My Diabetic Journey

Update of My Goals

Ok. Just so I won’t lose track of everything, I need to update you my readers about my health. First on diet - I pretty much followed the standard rule when it comes  to diabetes eating, which is the most evidence-based diet, (eat heavy breakfast and mildly heavy lunch, eat light  for dinner before 7). Occasionally I fall into non-compliance but I immediately correct that and so far,  I have reached my goal of losing 10 pounds to meet my BMI. Unfortunately I lost some additional 5 pounds and these  weren’t intentional as I think they occurred through a disruptive event in my life.It has been a month since a family member got sick and I will perhaps talk more about this in my coming blogs. What is coming up will be my labs and  since I have recently resumed (since December)  a strict ‘healthy sport’ lifestyle, I am expecting good numbers. Not the best numbers but more realistic numbers. But I certainly need an MD check up since my last (about 2 years ago?). Yes, the schooling and changes in my work status (full time to per diem) were also disruptive to my health.

Then the exercise. There was a time I exercised regularly (alternate low and high intensity days but mostly low). But unfortunately, the  disruption which I blogged about earlier,  took over my life and for a month, my exercise routine became erratic. Last month, I only  ran when time permitted and these runs were mainly for weight maintenance  and sugar control. Running races were once again delegated to  the back burner but  I am still fighting for a way to resume them.

Now I have this absolute need to return back to  routine. I guess my body is screaming to return to healthy lifestyle. For me to accomplish that,  I need  my regular sleep (by avoiding  useless internet surfing or watching DVD  movies or worrying. AND  close my eyes in a darkened room earlier in the night). The most immediate goal right now is to complete my sleep every night. Then get back to regular running. Since the days are longer in pm this time of year  in Florida, I am changing  my exercise schedule from mornings to evenings. When de-stressing, these two things go hand in hand for me: To run I must have a good sleep, To sleep good, I need to run (exercise). This works regardless of time of day.

Then supplementation is necessary. I am getting my multivitamins, of course. So here is the rule for me:

1. Exercise daily

2. Sleep good

3. Eat properly (heavy morning then taper at end of day- carbs less than 100 g) + Supplementation

4. Monitor, monitor glucose, BP, HR

5. See MD for labs follow ups regularly

These are pretty basic rules I follow.  So far, my fasting Blood Glucose has dropped to 130s without meds. Obviously there are pitfalls. Nobody’s perfect but as I always say to my patients - so long as the boat floats and doesn’t sink, keep sailing.

I have greater motivation to control my health  than many people because my work exposes me daily to the side effects of unhealthy living. Stroke is number 1. And 90 percent of my stroke patients have diabetes. Yesterday I talked with a patient who fainted while driving because of  super high blood glucose. He was a young man told by his MD that he was pre-diabetic. So he didn’t think much about it and wham! He ended with 580 sugar reading and went into hyper glycemia crisis WHILE DRIVING. Sugar monitoring regardless of what your Medical or health caregiver tells you is important if you are diabetic. And don’t get complacent with the term pre diabetic. You are either diabetic or not and once you are diagnosed with it, you must change your lifestyle instantly. In fact, even if you are not diabetic, changing your lifestyle towards good health won’t hurt. I had a patient with no sugar problems but ballooned into more than 600 pounds and ended with congestive heart failure followed by respiratory failure and it took him months before he became strong enough to go to Rehab. The culprit? He had an office job that virtually rendered him immobile and he made sure he ate the biggest portion of meal he could take. Now he is full of remorse and surprisingly is very serious about his lifestyle. He is currently less than 500 pounds.

Yes, I do sound like an ‘health alarmist’ in this blog. Some readers might call me paranoid and hypochondriac and anti-obesity etcetera. But hear me out folks: This is my world everyday. Everyday I see nothing but health abnormalities in all the spectra of humanity. I guess you can  click off my website if you  don’t want to read  the gloomy world I write about. I try to be positive as much as I can but there are times I will talk about the  sadness of being sick. Because it is the truth. It is the painful reality we must all face one way or another.