My Story II

It has been a month since my last post… this is going to be a long one... much to tell. I've been busy and working on some projects, it was just difficult for me to find the time. I’ve been updating folks in Facebook … it is sooo much easier to post items there…if you want to stay updated in the future it would be best for you to find me at this link http://profile.to/stevecooksey/ on Facebook.

I had a “physical” a couple of weeks ago. It was what my doctor calls my “once a decade whether I need it or not Check Up”. :) Which leads me to my first point….SCHEDULE REGULAR CHECK UPS! Had I done this… I may have avoided all of my troubles…

Last week I received the results of my blood lab work. Before I made the results public, I wanted to obtain the same information from my blood reports while I was in the hospital in Feb. ’09, about 7 months earlier.

Why? You know…so I would have something to compare it to. Despite the fact that for 3 days I was a human pin cushion AND despite the high priced cost of the 3 day hospital stay….apparently the information was not recorded. The only note that was made on the reports was “cholesterol high”.

Let’s see….hmmm….I was obese, just diagnosed diabetic with high blood pressure… to me, writing “cholesterol high” really didn’t add any new information to the equation… I think “cholesterol high” given the circumstances…was a given.

The historical information was important to me on several fronts but most important to me, I wanted to be able to say definitively, “I was here, I did XYZ and now I am here… TADA!”

Unfortunately…all I can say is… “I am here….TADA!” :)

Doctor Visit / Lab Work

I was nervous and anxious heading into the visit... I had been off all meds and insulin for about 6 months...and I have drastically changed my LIFESTYLE. I had changed from a slothful, sedentary garbage disposal to an exercising, nutritious eating…person.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE read and pass this info on to known diabetics…please!

When I discharged from the hospital I stumbled about for a couple of weeks on the ADA/FDA Food Pyramid ( giving this to diabetics should be criminal, it is immoral and unethical ). My doctor referred me to the Low Glycemic Diet, in a nutshell, the diet suggests swapping higher carb foods for lower carb foods. I adhered to this diet for several weeks and saw good results as my blood sugars came down. BUT I thought…if swapping for lower was “good” …wouldn’t swapping for even lower carbs be better? …. The answer was…YES!!!

After about a month I was completely weaned off of insulin and all medications. So I thought…I was doing AWESOME!!!! WHY did I think I was doing awesome?….because everything given to me by the “medical community” said that normal fasting overnight blood sugar range is 70 – 120 and I was consistently in the 100-115 range… so I was “NORMAL” ….right?

Short answer…wrong…I’ll explain.

For months I was doing “my thing”, I was eating lean meats, veggies, nuts, beans, whole grain cereal, occasional whole grain pasta and occasional rice etc etc. Life was good. I check my blood sugar every couple of weeks, I was always in the 100-115 range.

Then in my ever continuing quest to find more and more information….I find a webpage that says this:

Normal Fasting Blood Sugar range is 70-100, a leading doctor specializing in diabetes treatment suggests a targeting blood sugar of 85, which is the average fasting blood sugar level for non-diabetics.

To make a long story short…. I confirmed this information. Oh no…it wasn’t easy…

The American Diabetes Assoc. …to put it bluntly, they really tick me off for many reasons. For one, I’ve already mentioned their food pyramid. It lists grains, breads, rice, cereal, pasta ….as the BASE!!!!...recommending 6-11 servings…TRUST ME…other than sugar…these are the LAST THINGS YOU SHOULD EAT!!!

Secondly, I had to dig and dig to find what they say the normal range is….further more… I could not find an average fasting blood sugar level for non-diabetics… DON”T YOU THINK THAT WOULD BE A NICE GOAL!!!! DON”T YOU THINK THAT IS PERTINENT INFORMATION AND SHOULD BE READILY AVAILABLE!!!

Click here to find their priorities…it’s healthcare reform petitions and donations oh...and the recipe of the day....it's sandwich.... http://www.diabetes.org

Back to the story, so now I find that I need to lower my target. The only way to do that is to lower carbs… I searched and researched looking for the perfect diet for me… I kept coming back to the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. He’s the owner of the website where I found “Tabata Sprints” information originally and much much more. Going "Primal" is sooo much more than a diet, it truly is a lifestyle change in every sense of the word.

To be honest, I had been transitioning and dabbling in going “primal” since sometime in June/July but I did not commit fully to it until Aug 1^st. Why? Because...much of the Primal Blueprint makes sense to everyone, things like "eat more veggies" and "avoid processed foods" etc. However, not all of the tenets of Primal living are as obvious or mainstream....but when I learned what my blood sugar level should be....I felt like I had to give Primal living a shot.

So why did I not share that information with everyone? Honestly, until I received my lab work reports back...I did not feel comfortable sharing the information fully.

I’ve been told that there is NO Evidence of Obesity nor Diabetes in my Lab Work!
(I’m still diabetic… you just can’t tell that from my labs)

Results from my visit/blood work.

Weight: 165 lbs (clothed with cell phone, wallet etc) --- LOST 70 lbs!

Blood Pressure: 112 / 67 (lowest ever in the doc’s office!!!!)

EKG: Perfect – yeah! :)

Blood Sugar = 85 ( remember my target!! I am truly normal!!! )

Cholesterol = 182 (below 200 is highest rating of “Desirable”)

Triglycerides = 61 ( below 150 is highest rating of “Normal”!)

HDL = 65 ( above 60 is highest rating of “protective”)

LDL = 105 (100 and below is optimum, I am “near optimum”)

*** Summary: I attribute my “good report” just 7 months from being an obese, sedentary garbage disposal .....to the pillars of fitness.

1) Exercise: I perform what I consider a rigorous daily exercise 45-60 minutes a day, six days a week.

2) Meal Plan: Primal Blueprint – which is essentially a low carb/low processed food diet, eating meats, fish, nuts and vegetables.

** If you want additional information...just let me know. :)

TTFN…do you speak Pooh?

Steve