The First 90 Days: So Far So Good

 It’s been ninety days since my diagnosis as a Type 2 diabetic.  My initial goal was to get my 7.1 A1C down into the normal range by changing my diet and exercise routine. I went in for my follow up appointment last week and I’m happy to say that ninety days in, I’m now at a 5.4 A1C!  My doctor says normal is under 5.7.  I want to take a moment and mention how I did it, as well as how I can keep it up.

I spent the past ninety days focusing on my diet.  I exercised very little and when I did, it wasn’t a a part of a regimen so I don’t contribute it to what got my A1C down during this period. This was all diet.

A Daily Decision

If you have ever studied the Bible, you are likely familiar with what it means to “Take up your cross daily” when it comes to your faith.  It’s been my experience that following a new diet is also something that you must decide to do each day.  When I could plan my meals, I planned to eat less that 3 grams of sugar and the lowest carb amount possible.  When I couldn’t plan, I kept protein bars handy or got creative with menu options at whatever restaurant I found myself patronizing.  

Falling Down

Of course there were times that I stumbled.  There was the visit to to Sonic when I was served a large limeade instead of a diet limeade. The lunch I went to when I didn’t have the guts to turn down dessert.  I can name more examples but I won’t.  When these things happen, you just drink water, take a walk and keep looking ahead.

Sugar and Society

One thing I have learned since I’ve tried to basically remove sugar from my diet is what sugar actually is in our modern society.  Sugar is cheap, readily available, improves the flavor in just about everything it’s added to and oh yeah, I believe it’s addictive.  

The reason I believe it’s addictive stems not only from how difficult it is for me to not eat it but also the response from people around me when I turn down food that has more sugar than I want to have.  I get responses like, “a little every now and then won’t hurt” or “you deserve a treat every now and then.”  Phrases like this are similar to what an alcoholic may say when rationalizing taking a drink after a period of being sober.  Like drinking or drugs, peer pressure is a factor when it comes to sugar as well, and food in general is better enjoyed among company.  

When someone prepares a meal, they like to get the positive responses that a tasty dish draws out of those who enjoy it.  We want the food we eat to taste good.  We want what we cook for others to taste good.  When it does taste good, we want to make sure people know about it.  Make no mistake, if sugar is addictive, it’s being pushed on you by the most influential people and things in your life 24/7/365.  This may not become apparent until you try not to eat it.

A Great Tool

One of the greatest ways I’ve found to counter this is by wearing a continuous glucose monitor or “CGM” for short.  A CGM is a small device (mine is about the size of a half dollar) that you wear somewhere on your body for about two weeks depending on which model you have. I use a Freestyle Libre and wear mine on the back of my arm.  As the name implies, this device allows the wearer to monitor their blood glucose all the time and mine allows me to do so by using an app on my smartphone.  

The number on the left is from a finger prick.  The one on the right is a CGM scan that I did at the same time.  The meter’s clock on the left hasn’t been adjusted since the last time change.  As you can see, the CGM can be off and not as accurate as a finger prick but for me it still is a good tool in spotting spikes and trends with my glucose.  The ninety day average provided by the CGM was within 10 points of what my A1C was too! Yes..Those are Batman pajamas.

How does this help with my diet?  Well, I started wearing a CGM on the day I was diagnosed, I’ve found that it keeps me accountable to myself. When I eat something, I know within a few minutes how it affects my blood glucose.  This keeps my blood glucose “front and center” and I don’t get complacent like many Type 2 diabetics can when not on any medications and controlling this by diet and lifestyle as I am.  Information is the key and ignorance is the enemy.  Many times when someone is told by their doctor to change their diet and exercise to treat a condition, actually changing this lifestyle never gets past the “good intentions” phase.  Sort of like, joining a gym and thinking you are “in shape” but never actually going to workout.  Yes, I’ve done that.

Another important factor so far has been what I call “community.” That is you.  The fact that I’m blogging/podcasting or blogcasting about this and hearing from you is huge in motivating me to find foods  that don’t spike my glucose.  Knowing that you are following me in this has been therapeutic to me during this period of crisis in my life. 

What’s Next

So now what?  What’s going to happen now that I’ve passed that initial ninety days and am headed in the right direction?  Well, I plan to continue the diet plan of course.  I’ll keep posting about it here too.  In addition, I’m going to add exercise and activity content as well.  I worked out one day last week and I already noticed a positive impact on my blood glucose after one workout! 

 Sure, diabetes stinks, but at least I always have a topic to write about.  Thanks again for following! Let others know what you think in the comments.