Understanding the beginning of diabetes

Dorisena, I would not try any major "fast" weight loss programs as they are hard on you physically and like you said the weight just comes back on. How long has you BP been high? Is it well regulated by your medication? I have a vascular disorder that affects the muscle within my arteries. It is called Fibromuscular Dysplasia. One of the major symptoms is high "hard to regulate" blood pressure. The renal artery walls muscles thicken and caused the blood flow to be less therefore a higher BP. No changes in your waist size will help that. I have FMD mild to moderate in many artery beds. Staying healthy is the only thing I can do and go to the doctor if I have symptoms. I have purchased a DVD from the Grow Young fitness group that works on different parts of your body by using chair exercises. There is one specifically for your core . It is designed for senior citizens. I have not yet opened it but will do so this week and get back to you as to how difficult it is to do. As far as eating goes..have some type of protein at every meal to balance out your carbs and watch your portions. You have been doing so well for so long I really wouldn't worry too much about your waist size. Just for kicks I measured mine and to get down to what you say I'd have to loose 12 inches. I don't think that is going to happen and I'm 63! I was probably 15 years old the last time my waist size was 31.5 Work on staying healthy and feeling well. Get as much exercise that you can. My mother-in-law was in TOPS club for 40 years and it almost killed her. What she did to herself just so she could stay within her goal weight was unbelievable. At age 92 we finally took her scale away as she was still obsessing about her weight. She was really mad. That obsession leads to unneeded stress. At 94 she is in Assisted Living and getting three meals a day and no longer worries about her weight. Again, you have done so well with everything. If you BP is managed well by medication, you should be fine. I'll get back to you about the DVD. You can go to growyoungfitness to read about it. Do not get into their drink supplements. They sent samples with my videos and they taste AWFUL!! Talk to you later.

I remember when I first read about TOPS that it was too restrictive for hard working people, so I stayed away from it. Amway has some energy drinks that are caffeine. No thanks. I do like to drink Carnation Instant Breakfast for dinner once in a while as the nutrients are similar but it has more milk and less egg whites than Optifast. it was strange that I felt good on Optifast and wasn't hungry. I finally reasoned that the fat loss released much stored estrogen which lifted my spirits and energy. It is not recommended to do more than once in a lifetime. No sense in talking to my thin doctor, however he might send me to the nutritionist again. I have the Mayo Clinic Diet book and I can follow that however my portions are more than they recommend. I have my booking and tickets for Florida in February where I will sit in the sun and knit, and sometimes walk to the mall. The same group of nice people will be there as last year, so it is enjoyable to socialize which I don't have at home in my community in the winter. I fix my own meals and I eat a careful breakfast in the hotel, free.
My father's people were all short and fat and very happy. The women lived into their 90's. My brother and sister are gone. Bad health.
I guess we can keep working on little things and be happy we can still walk, even if it is not far at a time. My mind is excellent. Maybe I should write books and keep my fingers clean at the computer. I once had a mouse bite my bare toe while I was absorbed in typing at the computer. He didn't live long after that. Thanks for the support. Dorisena

I remember when I first read about TOPS that it was too restrictive for hard working people, so I stayed away from it. Amway has some energy drinks that are caffeine. No thanks. I do like to drink Carnation Instant Breakfast for dinner once in a while as the nutrients are similar but it has more milk and less egg whites than Optifast. it was strange that I felt good on Optifast and wasn't hungry. I finally reasoned that the fat loss released much stored estrogen which lifted my spirits and energy. It is not recommended to do more than once in a lifetime. No sense in talking to my thin doctor, however he might send me to the nutritionist again. I have the Mayo Clinic Diet book and I can follow that however my portions are more than they recommend. I have my booking and tickets for Florida in February where I will sit in the sun and knit, and sometimes walk to the mall. The same group of nice people will be there as last year, so it is enjoyable to socialize which I don't have at home in my community in the winter. I fix my own meals and I eat a careful breakfast in the hotel, free.
My father's people were all short and fat and very happy. The women lived into their 90's. My brother and sister are gone. Bad health.
I guess we can keep working on little things and be happy we can still walk, even if it is not far at a time. My mind is excellent. Maybe I should write books and keep my fingers clean at the computer. I once had a mouse bite my bare toe while I was absorbed in typing at the computer. He didn't live long after that. Thanks for the support. Dorisena

I remember when I first read about TOPS that it was too restrictive for hard working people, so I stayed away from it. Amway has some energy drinks that are caffeine. No thanks. I do like to drink Carnation Instant Breakfast for dinner once in a while as the nutrients are similar but it has more milk and less egg whites than Optifast. it was strange that I felt good on Optifast and wasn't hungry. I finally reasoned that the fat loss released much stored estrogen which lifted my spirits and energy. It is not recommended to do more than once in a lifetime. No sense in talking to my thin doctor, however he might send me to the nutritionist again. I have the Mayo Clinic Diet book and I can follow that however my portions are more than they recommend. I have my booking and tickets for Florida in February where I will sit in the sun and knit, and sometimes walk to the mall. The same group of nice people will be there as last year, so it is enjoyable to socialize which I don't have at home in my community in the winter. I fix my own meals and I eat a careful breakfast in the hotel, free.
My father's people were all short and fat and very happy. The women lived into their 90's. My brother and sister are gone. Bad health.
I guess we can keep working on little things and be happy we can still walk, even if it is not far at a time. My mind is excellent. Maybe I should write books and keep my fingers clean at the computer. I once had a mouse bite my bare toe while I was absorbed in typing at the computer. He didn't live long after that. Thanks for the support. Dorisena

@dorisena I am thinking that you probably live in the colder areas as we do in NH. My husband would love to get out of here in the winter but he won't until we sell this house which is once again at a standstill since I cannot accomplish much while recovering from my fracture. I don't think it will happen this winter, but maybe next? We haven't thought about which warm destination we would consider yet. The advantage of Florida or somewhere south on the Atlantic coast would be that we could have our car there, the drive would probably take a few days. Southern CA is a bit far to drive and his choice would be Hawaii but that is simply too darned expensive.
JK