Days 7 & 8: Discouragement

My enemy isn’t behaving as it should. I’ve given it a pummeling, but my glucose readings seem to indicate that I’ve lost a couple of skirmishes. I was so discouraged yesterday that I didn’t feel like going public, but I’m okay now.

I realize that this is as much a balancing act as it is a war. I’m balancing a very challenging soy-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, corn-free eating regimen; a high-altitude walking plan; more meds, vitamins and minerals than I can easily digest; chronic sinus and bronchial problems; a 16/7 work life; and a lot more stuff than you need to know about.

Oh, and this is American Diabetes Month. My decision to wage war on the disease right now is entirely coincidental, but fitting.

Fasting glucose readings: 200 on Day 7; 217 on Day 8. Hence the discouragement.

Day 6: Reversing Diabetes

So maybe there’s no cure for diabetes, but both my doctors have convinced me that we can reverse its effects. It helps, too, that I have a friend who was able to stop taking oral meds simply by amping up her diet and exercise regime. I'm very much a believer.

The best book I’ve read so far on this aggressive approach to diabetes treatment is Dr. Julian Whitaker’s Reversing Diabetes. During the spring I followed this program and saw my blood glucose levels drop dramatically. (From late May until a few weeks ago I was on the road a lot promoting my latest book, and I let the program slide.)

I’m back on it now,* and I expect to see the results soon enough. The book contains lots of recipes, most of which I love. But then, I’m accustomed to using whole grains and other natural foods. If you’re not, some of the dishes will take some getting used to. But it’s worth it if you can get a handle on your blood glucose levels.

There’s a companion cookbook titled Reversing Diabetes Cookbook that I imagine is well worth buying.

Fasting glucose: 175 (Yikes! *Don’t blame Dr. Whitaker; I indulged in some late-night snacking.)

Day 5: Flat 14ers

Here in Colorado we have 54 mountain peaks that reach an altitude of 14,000 feet or higher, like Crestone Needle (pictured above). I’m looking out my window at one right now—Pikes Peak, whose summit is 14,110 feet above sea level. Our picture-postcard view of the peak’s north face is what sold us on the house we’re in now. Little else mattered.

I may never summit Pikes Peak in the usual way, though don’t put it past me. But I can walk the number of steps equivalent to the distance to the top, which some helpful person has calculated to be 23,000 steps.

That calculation is part of a program known as the Flat 14ers Club, which gives those of us who aren’t mountain climbers measurable goals to reach for. The distance to the summits of all 54 peaks has been translated into steps, and participants wear pedometers to keep track of the number of steps they take each day. The idea is to select one peak, walk the appropriate number of steps, log your success on a chart and then reset the pedometer and start on another peak.

For diabetics, finding an exercise program that you’ll actually follow is critical to warding off the debilitating effects of the disorder.

This particular program seemed to be custom-made for me. I lost a friend to a mountain-climbing accident over the summer, so now I walk to honor her and her passion for mountain climbing. She had summited all 54 peaks the hard way. When I’m walking on relatively flat land* and start to falter after several miles, I only have to think of Linda, and I’m immediately energized.

I’ve been on the program for a week or so, and I’m already on my second peak. I chose Crestone Needle, where Linda died, for my first peak. It’s located in the beautiful Sangre de Cristo range, and its height of 14,197 feet translates into 16,000 steps.

The peak I’m working on now is Snowmass Mountain, because of its connection with St. Benedict’s Monastery, a Trappist community that is home to contemplative-living author Thomas Keating. It helps me to remain focused and motivated when I can make an association like that. It’s also a 16,000-step mountain.

You can find out more about the Flat 14ers and other walking programs from America on the Move.

Fasting glucose: 111 (!!)

* Trust me, “flat” is a relative term where I live. You only have to look at a topographical map of Teller County to see that there’s precious little flat land up here.

Day 4: Working in working out

Working out is like writing. I love having written, though I don’t always love the process of writing.

Likewise, I love having worked out, though I almost never love the process of working out, especially since I’m still in pain from a bad fall---on granite--back in June. I was so banged up that instead of wearing a sexy little dress to my high school reunion in September, I had to wear an outfit that pretty much covered me from head to toe. Oh, and my friend’s dog bit me the night before, so my leg was bandaged from that, too. Buckets o’ fun.

