Eleven years?
I’ve been a diabetic for… 11 years?
It’s true!
I am a formerly obese, formerly drug and insulin dependent diabetic. I’ve maintained normal weight and truly normal blood sugars … drug and insulin FREE!
I created this blog to share my recipes and activities with people, to share what I have learned and hopefully educate and motivate others.
This update includes a brief introduction before focusing on recent events. At the end of the post there will be links to major events and achievements since my diagnosis eleven years ago.
Keep in mind: The cornerstone of my diet for the past eleven years has been a meat-based, very low-carb diet… a diet that has primarily included beef, pork, poultry, eggs and fish. Here is a link to my meal plan.
Hospital Discharge
In February 2009 I was rushed to the hospital via ambulance with a blood sugar reading of 740 mg/dl (41.1 mmol/l) and an A1C that was ‘too high to read’. In the hospital I was told I was a Type 1 diabetic, and would be on drugs and insulin for the rest of my life.
Note: As I began to wean off drugs and insulin, I learned I was a Type 2 diabetic. I was then told I was in a ‘honeymoon period’ where my pancreas had restarted. I was told that the honeymoon could last days, weeks, even months.”
It’s now been an 11 year honeymoon!
Last point before moving on. I have no doubt that had I continued on a high carb, grain-based diet as promoted by the Medical Industry (and the American Diabetes Association), I would still be on drugs and insulin.
I exited the hospital after a three night stay in the Intensive Care unit. I left the hospital an obese, chronically sick, diabetic… taking drugs and 4 insulin shots a day, just to survive!
In the days and weeks after my discharge I began a period of self-experimentation and self-discovery that would lead me to wean off all drugs and insulin… while maintaining normal weight and truly normal blood sugars.
I left the hospital on a miserably cold, rainy day… the weather fitting my mental state as I was obese, sick, and now… a newly ‘minted’ diabetic.
My wife picked me up at the hospital and dropped me off at the house before returning to work. As I sat in my home all alone, contemplating my fate, the darkness of depression began setting in. I began to cry and bawl like a child.
You see, I knew where this disease would lead (or so I thought). Both grandmothers were diabetic, one a type 1 and the other a type 2. I knew where a diabetes diagnosis would lead… a downward path of pain, suffering, and sickness.
I’d witnessed my grandmothers’ pain and anguish as they struggled with the disease. Now, at the young age of 47, I was told that I would be ‘chained’ to diabetes drugs and insulin for the rest of my life.
As I moped around the cold, dark house, crying… I decided to fight for my health. I swore I would not give up, not give in and do everything in my power to heal myself. I would fight to win back my health.
A Better Way To Treat Diabetes
Soon, within weeks, I would wean off ALL drugs and insulin while maintaining truly normal blood sugars.
At my eleven year mark, I decided to write an update on how my body is performing on a very low carb, ‘real food’, meat-based diet.
One reason this 11 year anniversary is a HUGE deal to me? Many medical industry professionals told me that not only would I be killing myself on a very low carb diet… but that I would be killing everyone that I’d helped.
Think about that for a second. Medical industry professionals, including doctors, nurses, nutritionists, and dietitians had attempted to scare me into going back to eating a high carb, grain-based diet. They said they did this to not only save my life… but to save the lives of those I was attempting to help.
The medical industry was wrong. I am living proof they were wrong. How many millions of people have suffered from their harmful advice?
When I began this journey the medical industry claimed diabetes was a debilitating disease with deteriorating health and increasing pain and suffering. Once again… they were wrong. It doesn’t have to be that way.
If you follow the dietary advice of the Medical Industry including the American Diabetes Association… diabetes certainly CAN BE debilitating, but it does NOT have to be that way.
So how have I been progressing after 11 years??? Read on and see. ?
Blood Sugar Experiment
Since 2009 I have maintained truly normal blood sugars while remaining drug and insulin free. I created this blog back in 2010 to help educate and motivate people to do as I have done… to improve their health and fitness.
Any blood sugar test with a glucometer or blood sugar meter is just a ‘snapshot’ at that point in time. To really know how my body was performing I wanted to test periodically throughout a 24 hour period.
Of course a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) would be the best way to do a blood sugar test but I don’t have access to one currently.
32 Hours of Blood Sugars
For this test I wanted to eat, play and live, as I typically do… so I did. ?
I eat a meat-based diet. If I eat plants it is usually a bite or two, rarely do I consume a full serving.
My typical eating pattern is skipping breakfast, then approximately 8 ounces of meat for lunch and then a pound or more of meats for dinner.
In the next section I give a ‘play by play’ of the two days of testing.
Play by Play
Day 1 – February 3rd
84 mg/dl (4.7 mmol/l) at 6:01 AM. This was the Overnight Fasting reading. Skipped breakfast but did consume cream in my coffee so a slight ‘bump up’ to 87 mg/dl (4.8 mmol/l) was expected.
