I am a 47 year old male with a history of alcohol and drug abuse but have had the under control for over 7 years. My addictive personality allowed me to get into sugar....really get into sugar. Noticed tingling in my hands for about 2 years ago but the 12 - 15 pints of water a day made me realize that I had a real problem. Tuesday my blood sugar was just under 500 now through diet and medication it was just 226. I'm not a person who can do things by half and have really decided to attack the very thing that's attacking me. I'm also a big boy so any negative or positive comments will be carefully considered and nothing taken personally. My triglycerides were over 1200 on Thursday so a cholesterol test was not possible. I'm a bit heavy, 198 at 5'9'', my fighting weight is about 165. This is my approach to this illness that's chosen to call my name. Immediately diet change, label reading and research into diabetes friendly food, never was one for junk food and I usually as a professional chef cook and eat very well. No sugar, using stevia hot drinks and have just decided to cut out diet soda's too. What pisses me off the most is my routine has been shattered. Breakfast was always fruit Greek yogurt and 2 bananas, as of today its none fat Greek yogurt with smashed up berries. Bean soup, raspberries and peanut/cashew nuts yesterday and zero sugar since diagnosis. I've decided to go for a l00% potato/rice/pasta/bread free diet. When all my numbers are where they need to be i will start thinking about moderation and management but until then its no cheating. I fully intend to follow a decade long tradition a eat steak at Peter Lugers once a year and realize when my understanding is greater I'll be able to maybe have that 4 times a year cheat whatever it might be. I'm also joining the gym today and intend to return to a fitness level I used to enjoy. Am I being too hard on myself denying a lot of things I love until all of my levels are normal? Should I be more conservative in my approach? I do know I'm starting to feel better already and hope that the fatigue that's crept up on me will creep away. Ordered like 8 diabetic cookbooks from half.com, I don't want to punish my wife and 7 year old to have to follow the same diet as me and will store single meals in the freezer for when they want to order in pizza or whatever. Fish, chicken, vegetables,nuts, berries is the new way of sustenance for me and regular cardiovascular and weight training. My Dr noticed an irregularity on my EKG so I'm doing a stress test next week and I've made appointments for the eye Dr and foot Dr although I can see a difference in my vision already. Emotionally I've accepted I either have to change drastically or suffer the consequences. I'm thinking or it as my mid-life health crisis. Just to ■■■■ you all off I am also the guy that was credited with creating the deep fried twinkie and the whole State fair fried rubbish fad and am continuing along the same path have just been approached about doing more adventurous less processed State fair fried rubbish. I am trying to make "fried" back to a five letter word from a 4 letter word that's its become and improve the quality and nutritional value of that genre of food. I, just won't get high off my own supply.
Any comments or advice about my post even if its to call me an a#$%^&e for my professional life.
Thanks for reading this post. I refuse to let this beat me.
Which medication(s) are you taking for your BG? 226 is a big improvement over 500s so that's great progress. At the same time, it's still quite a bit higher than 110/140 (fasting/ postprandial) that we are shooting for or 85-90 (straight people/ Dr. Bernstein...).
You may want to return the "diabetic cookbooks" as I think it's probably more useful to be flexible and just focus on learning how to count carbs and analyze your data than to use prefigured recipes that are basically doing the same thing. Plus, if the cookbooks are $15/ each, you can return them and get some nice running shoes to walk or run or elliptical or whatever you're planning on doing at the gym!
It may be more aim to do cardio activities outside, when the weather permits. I loathe treadmills and ellipticals, although we have one of each in the basement. One of my friends is a psych professor and has done studies showing that exposure to greenspace, even narrow, urban greenspace, makes you smarter and happier. I had one of my favorite runs of all time in NYC, 44th and 3rd (Royalton Hotel) over to the Hudson up to 125th st. and back down through the park, although I got lost there (bg was 42 about 12 miles into a 17 mile run...I pulled over, bought a gatorade from a vendor and kept going...) and then my infusion set popped out so I was bleeding all over my shirt as I ran back up 5th Ave through the Alexander McQueen crowds! Eeek!
