On implementing a life change.
My obsession with knocking this pre-diabetes situation into remission via ‘lifestyle as medicine’ has me spinning, bobbing, and spouting. I am sorry if you are one of those people (friends, family, coworkers, anyone with a heartbeat) trying to tactfully back away and get on with your life.
My agenda here is to inspire about a tired topic: ‘sticking with it.’
Fear or fire and brimstone may start the engine but it’s rarely enough to win the long race. We must play in the game.
Years ago, at a dear friend’s wedding, I marveled at how some people flourished with formal dance moves and others busted out with their own made-up method. All flavors kept the beat and became the music. It was all delight on that dance floor on a perfect summer night many many moons ago.
Maybe you are like me, clumsy with form–never bonding with a coordinated group, but we still know that a good group leader can herd us in the same general direction as we find our way.
Remember that long-term goals are the true north. Promissory, wicked-fast results reek of being unsustainable in real life. If you don’t feel results within some reasonable time-frame, move along. Keep looking for your mates.
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Enjoy every wholesome sweetness that you encounter. You chose it on purpose. It wasn’t some random, thoughtless, half-tasted junk that you grabbed and put in your mouth. You can really taste it now that your taste buds have adapted and are deliciously more sensitive.
I’m showing off now. Here is my blue-goose jam (blueberry and gooseberry) as a topping on my wife’s lemon ricotta cake. I’ve never enjoyed dessert as much as I do now.
Now I will spout some braggy news: My latest A1c is now at the bottom of the pre-diabetes range (5.7) whereas it’s been firmly, stubbornly in the middle of the range (5.9) since I started this business about 10-ish months ago.
This is doable if you want it. Please know that taking medication alone is not the ‘done’ or only button. You may need it in the arsenal. Yet even if in full-on disease mode, you can re-balance and move your own boat in a better direction. It’s easier to navigate if curiosity and new buddies are with you.
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Own your eating habits. If you love pasta (or <ahem> jam) then it must be part of your new adopted food-scape. I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to ‘hear’ how it feels when I go about my business and consume the full range of simple and complex sugars. I am still learning. Sleep and overall stress management is a huge variable that can mean the difference of normal glucose handling and ‘Houston, we have a problem.’
Our cells react to individual ingredients in wildly different ways because of the context of life. All of these guidelines are built around the math of averages. You may be at one end of the spectrum, and I may be at the other. Some aspect of the general guidelines that don’t work for me might be golden for you. We can meet in the middle about the big things. Real food, not processed, is an obvious starting place. Investigate for yourself how, say, oats as you usually eat them affect you. Whole versus more ground up? Huge differences in how and what we absorb.
As you may suspect, I will keep sharing my moves on this topic.
Any questions? May we dance together?
I love a good dance. And I love your witticisms about your processes and findings. And, finally, I want some of that jam! Thanks for sharing, friend. Exciting news about your test results!
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Thank you so much Ronnie! I’ll reach out on a private channel and send you some. I have an overage of 2022 jams. They are still good but I like to use them within a year or so.