Before I write about food, let me say what I am sure you have heard over and over again. If you have diabetes, exercise is crucial to control. I know you can't do weight bearing exercise and getting to a pool is often troublesome so the only recourse that I know of is to have a stationary bike at home. I bought a good recumbent bike and it is smack dab in front of the TV. That doesn't do much for the appearance of my family room but I have to make my health my first priority. I tried having it in a bedroom with a small TV, but that didn't work for me. I felt too cut off from the rest of the family - like I had been sent to my room for being naughty. I test my blood sugar at about nine at night to make sure I am under 120 and if not, I watch TV and pedal for a half hour or so. I don't increase the level of difficulty. That would be hard on my knees. If I sense that it is getting too easy for me, I increase my speed. I do the same on the treadmills at the gym. I use 0 incline and make up for it with speed. That is easier on the joints. In addition to having diabetes, I also have fibromyalgia so my muscles scream at me after I have exercised. I couldn't have done so much exercise a year ago, but my new rheumatologist considered pain to be reason enough to give me medications and the muscle relaxant I take (flexeril) allows me to relax the muscles and sleep. This has been a HUGE help to me. I take some supplements, but only those that my doctor told me too. I take the 2 baby asperin, fish or flaxseed oil, alpha lipoic acid, and Co-enzyme Q-10. My doctor also instructed me to take a half teaspoon of cinnamon every day. I will mention that again later. For breakfast I have my big carb meal of the day. That is because I exercise in the morning and because I have the whole day to work it off. I have a 1/4 cup (dry measure)of steel cut oats, about 6 walnut halves, and 1/4 cup of blueberries. Since yesterday I have added to that a hot drink made from an ounce of protein powder in hot water with 2 teaspoons of cocoa. My mid-morning snack is a 12 oz. V-8, or a medium apple or 20 baby carrots. Previously I had peanutbutter on the apples, but I had to give that up to make room for the protein powder. For lunch I was having a cup of Nancy's unsweetened low-fat yogurt with a half packet of Splenda and half a teaspoon of cinnamon. I have now begun to mix in an ounce of the protein powder and skip the Splenda. Today I am going out to lunch and I am going to get the Italian chop chop salad. It comes with garlic toast, but I throw that away on my way to my table (it would be better if I could remember to ask them to hold the bread). I have taken my testing kit to lunch with me often enough that I know this is the only menu selection that works for me. Calorie King on the internet has a good web site that tells the calorie & carb content of most fast foods. There really isn't much for us so I rarely go there and then just have a salad. My afternoon snack is from the same list as the mid-morning snack. I am sure there are other things that work. I try to keep it at about 75 calories and 15 carbs. For dinner I have a protein portion and either a salad or a vegetable. I don't eat any of the starchy vegetables. We mostly have cauliflower and broccoli. I have started using the 50/50 blend of lettuce and spinach for salad. The spinach has way more fiber than lettuce and other benefits as well. There is no meat that I have given up, but I do serve salmon once a week. I never liked fatty cuts of meat so that isn't a problem for me. My darling husband cuts out the center of the pork chop for me. Before bed, I have another cup of hot chocolate made with protein powder. I used to have a generous handful of almonds at this time, but that's what got me into trouble with my weight. This may not work for you at all. I think it is very important to choose the foods you like best from what is permitted for you. One of my biggest peeves is the food pyramid that the American Diabetes Association (ADA)puts out. It stresses high quality carbs and suggest a carb limit that I think is way too high. My doctors agree. In fact, if you go to the web site of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists you will find that their guidelines are much more strict that the ADA. The people in my support group think that I should be taking more meds so that I can enjoy more foods. Having to take more meds will come soon enough. I am not going to rush into that if I don't have to. My last A1C was 5.4 By the way, I tried the new diet that doctors Oz and Roizen said was a surefire way to drop a dress size in 2 weeks. I just got heavier.

Thanks for all the tips. I keep meaning to get hand warmers but I always forget to get them. LOL I listed the order wrong of the colour my fingers get when cold. White comes last, when there is no blood to circulate. Most painful too because you know when you warm them and the blood starts to flow it is gonna hurt. LOL Kinda strange to see your fingers white and devoid of blood. Carla, my non sweating problem is glandular - diagnosed when I was a child. I didn't have to participate in some school gym activities because I would pass out from being overheated and exercising. I remember a time I went with some friends to Michigan to do some cross crountry skiing. Of course I overdressed and had on too many layers and I overheated, started to hallucinate and passed out cold. My friends knew exactly what it was and stopped a passing skier and asked for his bottle of water. Stupid me didn't bring water with me. They had most of my clothes off by the time I came too and I was covered in snow to bring my body temp down. Not fun and kind of embarrasing to say the least. I have been taking non potassium depleting diuretics since I was 15 or 16 years old. One complication to taking them for so long is kidney malfunction in the future that may lead to dialysis. At one time the doctor was giving me 2 hydrodiural a day and my potassium was so low I couldn't even walk and ended up in the hospital. Damned if I do (overheat), damned if I don't (Raynauds) LOL Could be worse. Worse is being severely allergic to the cold or having Raynaud's that causes Lupus. My friend Donna has a set of twins allergic to the cold and a son with Raynauds (not too often found in men) who is predisposed to Lupus because of it. Keep warm ladies but not too warm as in my case. Anne

ItâÂÂs totally a pain, isnâÂÂt it? IâÂÂve started using Restulex �" itâÂÂs a natural product with no side effects (biggest selling point for me, right there �" drugs with side effects suck). If you wanna check it out, theyâÂÂre actually offering a free bottle right now if you participate in their study. You just gotta call. But no matter what you use, IâÂÂd go the natural route. A lot of RLS is caused by mineral/vitamin deficiencies anyway, and the natural stuff puts those back in your system instead of just burying the problem like a drug.

I had both knees replaced when I hit 62 - I had put it off as long as possible but finally the time came when my physical limitations were becoming a real mobility hazard. It was a tough 3 months but I had a great outcome. However before that I also had the crunching knees syndrome. I had a medial meniscectomy in one knee at age 23 when I tore my meniscus water skiing. At the time my surgeon told me that I would develop arthritis later in life. I thought he meant when I was 70 - but I started arthritic symptoms in my 40's, probably due to a familiar tendency. The crunching in my right knee worsened accompanied by occasional searing pain. At about age 50 I had an arthroscopy and the surgeon cleaned out my knee, flushing out tiny bits of cartilage and bone. He told me that a TKR was in my future but I experienced immediate improvement after the arthroscopy - which is typical in about 50% of the cases. I also had hyaluronic injections. The first set really helped. However I repeated them about 7 years later without any improvement. Again that's a typical outcome. Two things my surgeon stressed is that it's very important to avoid excessive weight and for women to maintain strong leg muscles - especially quads - since they support the knee. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/PDFs/Rehab_Knee_6.pdf I hope your knee feels better soon. Maire