And on the 8th day, God gave us deadlifts.

Well, I've delayed posting about it here long enough, no wasted time, here ya go.

Last week I got my test results back from my 90 day A1C. 6.3. Technically, I'm no longer diabetic. I did it two ways. By eating right, Basically Atkins. It works for me, if you can stick with it, it'll work for you.

And secondly, by doing this:

Deadlift Video









Now, I'm not going to tell you that you have to lift like I do. You don't. What you need to do though is to work to make your muscles more active, and increasing the size of them is one way to do that. Freshly worked muscles crave nutrients and it's a great way to get rid of some blood glucose.



285lbs today, I took a few days off the diet to reset. 



Eat steak, lift, lose weight, be happy.

90 day check up.

I won't have the official lab results for a few days, but my doc did a double take today when he walked in and instead of his normal friendly greeting, I was met with a "wow".

Official weight, 287. Right at about 25lbs lost this year, so far. 78 pounds from my highest ever. I'm still having constant sugars in the 120 range, with nothing higher than 130.  Atkins is great for sugar stabilization. I'll have my A1C next week.
Resting pulse when I started, 100.
Resting pulse today. 69

Med free BP when I started, (I'm prescribed Lisinopril, but it makes me sick) 164/112
Med free BP today. 142/84.

Resting resp rate when I started, 20.
Resting resp rate now, 13.


So far all I've done is lift and eat right. I've had a lot of body composition changes, but not the loss I'd expect. Despite averaging over a pound a week, I want more. And I'll get it. Easily. I'm going to incorporate HIIT with a weighted sled into a workout day every week if I can.

HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training. It can be done merely by sprinting, with a sledge hammer and a tire, a sled, etc. Basically, you give an all out max effort for 30-40 seconds, then rest for 10-20, and do it again. Repeat until you feel like throwing up. If outside, repeat until you throw up.

You didn't get diabetic and fat without working to shovel in some food, work to burn it out.

How bad do you want it?

Busier than I care to be. But finally, an update.

The good, the bad, the ugly.

The good, sugars are running perfect according to the meter. I go back to the doc for new labs Monday.
My previous belief that I'd broken my plateau was apparently wrong.  I have broken it now though. obviously a good thing. Down to 290. 
My wife has joined me in low carbing and she's starting to lose as well. I can't say enough how proud I am of her.
I may have already touched on this, but in the final work week of 5/3/1 for the first cycle, I hit new PRs in bench, dead lift, and squat. 155, 455, and 355 respectively.  The 455 deadlift was the last lift I did and it hurt. I went too big, too soon. I locked it out, but I felt it for a week. I'll slow down a bit on that front. I took most of the deload week off.

Yesterday I started cycle 2. Got way deeper into ketosis, and today I feel better than I have in a damned long time. Life is good.
I matched my bench PR of 155 and it was much easier than last time.  I tried and failed at 175. You win some, you lose some, but you lift some more, you get your weight, and you move on.

The bad. Hurting my shoulder and back. The shoulder is an old injury, and it was just aggravated, but badly. Thanks to rest, aleve, and massage, it's back to it's normal, regular, dull ache. My back was something else all together and may have been a kidney stone. I had all the right symptoms, and day before yesterday, all the pain just disappeared like someone flipped a switch. Odd, but I know how to take yes for an answer!

The ugly. That damn plateau.
A month at 295lbs. Give or take a pound or two each way. It sucked. How did I break it? Well, who knows, but this is what I did and it broke.
At the end of the week off, I hit the gym for limited reps and weight of all 4 lifts that I do. Very limited. Nothing over 60% of my actual 1 rep max for any work out. Really closer to 50 on everything. That night, I took my wife out to dinner at Applebees, which is of course, absolute junk for anyone trying to eat clean. I didn't go nuts, but I for sure had too many carbs.
The next morning I started an extreme diet consisting of Chicken breast, water, green leaf lettuce, onions, Romano cheese, and Caesar dressing.  (1gram carb per tblspn).  I ate them as lettuce wraps, and it's literally the only thing I ate for 4 days. And damn it's good. After 4 days I added some eggs, a few almonds now and then, some small pieces of cheese, etc.

Basically, I reset my metabolism. And according to the little stick, I'm deeper into Ketosis than I have been in a long damn time.  Now, according to some people ketosis is ketosis and levels be damned. Maybe it's true. I don't know. What I do know is that if I'm deep into it and I have a little too much creamer in my coffee, I don't go out of ketosis. If I'm barely in, I do.

Staying in keto, good.
Not being in keto, bad.


More numbers. Tight schedule this week, so I did squats and benches yesterday.
Squat,
warm up
BARx10
95x5
135x5
185x5
Work sets
205x5
235x5
275x5

Yeah, you're supposed to do more than 5. But, I just wasn't feeling right. I was wobbly and didn't feel stable. One thing I've been taught and try to listen to, if your body says no, accept it. So I did the required work and walked away. Today my shoulder and back feel good, so I figure it was a good choice.

Bench
warm up
BARx5x2
65x5
75x5
Work
95x5
105x5
115x8
Joker
135x1
155x1
And the miss at 175.

I felt good at the 155 and REALLY thought I had the 175 in me. But I didn't. My mind wasn't right, and frankly, I'm just not strong enough. I brought it down smooth enough, but 3 inches into the lift, I pushed it right into a brick wall. I'll try again in the next cycle. On the 5/3/1 week of this cycle, if I'm feeling it, I'll go for 165. One step at a time, right?


I've been neglecting accessory work, and that will change soon. I don't know why, but I have a mental thing about a 175 bench. I'll feel like much less of a wuss once I hit it. 

Sorry for the delay, but at some point the benefit of getting healthy has to be living life. That's what I'm doing. And thanks to getting into better health, life is better.

End of week 2 on 5/3/1

Life ain't bad, as predicted, I did well at the end of week 4 on deads.  240x5, 285x5, and 315x10, 5 over the required work set.

This week, I've squatted, pressed, and benched. In week 2, the weights step up and the reps drop. Instead of 5, you do 3 reps, again with as many as possible on the 3rd. OHP,  was 65x3, 75x3, 85x8.

I squatted the day before and did 205x3, 225x3, and 255x5. 

Benching this morning, I did 75x3, 85x3, and 95x20.  Those are the required work sets, but I had more in me, and I'm not a fan at all of leaving anything in the tank. so I did 115x3 and 135x2. 

This of course, means that I REALLY underestimated my bench press, or I've grown it really fast. I'm going with option A.

All these workouts are done AFTER a warm up, and stretching, especially with the deadlift and squat. I want to stress this because you can seriously screw yourself up for life if you don't do it right.  Proper form and checking your ego at the door are mandatory. Here's the deal. Today I walked into a gym with a bunch of muscled up guys that warm up with bigger weights than I max out at. And I promptly took all the weights off the bar and pressed it ten times, very slowly. Then I added ten pounds and did it again. Everyone can see, and it doesn't matter. I'm a big dude, I look like I should be able to do more. It doesn't matter, my ego was out in the parking lot. No worries though, I found it when I left.

