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I was in really bad shape in the first week of February 2005. Blood Glucose chart February-March

My Blood Glucose levels were 570 mg/dl, Triglycerides 1517, total Cholesterol couldn't be read, high blood pressure and over weight. When I left the Seattle Veterans Hospital About February 18th I had a backpack full of meds. These included: Metformin HCL 500 mg Tabs twice a day, Lisinopril 10 mg, Ranitidine 300 mg twice daily, Genfibrrozil 600 mg twice a day, and Potassium Chloride tablets. There were also other meds for other things. As the Chart to the left shows, the Meds were helping. I was doing my best to try to follow the nutrition instructions given to me by the diabetes trainers in the hospital, but they really didn't make much sense to me and I was convinced I was never going to be able to enjoy eating again. I had to cut out sugar, salt, saturated fat, and cholesterol as much as possible and limit carbohydrates. I thought the future looked pretty bleak. Then I met Jamie.

I had known Dan for some time, and he had a new lady friend. When I arrived in Denver about February 20, 2005 Dan and Jamie invited me to stay with them for a while. If you will notice on the first chart, that is when I started getting my blood glucose under control. It was about then that Dan and Jamie introduced me to a book, "The Insulin-Resistance Diet" (We have a link to Amazon.com in our store where you can obtain it at a substantial discount over local bookstore prices.) I strongly recommend anyone who is diabetic or more than just a little overweight, get and read this book. Read and reread it until you fully understand the concepts. I do disagree with the authors in one regard. Blood Glucose chart March-April

They suggest trying to do portions by guessing. (3 oz. of meat is about the size of your palm) The ideas in the book were insight #1. Amazon has several books of a similar nature. They will be suggested when you click on "The Insulin-Resistance Diet." Insights #2, #3, #4, and #5 came almost together.

Insight #2 If I want to balance what I eat I need accurate portions. All the nutrition labels are portioned in oz, tablespoon, 1/2 cup, cup or grams. To know how much of each I am eating I needed a good set of food measurement tools. I started weighing and measuring everything. Dan said I was becoming obsessive about it. Maybe I am but it is working. The proof is in the sugar free pudding.

#3 The good foods I was now eating didn't come in cans or boxes and didn't have nutrition labels. I needed a good source for determining how much of what was in each food. At first I tried using reference books. #4 There was a lot of math involved. Blood Glucose May-June

If I was going to track accurately I needed some sort of tool to make what I was trying to do something less than a full time job that left little room for anything else. I needed good software
#5 To make #1,#2,#3 and #4 work effectively I needed to learn a whole lot more than I knew about good nutrition. You will notice on the charts that by the end of April/first of May I was starting to have a pretty good handle on controlling my blood glucose. I talked my primary care provider at the VA hospital in Denver into giving me blood tests to see what was happening with my triglycerides. By making really good choices, balancing, and tracking, I had managed to bring my triglycerides down from 1517 to 147 (under 150 is considered very good) My other cholesterol numbers were also close to where they should be. Total cholesterol was in the proper range. I was feeling pretty good about what I was doing but I still had a big surprise coming.

Blood Glucose May-June 2005

The VA issues meds for a 90 day period. I had gotten my meds from Seattle but I was in Denver when I needed refills so the VA in Denver required a physical before the meds were reissued. My physical (including new blood test) was done about the middle of May. I left with all my meds for the next 90 days. My Doctor called the next day with my test results and said everything was within normal limits. I was told to discontinue all my meds and do a follow up in 30 days. As you can see in the chart to the right, I was able to hold the Blood glucose, not below the 140 target range I was given when I left the hospital in Seattle, but mostly under 100 which is good for a non-diabetic. I knew early on that I had stumbled across something really good and wanted to share it. I have shared it with anyone who was nutritionally challenged and willing to listen. Everyone who has been willing to give it a try is getting good results. In addition to the controlled diabetes and lowered cholesterol, I have lowered my blood pressure to acceptable limits and lost 40 pounds.

I am going to make what I know will not be a popular statement with a lot of people. If you want to make a major change in your health, you need to make a major change in the way you eat! When I was "hanging with the guys" at the hospital in Seattle I was noticing a lot of amputees, ALL of them caused by complications of diabetes. Many diabetics I have spoken with since seem to be resigned to being medicated and still poorly controlled. I am telling you there is something you can do. There are many popular books telling people, "Don't worry about making big changes, just make a little at a time. I didn't get the results I got with little changes! It took a major revamp of the way I ate! Follow my system step by step. For sure it wont hurt you, but on the other hand you just might get a whole lot healthier like I did.

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