Terrie

Hello Rosebud. I didn't see your Introduction in the Introductory section so.....Welcome!! Thanks for the Good info. A Big Congrats on losing the weight. Good job!!

I wish I had a Magic pill for People to lose weight since I know it is Very hard to do for many. I've seen People struggle through it also. Food can be addictive to some, just like smoking unfortunately. Too many chemicals put in the foods. Some it affects others it doesn't. The metabolism is also too slow for some. Mine seems to work okay thankfully. I still need to gain some though.

That is a lovely photo of you btw.

__________________
***Life Is A Highway.......T.C.

meurtelken

Hey Rosebud!

Low-carb way of life is not accepted yet in Belgium. Some patients do follow it, and are very happy with it, but so far I haven't found any doctor or dietitian to agree with this way of life. They say if you eat low-carb, you eat more fat and more protein and neither of one is healthy You know, some days, I don't know what to eat any more....I need more ideas, more recipes. And living over here makes it harder in that manner, that we don't have access to all those lovely low-carb foods!
In restaurants, I ask to trade the potatoes for extra veggies and most of the time, I end up paying more.. That sucks...

And..just FYI: 220 gr of carbs is for diabetics on a diet... If you don't need to lose weight, you're supposed to eat more carbs...

__________________

Richard157

Are there a lot of overweight folks in Belgium like there are in the USA and the UK? There are definitely not a lot of overweight people in India and yet diabetes is in epidemic proportions there. That is hard for me to grasp!

meurtelken

No Richard.... There aren't many people over here (Belgium) that have the size some overweight (do I spell that right? Or should it be overweighed?) Americans have. Really overweight people over here would weigh like 330 pounds. Men weigh around 175 pounds over here (average men) and for women I would say around 155 pounds.

The other day, I saw a documentary on this American man going to the UK to warn people about fast food and unhealthy life style. He was big... really big.. He called himself the Burger King... He said England was catching up with the States. And that doesn't sound good at all.

In Belgium, we have fast food chains MacDonald's, Quick, KFC and Pizzahut. That's about it. The nearest Mac is a 15 min drive from our house. To find a Quick (similar to Mac) we need to drive 45 min. Same for KFC. Pizzahut is 35 min away.
We have fastfood like once every two months. We don't eat out for breakfast. Some people still bring sandwiches to work for lunch. People still cook their own dinners. But I do see that things evolve into more and more take away. Especially amongst young couples. My parents' generation (55-65 year olds and older) don't do take away..

Belgians love their fries though. In every town, you find a 'frituur' where you can buy french fries and other fried meat snacks. And I must admit: every Belgian family visits these places more than they should. Over here, these "frituren" have more visitors than the Mac.
It's not any better though...

__________________

Rosebud713

Ok, so am I to understand you don't have access to fresh meat, fish and vegetables? Because that is all you need to live low carb. Also, you can have certain fruit, like blueberries, blackberries, cantaloupe, etc...within moderation, of course. Go to The Atkins Diet Weight Loss Program: Diets - Weight Loss - Nutrition and you'll see all the wonderful foods you can eat. Atkins products aren't available in your country, but with internet access you can look up low carb recipes and make your own. Low carb is not restrictive. It's just lowering your sugar intake, mostly your REFINED sugars. You do NOT need sugar to survive. Most of the low carb pasta is yucky, except for Dreamfields, but you don't need pasta to survive either. I have heard of people who have reversed their diabetes and have gotten off medication just by living low carb, losing weight, exercising, and taking certain supplements like Chromium Picolinate, Alpha Lipoic Acid, etc... Not sure you would be able to reverse yours, but maybe you can at least lower the amount of insulin you need.
I quit smoking and gained 60lbs, then shortly afterwards, I was diagnosed with breast and thyroid cancer. The chemo I was given for the breast cancer put me into menopause right away and I had to have my thyroid completely removed. Being hypothyroid and menopausal made it doubly hard for me to lose weight, so I became complacent about it and stayed overweight for 5 years. My husband became concerned about my blood sugar, because he knew my family history with diabetes and suggested I start testing myself and sure enough I found that my blood sugar was out of wack. I did lose the weight, and my blood sugar is normal, but I still have to eat low carb. After losing the weight, we took my grandson to McDonalds and I figured I could treat myself to some McDonald's french fries. My blood sugar went from 90 before the french fries to 195 after the french fries. THAT is why low carb is important.
As far as paying more in a restaurant to substitute potatoes for veggies, I know it sucks, but don't you think your health is worth it? I've paid extra in some restaurants as well, but it was worth it for my health.
I still think 220 grams of carbs is way too much. You probably have to consume that to counteract the insulin. But if you consumed less carbs, it would stand to reason that you'd need less insulin, right?
I don't mean to sound preachy, but sometimes I get overly concerned and overly helpful.

