So here we are...
I was diagnosed diabetic a month ago even though I'm sure I have been suffering from my lifestyle decisions for many years before it became official.
And I decided to write about my experience so far, with the major changes I've taken over the past calendar month as well as share my wins and losses.
Diabetes for me, has been the kick in the butt I really needed. It's made me change a lot of how I look at the food I'm eating plus the lack of activity I have had for years. Working behind a computer for 2 decades, did a number on me.
So a month ago, I decided to change...Everything!
Diet
.
This has been a major improvement for me. I never really ate sugar / sweets per se, but my problem was portion sizes and carbs. Lots and lots of carbs.
So for the past month, I've been drastically reducing my carb intake, and any of the carbs I do eat, are never the white refined flour type. Cereal also has been erased from my diet, as well as rice and potatoes.
It's been fish (tuna and cod) and turkey breasts. As for the veggies....Salads. Lots and lots of salads. Plenty of color, leafy greens as well as having minimal fruits.
Like I said, sugar was never really an issue for me, it was the carbs. So this has been a lot easier to adopt then you may think.
Oh yeah, almonds and avocados have been my life savers!
Exercise
.
This is where I've made the most drastic changes...
That's my pedometer app on my phone. I use that along with @ActiFit 's app to keep track of all the hiking and walking I've been doing.
I've even managed to throw in some light jogging as well into the mix :)
But as you can see....
I've only taken a day off 4 times in 30 days. Not too bad for a fat guy :)
Oh it helps when I can walk in nature and see this every time I step outside my door...
So while it took some effort to build up the habit, I now feel guilty and really weird if I don't get out of the house and do my daily hike or walk!
The Results
.
So I started this journey at the end of April:
- Weighing 318.6 lbs
- Blood sugar was crazy at over 14 mmol/L
- Feet hurt and were numb all the time
- Headaches, sweating constantly...And just miserable all over.
Here's where I am today:
Weight is 304 lbs. Lost 14.6 lbs.
Which I have to admit, I'm happy with but still think I could be doing better. I'm hoping to get sub-300 lbs within the next few weeks...So I plan on pushing myself just ever so slightly more.
Average glucose has been 6.5 mmol/L over the past 30 days
Which is right on target, but I have been trending much lower. I even had a low glucose warning this past week as it dipped to under 4 mmol/L. I'm meeting with my doctor tomorrow so go over the numbers and see if I;'m doing something wrong with the exercise and diet...And all the pills I've been taking :(
My average estimated A1C is also looking good at 6.1% which apparently, is really good for a diabetic.
And my feet no longer hurt at all, headaches are gone...So overall, I'm happy with the progress!
I've been learning lots and diving into a ton of diabetic books and resources. So even though I'm on the right path, I do think this journey is just beginning as it's a complete lifestyle change.
I'm up for it :)
Thanks so much for letting me share this on my blog with you guys. It really helps me keep track of my journey, and have a permanent record of the milestones I hope to keep crushing...
Next stop....Sub 300 lbs!
Good one with keeping track of your health and fitness activities. Health is wealth. Good healthy is better than riches, am sure you’ll get to your next 300lbs mark soon.
Good to hear you’re doing well and alive.
!LUV
Absolutely. And the older we get, the more we appreciate good health!
Yes you’re perfectly correct. The older we get the more we want to live more and keep fit
Your progress is awesome buddy, great job!! Communicate everything with the doctor even if you have diet and or exercise cheats, it will be important. You're a real good guy, and help a lot of people so hang in there :-)
Thanks man, working at it for sure. Hope it might kick someone else's butt in the process.
🙏 You motivate me buddy, hope to do the same for you 1 day 🙏
Huge achievements keep it up!
Feeling about 20 years younger yet?
ha ha ha ha not yet. I'll give it another few weeks lol
Looking like good progress. Nice work!
Thank you sir. Yeah it's a process, but so far I'm happy with the steps forward!
Great result Jon keep it up! 👍
I created a small summary of your activities using @actifit (see below) and I can see you are making good progress in the daily activity count plus you overall average is increasing as well.
You reached position #135 in my latest weekly Actifit stats report and I'm interested to see how high you will climb on this leaderboard. 💪
Good luck in achieving at least 5000 steps every day!
Oh man that is awesome!
Thank you for this!
And there's a leaderboard??? Oh boy, let me at it lol
Hi Jon, very important changes to get back on the "healthy" track. Getting rid of diabetes is possible and you can do it fairly quickly if you adhere to certain principles. Two doctors you should definitely look into as they have helped tons of patients with diabetes:
And those pills... hope you get rid of them fairly quickly too ;)
Appreciate that, I'll give them a look for sure.