Sugars, damned good. 10X more often than not. A few 90s, pretty much nothing over 130, and that's with me testing after I eat, not hours later, just a bit after. I must be doing something right.

Thoughts on 5/3/1 at the end of week one, and it's inventor, Jim Wendler

I'll dead lift in the morning, but that's by far my best lift of the 4, so I'm pretty comfortable giving my impressions.

Obviously, I can't talk about the effectiveness of the strength building aspects of it. What I can talk about is the mental effect.

The concept behind 5/3/1 is a progression of weight and reps to build strength. It's not a body building program, it's not designed to give you huge arms to land chicks, or anything like that.  The program has one goal in mind. To make you stronger. Simple enough.

Without going into too much detail, each week has a certain percentage of your maxes that you're supposed to lift, for a certain amount of reps, except the last set, you go balls out.

 On the military press, I hit the assigned 5 plus 7 more on the last set.(80)
On squats, I hit the assigned 5, plus 5 more on the last set.(245)
On bench, the same. But I screwed up on the bench. Basically, my brain totally malfunctioned, and instead of lifting 65x5, 75x5, and 85x5, I lifted 65x5, 95x5, and 115x10.

Now here's where I really enjoy the mental effect.  It's damned confidence inspiring to be able to exceed goals set by a guy that's squatted 1,000 lbs in competition.  Jim Wendler is a no BS kind of guy. If he wants to say something, he says it. His books reflect this. His specific method has been out for awhile and it's obvious that it works.  Call me a believer.  And with damned good reason.

I plan on sticking to his program pretty strictly, and that being my work outs. It's more than just the 4 lifts, he does suggest conditioning training as well as accessory lifts, and I'll be doing those as well.

I don't want to turn this into a place to pimp a plan, but there are a lot worse ways to spend ten bucks.

Now, why am I sticking to it? Simple.  Deciding to get in shape without a plan is called crossfit, and crossfit sucks. It's a damn good way to get hurt, and it has a lot of wasted effort that doesn't benefit you.  The reason crossfit doesn't have slow, deliberate (strict) movements is because they're harder (and safer).  It's an ego boost to claim you can do ten pull ups, but they're not pull ups, they're swinging like a damn monkey and I personally know people that claim that they can do 15+ pull ups that can't do a single deadhang pull up.  Is it better than nothing, probably. But so is a Jane Fonda vhs tape.

More numbers:
Any attempt to take meds when my sugar breaks 150 results in bad hypoglycemia. So I guess I'm no longer med free by choice. I'm med free because I have to be, the lowest dose is now dangerous.   This is between a combination of eating pretty clean, without too many carbs, most of those coming from lifting supplements. My numbers are still averaging in the low 100s, usually right around 110.  Morning sugars are a tad higher, and they stay up until I eat.

Weight loss is still halted, but no gains. I'm not staying in ketosis, pretty much due to coffee creamer and protein shakes. I've stopped with the protein shakes, and I'm about to work my way off the coffee. Mostly because black coffee is nasty.  And I need to dump the creamer and artificial sweeteners.

 I'm where I want to be numbers wise, except weight.  Part of my body's reluctance to drop fat is possibly the way I'm lifting. I still get comments from people talking about my weight loss, including my wife who sees me 4 to 5 days a week.  If I'm still visibly shrinking in her perspective, then maybe I am. She knows better than me for sure. I see me every day, her gaps in seeing me due to my work give her a stronger perspective.

So life is still good, I'm still apparently progressing.  That's the name of the game.

It's been a bit, I haven't had much to say. But here's a lot.

2 big things.

About a week and a half ago, I took a home kit A1C test. They're made by Bayer, and are fairly good, they tend to run a bit high in my experience. 

The numbers, 90 days. A1C is supposed to be a 90 day average of your Blood Glucose. 7.0 is target for diabetics, 4.0 to 5.6 is non diabetic. 5.6 to 6 is diabetic.

On 1/15 my A1C was 12.8.  Obviously way too damned high. At the 6 week mark, half way to hitting the 90 days, it was 8.7. A drop of just over 4 points. Theoretically, continuing that pace, I'd be non diabetic at around 4.6.   Realistically, I'm probably headed towards a 6, as towards the end of the 90 days the drop will slow.  So, that's a win.

Also, I go through test strips like it's going out of style. I should log it better, but I can still put together trends and gain knowledge.  I've been med free for a bit, I don't think I have much choice in it anymore. If I take meds, I get hypoglycemic. Bad juju in both my lines of work.

Morning sugars are still higher than what the 'book' says the should be, 70 - 94 iirc.  I'm usually in the 110 range.   What else is happening is that even when I eat or drink something that spikes my sugar, like too much coffee creamer, 2 hours later, I'm back to normal, 120 to 140.  I'm still eating very low carb. As I type this, I'm eating a ceasar salad, veal with no breading and a mushroom and onion saute over julienne cut Zucchini.  I don't even like Zucchini, but a little olive oil and salt and it's good to go, a tad tart, but good.   Not zero carb by any means, but certainly pretty low.


Lifting wise, I've started the Wendler 5/3/1 program.  It's explained at the link, but basically, it's a program around tried and true principles of gaining strength.  Not necessarily getting big and ripped, but getting stronger. I think everyone can agree that getting stronger is a good thing. Honestly, if you're reading this, and you don't want to improve yourself, I don't know what the hell to think. That's what this entire blog is about. I'm not saying that you need to get in a gym and lift heavy. But I am saying that if you don't get off your ass and fix yourself, stop wasting your time reading this.

Now, for a little inspiration in case you're worried about weakness in the gym.  One, you don't need to be.  Even guys like Arnold had a time in their lives when they couldn't bench press the bar.  And I guarantee you that guys like Arnold and Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler wouldn't make fun of you for not being able to lift something. They may make fun of you for NOT TRYING, but they, like the vast majority of people in a gym either A, don't give a damn about you, or B, will be encouraging.  I have a fair amount of background in dead lifting, so I'm not new to it, and do well enough that I occasionally get people asking me for advice.  I'm now repping over 400lbs, which is by no means phenomenal, but it's way more than most people will ever think about doing.  I had to lift 20 first. Then I had to lift 30.

I'm squatting over my body weight. Between these two things, one would think I'm pretty strong.  Wrong.

I HURT bench pressing 115 lbs. The bar wobbles and sways and I'm damn near pissing myself trying to do it. Someone that squats over 300lbs should be benching at least 240.  My military press is even worse.   It's so bad that doing the 5/3/1 program, there are a few sets where the bare bar is heavier than I'm supposed to lift for that set.   Honestly, it's humiliating.  It makes me feel like a little weak girl. But, I go do it. I lift it, and I hurt. And here and there I hurt a little less. And then I add another rep.