97 mg/dl (5.4 mmol/l) at 3:48 PM was also expected. This was after a lunch of leftover pork ribs and bacon. I had intended to ‘test’ blood sugar approximately every 4 hours, but I forgot to test before my workout. Point being, this was after lunch and after a very intense workout which can raise blood sugars significantly … so I was pleased with the reading an hour after intense exercise.
75 mg/dl (4.2 mmol/l) at 6:03 PM was eXcellent! My body had responded well and drove my blood sugar down into the “Goldilocks Zone” (not too high, not too low). I say Goldilocks Zone because at this range, even after a low carb meal… I’ll remain well within the safe range.
76 mg/dl (4.2 mmol/l) at 10:50 PM …. how ‘sweet it is’! I ate my fill of fire-grilled country style pork ribs for dinner, it was so good… and so good for me!!
I couldn’t ask for anything better on day 1 … but what would tomorrow bring?
Day 2 – February 4
Woke up to an 81 mg/dl (4.5 mmol/l). … “oh lord it’s hard to be humble.” ?
The 78 mg/dl (4.3 mmol/l) just before an early lunch was EVEN better! This wasn’t unexpected, since I skipped breakfast. I then ate generous portions of leftover Country Style Pork Ribs… it was so good. I didn’t weigh it, but I’m sure I ate a pound or more.
89 mg/dl (4.9 mmol/l) post lunch was a welcomed sight. I’d eaten so much protein I would not have been surprised to see a significantly higher blood sugar reading… but my body was ‘taking care of business’!!
I tested one more time on day two, I wanted to see if there was a delayed blood sugar affect thanks to all of the fat with the protein… nope. About three hours after lunch my body was doing it’s job with an 85 mg/dl (4.7 mmol/l).
When I began working on this post I realized I had an odd number of pictures, so I took one more blood sugar reading on 2/15. Rock solid 86 mg/dl (4.8 mmol/l).
Blood Sugar Summary
I could not be happier with the results. I rarely test my blood sugar these days… and when I do, I always feel a little anxious doing so. Remember the ‘honeymoon period’ discussion earlier? That’s right, even today, 11 years later I worry about the end of the honeymoon. That ‘worry’ is what helps keep me vigilant about my diet, exercise and lifestyle.
The Rest of the Story
Blood sugars are just part of my story over the past 11 years.
At diagnosis, I was an obese, chronically sick, depressed diabetic… who had given up on life… and who had given up on LIVING!
Since 2009 I’ve maintained normal weight, normal blood sugar and I’ve maintained a true zest for LIVING!!
I’ve definitely added years to my life… and added LIVING to my years. ❤??
Exercise Pics (Primal Phun)
Below are a few pictures of my exercises over the past year. Just a very small sample to give you an idea of my ‘primal phun’.
Exercises: Videos
Since arriving in Canada in November, I perform intense resistance exercises several times a week (squats, push ups, pull ups, etc). Additionally, I like to ‘play’ outside … weather permitting. ?
11 Year Check Up
I was once a Big Food, Big Pharma and Medical Industry ‘cash cow’. For years prior to my diagnosis I was buying more and more processed foods from Big Food, more and more drugs from Big Pharma … and more and more services from the Medical Industry.
That all ended within weeks of a diabetes diagnosis. In fact, other than pain medication following a permanently dislocated shoulder in 2013 …
I have not seen a medical industry professional.
I have not taken an over the counter nor prescription drug.
…and yet, eleven years after diagnosis I continue to thrive.
How did I accomplish this? I changed my diet, following a low carb, low inflammatory, paleo style diet and I began exercising several times a week.
Wishing you peace, love and TRULY normal blood sugars! ❤??
Memorable Activities
I Fought the Law and WON! – The state of NC attempted to censor me and threatened to shut down my site if I didn’t comply. I sued… and won!
Going WILD in Alaska, Leaving the Wilderness – Spent 48 days in the Alaskan wilderness camping on the banks of the Tanana River.
Memorable Exercise Links – Random Order
Diabetes & Exercise – an important post showing the effects of exercises varying in intensity. I rarely see this mentioned in diabetes articles promoting intense exercise.
eXcellent eXercise eXperiments – 1,078 Push Ups in 2 hours 40 minutes (1,578 in two days) and 1,000 air squats in under 54 minutes.
Primal Blood Was Spilled – 100 flat footed table top jumps in 15 minutes… after falling on an attempt earlier in the day.
Another Diabetes Exercise Experiment – Two personal records, 119 push ups in 4 mins and during the same ‘set’, 100 push ups in 2:56.
Primal Update : Tri-120’s = 120 Tire Flips, 120 Yards of Bear Crawls and 120 Yards of Sled Pushing! I miss these workouts.
35 Minutes of Hell – using 55 lb kettlebell, 361 kettle bell swings, 206 weighted squats and 161 bent rows in 35 minutes.
Most Popular Recipes
Best Low Carb Pizza for Diabetics!