Just finishing up Dr. Fung's Diabetes Code book. Scary but still fascinating stuff how we've basically built this disease ourselves.
Quite important difference!
But sorry to hear that buddy :/
Yup, good catch!
Well done! I think you're doing great. Cleaning up the diet and exercising more is the main part of the battle. Another one that's overlooked is getting in quality sleep. Hope you're able to get 7-8 hours in every night.
There was a study a couple of years back about how lack of sleep contributes to decreased insulin sensitivity.
That's one area I need to do better at. I do get sleep, but not a full 7-8 hours.
That's already great progress, congratulations! I like the side effects you're describing (no more headaches or hurting feet, less sweat,...), these are not necessarily the first things we think about, but they are great bonus to a lifestyle change. Keep it up!
Oh it's huge, but yeah just a bonus when I look at my overall health now.
Great progress for the first month. Just remember what you always tell us. Slow and steady wins the race.....
Yessir. That's the way I plan on doing this :)
Stay on track, doing the right thing and good results will come to you, @jongolson.
Thank you kindly :)
Working on it every day, and the results are coming!
You can be sure about that.
Great job Jon.
I am sure you will get to your goal
Thanks man, I hope so..I have no other choice lol
I disagree, you do have a choice. Your just making the right one for yourself.
Great job on your journey and good luck on sub 300 lbs next month. Maybe a goal for next month is to be 3 or less days off and try to get that to zero days off eventually.
So...Technically, I was active for every day except 1 or 2 this month. I just forgot to track in on my app LOL
@jongolson, you were given LUV from @marvinix! Info: https://peakd.com/@luvshares or check wallet: https://hive-engine.com https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmUptF5k64xBvsQ9B6MjZo1dc2JwvXTWjWJAnyMCtWZxqM
Congrats, man, on being able to do what you need to do to save yourself, I bet it takes a lot.
This whole working behind a computer for so long thing would really do a number on a lot of us, might turn out to be one of the leading causes of health problems in future. For me, though, I'm one of the lucky few, I am kind of addicted to exercise, if I stay a week without working out well I keep feeling uncomfortable all around me psychologically and physically till I work out. Ever heard of stuff like this?
This way I'm covered from a great lot.
PS: I've been working out since 2012😃
good luck on your further journey! hope you will stay accustomed to your new way of living!
Those are awesome results for your first month! Well done!
And best of all is the fact that it's not only that you can show changes in your diet and a good exercise routine. You clearly feel much better and also enjoy the benefits of losing weight!
Hi @jongolson, I thought I would introduce myself. I am @frittro. I used to be @TrisquelWhare on the legacy social blockchain back in 2018. I have recently helped to create the new
Hive Diabetes Peer Support (HDPS) Community here on 
HIVE. I see that you have posted a lot about #diabetes in recent months. In fact, of the last 100 posts to use that tag, your posts feature three times in the top 10, based on post payout. Congratulations!
We understand that you are busy with the
@ctptalk Witness node, with 
#ctp in general, #listnerds, your CryptoManiacs #podcast, and probably a hundred other projects and activities both on and off the blockchain. However, if you ever feel the need to shed some of those many hats for a while, and just chill, as a fellow 
diabetic amongst other diabetics, we would love to have you join with us. You are most welcome to just come along and hang out with us, or if you want to take on some responsibility within our fledgling new Community, you would be most welcome to apply, the same as any other member of our Community. It is our goal to be an open, democratic, and self-governing body eventually, with open elections for all roles within our Community after the first year of our inception. For the first year however, we will be taking volunteers for all roles, in a temporary and provisional capacity, as we find a need to fill those roles.
We have big hopes and dreams for this new Community, including a partnership with the
@actifit move-to-earn ( #m2e ) Tribe, with a view towards modifying their existing 
HIVE front-end interface, to include the facility to record data specific to the needs of 
diabetics, such as blood glucose level (BGL) numbers. We have already begun dialog with 
@actifit on this aspect.
We look forward to hearing from you, no matter what level of involvement you would aspire to within our new Community. If you would just like to become "one of us", without any ties or responsibilities, then we will welcome you with open arms. If you choose to devote a little of your already busy schedule to assisting the Community, then you will find us very grateful and enthusiastic.
Your post has been curated by @frittro of the
Hive Diabetes Peer Support (HDPS) Community. We are a new 
HIVE Community and curation account created recently, and officially launched on 1-Apr-2022, here on the social blockchain and on 
Discord. Our goal is to become a place to discuss your own or a loved one's experience of diabetes, for shared mutual peer support and encouragement.