time for a few big changes for me
 

So back in January I had my first physical in 20 years. Wasn't that much of a physical - bp, heart rate, breathing, talking about my history. Finally went last week and had my blood drawn (yeah I know...) and talked with the doc friday.

Apparently I'm fat and bordering on diabetes. The fat part I knew, the diabetes part I know I have a family history but that is all.

Good news is the doc thinks if I drop some weight, watch what I eat, I will "be fine".

So... had what I hope is my last cigarrette last night, and I'll be hitting the college gym at lunch to do 20-30 minutes on a stationary bike.

Doc agrees with my plan, says that should do it but we'll re-do blood work in 2 months and see where I stand. May need some changes to diet, but I've started those - no sugar in the coffee, no late night ice cream, cookies, etc. Will change lunch from 12" subway sub to a salad (same fixings, just no bread to cut the carbs).

I am sure you are capable of the changes needed. Congrats for the change in lifestyle:)

Before you buy anything in the Super you should read the content label. You will be surprised at all the Carbs/Sugar AND Sodium that is in the food ya eat...Also cut the Sodium...SALT..

For a sweetner for da Coffee you can go to Splenda or equivalant.

This means NO Pasta, Rice, Potatoe, White Bread or equivalent, Pizza or Bier.


Keep your Carbs at 60 Grams a day..

One cup of Milk contains 15 Grams of Carbs...

Don't do the fake sugar stuff - I've said for years that either the real natural thing or if I can't have it, I can't have it. Coffee with just a splash of milk instead of milk and sugar is tolerable, and I like my ice tea unsweet anyway. Carbs will be the harder part, since I like my beer, grits, and potatos, but I don't have to remove them, just minimize them.

Chantix is expensive, but effective. It attaches to the receptors that nicotine uses. This does two things. First, it makes you always feel as if you just had a cig. Second, if/when you smoke, the receptors are already full/occupied, so the smoking of a cigarette does nothing to change the way you feel. They become useless.

Cutting out the late night snacks is a great idea.

Another thing that will do wonders for your weight and body shape is to simply cut white flour and white sugar from your diet. Cutting all carbs is great, but if you simply cut the WHITE flour and sugar from your diet, you will notice a huge difference in just a few weeks. And this would still allow you to eat whole grain items such as bread. Sure, cutting all carbs is great but difficult. Simply switch to whole grains and natural sugars.

Which brings me to the next thing. Whole foods. Stay out of the isle-part of the supermarket. Buy your food around the perimeter. Fresh vegetables and meats.

If you make these changes, it will not take long for you to develop a distaste for processed foods. White bread will stop looking yummy. Boxed and canned foods will lose their appeal. Vegetables are (or at lest can be) just delicious. Eat all the potatoes you want. Just stay away from foods that come with an ingredient list on the package.

And as far as exercising goes, if you want to exert yourself and tax your cardio vascular system, great. But you don't have to do this. Take a walk each evening through your neighborhood. You will come to really enjoy it. This will also help you sleep better.

And turn off your TV. Switch from WATCHING stuff to DOING stuff. This too will increase your happiness and sense of peace.

Get some round toothpicks, keep them in the car...reach or them instead of a smoke.

Worked for me. You HAVE to win this one 10t.

Let me get this straight - you got this news in January and now you're making changes? Better late than never I guess...

Take this seriously - been a diabetic since I was 13 - not because I was fat - but the diabetic lifestyle isn't something you want to strive for...

-Z-man

Soak em in cinnamon or peppermint oil (little vials at health food stores). Clove oil is a numbing agent.

As far as Chantix, I know a couple people who tried that route.
Both are back to smoking, but one had her memory virtually erased and became manic/depressive as a result of that drug. Stable person who just wigged out from a bad reaction.

I've been told that 15 minutes twice a week at your target heart rate (THR) is enough for cardio training. Build up to that slowly. Be sure to take a warm up period and a cool down period.

The objective is to work just under the sweat threshold at at the target rate. Your THR is determined by your height/weight/age. Mine is 115.

Don't do this stuff alone. Get and use qualified advice.

I agree with everything you wrote with the exception of the statement quoted above. For me, a small baked potato will spike my blood sugar higher than a piece of chocolate cake. Potatoes should cut from the diet if trying to avoid high blood sugar.

That makes sense, Ron. I am not a doctor and diabetes is a game-changer. I simply believe that, aside from diabetes or other complications, most folks would look and feel twenty years younger if they just switched to whole foods and took a stroll in the evenings.

Oh, and another interesting benefit is that, with most whole foods, you can eat until you explode and still lose weight. Vegetables especially. There are a few vegetables that I REALLY like. Cabbage. Kale. Beets. Eat all you want. I'm boiling a chicken carcass right now. I will add bunches of cabbage, carrots, blah blah.....and this will be great for my lunches at work, along with salads. Easy, inexpensive and it will make me feel good compared to burgers and fries.

What Paul said...you simply HAVE to win this one! If it helps, look at it this way: You HAVE already quit...now ask youself if you're going to START smoking again...I didn't think so :)...good luck and stay determined!

Find out what works for you and stick with it!

Good luck, my friend. I quit smoking cold turkey 10 or so years ago and have not looked back once.

You will do this... just remember that it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle...

