby in the freezer quote! I hate baby showers, and I am a neonatal ICU nurse, so it was funny on many levels!

By: G.G.

G.G. — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:11:11 +0000

Well, I meant to link that with victoria’s quote above, but goofed up. Sorry.

By: G.G.

G.G. — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:09:19 +0000

You know, I think that’s one of the reasons this blog is so popular. I’ve been able to lose 120 pounds since I began reading it, and while I know, heart and soul, that *I’m* the person responsible for my success, seeing her lay out her successes and failures on a regular basis really helped hammer home the fact that perserverance trumps perfection when you’re working through this body stuff. After I’d been reading for about a year, I looked in the archives to where she had been when I started reading, and something clicked. “I still weigh X pounds, and she’s lost a lot more. How did she do it? By persisting from increment of time to increment of time, and getting things right more often that she got them wrong. I can’t be perfect, but I can aim for doing things better more often than not.”

Have to say I got the book last night and am very much enjoying it. It doesn’t just tell a good story, it’s so well-written, and very accessible. It’s not often I read a book and laugh out loud repeatedly in involuntary bursts. I had to put the book down and take a break after I read the phrase “like pork confetti in a parade” (that may or may not be exact, but it’s close). And there were a lot of little word-gems like that nestled throughout.

You did good, PQ!