This is kind of a big thing for me even though most may not think the same.  My last blog post was the 100th here on Blogging Diabetes and it took me about 14 months.  I would truly like to post every day, but it’s just not feasible with my schedule and other responsibilities. Heck managing my diabetes and trying to be healthy is a full-time job.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you that stop by and especially those that take an extra minute or two to post a comment, tweet or refer a friend.  I would especially like to thank some regulars like:

Lorraine, Cherise, Karen, Bryan, Rachel, Jaimie, Gary, Scott, Harry, Jill, Chris and any others that I may be forgetting.  Seriously… Thank you!

Tony

The last few posts discussed the fact that I have gotten back on the “saddle” in terms of my diet and exercise similar to last August when I was doing great.  Over the Holiday’s I was pretty down for letting myself go again.  Not only had I put back on the weight I lost from the summer, but I was out of control with my A1c and daily blood sugars.  I knew it was time to get things turned around and this time for good.

I laid on the guilt to some of my close friends about how I was past my 10 year anniversary of being diagnosed and needed something to get my butt in gear.  That’s when we came up with the challenge.  For the period January 2nd through the end of February we are all trying to lose pounds and body fat both weighted equally. At the end of this period there will be some prize for the winner, which doesn’t even really matter to me.  I know this was the right time to make a change for the long term and this was a good way to motivate me and get a group of friends together for a common goal.  Nobody is going to lose.  Just like “The Biggest Loser” no one really loses.  If you can make a sustainable change to be healthy, that’s a huge win.

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Sometimes you need to look deep within yourself and ask the question, “Am I really giving it 100%?”  I wasn’t and not so deep down, I knew it.  I was too complacent and just tested, corrected, bolused, tested, corrected, bolused, and so on.  You could easily say I was just going through the motions.  Not anymore.  I owe it to too many people to take better care of myself.  I’m not saying that I’m perfect now or even can have a perfect A1c.  All I am saying is that I knew I could do better and now I finally am. 

My results so far are pretty good for only a month.  I am down about 10 pounds and my daily blood sugar numbers are ten times better than before.  Now it is a rare occurrence to be over 225.  At the end of February I will have my body fat retested and get everyone else’s results.  Wish me luck.

The next post will be on the single most important thing to change to better manage diabetes.

The last 2 posts (…finish strong & …win at diabetes) have led up to this one where I am going to discuss my recent diet and exercise.

Diet

I first mentioned that I started the Fat Flush diet back in August of last year.  I think it’s a great plan, but with not without some flaws.  It was never designed for a diabetic and is mostly geared towards women.  I can tell because it talks about being able to reduce and target cellulite on every other page.  However, I definitely think there are some great tips and information that can help a diabetic. So, I have created my own modified version of the Fat Flush diet that helps me control my blood sugar and weight at the same time.

Disclaimer: What works for me may not work for you.  Always consult your doctor before making changes or starting a new exercise routine.

Here is a sample of my daily diet:

Breakfast around 7:00 AM – I will have either a Fiber One bar or Smoothie Shake with a scoop of protein. I usually put some type of fruit in the shake, like a banana or strawberries.

AM Snack – I will have almonds, a Larabar, piece of fruit or nothing if I get busy and miss it.

Lunch – Almost always this is 3 eggs (1 whole egg and 2 egg whites) with a whole grain english muffin or toast.  I can eat eggs any time of the day.

PM Snack – I will have either almonds, a Larabar or piece of fruit

Dinner – This is the key meal in my opinion.  You should go fairly low on simple carbs.  I almost always have a salad with some type of protein like, tuna or chicken.  I put some cut up peppers, carrots, snow peas and a tiny bit of bacon bits and shredded cheese (2% – low fat) topped with a low fat dressing. Virtually no simple carbs.

Workout/Cardio after my girls go down for the night, which I typically start around 9:00-9:30.

Before Bed – Finally, for my post workout drink (not the kind you’re thinking of) I will have a 12oz glass of a mixture of cranberry juice (concentrate), water, ground flax seed and some protein.  For more about the cran-water/flax drink, check out the Fat Flush book or send me an email.

