Diabetes Week Two

I made it through the first week of diabetes.  My life changed in the same way you turn a light on - within a moment.  Was I still scared?  Oh, yeah.  In fact today, almost three years later I am still scared of diabetes if I was being completely honest.  I have a deep and abiding respect for what the disease can do if not managed and controlled.

The good news is that it can be controlled with a bit of effort which was my big "AHA!" during Week Two.

Anyway, back at Week Two.  I had begun to take my meds - Metformin twice a day 1.000 mg each time.  Pretty standard starting treatment.  And, it was just the Metformin.  I know many may have two pills to take, which for some proves to be very effective.  It's kind of like a one-two punch and when you are in a war with diabetes, you want to throw as many punches as possible to get your glucose, and subsequently your A1c, down somewhere in normal range.  If you need to see the a chart for A1c values and how they compare to your blood glucose readings, look here for a pretty easy to read chart.

Remember not to use one reading, but look at your average reading.  Even then, it depends on when you take it.  More on that at some point in the near future.

Again I got a bit side tracked.  Week Two - I had begun my walking.  Every evening for 30 minutes.  I know I have written here before I don't like exercise, but we were talking about my life here.  So, that walk became one of my best friends.  I didn't try to walk fast or go very far at first.  I used shoes that were about five or six years old and just walked.  One foot in front of another.  For 30 minutes - which seemed like forever the frist few days, but by the time Week Two started, the time seemed to go a little faster, but not much.

And, I was getting more ideas of what I could and could not eat.  Think about it, we get near immediate feedback with our glucose readings.  If it's not the right food, up it goes.  If it is the right food, it dips a little bit.  Take your readings twice a day, more often if your doctor will authorize it, so you will know what your blood sugar (glucose) is doing.  You should be on a steady downward trend.  And, keep a record of your readings as well as diet (everything you eat and when) in a food diary.  You will really learn what is working and will be able to spot trends faster.  If you spot the trend, you can make adjustments.

Me?  I just liked seeing the numbers go down.  I started with seeing glucose numbers of 300+.  It was an exciting morning when I hit 297.  During the second week I saw it get down to 275.  I was making progress!  Fear was gone because I was taking action.  I knew the meds would not make me go too low - fat chance when you are in the high 200's.  Things were beginning to work and I felt empowered; that I could get this disease under control. Hey, I even found I lost my first couple of pounds during Week Two,

What was I doing?

Meds.  Diet.  Walking.  Testing.  Recording.  If I was really bright, I'd come up with some sort of catchy acronym, but alas and alack, I am not that bright.  I am open to ideas, though.  You know what my meds were.  I was on a low carb diet.  I was walking 30 minutes a day, six days per week.  And, I kept records.  All of this really began to come together during the second week.

You can do this.  It's all about little steps that collectively make a journey.  You can take the small steps without fear - a lot of folks have gone before you.

Carb Revelation! It's Not Just About The Carbs

I lost about 60 pounds between diet and a bit of exercise.  My diet has been one of basic carb counting - not too difficult to understand or track.  But, and this is a revelation from yesterday during my walk - counting carbs is not enough; you have to look at the fat content!  What a concept, right?

For me, it was pretty basic diet - about 55 or 60 carbs per meal with snacks not to exceed 15 carbs.  That was it.  I just could not fully understand that diet in which you can exchange this for that to equal a number.  It just seemed a very difficult way to figure out what I could have to eat.  My carb counting was pretty easy once I knew what the carbs were and the portion size.

So, I get close to where the doctor wants me.  I had a BMI of 25.0, as I recall.  He wanted me at 24.9.  You remember about good ol' BMI's right?  Body Mass Index.  If you are above 24.9, you are overweight.  Need to check your BMI?  Look here.  And, if you want to understand more about BMI, read this article.

As I write this, I have a BMI of 25.3 - not great, but not too bad either.  And, it seems as though I have been unable to get much below 25.0.  Kind of frustrating for a guy who thinks he knows how to lose weight, right?  Well, I have to begin to learn more about fat and fat content, which I have never paid attention to in the past.

I mean, catbs turn into sugar so if I counted carbs, I would not only lose weight, but manage the diabetes.  How great is that?  And it worked for a long time.  If you are just starting out, I think carb counting is a good way to begin to manage and control diabetes.  But, if you want to make that breakthrough to getting to the right weight, you may have to look at fat.

Perfect example: I eat granola-type bars for snacks.  I found one very low carb bar - I mean it was like 9 net carbs - nice and low.  And, I sometimes use another type of bar in which the total carbs is about 18, or so.  Much, much more.  But...and this is an important but...the fat content was double in the low carb bar.  Double!  So, my current solution is to just eat about half of the higher carb, lower fat bar.  I emphasize current, because i have to look at the labels and might find a better balance.

Yes, there is a lot to think about when you have diabetes and it comes to your diet, but it soon becomes second nature.  You begin to look at the labels on all foods to find out what is good for you to eat.  I imagine I should do a food label explanation pretty soon.  That might be a good idea, huh?

