I had a visit with a Doctor yesterday. She looked down at my medical records and asked, "When did you quit smoking?" For the life of me I couldn't remember the last time I had a cigarette. Today I remembered that I took a picture of my last pack. I can't believe that it's been 12 years now. One of the best decisions I ever made.
I’m considering purchasing a Japanese futon as I learned that many people sleep better as it keeps your spine aligned.
After turning 65 years old and retired, I decided that it was high time I started paying attention to my health. At age 50 I tested positive for Type II Diabetes and have been struggling 15 long years trying to find an answer. At 65 my fasting glucose reading was coming in at over 300.
Like most I went through different diets and exercise programs and of course all of the medications that my Doctor prescribed. I even spent a full two years of trying to live on a strict vegan diet. While there were times when I did better than others overall I just couldn’t get my blood glucose into a normal range. It didn’t make sense, I was doing everything that I was told to do. I delved into research from all the latest medical advice that was available at the time.
It wasn’t until recently that I discovered two solutions to my problem that actually made sense. I started reading about lifestyle medicine and metabolic health. I started looking at my own body from the cellular level. Now I can’t get into all of the detailed information that I learned as it would take up a whole book, but I can describe the plan I created for myself and the results of this plan. At first it was not easy and I went through some pretty significant changes along the way. A lot of trial and error. Many of these changes were pertinent to my success. I had to consider my genetic makeup, my lifestyle and the foods I put into my body over the last 65 years. Anyway, here are my latest results:
DAY 1: A1c - 12.01
DAY 90: A1C - 7.05
DAY 1: WEIGHT - 175.4, BMI 25.4
DAY 90: WEIGHT - 161.2, BMI 23.1
These are the rules I created for myself which I am practicing each day:
SLEEP - I set an 8 hour period that is dedicated to just sleep. Bed time is 9:00 PM and wake time is 5:00 AM. Most of the time I wake up before 5:00 AM and other times I sleep past it. At 8:00 PM I start winding down by avoiding any screens. No TV, no digital devices. I sleep in complete darkness with no light or noises that may disturb my sleep. With all of the exercise I do each day I am finding that I sleep better and am not waking up several times each night.
Upon waking each morning I weight myself, check my fasting glucose and drink 16 oz of water. I try not to drink coffee until 90 minutes after I wake.
STRESS - As we all experience stress in our lives at certain levels I had to learn to stop absorbing it. I learned that the stress I am feeling is of my own creation dictated by my desire to control things. Somethings are just not under my control and negative emotions can arise if I don’t keep them in check. I simply right it down in a notebook as something that needs to be addressed, unless it dictates an immediate response. But not every problem is an emergency. When I look at the problem with fresh eyes the next day I usually come up with a solution. Whenever I feel that I am allowing a problem to get to me I put on my walking shoes, get outside and start walking. Stress raises cortisol which raises insulin which caused the liver to release glucose to the blood stream.
DIET AND NUTRITION - At first I decided that I needed to eliminate sugar and carbs from my diet. While at first I was getting good results I just wasn’t making the changes needed to get to where I needed to be. I was eating just meat, fish, and vegetables. It was after I removed the vegetables from my diet that I really saw positive results. My diet right now consists of:
Ribeye Steak, Ground Beef, Eggs, Salmon, Cod, Sardines, Butter and Salt. No chemicals, no seasonings and absolutely no sugar or carbs. I simply choose what I want to eat out of these items at either lunchtime or dinner time. Now you can call this diet keto or carnivore or whatever you like, but I call it a Metabolic Diet. I feel satiated and have no desire to eat between meals.
I adopted a daily supply of vitamins and minerals which I take at exactly 12:00 PM each day with lunch:
DAILY SUPPLEMENTS:
BERBERINE HCI COMPLEX (1300 MG)
MAGNESIUM GLYCINATE (240 MG)
D3 125 MCG (5000IU)
CHELATED MULTI MINERALS FULL SPECTRUM
BENFOTIAMINE (B1 600 MG)
VITAMIN C (1000 MG)
ZINC (50 MG)
FISH OIL (1400 MG)
CREATINE (5 MG)
KETO ELECTROLYTE WITH 16 OZ WATER
EXERCISE - I started walking 10,000 steps per day. This wasn’t easy at first due to bad weather days until I joined a gym and started using the treadmill. I started lifting weights and created a daily schedule:
MONDAY - CHEST
TUESDAY - ARMS
WEDNESDAY - SHOULDERS and PICKLEBALL
THURSDAY - BACK
FRIDAY - LEGS and PICKLEBALL
SATURDAY - ABS
SUNDAY - REST DAY, BOWLING
I lift light weights and strive for 3 sets of 21, 15, 10 reps. Once I can achieve 21 reps I raise the weight 5 lbs. While it’s only 6 weeks since I actually started lifting I can all ready sense and see my muscle tone being restored.
Each day before I start living weights I jump on the treadmill for 30 minutes to warm my body up. I start at 3.2 mph and bump it up each minute, 3.2 - 3.3 -3.4 and so on. At 15 minutes I start bumping it down the same way. What I am doing is slowly bringing my blood pressure up and slowly allowing it to come down.
Movement throughout the day is important so I never allow myself to sit longer than 30 minutes. I utilize an Apple Watch for tracking my health progress along with an app called HEVY to track my weight lifting.
Additionally I play pickleball twice a week and bowl.