Never once has anyone in my gym said ANYTHING negative to me about my two highly deficient lifts. Why? Because I'm in there busting my ass to improve myself. In the gym or out, I bust my ass to improve myself, every single day. Anything less is just plain communism!

conflicting goals that don't.

I'm writing this on my phone,  so forgive any typos.
Also, I've slacked writing,  sorry.

I'm coming off a plateau,  weight wise.  Psychologically,  plateaus suck. You step on the scale and you've gained a pound or two,  or just not lost.  It can make you want to quit,  but if you've done right,  plateaus aren't bad things.  Here's why:

I experienced more of a body composition change during the past two weeks than and period of pure weight loss I've ever had. So while  my weight has gone up and back down  5 pounds, I've lost fat and added some muscle.  My pants are falling off,  shirts are hanging a bit more freely.  And I have a little more loose skin in the belly. I'm 33, it's not going to tighten up instantly.  But it will.

Now,  the conflicting goals.

My primary goal here is physical activity in order to burn more glucose out. This,  seemingly,  requires very regular physical activity.

I'm also trying to cut fat and build muscle.  I'm not trying to be Arnold,  but I'm working on a 1200 lb three lift combo by the end of the year.  That's a damned lofty goal, and one made more difficult by not having insulin spikes due to my diet.  Insulin has good anabolic properties.

Now,  why do these goals conflict?  Because to lift big,  you need recovery.  Recovery is rest.  Rest is the lack of activity.

Here's how they don't:  On Friday,  I did deadlifts. Previously, I'd failed at 405. Friday,  I pulled 415 lbs. Good growth,  and I did it after a week of recovery from that lift.

Last night,  I squatted. I upped my high weight set to 245lbs. I repped it 5 times and had more in me,  but my shoulder was too tight,  so I finished out with weighted calf raises,  leg presses, etc. Again,  about a week of rest between sessions.

 Today,  I did a mix of chest,  back,  and arms.  No huge progress,  but I'm upping my reps on the previous weight,  so it's still progress.

I could divide today up into three days easily.  That gives me 5 different gym days a week.   Which makes the 2 goals not conflict.  That's a win.

An aside on my goals for lifting.  My rough,  and damned ambitious goals are simple.

Bench max,  1 rep max: body weight.
Squat 1rm: 2x body weight.
Dead 1rm: 2.5x body weight.

At a goal weight,  of 240lbs, that's a bench of 240, a squat of 480 and a dead lift of 600

That would be 1320 lbs,  and I'll need it as weak as my bench is lol.

Right now,  I'm benching 115, squatting 245, and deadlifting 415, for a total  775. Can I add over 400lbs to my lifts in ten months,  while cutting 50 lbs of body weight?   Watch me.

Rowing sucks. And I love it.

I'd love to just be able to lift, eat right, and make my muscles get huge. Not gonna happen right now.

While muscles are essential for insulin response, fat is a hindrance.  Ain't nobody got time fo dat.

So I've spent about a week at a plateau. I'm sitting within a 2-3 pound window and not losing. Bad juju. I am however, upping my insulin response to basically normal levels. After lunch sunday, I ate a couple of protein bars. I forgot I ate them and took my glucose and got a 305.  Obviously bad. But as a diabetic, I know, and you should if you are, that you shouldn't take your glucose until two hours after a meal, and that your target is 140 or lower.

I was maybe 15 minutes out on eating them. I admit, I panicked a bit, but I was at work and didn't have meds, or anything else with me. I was just going to have to ride it out. 15 minutes later, I took it again and got a 102. So I took it again and got a 98. 

I expected a hypoglycemic event shortly there after and began looking for a place to get a muscle milk or V8. Both are fairly low carb, but they do have carbs and some other good things.

It didn't happen. On it's own, with no meds, my body reacted to high glucose and it fixed it. Good body, you get a treat.... 

So that's progress.




Later that night at the gym, I did arms. Damn I'm pathetic, but we knew this.
Bench press,
OHP on a Smith machine.  50x10x2, 70x6x2
Barbell press. 30x10x3
Bar x10, 95x10, 95x6. 
Tricep rope push down  50x10, 70x10, 50x10
I dicked around on the deltoid machine thing for a bit, then went looking for something else to do. I can only do so much with that shoulder as it's still healing (i hope).  My gym has a kind of playroom type deal, with every thing from medicine balls to kettle bells to platforms for jumping, bars for power lifting and a rack set up that can be used for anything from dips, to monkey bars, to a squat rack, etc. I usually just do squats and deadlifts in there, and sometimes a kettlebell workout. But they have two rowing machines. Screw it, why not. I've heard it's a kick ass workout. So I get to pulling.

HO LEE SHIT.
It was a wonderful hell. I 'rowed' 1800 meters according to the machine. I had muscles on fire that I barely knew I had. The Tibalus Anterior muscle sits on your shin on the upper half.   The majority of the world will never know they have them because they're pretty hard to develop. Two things, driving a truck means I left the front of my feet a lot, which helps, annnnnnnd I'm fat. So I have pretty muscled up legs. Consider the weight they carry. Most importantly, It completely smoked me. Which is a good thing. I needed that. My sugar levels need that.

My sugar readings, with that one exception are in the 100 to 120 range.  I have dipped to the mid 70s twice, and I don't know why, but for a 'normal' reading, I start feeling like hell. I'm no fan of that at all. I get shaky and weak.  And frankly, it's a bit scary.  But both times it was when I took meds

I guess I'm to the point of not needing them as long as I eat right.

Tomorrow, as long as my shoulder is healed, Squats and deadlifts. And some rowing.  I'll go for 2000 meters this time.

Oh, and I skipped the gym today. But I spent 4 hours on various emergency scenes. No fun at all. But a damn good way to burn some energy.

Deadlift socks!

To quote Hank, the best deadlift socks are made, not worn. 

I've been out of the gym all week, and apparently, the rest I got was a tribute to....rest.

We've established that I have no pecs. And again, I was unable to get a bench. I did get a smith machine for a bit. Kill me now.

OHP, 10x70, 10x90
I got a flat bench for a bit as well, 2x10x30 dumbbell press.
Squats.  5xbar, 5x135, 5x225, 3x275.     Beating my previous squat by not only 30lbs, but doing 3 reps instead of one.
Deadlifts. 5x135, 5x225, 5x315, 5x365

On deads, I had more in me, but my shoulder didn't. I'm not going to push it too hard. And I had people looking at me funny for bleeding in the gym.   And I still need to build up the callouses on my hands. I ripped 5 off tonight. Weight will do that y0.

Sugars, I added some Whey Protein before and after my workouts.  My glucose is misbehaving a bit. It only lists 3 carbs a serving, but one serving has now twice brought my sugar up 80 points.   Once pre workout, once post. So something in it is triggering a response.  Guess I'll be changing brands.  But before I do, I'll make sure I eliminate in other causes, and if that's it, I'll post the brand. 