So, I keep counting carbs.  But, now I am beginning to count fat - and I am sure I will come back to fat in a future blog because even I know there are different kinds of fat.  I will try to de-mystify and simplify fat when I blog about it.

I will continue to let you know about my adventures in weight loss.  By the way, when my doctor told me I had to 'lose a little weight' my BMI was 32.55.  Of course, I had no idea what a BMI was at that point, or I think I would have been discouraged.  But anyone can lose a little weight, right?  Sure glad that my doctor did not tell me I had to lose about 67 pounds, total.

As always, thank you for reading.

Day Seven

It's the end of the first week.  It's been kind of a long week for me.  I had changed just about everything from what I ate; how much I ate; when I ate; and, I was walking - not far, but walking for 30 minutes each day.  A lot of changes, but I was going on the attack against diabetes, and I just couldn't see doing it any other way.

I don't want to give anyone the impression it was easy.  Every meal was an act of will not to eat more.  Every time I got hungry, I played a little game (which I will still play today) that if I just made it 30 minutes, I could have something to eat.  Then when it go close to 30 minutes, I'd push it to an hour.  I figured that every extra minute I got without eating got me close to the time when I could eat.  I know, it sounds a bit silly, but it worked (and continues to work) for me.

And...I was taking my meds!  My blood sugar did not fall too far - which I was afraid of.  I was afraid that the meds would take me too low too fast.  I had seen people go into diabetic tremors from blood sugar being too low, and I was afraid of that.  But, you know what, it didn't happen.  The world continued to turn and I continued to function well.

What else did Day Seven bring?  Lost weight.  Not much.  I had to look twice and make sure the scale was adjusted right, but there was a loss of two pounds.  Two whole pounds!  I was headed in the right direction.

Oh, yes, my morning glucose readings were going down, too.

So, after a week lived in fear, I had a little victory.  Everything seemed to be working just like it was supposed to work.  I remember that I almost cried I was so happy.

I tell you about this because it can be you.  You can fight and win the battle.  It will take a touch of discipline and dedication, but you know what?  It becomes almost second nature after awhile and your stomach does shrink, but not as fast as some would have you believe.  But it does get smaller if you eat less.

You have to start, please.  Take the first step.  Take your meds as prescribed.  Watch what you eat.  Exercise a bit.  And you will win the war.  I know it sounds a bit corny, but I am already excited about your victories - the little ones because they add up to big ones.

And, thank you for reading.

"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another." ~Walter Elliott

"It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it." ~John Wooden 

Exercise...What if I Can't Walk?

In the beginning - as I learned of my diagnoses - all I heard about exercise was walk, walk, walk as I began to research what exercise I could do.  I wrote before that I did not want to go to a gym, and the idea of running did not appeal to me at all.  So, the decision to walk was not to difficult. And, I am lucky, I can walk.

But, not everyone can walk for exercise.  Some may not be able to walk due to a physical issue.  So, what can they do for exercise?  I am not a physical therapist but I do have a few suggestions.

Remember, doing something - anything - is better than not doing anything.  Work around the house is considered a form of exercise by some - did you know that?  Think about it.  There's stretching, stooping, use of arms and legs...the list just goes on and on about the kind of movements you do when cleaning a home.  Keep that in mind, okay.  Maybe you need to create the cleanest house in the neighborhood and get your exercise doing it.

What else can you do?

If you have access to a pool, and you can enter and exit it, swim.  Swimming has long be considered the best exercise you can get.  The buoyancy water gives you makes it easier on the joints.  In fact, there are classes at some places in water aerobics.  Look at your local Y.

How about sitting in a chair?  Sitting in a chair?  Yep - but don't just sit there.  You can sit in just about any chair and lift your legs.  Extend them straight out.  Heels on the floor and slowly lift your feet.  Repeat.  And, repeat.  Work up to doing sets of 10, 15, 20 and more.  A set is just doing the exercise repetitively.  So do three sets of 15 leg lefts.  But, wait, that's not going to take 30 minutes, is it?

While still sitting in the same chair, lift light weights with you arms.  You can start with weights of a pound or two and do curls - bending your elbow and bringing the weight near your chin.  Or, you can take that same weight, hold your arm straight out and move it out to the side.  Add the use of weights to leg lifts and you begin to get closer to that magic 30 minutes.

By the way, if you can't afford the light weights, use a can of vegetables or fruit.  You have those in the house, right?

Maybe you can ride a bike.  Beg or borrow a bike if you don't have one and ride it for 30 minutes a day.

Did you know weights, bikes and exercise machines are available on Craigslist?  Kind of cheap and lightly used in some cases.  Be careful if you choose to by used and inspect the equipment to the best of your ability.

And, while I live in Southern California where I can walk outside almost everyday, some of you might not live in such friendly climates.  Find a treadmill or elliptical machine - again, consider getting used equipment. 

You can do this.  You can figure out a way to exercise - it's important to weight loss and management of diabetes.  It really is.  Exercise is something you have got to do - and this is coming from a person who hates exercise.

Coming soon - why do we have to exercise?

"Fitness - if it came in a bottle, everyone would have a great body." Cher