Thanks Ladies! Appreciate the input.

I think MamaMarie puts it in the right prospective, at least for me.

This is what I must keep telling myself... stop obsessing about it and just do the best I can. Restrict carbs, exercise, test and enjoy my life!

Just to back this up: The dr who diagnosed me with PCOS 8 years ago told me to go on a NO carb diet for 6 straight months before I even thought about having a treat then to stay under 40g for the rest of my life. (Did I listen? :lol

And may I add... Try to be happy with your yummy low-carb meals and don't see this WOE as punishment.

When you screw up, forgive yourself and start again fresh.

Don't let your sense of wroth be dictated by how low your kept the carb count for the day or by the fact that you broke down and treated yourself to a candy bar whilst PMSing.

Treat yourself the way you'd treat your own daughter if she were in your shoes.

There. Done nagging for the night!

If you must keep telling yourself, isn't that obsessing also?

I wouldn't use the word "restrict" to describe a low carb way of eating. That makes it sound like deprivation and can lead to anxiety feelings..... Eating an appropriate amount of carbs, or being sensible about the amount of carbs in my diet feels a bit better and accepting this way of eating as normal helps reduce temptations as well as decreasing anxiety.

This is what Cajunboy says: 'Eating an appropriate amount of carbs, or being sensible about the amount of carbs in my diet feels a bit better and accepting this way of eating as normal helps reduce temptations as well as decreasing anxiety.'

And I tend to agree.

When I first started doing this, I was militant about carbs. It wasn't that bad but it soon got difficult and I found that even though I am sensitive to carbs, which do raise my sugar in inappropriate amounts, there are ways to go 'off plan' that don't do much damage and make life easier all around.

For instance, I make chicken cordon bleu - we love it and it just isn't as good if I don't use some fresh bread crumbs as part of the coating. I decided that it wasn't worth it to count the carbs in the small amount of bread crumbs that cover a single portion and I was right. It probably amounts to 1/4 of a slice of bread - no big deal. The rest of the dish is really very low carb, if carby at all. (Chicken, ham, swiss, egg for coating, parm cheese, melted butter).

Since I have been thinking this way it has made my cooking and eating more enjoyable, and frankly, my sugar is still within a good range for me, averaging 100 to 120 PP and in the 90's before meals. Sometimes it's even better, 80's before meals, under 110 PP but I'm not there yet every day. I am happy with that because I have not only lost weight, but have improved some other things including numbness in my toes (all gone now). Four months into low carb, and still improving - I look for more improvement gradually. I think that's the best I can do and still maintain my 'mental' health as well!

Wow! That is wonderful to find a Dr. like that. Is he/she still your Dr.?

I thank all of you for your input and ideas, but I must have given the wrong impression of myself... I'm not really a hand wringing, obsessive, fretting, individual. I'm just trying to find out what works for me and what doesn't in this new WOL. Actually I do like LCing. I have always loved meat and it's fat... now I don't have to feel guilty anymore! Not that there aren't some things that I don't miss, but I think that makes me human. I do find it a bit frustrating and confusing when I try to do what I think it right and good for me and find my BS goes up! What the... ??? Now I know that I shouldn't exercise in the AM (don't know what I'll do in the summer because later in the day it will be too damn HOT). But, I'm feeling my way and I certainly do appreciate all of the wonderful information and support!

Rose, that is absolutely wonderful! You go girl! I can't seem to bring mine down that low, not yet anyway. Sometimes I get into the 90's. but I'm usually over 100. In time perhaps... I may just eliminate carbs altogether for a while like MamaMarie's Dr. suggested and see what happens. After reading Gary Taubes' book and following along on a different forum I don't think that to be harmful. Rut Roh! Am I obsessing again?

Thanks again everybody!

Marcia, 'over 100' isn't bad at all. You only just started. As we have discussed before around here, it seems to take a little while to get down to lower numbers, even Dr. Bernstein says so. Mine aren't that low (80's) all the time, but even if I see it sometimes, I am okay with that. Furthermore, having discussed meters at great length around here as well - we know that they are not perfectly accurate sometimes.
And I don't think anyone thinks of you as a hand wringing type of person, just someone who is trying to start off right - like everyone! You have a great attitude, chill, baby

No, he's not my doc. (I moved.)

And no, sweetie. I didn't get that impression of you AT ALL. I saw a woman who is just like me. Someone's whose trying to do the right thing and needing validation that I'm on the right track!

You're NORMAL.

Thanks Rose and MamaMarie!