Other than that, things are going well. I basically ate the same thing every day for the last 5 days and that shit got boring. I'll continue to look for more recipes to expand that. Boring is bad.

I hope each of y'all are doing well, and that some of you are able to do better thanks to this info.

Keep up the work, keep spreading the word. I have several hundred views, and I have my doubts as to whether or not that's directly from posting here. I do appreciate it.

Dusty

Numbers, and a trip up

Apparently, baked chicken and slaw from KFC  is pretty damn sugar filled. I should have checked. Mistake#1
Mistake #2 came when I didn't trust my body to take care of the glucose reading of 180. My normal dose of glyburide and metformin and 2 hours later I got the shakes, glucose was a bit low. Mistake #3. I didn't have any jolly ranchers or starburst to take care of such things. So I grabbed some taco bell as it was right there.

Ho Lee Shit. After awhile of eating mostly really clean, lemme tell ya. That shit was nasty and I paid for it today.  My glucose is normal now, hovering around 100.

Nobody is perfect,  I screwed up.

Now, some numbers of another kind. Measurements.

In 3 weeks, I've lost an inch off each upper arm, a quarter inch off each forearm, 3/4ths off my right thigh, an inch off my left. A quarter down on my right calf and a half off my left, and an inch off my waist.

I'm away from my scale, so I'll step on it tomorrow if I get home tonight.

The downside of a job.

Sunday and Yesterday I was able to skip the gym since I knocked out hours of wood work each day. Today,  Tomorrow and probably Friday  I'll be stuck at work, so no gym.  So tonight, kettle bell time.

Yeah,  I can hear people bitching. But again,  while I would love to go to the gym and crank out some pathetic little bench presses, It's not possible.  What I can do,  is throw that little ball of hate for a few minutes.  It doesn't take much at all.  Especially since I still weigh over 290.

The point is simply to get some strenuous physical activity in.  Wake your body up and burn some sugar.  Do it.

Numbers,  I woke up to a 122.  91 and 84x2 since with a couple of metformin and 40oz of coffee, 1 piece of low carb pizza,  and 6oz of chicken breast.  Another benefit of low carb,  it's an appetite killer. The 70oz of water so far today helps too.

watuh

You're dehydrated.  Stop that shit.

At one time,  it was suggested that each of us drink 6 cups of water a day. 64 ounces. Drink that by the end of breakfast.

Water is the most important thing you put in your mouth.

Being properly hydrated means you can effectively carry toxins out of your body.  Including ketones and other byproducts of metabolism.  That's a good thing.  It means properly lubricated joints,  useful for making working out easier and decreasing the chance of injury.

In the summer it helps ward off heat related illnesses.  Heat stroke sucks.

I could list reasons all night long  but no need.  You know many of them.  But with diabetes it's much more important.  If you go on a strict low carbohydrate diet like me,  your body won't hold water very well.  One of the only downsides. No cake and ice cream being the other.

If you have yellow urine,  you're dehydrated.  Drink.  Caffeine can have a diuretic effect,  so after you drink coffee,  take in some water.

You'll feel better and have more endurance as well.

Now, the numbers.

No meds today.  2 hours of splitting and stacking firewood.
3 glucose tests, morning was 94, then a pair of 101s a few hours apart later on.
Breakfast was 8oz sirloin, 1 egg fried in olive oil, 4oz of mushrooms and 2 tablespoons of Hollandaise sauce.
Late lunch/early dinner, 1 piece of pizza from last night's recipe,  and 3 gas station chicken strips. 1 hour later,  glucose is 141. Damn breading. But that's not exactly terrible.

Life ain't bad.

Lets talk about excuses. And why they're bullshit.

I constantly hear excuses about why dieting is hard. About why someone can't/won't work out. About all kinds of shit.

Shut up. Just shut the hell up. The number one thing you have to do to overcome any issue, is the knowledge that you can overcome it. Do not think, do not wonder, do not question, KNOW that you can. 

You can't work out today because you hurt your arm? Ok, do squats. Do some cardio.  Hurt your ankle? I bet you can do some knee push ups.  You can probably lay flat on your back and do leg raises.

Ronnie Coleman, 8 time Mr Olympia, put it simply. "Everybody wants to be a body builder, don't nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weight".    Let's break it down. The goal. The path. You don't get the goal with taking the path. Run the path, walk the path, crawl the path. In the end, the only thing blocking that path is YOU.

You want to eat a piece of cake, you want to drink a coke, both require you to lift that fork or that cup to your mouth. You can just as easily walk to the trash can or sink and throw that shit away. And yes, I know what it feels like. I know it can be painful to say no. But, you have to overcome it.  

Let me give you a new way of looking at it, and this is what did it for me.  You should know before hand, that I'm a student of Ayn Rand, and view money very differently than most people. Google "D'Anconia money speech" to understand.  Anyway, money is a commodity we use to exchange one value for another.  When money voluntarily leaves your hand, you're buying something. It may be the good feeling you have from giving money to the needy, but you're buying something.  Loosening up our definition of money for a minute, look at it this way:  Every minute of time you put in a gym, every bad food you put down, every good food you pick up, is a business exchange. You're buying something with those actions.

What you're buying is one thing that nobody else can give you.  Time. Time with your children, time with your grandchildren, time with your spouse. Time watching birds. Time hunting. Time for whatever you want to do.  It doesn't matter what you decided to do with that time. It's yours.

Conversely, every day you spend continuing to be an uncontrolled or poorly controlled diabetic, every day you spend being a fat ass, you're buying time from yourself. You are taking time away from your life, you're taking time from your kids, your grand kids, your wife or husband, your friends.

Is sitting on your ass eating pizza watching Jerry Springer really worth it? No. It's not. If you think it is, I can't help you. Do those around you a favor and pre pay for your funeral.   And if you're diabetic, go ahead and set aside a bank account to fund the issues from your blindness and your wheelchair that you're going to need when they amputate a foot.  Don't worry about saving for a prosthetic, you won't need it. They require work and dedication to learn to use. If you eat yourself into that point, you don't stand a chance.  You'll stink, You'll be using a bed pan. You'll be stuck watching tv all damn day.  Bottom line, your quality of life will be absolute shit.

Stop the bullshit. Stop telling yourself lies. Stop making excuses!  You know why the idea of hiking the grand canyon scares you? Because it's work. You know why you're scared to go enjoy the beach? Because you're fat. Guess what, if you get in shape, you won't have those worries any more.   The knowledge in this blog and in so many other sources is intended to lay a path out. It's not the only path, but it's a path. It's taking me to where I want to go. It can take you to where you want to go.

Keep in mind, I'm only about 4 weeks out of a an A1C of 12.8. Which is damn near as suicidal as cutting my own throat. Today, a mere 4 weeks later, I'm med free. My morning sugars are averaging about 100, and have been as low as the high 70s. My resting heart rate is down over 20 points. My blood pressure is down. I feel amazing. I feel like an absolutely new person.  I've even changed my contact/glasses prescription.  Could I stop now? No. Why? Because I'd end up like I was before, and that person was a fat lazy slob.

