For the most part your health is a choice!
I remember a story that Uncle John told me not too long ago about his neighbor. The neighbor had just returned from his doctor's appointment and was grousing a bit about the less than favorable news he had just received. It seems his sedentary lifestyle and undisciplined eating habits had pushed him over the brink into Type II Diabetes. Uncle John, being Uncle John, asked; "So, are you going to get out and start walking to get some exercise, maybe get the bicycle out of the garage to take daily rides, and start watching what you eat a little more?" The neighbor, being the neighbor, responded; "No.....no, they make a pill for that!"
So that was the news I got from my doctor back in April, I had developed Type II Diabetes. It was a bit more dramatic than that actually. I had gone in for a liver function test because of the cholesterol medicine I take and that rascal doctor of mine just went and checked my A1C (90 day average blood sugar) without even asking. About an hour after I had left her office I received an "URGENT" phone call from her assistant instructing me to get back into the doctor's office "IMMEDIATELY." A normal A1C should be somewhere between 4.0 and 6.0. Mine as it turns out was about 12, two times the high end of the normal 90 day average. My blood sugar that day was 600. A normal reading would have been somewhere between 70 and 100, so I was six times the high end of that range. I had "Uncontrolled" Type II Diabetes. When I returned to the office my doctor informed me that if I had had any other symptoms she would have shipped me off to the hospital to get the diabetes under control. All I can say is:
Thank goodness I lied about my symptoms!
I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. First, I hadn't done any serious exercising in years. I blame that on my previous doctor. It was the all too common physician joke: [Me] "Doctor, doctor, it hurts when I do this!" [Doctor] "So don't do that!" You see, I have, for lack of a better description, a dislocated rib that will not stay in place for more than a day or two after being reset. That rib rubs on my chest muscle causing a sharp pain when I exercise, especially when I run, and initially I thought my chest pains were a possible heart attack. I also have a bad knee, two bad ankles and a rotator cuff issue in one of my shoulders. And I just took my doctor's advice at face value; it hurt so I quit doing it (exercising that is). Second, and this is the real kicker, I've been acting and eating like I've been on vacation since I moved to Western North Carolina. I hadn't put on much weight but I was heavy enough (about 195 lbs) when I got here.
So there I was. Diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension (high blood pressure) all run in my family. I was already on prescription medication for acid re-flux and cholesterol, and had previously been diagnosed "pre-hypertension." And you know what? They do have a pill for Type II Diabetes, and a daily inject-able medication to combat your insulin resistance, and a spring loaded lancing device to prick your finger three times a day so you can test your blood sugar, and I was the proud new owner of all of the above. So what do I do? Go the way of the neighbor and accept my lot in life (damn family medical history)? Or do I listen to Uncle John, get off the couch and do something positive?
Maureen and I were leaving for a vacation overseas in three weeks and I was determined not to take injections every day of that vacation, or for the rest of my life for that matter. First, I negotiated with my doctor to change my daily inject-able prescription to a once weekly inject-able. She warned me that my insurance would likely deny that request. I didn't care. The very next day I got up early and walked a 3.8 mile loop on the roads around my house. Then I started researching exercises I could do with my rickety old body.