Hi Marcia: Your high morning numbers sound like the Dawn Effect to me--hormones your body releases to help you wake up & get going. Only eating will control those as the food tells your body that you are functioning now.

You do realize that diabetes is NOT an either/or disease? It is a continuum of tolerance to glucose & with rising intolerance your blood sugar levels will contiue to go up higher & higher. The best thing is to get control now of that progression & you may be able to stop it in its tracks. Dr. Bernstein's book "The Diabetes Solution" is the best way to do this. The majority of the medical profession unfortunately are too indoctrinated with the truly harmful & dangerous ideas of the ADA to be helpful at all.

Good luck on your journey to better health--being diagnosed was the best thing that happened to mine as it forced me to start living a healthier way.

cappie

Just an update on week three of low-carbing it.

I've gained 5 pounds, but my blood sugar is *perfect*. It took weeks of eating strict low-carb, but I've got it below 100 in the AM. I "cheated" and had some tater tots and it didn't go above 140.

This does NOT mean that I'm in the clear and can go back to what I was doing before. It means that I've caught it early enough (again) to turn the beast around.

Now the *really* good news: My "cycle" is normal again for the first time in *months*! NO MORE ACNE!! My skin is beautiful!

As for the weight gain: Well, I'm going to play with that a bit more. Once I eat that first meal of the day, it's like a switch is flipped and I can't stop eating. All my life I've dealt with this by not eating until after 2 or 3 PM. This time I tried (again) to eat a healthy breakfast and (again) it backfired on me.

I'm not saying that everyone has this problem, but *I* sure do! Time to try dealing with it again.

MamaMarie - first, congratulations on getting your blood sugar under control! That's a major victory.

The breakfast/can't stop eating is a mystery though. What are a few of your typical "healthy breakfasts?" I ask because I suspect that you may not be getting enough fat/protein or calories for that meal. And what does "can't stop eating" mean for you?

How many calories do you typically eat on a day when you do eat breakfast and 'eat all day'? How many on a day when your first meal is after 2 or 3 in the afternoon?

Again, congrats on the blood sugar!

Lisa

Honey, there's no rhyme or reason to it. For years I've tried every combination to make the problem go away, but it just is.

I have a tall, thin friend. (I'm 5'3, she's 5'8. I'm 180.6, she's 150... we're Mutt and Jeff.) We do enjoy comparing our differences. For instance, she cannot identify with the feeling I call "hunger". She feels "sick" if she doesn't eat. She's figured out that eating makes her feel better, so she eats until she's no longer "sick". She does not enjoy food. She finds 1oz of cheese completely filling and I wouldn't even notice that.

But we both have the "breakfast thing". If we put off eating for as long as possible, we're fine. Once we open that can of worms, we're done for the day. I get hungry every hour or two and she feels sick every hour or two until she eats. She's played with the phenom. herself and can't find a way around it. We've both done LC, LF, LC/LF/high protein, high fat, etc... nothing works.

On the LC diet, I'm now gaining. I know it's because I'm eating and eating and eating. I never eat this much! I know it's because I'm "flipping the switch" too early in the day. Now that things have settled down this week, I'm about to change that.

There may be someone out there who's had the same problem and who has a solution. There may be someone out there who needs to hear that they're not "weird". Either way, there it is, and I know the two of us can't be the only ones!

Marie,

I have had a LOT of problems with hunger, even when eating very low carb. So I know what you are talking about. My guess is that it is caused by blood sugar fluctuations. Even a "mild" fluctuation up to 140 and back down to 100 can cause hunger.

The only thing that reliably turns it off, for me, is Metformin, which unfortunately I can't take any more because my stomach lining won't tolerate it anymore. For the 4 years I took it, it was a godsend.

Beyond that, I find if I use very small doses of insulin to keep from having even mild blood sugar fluctuations, that helps a lot too. I can eat a lot more carbs and not experience hunger with properly dosed insulin.

But with PCOS, you have so much insulin in you already that probably doesn't help.

Have you tried Byetta? It does wonderful things for physiological hunger for some people. I have heard people say that for the first time in their lives they had normal hunger patterns. It isn't all that effective for blood sugar control, but it is very helpful for weight loss in people with mild blood sugar problems.

If you continue to have hunger problems after a few months of eating low carb, you should bring up the medication issue with your doctor.

about byetta:
derived from gila monster saliva-yuk!!
Known to cause pancreaitis.
Many lawsuits going on about that.
Causes nausea and vomiting in some people.
You do indeed lose weight when you throw up your food.
To be fair,let's mention that it works fine for most people.
Eddie