I like the person I was scared to be. I'm a guy that goes inside burning buildings whenever the opportunity arises. Yet I was scared to make these changes. I made excuses. I'm telling you, it takes very little time to notice a change and to start enjoying it.  I'm still a big dude, but not as big. People in the supermarket didn't see me 30 lbs ago. They didn't see me last week at 3 lbs heavier. They won't see me next week at 2 lbs lighter. They don't matter. I see me. I matter.

Let's talk food, after some numbers

I split and stacked firewood this morning, so no gym time.
Last night, I hit it though.
Dead lifts:
5x135, 5x225, 5x315, Failed twice at 405, 1x365
Squats:
5xbar, 5x135, 5x225, 1x245

I couldn't get a bench or OH rack in the time I had, so I squeezed some dumbbell presses. We've established that I have moobs, not pecs, so I did what I could. 10x25, 10x30, 10x35.  I had more left, I just didn't have time, so I'll increase each of those weights 5lbs from now on. My first real growth. That's a good thing.

Yesterday's morning sugar was 78.
I forgot to get a morning sugar today, but morning weight was 291.8.  I'm guessing that it's a low point in the up and down cycle that forms the downward trend. Still, it's puts the 280s within reach, and psychologically, that's huge.

Now, food. I'm all about increasing a knowledge base, so I asked on a forum I'm on what keto dieters are eating. I got some great responses.

Here are my staples:
Thin breakfast steaks.
Chicken breasts, seasoned different ways.
Celery with cream cheese. Sometimes the cream cheese will be mixed up with dried onion soup mix and left to sit for a few hours.
Lettuce wraps. Surprisingly versatile. Chicken, lettuce, onions and/or shallots with some ceaser dressing and Romano is excellent. You can also do traditional taco filling for a burrito type deal.
Salsa with romas, an avocado, some garlic and lots of cilantro. Supposedly cilantro is a hell of a toxin cleanser. You can add in some parsley as well, as it's supposed to pull even more toxins out and doesn't have an overwhelming taste.
Mushrooms, lots of mushrooms. Sauteed in some real butter with salt, heaven.
Sausage cut up and sauteed with sauerkraut and onions.
Eggs obviously, we have our own laying hens. I usually eat two a day.
And Kroger carbmaster "yogurt", though I'm working them and other artificially sweetened stuff out of my diet.
Pickles, Olives, Pickled okra.
Broccoli with ranch.

Tonight, I made this pizza. Now, I've tried low carb pizzas before, and they sucked.  Not this time. It was pretty damn good.

On the forum, I was given links to a few ideas, in addition to the above pizza, Pancakes (use sugar free syrup)

Bacon Muffins   That's from Caveman Keto. You'll find lots of other recipes there. 

The bottom line is that eating this way doesn't have to be boring.  I'd love to just tell you to get the mentality that food is fuel, and taste doesn't matter. But reality isn't that easy. I know. I have tried and failed at this before. As I'm sure many of you have.  Variety will make it a tad easier.
Now, go lift something.

It's beautiful.

A few quick things.

Cinnamon.  Don't ask why, because I have no clue. A great deal of people seem to react well to cinnamon.  It's supposed to help metabolize sugar out of your system.  It helps me.  I take two capsules a day,  and add it to my coffee.  Try it,  It can't hurt.

Also,  I've posted about being sore after my work outs, I've fixed that.  Thanks to my friend Hans. He offered some advice that has helped immensely.   The aforementioned  increases in protein and BCAAs (Branched Chain Amino Acid). Unlike cinnamon,  I can fully explain how BCAAs work.

Magic.  They work by magic.

Other suggestions from him,  foam rollers and tennis (or similar) balls to massage the soreness. And stretching.  It all works.

Now, for the guys that want simple and highly effective gym time. My friend Nathan posted this article from Mark Rippetoe. A guy that knows a lot about lifting.  The only exercise you need.

The numbers: I've been in the high normal range all day,  as usual.  94 to 134. yeah, a tad high.  Here's the deal. Ill make it simple. Sugar is sticky.  It sticks to things.  It hangs out.  A portion of your blood glucose reading obviously, will get some red blood cells. Red blood cells are one thing that sugar is stuck to.

This brings us to the A1C reading we all know about.  A1C is a 3 to 4 month snapshot of your glucose levels.  It works by looking at glucose stuck to your red blood cells. Red blood cells live for about 110 to 115 days.  Which is why you can do a double blood donation every 112 days incidentally.  But it also means that an A1C interval of 120 days should result a 100% new blood sample,  not "contaminated" with old blood cells.

So,  if you're coming off a high A1C test,  while your glucose tests will be accurate,  they will not quite accurately demonstrate your efforts.   This SLIGHT distortion effect will be lessened as the A1C interval passes, but by the time 90 days has passed, the effect will likely be gone.

Go lift something

Insert boring name here.... or.....numbers.

No huge news, something odd though, and I just really don't understand it.

Yesterday I did a bunch of running around before I hit the gym. Including donating blood. I did a "double", meaning they took out red blood cells and platelets, and put the plasma back in. This of course decreased my ability to carry as much oxygen, and weakened my gym performance. No biggie.

Diet wise, keep in mind, I'm basically doing the induction phase of Atkins, meaning very low carbs a day. I keep it to under 15 most days. Now, yesterday, for lunch, I had two gyros, no bread. Which equaled about one total. Not a huge meal, lots of protein maybe 8 carbs between the onions, tomatoes and sauce. My sugars had been perfect all day. I left there and headed for the gym. 8oz bcaa shake, 12oz protein shake, a total of 6 carbs. Nothing should have really spiked my glucose.  A solid hour of arms with a little shoulder and back work mixed in.

15 minutes after a work out, my glucose was 185. That seemed stupid, so I took it again, 140, to verify, I took it again. 155. Literally, all 3 tests in under a minute. Logically, I'd assume my meter went stupid, as a few point variation is normal, even out of the same drop of blood, but 45 points is not normal.

An hour or so later I took it again, after my reward coffee (with lots of cinnamon on top, with some sweet and low and cream) I drove up to my wife's work, took it again, 105. Right where it should have been.  Now, I didn't take any pills at all, so my body did the work to pull the glucose reading down. When I got home, I verified my meter against another one and they were within a few points.  So this falls under the heading of "hell, I don't know". Though my hunch is that the 185 was a freak reading.

Now, the good news. I'm seeing new numbers on the scale. 293 as of a few minutes ago.  Yeah, 40-50 more pounds need to come off, but I'll happily take it.

While we're on the subject of numbers, a couple of observations.   And keep in mind I've only been back to working out for less than 3 weeks.