The first book I came upon was The Exercise Cure: A Doctor's All-Natural, No-Pill Prescription for Better Health and Longer Life by Jordan Metzl and Andrew Heffeman. A fairly comprehensive book with specific recommendations for a variety of ailments. But the main message was to just start moving even if all you can do is walk. And I was already doing that. Now my 3.8 mile walk has four significant hills to climb (think winding road up to Big Bear steep) and was initially taking me about an hour and ten minutes. I was walking as fast as I could and pushing to keep my heart rate up for the maximum cardio benefit I could get from just walking. And now I had to think about my diet. I "HATE" dieting! I'm pathetic at counting calories, I won't do point conversions, and I absolutely refuse to purchase diet plan meals in bulk. I needed a simple sustainable plan that did not require any thought or outlandish food preparation. My salvation came in the form of a book titled; Complete Calisthenics, The Ultimate Guide to Bodyweight Exercise by Ashley Kalym. Now DO NOT run out and buy this book. It is a book about how to do one armed pull-ups and plank push-ups. Completely worthless from an "I'm 55 and just want to improve my fitness and health" standpoint. However, Mr. Kalym and I are kindred spirits when it comes to dieting. His book has less than two pages on his views of the dieting process. If you want the entire text on dieting from his book you can pick it off the shelf at Barnes and Noble and have that small portion read before the barista has your coffee ready. He promotes what he describes as a "One Ingredient Diet." Basically, what that means is, if you pick it up in the grocery store and it is only one ingredient, you can eat it. Steak, ham, fish, any meat product really; any vegetable, fruit, etc... you get the drift. No counting calories, points, or anything. If you are hungry you eat, just basically no processed foods, which is actually even much easier than it sounds. That one idea was worth the price of the book for me.
So that was the plan. I had a follow up appointment in three weeks which was just a few days before we were scheduled to leave for Ireland and I was on a mission. I walked seven days a week and stuck to my one ingredient diet. Before you start thinking, "sure he has an extra hour in the day, he's retired. But there is no way I can find an extra hour in my busy schedule." I'm a huge Big Bang Theory fan. I've seen all the old episodes but I watch the reruns anyway. So if I'm willing to miss just two reruns a day, shows I've already seen and will probably see again soon, I can fit in my walk for the day. I'd bet everyone has an hour of something they could choose to miss if they made the choice to be healthier. And it is a choice, just ask Uncle John.
Back to my story. My doctor was right, the insurance company denied my request for the once weekly injection medication but it took almost the entire three weeks between my last and next doctor's appointments. By that appointment I had lost 5 lbs and lowered my daily blood sugar to about 200, 1/3rd of my previous test result but still firmly in the Type II Diabetes range, but controlled, which was a huge difference. My doctor cancelled the inject-able medication on the spot and reduced my three times a day blood sugar test to three times a week. I told the doctor right then and there that my goal was to be off ALL of my prescription medications by my birthday this year (about 5 1/2 months away). At that point my doctor started hedging her bets. Her warning sounded something like; "well, with your family history it might be a good idea to stay on some form of cholesterol medication for the rest of your life. And, once you have demonstrated some insulin resistance it may be a good idea to stay on at least a maintenance dose of the diabetes medication. I said fine, and then I asked her assistant to write in my chart; "by my next birthday I will be off all of my prescription medication."
There was one other discussion I had with my doctor. I informed her that I was traveling to Ireland and that "I was going to drink Guinness!" She was cool with that and even told me to go out before the trip, have a Guinness, and then test my blood sugar just to see what the affect would be. I went straight home and told Maureen that we had to go out. My doctor had "prescribed a Guinness" and I intended to fill my prescription that evening. I did a little research on beer and Type II Diabetes. It turns out that beer, including Guinness, can lower your blood sugar in some individuals, including apparently me. At least that was my experience. I've been kidding that the fact that beer lowers my blood sugar is proof positive that God loves me! That is one prescription that I'm happy not to give up.
So off we go to Ireland and Scotland with my new prescriptions, my blood testing kit and my new one ingredient diet. I will qualify that I have a couple of exceptions to my one ingredient diet. I cannot eat salad without salad dressing. And just a heads up, low fat dressings tend to have more sugar than regular dressings so I generally eat the regular stuff. Beer of course. And I don't worry about spices although they tend to be one ingredient each themselves. I was not able to do my fitness walk while vacationing but we did hours of walking anyway, so I'm sure that evened out. The end result was by our return to the states I lost a few more lbs despite being on vacation for the better part of three weeks. After our return I was back on my routine; walking my 3.8 mile loop every day, keeping to my one ingredient diet, soccer practice at the high school in the evenings and our normal socializing out on the weekends with some new friends we've made.
