Rob, and I'm a diabetic.
Doc conveyed the bad news last week after my first blood work in years. It's been four days so far and I've moved quickly through the stages of grief. Never really had any denial, because I knew for most of my life my eating habits were not ideal and I knew I have a family history of the disease, but by denying myself any scientific evidence and still feeling fine, health-wise, it was easy to just live. Well, not anymore. Don't misunderstand -- I'm not suicidal -- but I am dwelling on one thought: All the dietary and lifestyle changes I need to make are LIFELONG. And I'm only 48. So if I'm blessed to live another four decades, I'll never again get to eat three slices of pizza for dinner or half a bag of Tostitos while watching football, or a big bowl of popcorn with butter and salt while watching a movie... I can go on and on. It's amazing how the mind, at least initially, obsesses over food, once you decide to make healthy choices. I'm hoping that thought subsides as my body chemistry recalculates and I get used to new eating routines, but it's been rough so far. I should add that the family -- particularly my beloved wife -- have been great. She's Googled all the good foods and made lists of healthy snacks and cleaned out our cupboards. Greta, too, has done her Internet research, informing me that if I have a pear or a clementine, for example, I should balance those natural sugars with a handful of cashews or almonds.
So what's next? Diet and exercise for three months and then more blood work. Hopefully my glucose levels lower and I become one of the tens of millions of people who manage their diabetes the rest of their lives. Until then, I'll keep blogging, but probably without So. Many. Dessert. Photos.
Good luck with the dietary transition! I'll think you'll do just fine. My advice would have been to not get old. It doesn't seem to get better or easier.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see where you can't drink beer, so that's good, right?
What was your glucose level? Mine hovers around 90-100.
Is this related to the vertigo you experienced?
Hey cousin -- mine was 234! 10.5 for A1C. "Uncontrolled diabetes," were the doc's words, which simply means I've spent the last decade eating whatever I want and not getting medically evaluated regularly. That said, it doesn't mean that a strict diet and increased exercise won't bring it down to manageable levels. As I wrote, the trick for me is understanding it as a lifelong change. I enjoyed 48 years of dietary freedom, so I just have to wrap my head around being a very healthy eater the rest of my days. So far so good -- I've rediscovered celery sticks with a smear of peanut butter and my favorite meal is steel oats and some crushed nuts and berries for breakfast! As for vertigo, no firm connection, though as you say, who knows with the human body!
ReplyDeleteOh, and beer ... the tasty ones are heavy on the carbs, which the body converts first to energy and then stores the excess sugar in your cells, so very rarely ... don't think I'll miss it too much except in certain situations ... 30th college reunion or 50th birthday, etc.
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