My resting pulse used to be 98 to 104.  Now, it's 64 to 72.  No, I didn't magically get amazing cardio capability resulting in a lower pulse. I got the damn sugar out of my system. My entire body is relaxed more because I have my disease under control. That means a longer life. On that same subject, my resting BP is still high, but down as well. My normal resting bp has been around 154/98 for many years. Now, it's 140/88 on average.  Which incidentally is the new target guideline for diabetics (actually 140/90)

I DO have a prescription for blood pressure medication. I do NOT take it. Why? it makes me sick. And, it didn't lower my bp as much as controlling my diabetes meds does. If it doesn't come down much more, I'll get the doc to change my meds.

Now, here's the rest of my numbers. These were drawn 1/15, and will be redrawn near 4/15.  1/16 is when I started Atkins and working out. These are baseline numbers. I'll update when I get the new results back.

Glucose, 247

Creatinine  .63  (this is a kidney function check. .76-1.27 is target. Kind of expected with the diabetes)

Total Cholesterol, 145.  Dead in the middle of normal.

Triglycerides  264.  Should be under 149

HDL cholesterol. 39, should be under 39.

VLDL Cholesterol  53. Should be under 40.

LDL is also 53, should be under 99.

A1C, 12.8

Vitamin D 10.3. Should be at least 30.

Now, many, if not most, MDs, dieticians, and nutritionists will tell you that Atkins will send my Cholesterol numbers through the roof. After all, I eat steak and eggs pretty much daily, and sausage every other day. My MD however, knows better.  I refer to MDs that believe it as flat earthers.  They were taught something in medical school and don't believe that anything else can be true. In ten weeks, I'll prove them wrong.

Treadmill, 15 minutes
Squats, 5xbar, 5x90, 5x180
Deadlifts, 5x135, 5x225, 5x275, 3x365
Blonde roast, venti!

Learning...

The last two days, I've just been absolutely too sore to hit the gym. Keep in mind that I said I'm also looking to increase strength, not just control my disease, so don't think you have to workout to the point of being sore.

I on the other hand, am pushing myself very hard. I'm at a week with no cokes of any kind. Tea, Coffee, and water are it. And I'm slacking on everything but the water.

Saturday at the gym, I hit arms really hard, then finished up doing kettlebell cleans, just to shock my arms a bit with some compounded movements.  What happened was, the squat portion of it cleaned my clock.  Then a few hours later, I worked a structure fire for 3 and a half hours. So it was a recovery day yesterday. I'd probably go do a light back and shoulder workout today, but I have to go to work. So I'll play with the kettlebell a bit tonight after I get to where I'm going. Then tomorrow night, I'm heading up to the gym.

I'm down to 294, still feeling great, sugars are all still at the high end of normal. I really believe that they'd be middle normal if I A. weren't coming off several months of WAY too high glucose readings, and B. finished cutting out artificial sweeteners. But hell, black coffee and bitter tea SUCK. Something to work on...


So yeah, lessons for me. Learn to stop. Learn when not to stop. My legs are smoked, my arms aren't. My recovery sucks, but it's improving, so I'm going to look for a supplement to help with that. I obviously hit my legs too hard, and left something on the floor with my arms. Not good, my arms and chest are my weak point anyway.

Also, I'm taking steps to increase my readership now. I'm posting this on a few public sites that I've never mentioned it on before.  So if you have any questions at all, send me an email, and I'll try to answer it here, or privately if you'd prefer.  Writing all this out helps me, but making it public can help others. So if you know any diabetic people that are struggling, send them the link.

Now, just in case you've bought into the bullshit about diabetics not being able to grow muscle here's some inspiration.  http://diabeteshealth.com/read/2008/09/22/5079/scrawny-boy-with-type-1-diabetes-becomes-mr--universe/  What's your excuse?

You're supposed to fail.

And you probably already have. And you will again.


What matters most is how you react to it. When life punches you in the face, you hit it back. If it knocks you down, you get up, and you hit it back.


If you trip, you get up.


Winners, Champions, the best of the best, they all fail. They all screw up. They all fall.


What makes them winners and champions is that they ALWAYS get back up.




You're not going to beat diabetes in a day. You're not going to beat it in a week. You're not going to beat it in a year.


You're going to beat it for the rest of your life.  Because the alternative is that it beats you for the rest of your soon to be short ass life. That means dying blind. But it'll be ok that you're blind, because you won't be able to walk anywhere after they cut your feet off.  But it's not like you'll need them, you'll get to get up to go to the bathroom via dialysis after  your kidneys fail. That's if you survive the heart disease.  That's what you're facing. If you don't believe me, you're in denial. Period.


Stop making excuses. The only time it's ok to start improving on Monday, is if today is Monday. 


I can't flip your motivation switch on. But I can tell you what will happen if you don't make the choice. You're going to die, and you're going to die badly. That kind of failure is the kind of failure you can't get up from.


Will you get up before it's too late?

Basic Kettlebell Swing, Part I, Jeff Martone

A few days ago I posted about Kettlebells and Jeff Martone.  This is the basic explanation from the man himself, along with a small drill to correct the main form mistake people make.



You should know now, that I'm not a crossfit fan at all. Let me correct that, crossfitters piss me off. They see it as a religion and they have the attitude that everything else is wrong. That's a blood stupid attitude to have.



The key to working out, especially for diabetes control is to find something that works for you. If you don't enjoy what you're doing, you simply won't do it. Pretty simple concept. No workout does any good if you're not doing it.



Aside from crossfitters themselves, I do have a problem with a few things they do. The "pull ups" they do, simply aren't pull ups. They're a work out, but they aren't pull ups. They should call them swings or something. But hey, it's better than nothing.

About that caffeine thing. . .

Don't take it too seriously,  coffee keeps the world safe.  I have a cup in me,  it's all good.

Last night was my first session of lifting free weights in over a decade.  So my numbers sucked and sucked hard.  I managed a whole 9 reps on a bench at a whopping 115lbs. Excuse me while I kill myself.

2x10 leg press at 270 and 10 at 180
1x10 squat 90, 1x6 at 180

Yes they suck.  But you've got to start somewhere.  Ill only go up from there.

I closed out with some cardio.  I was wobbly heading into the locker room.  Took a shower and got dressed. Headed to get my coffee and realized that I felt great.  I immediately started feeling like hell. I felt like I'd wasted effort and had'nt left it all on the floor.

I mentally best myself up all night.  Not this morning.  I'm not sore at all,  but I know I worked out. That's enough.

Now here's the real big deal.  At the gym I took blood glucose and it was 136. Not too high,  and entirely expected. As I said before,  working out can boost your sugar up a bit. I then went and had two venti coffees with cream and sweet n low. No meds.  As type 2 diabetics you probably all realize that my morning glucose should have been elevated.

126.

Again,  a tad elevated,  but the point is that my glucose went down overnight. That's a beautiful thing.  And world's better than 300s and 400s that I used to have and some of you do as well.

296lbs this morning.  299 last night at the gym in shorts,  shirt and five fingers. (Minimalist shoes are wonderful for lifting).

