You're right, I completely forgot about your working at the optical place. And please don't read my criticism of the optical store at my (last) optometrist's office as my view of the entire world of opticians. You're also right about the progressive lenses - those are different. I wore them for a little while and switched back to regular lenses with bifocals because I was tired of bobbing my head around to find the focal part I needed in the lenses at any given time. I typically ended up spending about $400 on a new pair of glasses because the insurance didn't pay for polycarbonate lenses and the frames that had nicer features (titanium, springy hinges, etc.) always cost more than the budget plastic pairs to choose from to stay under the plan allowance. We're creatures of habit, so I bought glasses at the doctor's office long before the online sites came along and it took a while to get comfortable with the idea of ordering online and switching.

I made the optical tech work out what my glasses would cost if I walked in without insurance. I would have been offered a "50% off" rate, and they came out (for sake of illustration) around $400. She then worked it out with my insurance: with insurance you're not offered the discount discount on any of the frames, lenses, etc., and it came out $395. Which told me they were getting a lot more out of me because I paid as much as the uninsured and the insurance company also gave them something. The last pair I bought from Zenni with a titanium frame, polycarbonate lenses (with the option I never paid for at the optometrist's - photo responsive lenses) cost $88. I learned about this place from our group participant LilyFestre. She said her agency used them when they had families needing glasses but with no budget. For lower-end plastic frames and lenses you can probably get a good pair of glasses for under $40.

Patty nailed it as far as our high-carbohydrate diets. I aim to have fruits and vegetables as much of my diet, so eating protein instead of wheat-based carbs or sugar is a good choice. I have a combination of commercial raisin bran cereal and a homemade granola (low sugar, high in nuts) that makes my gut happy, but eating that for breakfast can set me up for wanting more carbs during the day. I've started thawing a piece of fish overnight and having a piece of sauteed tilapia or sockeye salmon and a side of pan fried potatoes or a vegetable, and having the granola for lunch or even part of dinner. Mostly I have to get off of sugar snacks.