FASTING - This is simple for me as I just don’t eat breakfast. Lunch is at 12:00 PM and dinner is at 5:00 PM. This allows for a 19 hour window each day to allow my body to heal. Every two weeks I practice a weekend fast of 24 hours to allow for additional healing. My last meal is at 5:00 PM on Friday and my next meal is at 5:00 PM on Saturday.
This was my 90 Metabolic Journey and I look forward to posting more results at the 180 day mark. I am free to suggestions and look forward to discussing any questions you may have.
I AM NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL NOR A CERTIFIED TRAINER. THIS PLAN AND JOURNEY I AM ON WAS CREATED JUST FOR ME. ANY DIET OR EXERCISE PROGRAM NEEDS TO BE DISCUSSED WITH A PRIMARY CARE SPECIALIST BEFORE TAKING ON.
I vision in my head living in a tiny home, but not just any tiny home. This plan in my head and in my dreams shows me a tiny home without wheels placed on top of a basement foundation. This tiny house would exist on just 1/8th of an acre.
The 1/8 acre lot would allow plenty of room for micro gardening. There will be a section of the property for south facing solar panels. The property is completely fenced in to keep wild animals out.
The basement foundation will serve several purposes. A propane heater with a/c evaporator which feeds air vents throughout the house. Several I Beams support the house creating a strong shelter from potential hurricanes.
The house itself would be only one floor in structure and be built the minimum size that code allows with an attached garage. A large deck/porch screened in to keep the bugs out with a side deck for grilling. Two small bedrooms is all I need and a single bath. The kitchen is large enough for a full size fridge, but small enough to not feel overwhelming.
Could this actually become a reality? I don’t know, but it is fun to dream about.
My primary care physician sent my pharmacy a prescription for a (CGM) Continuous Glucose Monitor. The pharmacy wanted to pay full price because they don’t work with Medicare. They suggested that I have the prescription sent to CVS, which I did. CVS told me that Medicare denied the claim because I wasn’t on insulin. It seems to me that when a patient tries to do things to be healthier they are denied. This makes no sense to me as a healthy patient has less ailments and disease which is less cost to the Medicare system. Do they prefer that my Type 2 Diabetes gets worst to the point that I will need insulin? Is our system that broken?
You make through all of the struggles for most of your life. The tough jobs, the crazy marriages and raising a family. Life is challenging with the people you love stepping into drug addiction and psychiatric issues. Life was not easy but you find your way through.
After two divorces I came to the point in my life where I just wanted to give up on sharing my life with another. I lived alone for about two years and was content in where I was in my life, so I thought. I started dating a good friend at work and we both discovered that we had more in common than we thought. Friendship quickly turned into love and together we lived out our dreams. We went camping along beautiful rivers, hiked some of the most mountains this country had to offer and had our morning coffee sitting beside the roaring ocean upon sunrise. This pattern went on for many years as we travelled to witness many of our grandchildren birth’s, and spent quality time with family and friends. When we couldn’t get away you would find us locally mountain biking in local area’s on the weekends. Life was brilliant and exciting.
But the cycles of life never guaranteed that this bliss would last forever. It’s been about 5 years now since my beautiful bride started getting sick. A slow pattern of cognitive decline was sprung upon her that changed our lives in a different direction. As she suffers, I suffer too at her side to care for her needs. It is a challenge that I never thought would come my way, but here it is and here we are. Our dream in our retirement was to purchase a motorhome and set out to visit every National Park throughout the country. Obviously this never happened as we are now trapped in our small retirement community living out the final years of our lives in quiet desperation.
I’ve lived my life as the warrior. You know, the one always ready for a new challenge to take on. The problem solver who can find an answer to pretty much any issue which needs to be addressed. I was the protector of the weak and the defender and helper to those less fortunate. It was a proud role that I took on with confidence and pride.
While the warrior inside of me still lives today I have learned that not every problem in life has a solution. I now believe that there is a certain amount of suffering, that while not comfortable, eventually brings on a lesson of learning. I live out my life one day at a time and put in my best effort and still celebrate all of the good years that I have been granted in sharing my love and life with my bride. Seeing pictures of our past adventures brings out that spirit inside me that sometimes I believe I’ve lost. This spirit ignites me to cherish this love that I’ve found that illness can never take away from me.
Does anyone else us the app GLUCOSE on their iPhones? I've used it for years and this is the first time I can't get it to work. I keep getting the message that it is importing from APPLE HEALTH then locks up. My phone gets hot and the battery drains.
Has anyone gotten rid of all of their physical books and switched over to just reading on Kindle or Apple Books?
I started this project many years ago and managed to get my book collection down to just 20 books. The lucky 20 sits on a shelf collecting dust and I never touch them. These are the types of books that when I first read them I knew I wanted to save them for future reference. The truth is I never touched them again. Recently I placed them all in a box and set them aside for possible donation. 100% of my reading now is either on my iPhone or iPad.
Ultimately we all have the ability to make the choice of being happy vs not being happy. The external world can only have control over your emotions if you allow it. Many say the lack of money doesn’t allow for happiness, but I’ve met some of the poorest people in the world and they were still happy.
What makes you truly happy?
My wife and I moved into a 55+ community 3 years ago and I’ve tried getting on board with forming new relationships with other retired folks. I find that I have no shared interests with most of them. I don’t like playing board games, I don’t watch TV or sports, I don’t eat out. I am still into learning and self development, especially when it comes to my health. I do a lot of reading. I despise any type of drama or negativity. I can’t say I haven’t tried to fit in, I just don’t. What the hell do I do?
