Couch 250: An August Couch

In "movies I have not thought about for 30 years," Dr. T made a Who Framed Roger Rabbit reference today. He said, "I doubt you'll remember this" and mentioned the movie. Then said, "the main character's girlfriend, I forget her name."
Me: "Jessica Rabbit?"

He seemed surprised I knew that. (I mean, the movie was a big deal at the right age for me, plus I saw it on TV a couple times, or maybe we had it on VHS, I forget.)

His reference was about the value that humor can bring to a relationship (including the therapeutic one, at least in my case). As he said, in the movie, she was asked how Roger ended up with someone like her. And she said, "He makes me laugh."

he and his voice are older now but i still love love love

I never saw Roger Rabbit, but Jessica Rabbit was all over all the media and never left, IMO. Plus i always thought of Jessica as "Bugs Bunny in drag made a movie." How could anybody not know them?

Artie - did your doc prescribe a glucose monitor? I wish i had been MUCH more diligent about using mine when i started on this journey as they say. The feedback you get is soooo worth it. Also, repeat after me - salads and vegetables are your friend!

No, but I'm just going to use h's.

I'm trying so hard not to beat myself up for this. I need to just completely skip that part and radically change my diet, that's all. My sister's wife did it, after being hospitalized with dangerously high b/s, I am going to ask them for some tips.

They now have meters you can wear for 2 weeks at a time. I wear one every other two weeks. They're too expensive for me to wear all the time. It tracks your sugars every minute so you can see exactly how food and exercise affects you. I love it. I don't use the other meter at all because it hurts to do it. It also does a simulated a1c estimate. I think it's gmi? Don't quote me on that.

Metformin is a good drug. Many, myself included, have severe gi problems at the start. Don't be discouraged if it happens. It will go away if you can get through it. H couldn't get through it.

Couch Workout Club day 73

I phoned today's workout in because I'm not feeling that great in my head or my body.

A few minutes of exercises in my favourite self-care app.

Artie, try not to beat yourself up over this. Is your doctor open to your trying lifestyle changes first before going on Metformin? And to recheck your A1c in, say, 6 months or a year?

My H said something similar when I mentioned it to him. He joked that Dr. T is actually an alien who landed on Earth like 20 years ago (he's joked about this before).

I was on Metformin during the pandemic. It actually helped me shed some weight by itself. Eventually they wouldn’t give me any more refills but I continued back then with a low cal diet and went on to lose close to 50lbs. The weight has since come back but I just try to watch calories. Keto and low carb never really worked for me. I always ended up just eating too many calories on those diets. I always end up just going back to lower calorie and lower fat. I know the science behind low fat and lower calorie is outdated but it’s what always worked for me. If you manage to burn more calories than you are eating then you will lose weight. The metformin GI issues were very temporary for me and they interrupt my day to day but everyone is different.

he told me to try lifestyle changes back in july, unfortunately i wasn't scared enough i guess i don't know and i gained another 5 lbs instead and my number got worse. hence the metformin rx now. i know that at this point this can be fixed with my diet and walking. i'm not really sure what my problem is, i mean why i'm not just DOING it already. it was helpful having L to be accountable to, because I apparently haven't yet learned how to be accountable to myself and I haven't had her for going on 8 months now. Which all boils down to the whole I still need to grow up thing. Ugh. The medical weight loss team will be my accountability until I learn how to be fully accountable to myself. That's one of the reasons I signed up for it, because it's not just a dr it's covering all the bases - medical, mental health, movement, etc.

Artie try rewarding yourself for every 5lbs to keep you motivated. Obviously use a non food reward. It could be anything that’s not food related. Or put money into a jar for every pound that you lose and see how much you have at the end when you complete the weight loss phase of your journey and move into the maintenance phase. At the end go spend it on something nice for yourself.

I wonder if ts act dumb about stuff like this so as not to intimidate or being seen to belittle clients? "Gosh EVERYBODY knows that!" Its like a class they take in how to appear clueless. Its really annoying. And they are supposed to teach us to reality-check??

Artie - its the journey, not the destination!

How much as your h's diet changed? Are you guys eating the same stuff? I have bread in the house for like half the week - i get it delivered, eat it all up, then go without for the rest of the week!

Your walking will serve you well. Also have you heard of, fill half your plate with veg, quarter with starch, quarter with protein.

Chef AJ is someone who has gone completely overboard IMO, but she is skinny, almost alarmingly so. She advocates all veg, a smidgen of starch. I feel like her when i am eating a big salad!

H completely cut out ice cream, which he used to eat a ton of. Well, he does get some every once in a blue moon but controls himself.

That's the whole thing about it. He can control himself with the stuff he isn't supposed to eat. Like he changed to dark chocolate because the liver dr said in small amounts it was okay, he's happy with one serving and then he puts it down. I on the other hand would eat the whole dam bag if it was in front of me.

I just know I need to make some big changes or I'm not going to be around long enough to see grandchildren, that is if my son ever decides he wants kids. Right now he doesn't and that makes me sad. Probably is why I've been eating more than I should.

I don't know.

One of my friends has gone vegan, and she posts videos online of her food creations. They look pretty darn tasty, and I'm considering that drastic of a change, if not that, then maybe I should try vegetarian again.

I don't know.

(Ha that's one thing that makes me happy that I'm not in therapy right now - I can say "I don't know" any time I want to!!! L would never let me get away with saying it.)

I like those ideas, thanks Jersey!

One of my favorite meals is a packet of refried black beans used as dip for raw veg, like a red pepper. So delish, so simple, so filling.

The other thing i worked on is right-sizing my meals. That is the toughest. Also thats where like Fiber-One brownies help - one is the right size, or else you will be very sorry!

Not that im losing weight. Actually idk. I think i have stopped gaining. And i am feeling better, eg stronger, not worse.

thanks una. i think at this point, at least for the time being anyway, i would just be happy to stop gaining. it's been absolutely ridiculous since last December. I'm almost back to my highest weight ever and feel so much shame.

I don’t know all that many adults who are fully accountable to themselves. They have families, or friends, or partners, or religions, or, yes, therapists to be accountable to. I don’t think it’s a growing up problem, because you are a grown up (and if you weren’t, by this point growing up isn’t happening).

Why not find a dietitian or a therapist specializing in disordered eating for after the medical weight loss thing so you can keep it up?

Couch Workout Club day 74

I got my steps in on a Sunday morning walk, and talked out some work stress.
The pesky email has been sent, and now I wait for a response.

Well my apartnent workout on tuesday / wednesday really payed off - last night i indoor bicycled for an hour without breaking a sweat! I hadnt been able to get over 40 minutes all year without getting exhausted. We used to call that "blowing out the carbon" in the car gas pipes. Now to keep it up. I see my internist in a month.