A few thoughts on weighing.
Don't do it everyday. Our body weight fluctuates slightly everyday.  You can very well be steadily dropping weight but weigh 3 or 4 more pounds one day than the day before.

You're looking for an overall trend.  So every 3 to 4 days at most.   Also,  try to be wearing the same thing, preferably nothing,  every time. The same time of day,  preferably morning,  is a good idea too. And use the same scale.

Also,  have a friend measure you.  You can't do it yourself.  Tracking losses and gains that way helps too.

Stop reading,  go eat a steak and lift.

Giving up on your addiction.

48 hours ago,  I shared a diet Dr Pepper with my wife.  I haven't had one since and that sucks.  But my sugars are down to non diabetic range.  I'm seeing 102s and similar numbers that's what we call winning.

Which brings us to an obvious but painful point.  Chances are,  you didn't get type 2 diabetes only by losing the genetic lottery.   More than likely,  you helped it along by eating junk and/or being sedentary. Read lazy.  I denied it.  Stop it.  Admitting that you have a problem is always step one.

I love food. A lot. Ice cream, cheese burgers, fried chicken,  cheese steaks.   At one time it was a coping mechanism. I got past that long ago.  Now,  I jut like to eat. But no magic pill exists let me do that and not die of this damn disease.  So here I am, choosing to sacrifice the joy of eating some foods instead of my life.

But here's the deal.  It's really not that hard to cut the junk out.   I eat steak almost every day.  I eat chicken, ribs, bacon,  eggs, sausage, shrimp,  crawfish, pickles, okra,  mushrooms,  cheese and on and on.  In reality,  the hardest thing to let go was Diet Dr Pepper.   Caffeine is a drug.  Don't believe me?  Try going without it after prolonged use. But that's not the only reason to give up cokes. Obviously the sugar I'm regular stuff is bad for you,  but the diet cokes are just as bad,  and some say worse.

Don't ask me for a scientific explanation. I can't give you one.  What I've noticed in me has been sugars 20% higher constantly. Contrast that to higher spikes with regular cokes for a much shorter duration.  My experience may not be universal,  after all,  we're all different.  But from my research,  it's in line with the majority.

Now,  for the lifting for today.  I'm driving at my side job today, so no trip to the gym for me. But my most hated enemy rides with me in the truck. A 25lb kettle bell.  My wife has a ten pound kettle bell.  You don't need a big one. The workout alone will stomp you.   Again,  controlling diabetes is about burning energy.  You don't have to chug protein shakes and take supplements while deadlifting twice your body weight.   Though that will obviously work. You're simply trying to burn energy.  A kettlebell workout will absolutely do that.  And it will strengthen almost every muscle in your body.  Search on YouTube for "Jeff Martone kettlebell swing".  Jeff came  recommended to me by a friend named Rich, a man for whom my respect cannot be measured.  Every time I pick that kettle bell up, I think I'll never forgive either of them.

Do you have to use a kettlebell? Of course not.  If you have 2 arms, do pushups. If you can only do 4, that's ok,  do 4. In a few hours,  do 4 more.  A few hours from then do it again.   In a day or two,  do 5.  In a few weeks,  do 40.

Do what you can with what you have.  the two things you can't do, make excuses or fail.  Get on it.



I apologize for any typos, I'm typing from my phone.

Excuse me while I roll out of bed....

     I'm smoked. I pushed hard yesterday. I had the intention of just sticking to a leg day, but I'm half retarded at times and like to push myself rather hard, if not too hard.   Before I go too far, let me make something clear:


   Working out for control of diabetes and working out to lose weight and build muscle aren't exactly the same thing. Don't think for a second that you have to work out to the point of being sore. 


    To burn sugar out of your system, you simply need to burn energy. And here's the thing.  To help, all you have to do is burn more energy than you have been.  Everyone has a routine. You get up, you go to work, you come home, etc etc.  For the most part, most people burn the same amount of energy just about every day.  You have got to change that if you're diabetic. Walk 30 minutes. If you can't do that, walk 15 until you can walk 20, do that until you can walk 30. Then walk an hour. Then walk ten run 3, walk ten run 3 and walk it out. Then step it up even more. The point is, you're burning energy, and you're burning more than the life style that either lead to your diabetes or made it worse. Burning more energy will make it better.


    Now, here's something you have to keep in mind. If you're just discovering that you're diabetic, you probably have a very high A1C. You need to knock your daily glucose readings down a good bit first. If you start working out while it's over 200, you run a very high risk of spiking your glucose instead of lowering in it. While you're still burning that build up of sugar out, it can happen. Get morning readings under 140 or so before you start working out. It's not hard to do.


    Now, all that being said, we have two important things to think about beyond just burning a little energy. Fat, and Muscle.   Muscle at rest burns 3 times more energy than fat.  This will obviously go way up with exercise. Muscle also takes up about a third of the space for the same volume.  It's not hard to see that more muscle and less fat is a good thing.  To help you in your drive to drop weight, think of fat as sugar, and we all know that diabetics need to get sugar levels down. It also helps that it's true.  Ketogenic diets have proven it to be true. Go to a zero carb intake, and your blood glucose will NOT go to zero. Where it will go depends on the individual, (mine hovers around 150 without exercise or meds).


    Now, if you're not eating sugar, how can you have elevated blood sugar? Simple.  You have a liver that magically converts fat to sugar.  The process is called ketosis. Do NOT confuse ketosis and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).  DKA can be fatal.  Ketosis will make you a new person.  The problem with ketosis is that you need an intake deficit. People that skip carbs for a meal or two then eat carbs then skip carbs will often feel like shit, and may end up having blood sugar issues. You're trying to avoid that. So if you go down the road of a ketogenic diet, stick to it. Half assing it can be dangerous. 


     On that subject, Keto diets like Atkins are very misunderstood, and maligned diets ever.  If you decide to go down the Atkins road, READ THE BOOK. You need to understand the science behind it. It works. I've now officially dropped 70lbs by cutting carbs and doing Atkins. There are different ones though, so do a lot of research and pick one that'll work for you.

     So, to condense what's I've written so far, work is good. More work is better. Getting in shape is even better. Now, what I'm doing is beyond even that. I'm a firefighter. I may go from sitting on my ass to wearing 75lbs of gear dragging a 200lb hose into a burning building up stairs inside of 5 minutes. Or slinging a 50 lb spreader to open a door. No time to stretch, no time to psych yourself up. You just do it.   This is part of the reason that heart attack is the number one killer of firemen.  I don't want to be a statistic.  I'm already pretty strong, but I carry a lot of fat too, and that's bad. My goal in all this is to drop 58 more lbs, getting down to about 240. The stupid chart says I should weigh 200. Nope. I want to add muscle to my back, chest, and arms. As long as we're on goals, I also want to run a ten k by the end of the year.


