The First Day of the Rest of My Life with Diabetes

Today is the day, I can no longer pretend a pill will cure everything. For 8 years I've been popping pills and pretty much eating whatever I wanted. The end result is the pills no longer do the job, and I must loose weight or go on insulin.

The Hemoglobin A1C test determines your average glucose level over the past 3 months A diabetic with good blood sugar control should be able to score a 7 or less while one who is not well controlled will be over an 8. My last test a week ago showed I was at a 7.1, the lowest I've managed in years. That is down from a 7.8 six months ago, so I've made some progress courtesy of an increase in my medication.

Day One
3/21/2010

I decided to go with a 2,000 calorie diet, because I'm a large man and need to lose weight. Sadly I should have made this decision a few days ago before my last trip to the grocery store. Much of what I have on hand is hardly considered low fat, so it's going to take longer to wean the cupboards of unhealthy foods.

With a fresh stuffed chicken waiting in the refrigerator it will be a big but early supper and I will just have to control the portion size. Like it or not.

I was pretty successful and stayed within my allotted calories, but I did go slightly beyond my allotment on exchanges of starch, meat and fat.

Daily Statistics:
Weight: 240
Blood Pressure 148/90
Blood Sugar 115 at 6am

3/22/2010

Day 2, I will strive to do better and stay within my exchange allotments. Fruits and vegetables are my new friends. After another trip to the market I will be trying some new and fresh produce. Bokchoy, red cabbage, red leaf lettuce. All new to my cooking talents. I love tomatoes and Roma tomatoes are the only reasonably priced ones right now. The perfect one serving snack, just sprinkle a touch of salt on it and eat it like an apple.

It's been said that salting to taste is only 5% of the sodium in most foods. I'll follow that thought as tomatoes taste so much better with a light sprinkle of salt.

Today I only went over by 1 exchange on fat and 1.75 exchange on meat. An improvement, but not good enough. I did start my walking program so that will be added to the daily statistic numbers.

Daily Statistics
Blood Pressure 133/78
Blood Sugar 118
Walking 1/2 mile

3/23/2010

I'm already seeing progress. My morning blood sugar is dropping and by spreading out my eating into about 5 or 6 smaller amounts I'm sure it's more stable as well.

It surprises me how dramatically certain foods will affect your blood pressure. Last week like a fool, the night before my Doctor visit I ate a moderate sized New York strip steak. Not something I have had very often, but I didn't give it much thought.

My blood pressure the next morning was about 145/90, even after sitting still for 5 minutes. Now with just a little bit of exercise, and better choices in food, my blood pressure is quickly dropping like a stone.

I work a split shift driving early morning and afternoon. It's easier to designate a certain time of day as "Exercise Time". As soon as I return from my morning shift, I take my walk. The route I've chosen has both uphill and level portions and is easily expanded as I regain some energy.

I chose to start with a 1/2 mile for the first week and plan on doubling that next week. No point making myself miserable as the goal is to be motivated by feeling better. If I'm in pain I'm not likely to continue faithfully. Beyond Diabetes I also suffer from arthritis, and some lower back pain from past spinal fusion surgery. I'm also on medication for high blood pressure.

Today I will stay within my exchange allotments, that I promise. It's already almost lunch time, and I'm meeting my goal so far.

Statistics

Weight 239 (see, it's working)
Blood Sugar 105
Blood Pressure 126/74 (medication works when you don't over eat and get off your butt)
Walking 1/2 mile

Go to The Diabetic Food Addict and you'll find more useful articles.