Hi t2ds, how are you tonight? Let’s talk about exercise a bit - a topic I hate. Yeah, I hate exercise, always have, even when I was skinny (160 lbs on 5’8")- that was 1970-1972 - I’m not kidding. I played various team sports - volleyball, hardball (pitcher), softball, football (Pop Warner), curling, bowling, etc. I had paper routes as a kid, rode my bike all over Winnipeg, walked and ran in the Miles for Millions - an all day marathon. I enjoyed those sports and games, and performed well enough at the junior high and high school level, but wasn’t good enough for university varsity teams.
Then in university (Queen’s in Kingston, Edinburgh and Osgoode in Toronto), I discovered beer and spectator sports, plus sitting around reading and studying. I gained another 20 lbs or so. Once I entered the real world of legal practice, I worked very long hours, ate on the run and ate late at night, joined, didn’t use and eventually quit several fitness clubs and got heavier and heavier - 180 - 200 lbs. In the 90’s, a decade I would like to forget, I entertained bankers to get legal work, and had a bit of a reputation for giving a good lunch or dinner - lots of booze, some red meat or pasta or both, plenty of good wine. And I reached a new level of 220 or so. Eating and drinking well sure helped get thru the nasty 90’s for me - dinner parties, nice restaurant meals, eating what I wanted when I wanted to eat it. Sound familiar?
By late 90’s I had all the classic t2d symptoms: peeing all the time, thirsty all the time, neuropathy in the feet, sleep, tired feeling, short tempered, blurred vision, round rashes on the belly, slow healing of cuts, etc. My wife diagnosed me and the GP confirmed it. My GP is a very bright young guy, and he put me on meds (lipitor, lipidil, metformin), testing, and diet right away, and in six months, I was in the normal range for the battery of A1c test, not just blood sugar. Since 98, I was “in control” at most times, with changes from time to time in meds, getting some exercise and refining the diet. But, I was creeping up in weight, even with training to walk the Rome Marathon for the Cdn Diabetes Assoc. in 04. I was hitting new highs, though my blood sugar levels were quite good. When my meds stopped working for me last year, I was upset and not keen on doing insulin. But, I regained control after a few months of playing around with the insulin levels and increasing exercise - but my weight kept going up - insulin and actos did some of that.
Now, I’m about 277, down from 290, and really trying to lose some serious weight thru a program at a local Metabolic Centre where I get exercise, nutrition and now, physio attention and direction. It ain’t easy, not when I’m as fat as I am now. We have a new dog, a 5 mo. old Golden, and I supplement boring exercise on the treadmill and recumbent bike with nice walks with the puppy, especially good for me a half hour after supper.
I expect I’m like many t2ds: I love food, all kinds of food, I eat for comfort, I eat to celebrate, I eat to relieve stress, I eat to help me sleep at night, I eat to relieve boredome, I eat compulsively, I graze before and after meals - I have every bad eating habit, and one by one, I’m trying to conquer them.
My GP says that exercise won’t achieve the big weight loss, it’s all about intake - eating less. I have to agree, but when I exercise, I’m usually less hungry. Besides, regular (3X a week usually) vigorous exercise really helps my legs circulation.
The point of all this is to show a typical t2d progression - nothing very unique about my experience, and that by itself, might lend support to other t2ds. When I get angry and resentful with my fate, I just think of those who have a tougher row to hoe than do I.