I had decided that if I got my weight down to about 165 lbs I'd start running again. For every pound you loose that is 4 lbs of impact pressure you take off of your knees when running. At 165 lbs I was guessing I would be able to hit the road again. I hit that mark not too long after our vacation. Alas, my rickety old body betrayed me. My chest pains returned and my knee balked every step of the way. So I was back to walking, which if you've done the math, had already helped me loose about 30 lbs so I can't really complain.
I had decided that if I got my weight down to about 165 lbs I'd start running again. For every pound you loose that is 4 lbs of impact pressure you take off of your knees when running. At 165 lbs I was guessing I would be able to hit the road again. I hit that mark not too long after our vacation. Alas, my rickety old body betrayed me. My chest pains returned and my knee balked every step of the way. So I was back to walking, which if you've done the math, had already helped me loose about 30 lbs so I can't really complain.
As I post this blog entry it is Friday, October 7th, and I turned 56 today! How did I do with my goals? There is a management theory dealing with motivation and goal setting called The "Two Tragedies." The first tragedy is to set goals and not achieve them (obvious). The second tragedy is to set goals and to achieve them, the theory being that once you have accomplished your goals motivation potentially suffers because you no longer have goals to strive for.
Back at the end of July I had a follow up visit with my doctor to check my A1C. Just to review, I had 4 prescription medications plus lancets and blood sugar test strips (also by prescription). If you recall on my first follow up visit in April, after losing the first five lbs my doctor eliminated the inject-able medication for diabetes from my list of medications. One down. I also had not had acid reflux or even indigestion since that first five lbs loss so when that medication ran out I did not refill the prescription and just quit taking it. Two down. During this time leading up to my July appointment I had lost roughly 30+lbs. My A1C test result (which is why I was there in the first place) was 5.7, at the top of the normal range and the bottom of the "pre-diabetes" range. My doctor suggested I might want to consider staying on a maintenance dose of the insulin resistance pill but at the end of the day she had to agree that with the progress I had made, as long as I continued on the same path, even a maintenance dose should not be necessary. Three down, plus no more lancets and blood testing. And since I had fasted prior to the appointment she drew blood to test my cholesterol. My doctor called me the next day with those results. On the medication my cholesterol was 99, which is half (about 200) the level where they put you on that medication initially. What could she say? My doctor has agree that I can stay off cholesterol medication for a year and we will revisit whether I need a maintenance dose based on test results after being off any medication for a while. Fourth and final prescription down!
I had accomplished my primary goal, being off all prescription medication, ten weeks early, and found myself a victim of the second "Tragedy!" I was without a goal to shoot for. I did manage to come up with a couple more goals to keep myself motivated and I have a couple others waiting in the wings for when I accomplish the second set. Overall accomplishments?
Before
|
After
|
|
Weight:
|
192-195
|
150+
|
Pant
Waist:
|
38
|
Loose 32
|
Shirts:
|
XL
|
M
|
Soccer
Referee Uniform:
|
L
|
S
|
Time to
Walk 3.8 Miles:
|
1 Hour
10 Min.
|
50+
Min.
|
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
In the mean time, I'll keep listening to Uncle John. What is he always promoting? "Put away a little money for a rainy day and if you have to buy on credit, you probably don't need it that bad!" "Take care of your stuff and it will last a long time (and you won't have to spend so much replacing things)!" "And, get off the couch and get outside once and a while, the fresh air is good for you!" As it turns out all that wisdom that comes with the years he's put behind him can add up to a great deal, maybe even a better life. I'm certain that is Uncle John's wish for all of us and it is my wish for all of you as well!
By the way, remember when Liam was 145 lbs and I was 195 lbs and we had that little kayak race and I positioned myself to have every advantage including cheating a bit but the little shit beat me anyway? Well I think I just might be ready for a rematch. Although, I may just keep working out with my weights for a while first. After all, luck favors the prepared!
Take care,
Rick
PS Yes, I know, Buddy looks bigger in the second picture, but it's an optical illusion. He's next to me and I'm just smaller! 