     So when I get on here and post about being sore, it's because I worked out really hard. Don't think that you need to do the same to help control your diabetes. While controlling diabetes is what this is all about, I'm going above and beyond that. So when I'm leg pressing 495lbs for reps, don't think you need to do the same.


     Now, for yesterday. I'd done arms the day before, so I wanted to concentrate on legs yesterday. And I did for the first hour I was there. Then, arms being my weakness, I couldn't help but work my already sore arms a bit. Mostly my shoulders as that's where I'm rehabbing an injury.




      So I did that. I shouldn't have, but I did. I decided to do one last set of leg presses, so I head to the machine and go to it. Mistake. Not because I got hurt, but because the gym's personal trainer walked over to me to talk about their program. He wanted to do a fitness evaluation as part of me being a new member. Ok I said. It went downhill. Without getting into complete lack of professionalism this douche bag had, I will give him credit that he smoked me. He took me to the point of absolute muscle failure. I probably shouldn't have done it after working out for almost 2 hours. But I did, and today I'm sore as hell. The problem is, I just want to lay down, and every time I do, I have to roll out of bed. No fun. 


Stop reading, Go work!

Morning goodness.

This is what a trip to the gym can do.  A short term way to see if your diabetes is under control is your morning sugar. It's not foolproof, but morning sugars under 140 without medication are a good sign. Mine this morning was 126 without meds this morning, or last night. I did hit the gym for over an hour last night. You'll see that as a pattern that will emerge.  


      I'm not going to tell you that exercise can replace your meds, (and I haven't stopped taking mine), but at 33 years old, being sedentary sure isn't gonna help. Meds can only do so much.  Lift heavy things. Lots of heavy things. That will do as much or more.

Who I am.

    I was diagnosed with type two diabetes in 2010 after a shoulder injury. I spent several months getting steroid injections in a failed attempt to heal it.  I'd just spent 4 years as an over the road trucker so I wasn't in the best of shape either, sprinkle in some bad genetics, and the combo lead to the disease. 

   I discovered when getting a screening to go back to work from the injury.  My sugar was (as I found out later) so high that my resting pulse was over 110. They checked my sugar after a few questions, and the Glucometer just read "Hi". They only go to 699 generally. I was sent to the ER, where I ended up with severe muscle contraction issues, and had to be given Ativan to relax them. During that attack I ended up with an altered state of consciousness and don't remember much of the next 12 hours.

    

     It took 24 hours of insulin injections to get my sugar low enough to read with a glucometer. Once my sugar was under 400, I was given a couple of prescriptions and discharged with the only instruction of following up with my PCP.  In about a week, I got my sugar down to where it needed to be to pass my DOT physical and go back to work. And other than a few half hearted attempts at dieting, I pretty much stopped caring. My meds made me sick, working out sucked, and dieting sucked. I'd take them sometimes, but pretty much the only real effort I made was no more real cokes. I actually lost 24 lbs from just that.  I was 365 pounds, so it wasn't a real improvement.

   So for just over 2 years, I basically didn't care. A few weeks ago, I got sick. I felt like hell, I wasn't sure what was going on, though I figured it was likely my sugar.  I'd had a dentist appointment, and they neglected to tell me that the local they used, had epi in it. My sugar was over 400 and my BP was trying to match it. 

     Something clicked. I don't know what it was, but if I could bottle it, I'd be a millionaire. I no longer had some weak desire to get everything right. In my mind, getting healthy was a foregone conclusion. I was on the path, and nothing was going to stop me from walking it. It's probably the realization that I was killing myself with sugar. Here's the problem with that. I LOVE life. I love waking up every day, I charge into each day with an unquenchable desire to go do things. I want to experience just about everything, I want to see the world, I want to find all forms of perfection and witness them. I want to shake the hands of all people that don't take 2nd as an option and live their lives as though the only thing that matters is that pursuit of perfection. (Reading Rand's thoughts on this will tell you more about me.)

    So, as it turns out, I don't have time to die. That switch flipped and bam. I was eating right, I'm spending several hours a day at least two days a week cutting a chopping firewood, and I've joined a gym. I went back to the doc, got on my meds again, and I'm cutting weight. My sugars are damn near perfect, but not quite.  I'm absolutely on the right path.

    This blog is your way to walk that path with me. Type 2 diabetes is a disease that can be beaten. It is NOT a disease that can be ignored. It will kill you, and you'll die blind, and in a wheelchair because your feet will have been amputated. Your kidneys will fail, and all sorts of other things that you really don't want to experience. Trust me on this. I've been in Fire and EMS my entire adult life. Diabetes is rampant in my family. Denial is a bastard.

    The Plan:

Simple. Diet and Exercise.  Duh.

The Diet. Atkins. It works, and it'll likely control your sugar within 48 hours of starting it. It's also how I've lost almost all of the weight I've lost. From 365 to 298. It's easily the most misunderstood diet ever.  Without getting into it, I'll just say that if you haven't read the book cover to cover, you probably don't know what Atkins is.

     Atkins alone probably will NOT control your diabetes completely. Keeping it simple, Atkins put you into Ketosis (NOT DKA, Diabetic KetoAcidosis, they are two very different things, Ketosis is safe, DKA can kill you). Ketosis, quite simply, is your liver converting fat to glucose. Glucose is the body's source for energy. You need it, you're going to get it. Your body will make it if you don't feed it. So some people experience slightly high sugars. I personally run in the 150 range steadily, if I don't exercise.

The Exercise. Two things. First, chopping firewood. I heat my home, my shop, and my aunt's home with wood. I say "I" because I'm the work horse out there with a maul, a few wedges, and axe, and a sledge. I usually spend several hours a day 2 days a week chopping firewood. I don't care who you are, I don't care how tough you are. Swinging a maul and hauling firewood is one of the best work outs you can get. It's cardio, it works the hell out of your core, and obviously your arms and shoulders. Between that and the lifting of full logs onto the block and stacking the chopped wood, you're basically working every muscle you have. And you're distressing. Which is also important to gaining control.

The second, I joined a gym (10 fitness for you locals).  It's a very complete set up. I highly recommend it.  Gyms are tools. There are proper ways to use them, there are improper ways to use them. Don't just join and go play on the machines. I suggest finding a friend that knows what they're doing or a personal trainer to help you out. Bad form on many work outs can really increase your risk of injury.  Whether it's cardio or slinging plate, the important thing for fighting diabetes is to get your muscles to work. When your muscles need energy, they pull sugar out of your bloodstream and burn it up. The harder you work, the more you burn.

You should be aware, that in some people, if your sugar is too high, you may actually increase your blood glucose by working out. From my research, that threshold is around 200 mg/dl.

That's about it for an intro. I had blood work done last week at the start of this trip. My A1C was 12.8. I'll post the rest of my numbers later, and update as I get new blood work periodically. Those people not familiar with Atkins will be pretty surprised at the things like Cholesterol.

So here I am, at step 1 on this journey. I hope I can inspire some of you to walk down this path as well. Lace up your Nikes and follow me. . .