90 Days of a Metabolic Journey
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.