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yendiSo, 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,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
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.
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.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 06:47 pm (UTC)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.
Mixed bag indeed....
Date: 2011-05-16 06:48 pm (UTC)If you feel like rambling about this topic again, I'll read it all. I'm proud of/impressed with how quickly you've made positive changes.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 06:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 07:06 pm (UTC)I'm going to try going without tracking the eating for a while yet. I managed to maintain lost weight last summer/fall without doing so, having tracked for a long time during the previous year and getting the feel down. If I don't start dropping ~1 pound a week over the next month, I'll be back at that with you again, though. :)
Best of luck. We want you around for many years to come!!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 07:07 pm (UTC)Cool!
Date: 2011-05-16 07:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 07:12 pm (UTC)It wasn't that long ago that I'd eat two bacon egg and cheese biscuits there; that's nearly 900 calories before hashbrowns or anything.
(And thanks!)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 07:15 pm (UTC)Re: Mixed bag indeed....
Date: 2011-05-16 07:15 pm (UTC)And good luck with your fitness class or gym time.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 07:15 pm (UTC)At least you are not getting your diagnosis AT amputation (why yes, yes I have seen that in my immediate circle) or other significant secondary complication. Hypertension also tends to follow this like carts follow horses - vigilance on the lipid profile for certain.
You will also see work on low-protein diets assisting in keeping kidneys happy. I can vouch for this - take it seriously. Complex carbs are your friend - if you can learn to love it whole grain, do so at every opportunity. I love roasted beets and other root veggies, mmmmm.
Get the meter and use it. I mean it. Also make sure they are taking the A1c every 90 days to see how closely your control is - daily checks are good, but the A1c will tell the truth and will rat you out if something isn't in good tune.
I also totally approve of the coffee creamer, and the approach. You can have a bite of *anything* - otherwise, what's the point?
Good on you -
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 07:17 pm (UTC)Thanks for the well-wishes, and good luck with your own weight loss plan.
Re: Cool!
Date: 2011-05-16 07:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 07:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 07:25 pm (UTC)And I'm generally all about whole grains in general, but now I'vev got reasons to stop grabbing the simple carbs that were so convenient.
Re: Mixed bag indeed....
Date: 2011-05-16 07:36 pm (UTC)Re: Cool!
Date: 2011-05-16 07:37 pm (UTC)I empathize. Between my recurring problems with High Blood Pressure and the family history of stroke and diabetes it is still a fairly constant battle to watch my weight. If you ever want company or an ear to bend, let me know.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 07:43 pm (UTC)~*::Meow::*~
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 07:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 08:48 pm (UTC)You CAN control this, and you CAN keep the sequelae at bay for decades if you continue to take it seriously, and not pretend that you're perfectly normal.
Best wishes!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 08:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 08:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 08:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 09:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 09:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 09:18 pm (UTC)Much good luck!
I hope that it goes well for you.
I was just talking with my doctor recently about weight.
One of my work friends who was six years younger than I am keeled over from a massive coronary Friday.
And my secretary had her foot amputated (smoking + junk food + arterial graft rejection).
Also --
Hadn't seen "teal deer" for tl;dr before! >.<
Taught me something new! ^_^