Someone I know very well: 214 lb, smoker, sedentary, on multiple cholesterol and blood pressure drugs, blood sugar getting to borderline pre-diabetic, lots of other medical problems. Now 180, non-smoker, commute and shop and almost everything else by bicycle, not on any drugs and all medical issues gone away. You can do it. It will take some time, maybe even a couple years, but you'll see improvement fairly early on.

Another thing to consider is that these lifestyle changes are not concessions. It might seem at first like you're "giving up" stuff that are pleasurable but after you've made the changes, you will keep the new behaviors not just because of their affect on your doctor's remarks. You'll keep the new behaviors because they feel better than the addictions did. A healthy lifestyle is not less fun than the unhealthy one. They are actually more pleasurable. Eating meals made from raw food and taking strolls is MORE pleasurable than eating processed foods and watching TV. When you remove yourself from those addictions, you will view them with more objectivity, and reject them because you enjoy the new behaviors more.

A couple of easy dietary changes:
- cut out the soda (it is almost pure sugar, 12 ounces of coke is equivalent to 11 teaspoons of sugar)
- eat 1/2 as much, as you normally would, of any grain or flour or potato based food. That's rice, pasta, bread, cookies, muffins, bagels, fries, hash browns, etc. This stuff has very high calorie-to-volume, and is used as cheap filler in many commercial foods.
- no eating after 8 pm. If you must, make it a fruit or veg (carrot, apple, etc), definitely no dairy or baked anything.
- more small meals rather than a few big meals.

He's right. I made it easier to read.

STOP smoking right now 10t...the rest is Supe.

In cutting out bread, donuts, cookies etc, you will notice that all these things not only have sugar in common, but wheat as well. I would go one step farther and suggest you cut wheat from you diet immediately. There is a book I read a while ago written by a dietitian & metoboligist and according to the MD author, there is a large segment of folks out there that normal diets just don't help. I'll see if I can find it for you. I believe her name is Dr. Anna Kissin, MD, and her book is on Diabetes, Metabolism. I found it in our local library a while ago and many family members found it to right on. Z-man probably knows who I'm talking about so he may know the book exactly or even your doctor? She was interviewed several months ago on 60 minutes. Sure made sense to me. Just know it took you a while to get in this situation and you will not get out overnight. Just keep working the plan and you'll get there. It will literally change your life, for the better although right now you may not be convinced.
Good luck.

Another bit of advice.....get rid of the microwave.....it'll force you to cook naturally.
We have been microwave free for 3 years now and have never missed it, it'll also force you to look at what you are buying to eat.
We eliminated processed food from our lives at the same time and have never felt better.......

Everyone I know who has had the same health situation, and made the changes you have talked about, have been successful.

And they love the new them enough to stick with it. One guy; I would say he looks 10 years younger, he probably looks 15 years younger, and is really enjoying his fit healthy new life.

I rode 50 miles on Saturday on my touring bike with a friend who's a nurse and works some wicked hours. I think she's about 43 or 44. She described a moment a year plus ago where she realized she was starting to take the same pain meds her older patients were taking and felt like crap every day. Sore, tired, etc.

Two weekends ago she did the Seattle to Portland bike ride in one day. She feels completely different, no pain from her arthritis, plenty of energy, etc. She's now in better shape than her co workers in their 20's and 30's. She literally talks about cycling changing her life. If you start exercising and continue to increase your fitness it will help your diet. You won't want to put garbage in to your body.

Jerry,

You beat me too it. I rode 75 miles this weekend and have been riding regularly for 12 years. Prior to that, I wasn't obese or anything, but I was not in good aerobic shape. Since getting back into cycling in earnest in 2000, I have ridden 100 miles on consecutive days at least 5 times and I just love the time on the bike.

The thing about cycling is to start riding without feeling pressure to match anyone's pace. There will always be someone that is stronger and faster. When you start, you just need to turn the pedals for as long as you can. The other great thing about cycling is that, if you really get into it, you will be forced to constantly think about hydration, nutrition and electrolytes. If you apply that to your time off the bike as well, you are on your way to a healthier lifestyle.

Check out the zone diet by Barry Sears. It will help you eat like your ancestors, fresh unprocessed foods in the proper proportions. It works well at keeping your blood sugar regulated.

According to some recent studies, real cane sugar doesn't have the same negative effect as high fructose corn syrup. I will post links after I go back and find them. Found it on arstechnica.com not some fly by night website so I would think they are somewhat trustworthy.

exercise and diet.

for such a simple recipe..it is awfully difficult. good luck!!

you dont want to mess around with diabetes. it is a horrible affliction. your kidneys take a beating..your capillaries take a beating. horrible.

Is this the one Brent?

Zone Diet | Home of Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition

Yes, though I have only read the two books and not seen the other...stuff.

It takes work, but I can tell you from personal experience that yuo do have better mental performance and better control of your weight. Jennifer Aniston was on it a long time, don't know if she still is. Many olympic athletes used it through the 90s and into the 00s. Don't know if they still do. His portion sizes are based on % body fat instead of the BMI.

eating in five-six tiny meals a day is fantastic strategy too.

you dont load up your system with a big food load..but simply dose up in smaller portions. you graze!

i hope i never become per-diabetic or worse.

CONGRATS!!!! I had my last on at 1600, October 12, 2011. I was a 7 stick a day smoker but it has made a HUGE difference.

I used to run alot. IT band problems ended that. Walking is good but take your time and enjoy the endorphin benefits, but just be patient. Good luck.