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Exercise

My exercise is nothing all that special.  I usually do one body part using my Bow flex and/or dumbbell set with an 8lb medicine ball or maybe just some core exercises like planks, which are much harder than they look.

After doing maybe 30 minutes of exercises I will jump on our treadmill or elliptical and do about 30 minutes (5 warm up and 5 cool down).

Nothing too fancy here, but it works.  I went from probably 3,000 calories a day to between 1,200 – 1,500 and after a few days/week it’s just like normal.  Sometimes I am starving, but I will snack on something with low carbs and fiber.  Best of all is what you will quickly see in your insulin intake and blood sugars.  Since I don’t eat 3 servings of rice or potatoes, chips, or sugar loaded foods, I am never getting above 250 anymore (like, at all).

Since starting this diet on 1/2/2010 (25 days) I have lost almost 10 pounds and my blood sugars are better than ever.  I can’t wait to go to the Endo now.  I’m actually looking forward to it.  If I can do it with a 9 month old, 4 yr old, full-time job, 2 blogs and little downtime, so can you.  You really owe it to yourself and shouldn’t have a reason not to.  My health and diet is now a priority and will not revert back after seeing these results.

Thank you all for the messages and support – I appreciate you visiting.

Next up is the single biggest thing you can do to help manage your diabetes or diet and you’re not going to like what it is, trust me.

All of my results came back very good except for the big one.  My A1c was higher than usual and probably one of my worst in a long time. It’s a little ironic that my result rhymes with hate.  

I have always been slightly happy that my blood sugar control isn’t in the poor range.  That’s how I sell it to everyone.  I have *good* control.  Someone will say, “Tony how’s your diabetes been”? To which I will respond, “Oh it’s good”. Since being diagnosed, I have only been in the excellent control range for a very brief stint a few years ago.  If you knew me, you would know that I’ve never been happy with good.  I don’t do good.  I was brought up and pride myself for the fact that I don’t settle for average or good.  For some reason I have failed at attaining and maintaining excellent control..

I could go on and on about all of the reasons I haven’t had excellent control, but I’m not going to. Everyone is busy.  Everyone has something that can get in the way.  My doctor likes to say things like, “life doesn’t stop or become easier just because you have diabetes”.  I think the real reason is for the fact that it’s pretty easy to have good control.  Conversely, it’s very difficult, in my opinion, to go from good/very good to excellent; let’s say to go from a 7.1 to 6.5 A1c.  At least this has been the case for me.  If I eat semi-healthy and limit sugar loaded foods, I can maintain a mid 7 A1c all year long and twice on Sunday’s.

To get and maintain an A1c below 7, the goal of probably every diabetic, means big changes that come in the form of either regular exercise and/or very strict diet.  This is really where I have failed.  When I was below 7, I was working out like crazy and watching my diet very closely.  That’s hard to do when there’s only 24 hours each day filled with work, sleep and kids/family time.  The reason it’s so difficult for me is because I haven’t committed to a lifestyle change for the long term.  I will do good for a few months and then some event will trigger a downward spiral that goes on until my next burst of motivation kicks in and the cycle continues.

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That is…. until now.

Starting as of 1/2/2010 I’m back on track with the diet, exercise, mentally and motivationally. I will win; it’s not something I can afford to lose.

Next up are details on my dieting/exercise, the single biggest X factor in keeping my blood sugar below 200 on the regular and my 2010 challenge.

There certainly is a lot to catch you all up on being that I took a few weeks off for the Holidays and then passed a stomach bug around our house.  First, I hope everyone had a great New Year and started 2010 off on the right foot.  I am going to break all of my updates up into a few posts because as you probably know, I don’t like to read or write super long blog posts.  In this post I am going to cover my recent Endocrinologist visit back in December. 

Back in June when I had my last doctor visit, I came out of the gate firing on all cylinders.  I started the Fat Flush diet and made some incredible gains as I wrote in a 4-part series back in July and August.  If I were to have done an A1c test at the end of August, I’m sure it would have been one of my best ever.  Then came September where I started the month out with a week’s vacation with my family where my diet went downhill fast.  A week after I came back from vacation, we completely tore out our kitchen and remodeled it.  That took a few weeks and consisted of a lot of paper plates/silverware and eating takeout or going to restaurants, both not good.