Rosebud713

Hi Terrie,
I really didn't post an introduction...lol My first post was to offer help to someone (OneMoreSoul) in the introduction section.
Well, anyway, here is an impromptu intro...lol My real name is Roseann. I'm 56 and I live in Califon, NJ. I have two daughters. Danielle is 23 and will be 24 in April and Christine is 21 and will be 22 in March. I also have one grandson who just turned 5. I am divorced from my first husband and got married for the second time almost 2 years ago.
As in my last post to meurtelken, I struggled to lose weight for 5 years until I became afraid that I would end up like my mom and my brother, who both had Type 2. My mom died of diabetes complications, mainly with her heart. And I lost my brother recently to cancer. I've already had cancer, so, I'm doing what I can to prevent myself from getting type 2 diabetes.
I know what you mean by the chemicals in foods. Also, they add High Fructose Corn Syrup to many foods. Sugar is bad enough, but HFCS is worse. That is the main reason I stay away from processed foods. I had a low metabolism being hypothyroid, but I combatted that with exercise and, of course a higher dosage of thyroid hormone.
Thanks for your comment about my pic. Your pic is very nice too. You look so young...just a teenager, I bet.

Terrie

Actually Richard, there is a Good percentage of overweight People in India. Their incomes have risen, there's urbanization, more desk jobs, globalization(western fastfood/take out, etc. Plus they are unfortunately, as many of us, genetically prone to being overweight/obese.

__________________
***Life Is A Highway.......T.C.

Richard157

Thanks Terrie, I did not know that. All the pics on TV of street scenes in India show slender people with small frames.

Terrie

Hi Roseann:

Good heavens!! You have been through so much and yet you've done so Well. Be proud of yourself. And a pat on the back from us. My sincere condolences on the loss of your Mom and Brother.

I was dxd. with Hypothyroidism in the 1990's by a reputable Endo. My newest Endo who checks every time I get my tests done, said I do not have Hypothyroidism. I told the Nurse who gives me the infusions in my home and she said the same thing happened to her. I thought it was for Life. Evidently not sometimes.

Ugh! Ya, I was going to post something about the High Fructose Corn Syrup. That's one Big reason why People are gaining weight also. It seems to be in so many foods. Some People have to ruin
everything. I'll never understand how they are allowed to put so much junk in our foods and beverages.

I hope that you had a Fun Christmas with your Grandson and Family.

YW! Thank you. That was me as a teenager. Me thinks I'm going to remove it.

__________________
***Life Is A Highway.......T.C.

Rosebud713

Hi Terrie,
Yeah, I have been through a lot especially in the last 6 years, but I'm still kicking and I refuse to stop...lol Thank you for your condolences.
For me, hypothyroidism is a way of life, because I have no thyroid gland anymore due to cancer. So I take a thyroid hormone pill everyday and I'm fine.
As for High Fructose Corn Syrup, it's disgusting the way it's put into everything. What's even more disgusting is that I just saw a commercial on TV stating how good it is and that it's no different than sugar. In the commercial they refer to a website: The Truth About High Fructose Corn Syrup - HFCS Facts - Home. So now they're touting it as safe? And the AMA approves of it, so that's why it's in everything. They say it's safe and doesn't cause obesity anymore than sugar does. Bottom line is, it's cheaper to use than sugar. The only thing I'd use it for is to make ethanol to run my car...lol
Anyway, we had a great Christmas here. My grandson turned 5 on the 22nd, so he really made out that week..lol My husband and I got him a go cart. We have 5.5 acres of land here, so he just rides all over the property and has the time of his life. They have go cart races in south Jersey for his age group. We're thinking of signing him up..lol On New Year's Eve, my husband took him to NYC to see the big tree, and the decorated windows at Macy's and Saks, etc...then decided to stay to see the ball drop. My daughter Christine decided to join them that evening. I worked till 9pm and wound up by myself...lol It's ok, I could've gone, but didn't want to. They finally came home at 2:30am.
Ok, time for me to stop I tend to get long winded in case you haven't noticed.

__________________
If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?
They're low carb, of course!