I had a good day today at the diabetes center at St. Paul's hospital here in Vancouver, doing my annual checkup and meet with the dietician, nurse and endocrinologist.
When I chose the title for this thread it was based on what the endocrinologist said. I was diagnosed with type 2 in March of 1998, and I soon determined that I did not want to go through the usual medication routine with possible side effects. Extensive research pointed me to the two cornerstones that have been instrumental in controlling my diabetes type II for the past 15 years:
a. A meal plan that only includes low GI carbs like barley, uncle bens converted rice, beans and squash, as well as unsaturated fats (olive oil and fish).
b. Three brisk daily walks, 45 minutes each, after each of the three major meals.
Initially I was warned that diabetes was progressive and that I should forget about managing without meds or insulin in the long term. That could be but my hba1c today was 6.7 so I was told I'm good for another year.
I would encourage anyone else who is skeptical of a life on meds and needles and is looking for alternatives to not get put down by the many naysayers - with a lot of self discipline, and an investment in time and energy, it is highly doable for many people to manage diabetes type II through diet and exercise, like I've done and continue to do after 15 years.
Tor
Hi,Tor. I know you from another old list. I commend you. It is so true exercise does a wonderful job at decreasing our numbers. I am on meds but 21 years no issues. I love my Y ,the pool and walking.I live in Maine. This is a great site. Nancy
I am a fan of exercise but I am always leery of building a regimen that is dependend on 3x 45 minute workouts as that can be 1) a lot of work and 2) is very susceptible to injuries, getting sick, etc. It's awesome that you are managing with strict control but having a backup plan may be worth considering.
I had an odd year this year, started out really gung ho, had signed up for some interesting races, etc. I had a good time at the first one but my leg blew up and I was shut down for a month. Oh well, back ot the drawing board, I'd gotten going again, just about ready to start training for race #2 and had a cyst that needed to be excised that shut me down for 3 more weeks. I ended up deciding to make race #2 a 1/2 instead of a full (which also went along well with junior starting high school, poms, dance team, Friday Night Lights, etc.!) and had a very good time of it although I probably only ran about 1/2 as much as I did last summer.
I love to hear about people who feel good about fitting regular exercise and activity into their life. We've become such a sedentary society, yet we know the value of physical activity in overall health as well as diabetes management. It seems that lack of time is often one of the biggest obstacles to regular exercise. Has anyone tried using a treadmill desk to get exercise while working?
the thing is, with a type 1 diabetic, we can exercise all we want to (most do from what I've experienced)...but if our insulin doses aren't set correctly it won't do too much, especially basal...also,exercising for a type 1 needs a lot of planning and skill to try and combat lows, possible highs and balancing insulin and carb intake.
Thanks for the reminder about the major differences between type I and type 2 diabetes. I realize that routines that work fine for a type 2 could cause major problems for someone with insulin dependant type 1. That aside, I do believe that just about everyone today will benefit from some regular form of exercise, as long as it is customized to any other health issues they have.
Tor
I got another piece of good news this week when I had my annual eye exam. The Opthimologist (?) reported no damage to the retina or optical nerve and no signs of glaucoma even after living with diabetes type II for 15 years. I would strongly encourage anyone who is newly diagnosed with type II and otherwise is in reasonably good health to not get bowled over by all the talk about how difficult it allegedly is to manage through lifestyle changes and how progressive this disease allegedly is. For most people it is doable and very rewarding, though it does require a certain amount of self discipline. And it's as progressive as we let it be.
Hi Vancouversailor ...fantastic you are doing well, including your annual eye exam ...congrats !! Have you considered becoming a Team Diabetes member and share your success story while you partake in local and international runs, walks, hikes, bike rides ??? I as recent as October 20 did a run in Amsterdam with Team D , which was my number 12 .Both Hubby( not living with diabetes ) and I have done Vancouver some time ago http://www.diabetes.ca/get-involved/supporting-us/team-diabetes/ Just a thought ??!!
Congrats on your ongoing success! Do you really eat no veggies other than squash? I don't know if I could do that.