Now we were well into October and I was also dealing with a 3 year old and the ever present tantrums and poor eating patterns and a 6 month old who slept all day and partied like a rock star all night.  As those of you who have been on a good diet and fell off will tell you, it’s much harder to get back on then to stay the course.  So things went downhill fast.  Thanksgiving and I didn’t really care much.  I would test my sugar, correct, eat, bolus, test, correct, etc. in a vicious cycle. 

At the beginning of December I had my next doctor visit and I knew it was going to be bad.  I had hoped that my amazing progress and work during July and August was enough to keep me in good control. 

My doctor recently moved offices and is now located in a very nice new building with all state-of-the-art technology.  It’s nice being able to pull up my electronic records and print prescriptions right in the room.  What shocked me was that the lab where they draw my blood is diagonal from the waiting room and completely visible because the open reception area is the only thing that separates the two.  I didn’t mind having people be able to watch me have blood drawn.  But I’m sure there would be children and younger kids that may feel otherwise.

The only downside of my doctor’s lab is that it takes a few days for me to get the full results and it’s usually me calling them.  The doctor called me back and told me my A1c and other results.  Not good… At a minimum, you must start and finish in between each doctor visit strong.

The upcoming posts will be on my results, dieting and the 2010 challenge I currently have going on.

Things have been really crazy here the last few weeks and there is so much to share with you.  Unfortunately, I am taking some time off between now and New Year’s.  There is so much to tell you; opportunity for this blog, my last Endo visit, challenge 2010, obsessions, and much, much more.  I will be back on a more regular posting schedule after the Holidays.

Have a Happy and Safe Holiday and we’ll see you in 2010!

You may have noticed a few changes on the site lately.  I wanted to spruce things up a bit and have wanted a logo since the beginning.  It wasn’t until I came across a great post on another site that I found a very fair priced graphic designer.  To sum things up, I choose a package that included a logo, favicon and twitter background (all shown below).

The first change is a small one, but I think it’s one that’s important, a favicon.  A favicon is a small image that appears to the left of your URL and also in your favorites.  It’s more commonly known as an icon, but is technically called a favicon.  The one I have is a spin-off of my logo, but also the commonly known universal symbol for diabetes – the blue circle.

Next is the logo.  I really didn’t have anything special in mind and totally let the designer fire away.  I was very impressed when the draft came back as what you see below; Blogging diabetes with the word "diabetes" in orange to match the site theme and the "O" in "Blogging" the blue circle.  For those wondering, I first checked with the World Diabetes Organization to ensure my image wouldn’t violate any trademark or copyright stuff.  They obviously said it didn’t and I was clear to roll with it.

Finally, I recently transitioned (am still in the progress) most of my diabetes related followers on twitter under the @dsainsights id to my id that I setup way back for this site, which is @blogdiabetes.  To make things a bit more professional and clean, I had the designer create the following background.  It’s very clean and has the basic information for my site and to contact me.  One person tweeted that the oranges could represent healthy eating, so that’s what I’m going with.  I really don’t eat too many oranges mostly because they are higher in carbs, but nonetheless, the colors work.

I hope you like them and if you are interested in the designer just drop me a message and I’ll pass it along.

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In the November 23 issue of BusinessWeek, I read an interesting article in the "In Depth" section that discussed insurance companies testing a plan that offered participants no co-pays for diabetic supplies/drugs.  United is one of the companies that are testing this type of plan designed at trying to contain costs.  The plan and trend is managed care is called "value-based insurance". 

The idea is ultimately to offer financial incentives to patients based on their specific health issue.  It’s no secret that diabetes costs in the health care system are estimated at $174 billion a year.  With the alarming trend in new diabetes cases, this number could be even more absurd in the years to come. 