I'm on Lisinopril 10mg twice a day, Metformain 850mg once a day and Lipofen 150mg once a day, I also have an insulin pen that I can use suggested 8mg if I get any serious spikes although not needed it yet. I am a sugar junkie and was eating sweets, candy, chocolate & ice cream almost constantly. Good job I'm active and only 30lb over weight. I'm a professional chef a rarely use recipes just ideas and I'm treating this health scare very seriously. Took me an hour in the supermarket as label reading is a new thing for me. I actually just eliminating sugar from my diet was most of the improvement.
Oh the cardo & weight work starts tomorrow, to me just as important as diet.
I am sort of OCD so I look at 120 as a serious spike, depending on all the variables but I don't have an insulin "option!"
I have T1 but found this article to be a very comprehensive and interesting look at approaches to T2. I was in a similar boat weightwise in 2004, peaking about 275 lbs which I figured wasn't healthy for someone who'd had T1 since 1984. It has been an interesting experience. I agree that cardio and weightlifting are good things to do too. I got into working out pretty gradually and didn't really hit 5-6 days/ week until maybe 2007 or 8. I'm not a big recipe fan at all but counting carbs is critical with an insulin pump. I think a lot of T2 members also do this to monitor and evaluate their intake of food vs. BG to make good decisions.
I like exercising to keep all my numbers in check. It just lets me feel better. Deep fried Twinkie, huh? The factory closed, I hear, so no more of that! My husband loved to open up the wrapper of a Twinkie and take a big sniff; he said it was his favourite part of eating it- lol. We love to talk about food on this website- all kinds of food- so be sure to keep us up to date with any new ideas that work for you.
I come from the same place as you. I was the 30-40 pound over weight T2 with runaway blood sugars. My salvation was a good pair of walking shoes and a better understanding of what I was eating. I found myself to be a serious carbaholic.
I applaud your determination but hope that you are not setting yourself up for diet burnout. I found a moderate low carb diet worked for me. I try to restrict most high carb foods but if a favorite food could be fit in with out breaking my carb limits I will still enjoy it but now in lesser quantities.
I started carb counting because I am totally insulin dependent and carb counting is vital when using insulin at each meal. I have found carb counting and frequent testing has benefits beyond the need to decide how much insulin to take. By counting and testing you will know how each food affects you and your BG. Your BG meter will tell you when you are doing things right or wrong.
One of the resources that I found is Dr. Bernstein's book, "Total Diabetes Solution" His views are extreme but if his advice is taken in moderation it can be of great help. The number one best resource I have found is this place, TuDiabetes. It has helped me a lot and after two years I still come here almost daily.
Thanks stemwinder, I'm an all or nothing type of person, has sushi sans rice for dinner and just scored a 129 BS that's 472 on Tuesday to 129 on Saturday. Maybe the wife was right about the 3 klondike bars in the evening. I'm going cold turkey until my blood pressure, cholesterol and BS have stabilized then I'm going to work on a sensible diet moving forward. I'm a Brit I can't give up potatoes completely. I had a mid life crisis a few years ago on other substances and I consider this my midlife health crisis. It could be so much worse with other life threatening illness. Its a wake up call and I can be an idiot and shovel sugar down my throat or be smart and as a professional chef use my 30 plus years experience to figure out a diet that works for me. Exercise is of course as important and the gym visit awaits me tomorrow. I'm mad at this condition and feel too stubborn to let it rule my life.....i'll just adjust my life style so things can return to some sort of normality at some point in the future. Really appreciate all the advice and support.
I'm a Brit, although living in Australia, and I have given up potato. It can be done!
getting clued, well done on lowering your bg and making the effort to go to war against the D!
completely understand your need to go the all or nothing route. its hard to just have a Little of something! i am pretty much bread/pasta/rice free, except for the slice of low carb toast in the morning. i save the rice and bread for days when i do a long cycle.
i have high hopes in you with your profesional expertise to post some delish low carb dinner menus! good luck with everything!
Thanks for your kind words of encouragement. I've always been always been an almost anti-vegan type of caveman. I caught myself buying vegan yam replacement noodles yesterday with no carbs, no sugars and apparently no guilt too. I'm just wondering as I "punish" my family today with them for dinner if they have anything going for them at all? All or nothing until things are under control, when they are there I'm still going to have occasional treats like my birthday visit to Peter Lugers steak house.....if everything is under control!
Pastel painter, I've given up a lot in my life and live a clean sober life, potatoes though mate is going to be the tough one!