yendi | I'll take crappy birthday gifts for $2000, Alex

So, last month, three days before my 39th birthday, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Yeah, not the best news I could have gotten. Not the worst, of course, but still not exactly happy-making.

Of course, it wasn't a complete shock. I'm obese, which is the single biggest risk factor for the disease. I actually walked a minimum 1.5 miles a day, but that was broken up over the course of multiple walks to buses, and that was it for exercise. And I've been known to gorge on all sorts of foods (there were times during college when I ate an entire Pizza Hut Medium Barbecue Lover's Pizza for lunch. Multiple times.). With the exception of about a year when I was 28 and a few months when I was seventeen, I've been obese ever since I was twelve, and overweight probably since I was about ten. Oh, and I hadn't had a physical since '07 (because I'm a fucking idiot, in case you were about to ask me "why?"). When you're livin' on the edge, sometimes you go over (also, as Steven Tyler informs us, there's meltdown in the sky). I also have naturally high cholesterol, which added to the risk, but isn't a behavioral factor.

It also wasn't a shock because, a few weeks earlier, at a health fair at work, I was told by the woman who tested me for cholesterol and blood sugar that I needed to call my doctor ASAP. Since that was a non-fasting test, it wasn't necessarily meaningful, but it seemed like the sort of warning sign I shouldn't ignore. And my initial reaction, of course, was the usual lot, a mix of depression/frustration with some self-loathing and anger tossed in. This wasn't helped by realizing all of the possible nasty outcomes (Blindness! Amputation! Dialysis! Giant rocks falling from the sky and crushing in my skull!*) Much as the blindness thing freaks me out, it's actually the fear of amputation that has me most scared, if only because of how insanely prone I am to foot injuries anyway.

There are two general approaches to treatment. One of them involves drugs, and I'm on some of them now. There are drugs to keep my blood sugar low (for those too lazy to Google, Type 2 isn't the one where I have to inject myself with insulin, but is the one where my body just doesn't absorb glucose well, to oversimplify things), and drugs for cholesterol (as it's both a risk factor and often a complication; it's like the Shimmer Floor Wax of diabetes), and my kidneys (because one diabetic complication is renal failure). Fun stuff.

The other treatment, of course, is diet and exercise. This is actually a two-pronged treatment. Avoiding excessive sugars and simple carbs, combined with cardio work, keeps my blood sugar low. Also, losing weight helps lower a number of the risk factors that keep my blood sugar high in the first place.

Three days after my diagnosis,

shadesong and I went out and had an awesome meal at Tempo. No way was I going to not celebrate my birthday. I suspect my weight and blood sugar were both at highs after that meal.

The day after my birthday, I went and joined a gym. I knew that if I didn't do it right away, I'd keep putting it off. And I knew that if I didn't actually pay for the gym -- tried to get away with just increased walking and the like -- I'd eventually slack off. I've been to the gym at least every other day since joining, and have also added a lot more walking to my everyday routines (walking from work into central Waltham to catch the bus home adds about 1.5 miles of walking, and I do it 3-4 times a week). My gym routine consists of some time on the treadmill (I'm up to ten minutes of actual jogging, plus another five-ten of walking at 3.5 mph), occasional rowing, and a circuit or two around the weight machines.

I also started using the Livestrong app on my iPad. One of the classic and proven suggestions for losing weight is to write down what you eat, and I know from personal experience that I've often gorged on a big dinner, only to remember later that mid-afternoon candy bar I'd eaten. The app is exactly what I need, without a lot of pointless extra crap. It records what I eat (and has an extensive database of foods), has a suggested calorie intake based on how much weight I want to lose, and records exercise, adding the calories I burn to my available pool of calories for the day. It does exactly what I need, without cluttering things up with useless interface widgets.

Of course, since it's not an app for diabetes, I also watch carbs in entrees, and specifically try to avoid anything with sugar as a focus. Other than that night at Tempo, I haven't had a sugar-laden dessert or other item in a month (although I do add a carefully measured tablespoon of Bailey's Irish Cream Coffee Creamer to my morning coffee, my one indulgence, and one that's usually burned on my morning gym visits or on the walk to and from the bus), and have learned to love Jello sugar-free pudding snacks, string cheese, and Orville Redenbacher SmartPop. I haven't really changed my meal habits too much (other than avoiding things that are too loaded with carbs at lunch), but I've drastically altered my snacking habits, giving up pastries, candy, and similar foods pretty much completely.

(Aside: my new favorite weekend lunch: Two Morningstar Vegan Grillers on a pair of toasted Thomas's Light Multigrain English Muffins, topped with some spicy mustard. There's no way 400 calories should be that filling, although the 24g of fiber probably helps.)

As of May 5, a month after my diagnosis (and the day of my physical), I'd lost twelve pounds.

So yeah, I'm pretty happy about that, at least. I've already grown jaded about most of the websites and info sources (I mean, seriously, Diabetic Living? Fast food milkshakes -- concoctions formed primarily of sugar and fat -- are bad for me? I had no idea.), but have read my share of good books, at least. And I know I'll never be one of the people who can view food as "just fuel," as a couple of books and articles suggest; I love eating too much, and will always be thinking about my next meal, my previous meal, and possibly even a few favorite meals from days long ago. But I can handle that; with some smart snacking.

I could keep rambling, but I suspect I passed the teal deer point ages ago. Consider this a post to keep you up to speed on the state of things, health-wise, and also advance notice if you're someone I hang around with as to why my eating habits might have changed.

*Not actually a risk, but one of the few things I'm not at increased risk for, it seems.

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From:

elizabear.livejournal.com

Congratulations, and I hope you have many healthy years ahead of you!

I wish my father would be as dedicated. He's insulin-dependent, has heart disease, kidney problems, anemia, and has been through 11 stents and a double bypass. On the road up here from Arizona, he and my mom are eating breakfast at McDonalds and lunch at Subway, and I know they're not eating off the heart-healthy menus.

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