The question I have is; would you try harder, do better, eat less bad food, exercise more, workout more, and ultimately have a better A1c if someone was going to pay you.  I’m not saying this is what United is getting at; but hypothetically, would you do better if someone was going to pay you $100 per .1 drop in your A1c (going from 7.1 to 6.1 would net you $1,000).  I would think It would have to be very meaningful for people to take note and do better.  I mean, what’s more motivation than being alive and living a healthy life?  Money, hmmm, don’t think so. 

The whole problem with diabetes is that the effects are not immediate or even in the relative vicinity when you don’t take good care of yourself.  It’s 10 years down the road that the effects of poor control catch up and then it’s too late.  If you started to lose feeling in your feet right after eating that DQ Large Blizzard, I bet diabetes would be a lot more in check with people.

Back to the article, I think it’s an interesting concept to give financial rewards to those who work hard. 

What do you think?

I would like to wish you and your family a happy, joyous and safe Thanksgiving.  A special thank you goes to our men and women of the military stationed around the world in harms way. Be safe, strong and we’ll see you home soon.

It probably doesn’t show enough in the video, but I truly am thankful for my visitors, guest posters, followers on twitter and those who take the time to comment on these posts.

Like what you see?  Subscribe to Blogging Diabetes to stay updated on what’s new with diabetes.

Gary at Running with Type 1 served me up, so here we go!

1. Do you like bleu cheese?  Absolutely – especially on filet mignon.

2. Have you ever smoked?  Never, hate it and wish it was banned everywhere.

3. Do you own a gun?  Yes.

4. Favorite type of Food?  If we are talking in general it would have to be Italian. 

5. Favorite type of music? I listen to everything except death metal and country.  Can’t pick one.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Not healthy, but a must-have for baseball games.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? It would have to be Bad Santa.  My stomach hurt from laughing so much.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Monster Lo-Carb

9. Can you do push ups? Yes, but not as many as I use to.

10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?  My Rolex (don’t judge)

11. Favorite hobby? Golf

12. Do you have A. D. D.? Nope.

13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? Not yet.  Perfect vision, but I’m sure the “D” will catch up at some point.

14. Middle name? John after the pops.

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: 1) Who the F#$% is going to read all of these. 2) who the f*#& came up with these. 3) I wonder who’s posting to twitter as I write these answers.

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink: Monster Lo-Carb, Diet Mt. Dew and wine.  All the good stuff, right?

17. Current worry? Why I’ve been sick for like a week now and it’s f$%#ing up my blood sugars.  AND, I go see my Endo in a week.

18. Current hate right now? People that will buy a bottle of water and pay with a credit card.

19. Favorite place to be? On the beach with the family enjoying time away.

20. How did you bring in the new year? Neighbors house with a few drinks and kids running around till all hours of the night.

21. Someplace you’d like to go?  Cabo

22. Name three people who will complete this.  Rachel, Lorriane and Chris

23. Do you own slippers? Yup – BrookStone baby.

24. What color shirt are you wearing? Brown and gray.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Sure, but in between is better.

26. Can you whistle?  Yes, but not ear-piercing like some people that use their fingers.

27. Where are you now? Home office.

28. Would you be a pirate? No. I see the new age pirates overseas and it makes me crazy.  I’ll like to be the ones blowing them out of the water.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower?  Never sing in the shower.

30. Favorite Girl’s Name?  Candace (wifey points)

31. Favorite boy’s name? Tom Brady

32. What is in your pocket right now? Medtronic Insulin pump and cell phone

33. Last thing that made you laugh? Like LOL for real – The Hangover movie.

34. What vehicle do you drive? Mostly wife’s Infiniti FX because it’s fun, but I own a Toyota 4-Runner

35. Worst injury you’ve ever had? Broke my leg sledding when I was like 4. That was a fun ride 1.5 hrs to the hospital from where I was out in bum F$#^.

36. Do you love where you live?  Um, not really. I like it, but I don’t see it being forever.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house? 3 – I guess average.

38. How many computers do you have in your house? 3.  2 laptops and 1 desktop

39. If you changed your job, what would it be?  Endo maybe.

40. If you were granted three wishes, what would they be?  A cure.  My kids and wife outlive me and are healthy.  That this message could self destruct after your read it.