Hanging out here!

[C0NNIE53]

Hi Everyone!
I just joined the boards, and posted my first post in the introduction area. I am still having a time adjusting to the navigation aspect of this BB, but this is where I need to come to hang out, cuz, I am a type 2 diabetic, and just started the induction phase last Friday! In doing so, I have already lost 4 pounds! Yippee! My BS seems to be a bit more stable, but still too high. I am hoping for better readings by the end of induction.

I have a few questions! First, what is extended induction? I have seen it around on the board, but had never heard of it before. Is this something new?

Also, just for the record, I did Atkins back about 10 years ago, and did well, but at some point, fell off the wagon one summer and never found the wagon again! Why am I doing this again??? Was diagnosed with diabetes in April, put on drugs, and became very ill from them. Doctor has changed my meds 4 times and I have not been able to stay on them for I am sensitive to them and they make me sicker than the disease, and caused me to be a shut-in for the past few months, in chronic pain and misery. Last week, I had enough, and I stopped the meds cold turkey, and out of fear, dusted off my Atkins books and some other low carbing ones I have, and took a second look, now from a diabetic perspective. I am very hopeful that I can get my BS under control with this woe much better and without pain than I can with drugs and misery. That is my story in short.

My second question is how do I personalize my posts? Somehow when I signed up, I found a place to get a ticker, and did so, but now what? Is there a place I can go to that will let me have a static signature with info that I don't have to repeat all the time? I think I saw that somewhere, but it has disappeared and I can't find it anymore!

Thanks for all your help and input! Nice to be here, and I look forward to the journey!

Connie

[C0NNIE53]

Well, I have been playing around now with my control panel since yesterday, figuring out how to get my signature sorted out! Now that I have that out of the way, I can look around and see what all I have been missing!

Connie

[imagood1]

Good for you Connie -- you are getting acclimated!!! You ask what "extended induction" is - when people have a lot of weight to loose (over 100 pounds) they stay on induction until they have lost quite a bit of the weight. When I first started I decided to do extended induction and after about a week and a half (before I was on plan for a month) I wasn't loosing weight so I talked to a couple of the moderators and found out there is something known as PISS (post induction stall syndrome) -- to break it you move on to OWL and add the additional 5 net carbs of veggies. PISS isn't an actual stall .... a stall or plateau is 4 weeks without loosing any pounds or inches ... but it is a pause where you don't loose weight - your body is catching up with the changes it's going through. Within a couple days of being on the 1st rung I started loosing again.

There isn't a lot of activity here in the diabetes forum, not that I haven't tried to get something going...you might want to start a journal, if you haven't already.

The first of the month is fast approaching, you might want to look at the challenge forum and see if there are any you'd like to join. There are exercise and non-exercise related challenges.

[C0NNIE53]

Oh, thank you so much for your informative input, Carol! I did not realize that not much was going on with this forum. I do need to have a diabetic area, because dealing with this disease is very frustrating, as I am sure you are well aware! I also appreciate your explanation of PISS and will give this some thought before I finish induction. I may stay with extended induction, since I guess it means sorta what I thought it did! I have about 200 pounds to lose...yikes! So much of a big number there in print! I am having to face up to a lot lately, that I would just rather ignore! Right now I am losing so well, that I like the idea of just sticking to it and seeing a pound a day fall away! That is so cool! While I am jazzed about the pounds, my first concern is to bring my sugar down to normal range. But, for the encouragement, I am still gonna weigh every day. I know there are those that do not perscribe to that, and I am one of them, actually, but just now, there is reinforcement to check the scale and see the loss. It makes me happy!

So, I guess the challenges start at the beginning of a month, so I will do as you suggest and check around and see what interests me. I am a little bit on information over-load right now, so we shall see!

Connie

[imagood1]

You may get extra encouragement and assistance on the Century Club forum - that is where people with 100 or more encourage each other. Century Club (100+) - Atkins Diet

Look around on the main page - there are so many different threads here that just about everyone can find several things to get involved and interested in. http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/

If you do continue to weigh daily, don't get discouraged when the scale slows or stops for a few days....take your measurements (if you haven't already) so you'll know when your body measurements are catching up with the pounds you are loosing -- it's a normal part of the process.

[C0NNIE53]

Good morning, Carol!
You are right, checking the scale can be discouraging at times. I only dropped a quarter of a pound today! I will take it, but it is not as fun to see as the whole pound was! I am realistic about it all, tho. No prob! So glad not to be going UP the scale! I have taken my measurements and started a journal of my feelings, and I also keep a food diary and note my blood pressure as well as the glucose levels. I am trying to cover all my bases!

I am also continuing to read up on the scientific aspect of low carbing and the impact it genuinely has on our health. It is so interesting! The mainstream industry, from doctors, drug companies and the media all tout the wisdom of low fat and high carbs that sometimes we might think we are on "crack" or something to believe in the high fat/low carb woe! But the evidence goes back a few hundred years, in reality! I am so happy to learn these things, as it does reinforce it in my mind and heart that I am on the right track to get and keep control of my health. My own doctor does not understand it either. She asked me if I was eating low fat, and I jokingly told her that "No, I eat as much fat as I can!" and when I saw her facial reaction, I smirked and laughed, and she remarked; "Oh, you are just kidding! Right?" It was funny! I shoke my head in the afirmative, and then in the negative to further confuse her! I wanted to keep it light, cuz I don't want a confrontation with her just yet about all of this. Proof is in the pudding, so I am planning to do this all to the letter, and then take another blood panel in a few months and see what, if anything has changed. My goal is to be in BG normal range, and blow her socks off with the test results! It will prove it to myself that I am on the right track as well! It is a very exciting challenge! Also, it would be so cool for me to be noticably thinner when she next sees me! One more thing to conquer!

Connie