I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve started and stopped this blog. But since my three-month checkup day is coming up and I’m gearing myself up for another fight with my doctor, it’s as good a day as any to start over again.
My philosophy about my type 2 diabetes is probably a little different than most people. I firmly believe that I can beat this, and do it without having to take that final step of insulin shots. I’ve seen great results from the times that I’ve gotten enough exercise and paid attention to my diet, so I know from experience that lifestyle changes do work.
It’s not that I don’t believe in modern medicine, because I do. Who knows where I’d be or what condition I’d be in without things like metformin and actos, but I don’t like relying on the drugs and if I can find a way to get rid of them, then I’m all for it. I just truly believe that there’s too much I can do to change myself and live a more healthful lifestyle. But I have to be honest here and say that I’ve not been very consistent at it so far, and it’s my plan that by committing to writing about it regularly, I’ll also be committing to keeping myself on track and meeting my fitness and health goals.
So far the goals I’ve set for myself are:
1. To compete in, and finish, a sprint triathlon (looking like this will be in 2011 now)
2. To get my weight down to 150 lbs.
3. To toss all my meds by December 31, 2010.
Why do I think I can be more successful this time? Well, I’m more determined this time than ever before. I’ll be fifty soon and I have plans for the rest of my life that don’t include being dragged down by obesity and disease. :) The other reason I think I’ll be more successful at keeping things going is because I’ve changed the focus of this blog from all the news about diabetes itself to how it actually affects me. Maybe it’s a selfish way to look at it, but when I read news reports and articles I think about how those findings relate to my life and how I can use that knowledge to my advantage.
So here’s the deal…
If you decide to stick around and read, I will be forever grateful to you. I also promise to be frank, blunt, and as honest as I possibly can be about my journey here. And you have to promise in return to not to take anything I say as medical advice. Just because I argue with my doctors doesn’t mean you should necessarily argue with yours. :)
If you like what you read, or even if you don’t and have some constructive criticism, and leave a comment about it… you’ll make my day! All comments are moderated to prevent the spammy ones, so there might be a bit of a delay in it showing up.
Thanks for reading this far, and thanks for being here!
A Little More Motivation
As if women needed any more motivation to make the lifestyle changes to beat type 2 diabetes, a recent article on the site Food For Breast Cancer has summarized recent research findings on the relationship between obesity, type 2 diabetes, and breast cancer.
The good news is that one of the studies found that a goal of 5% weight loss achievable over a 6-month period, and that this “resulted in improvement in multiple tissue-based breast cancer risk biomarkers.”
Knowing that I’m approaching the age where mammograms are going to become another yearly thing to deal with makes me even more motivated to lose weight and get this disease under control. Five percent weight loss equates to only about 15 pounds for me, so I’m making that my first weight loss goal on the road to reaching 150 pounds.