The Curves workout is especially painful right now because of all the upper-body work and the persistent pain in my shoulders. I’m fortunate in that I can walk to Curves, which is great, except for the fact that it’s all downhill on the way there. Meaning, of course, that it’s all uphill on the way home, after I’ve already pushed my body to the limit.

And then there’s the wind. At 8,500 feet, we get more than our share of wind. The uphill walk is in a westward direction, straight into the winds that routinely pound the Rockies at this time of year. Otherwise, walking is great. I did four miles the other day and actually lived to blog about it.

My biggest problem is time. Walking to Curves, working out, and walking back is an hour and a half commitment. Taking a walk that lasts less than an hour doesn’t feel challenging at all. I realize that simply walking, even for a half hour, is better than nothing at all, but somehow I can’t wrap my head around that. Working a workout into my already overloaded schedule is the real challenge.

But this is war. I can’t forget that. So I’m off to Curves, wind or no wind. No matter how winded I get.

Fasting glucose: 145 (on the way down!)

Day 3: Celiac diet

My friend Eryn, whose husband has celiac disease, graciously lent me several gluten-free cookbooks and sent me these links to celiac- and gluten-free sites:

• http://www.celiac.com/. Not surprsingly, the go-to site for all things celia. Very helpful.


• http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/. Fun, personal blog from one who has been and is still there.


• http://www.celiacsite.com/index.php3. Lots of celiac news here.


• http://www.outsidethebreadbox.com/. A gluten-free bakery in neighboring Colorado Springs (Old Colorado City area). They ship via UPS.


• http://www.cereskitchenco.com/. Gluten-free baked goods, sauces, full meals and so forth. Located in the Briargate area of Colorado Springs.

A Google search turned up lots of other sites, of course, as well as numerous gluten-free stores and bakeries around the country and online sources for specialty products. If you have any other recommendations, send them along, okay? I need to create a 30-day menu plan, so I'd appreciate any help I can get.

Just to be clear, I don't have celiac disease; my doctor wants me on this diet to see if this helps the myriad health issues I do have. I don't need to worry all that much about cross-contamination the way other people might.

Fasting glucose: 156

Day 2: My Battle Plan

Well, it’s actually my doctors’s battle plan. He passed it along to me, and I signed on. Here are the basics

• Keep a food diary. (I’ve never been good at this, but this is war.)
• 30 minutes of exercise every day without fail. (Living in Colorado makes this one easy. We have hiking trails everywhere.)
• Get outside every day, regardless of the weather. (See above.)
• Plan menus 30 days in advance. (I really don’t like this one, but I’ll do it. I’ve already had several false starts, but maybe tomorrow…)
• Follow a dairy-free, soy-free, corn-free, gluten-free diet. (I only have a problem with the soy-free stipulation, since I eat little meat and rely on soy for protein. But beans and rice work for me, so I can do this.)
• Get enough sleep. (Always a problem for me. I don’t sleep well and never have.)
• Supplements: a bunch of stuff I already take, including fish oil, Vitamin D, B-complex and lots of other vitamins and minerals, and a new one, Probiotic.

My doctor did make one mistake: he underestimated me. He told me to spend the next two months planning all this out and then get started on the program after the holidays. I’m sure he thought that made sense, but not to me. Hey, if this is war, it starts now.

Today’s fasting glucose reading: 155

I've declared war!

If, like me, you have Type 2 diabetes, it's likely that you've resigned yourself to a lifetime of challenges that either become the focus of your life or become so daunting that you want to give up. I've faced those challenges in both ways and pretty much every way in between.

But then a mini miracle occurred. The rural area where I live received a grant to provide medical care and guidance to people at high risk for heart problems. As every diabetic should know, that includes all of us. Because I have neither health insurance nor a predictable income, I hadn't been seeing my doctor or getting tested as often as I should have. This program was a godsend.

What astonished me most was that the doctor affiliated with this program was every bit as holistically oriented as my previous doctor had been. Considering that I live in a small mountain town with few doctors, to find two that took a body, mind and spirit approach to diabetes was so unexpected.

Dr. James told me I needed to declare a 90-day war on diabetes. So this is Day 1. I'll post more tomorrow about the specifics of the program I'm on.

I decided to go public with this as a means of accountability and to offer hope to other Type 2 diabetics. To do the latter, I really have to work the program and not give up. If you're doing something similar, let me know so we can encourage each other, okay?

Fasting glucose level: 180