10: What I Did for My Diet.

So, now that the dreams are behind us, it's time to get down to the nitty-gritty.

What did I do to fix the A1c issue of 10?

First and foremost, it wasn't easy. This segment will be broken down into three parts to illustrate the many changes needed to reduce an A1c of 10 to a "normal" level. The changes were needed in three critical areas: diet, physical activity, and mentality.

All three of these things work together to help anyone dealing with circumstances related to health. It's not just about diabetes at this point but establishing a way for your body to cope with the changes that take place naturally.

We all age, there is no way around that except one, and that's not a direction any of us want to go right away. The point is longevity coupled with quality. You want to live as long as possible with the best quality of life. The best phrase for this is truly, "Live long and prosper." Yet another Star Trek quote. That is the goal for anyone on earth, especially if you are living with any ailment. Get used to those quotes. You'll see plenty more where that came from.

The three segments will illustrate what I did during the first six weeks following my initial visit with the provider. That first six weeks were crucial to changing my status as someone living with diabetes to possibly someone living without diabetes. I feel some quick stats are needed from that first day to illustrate a starting point where I can then report what changed after the first six weeks:

Reference: Actual Result (Normal Range)

Hgb A1c: 10 (3.8-5.6)

Weight: 231.6 lbs Height: 72 in

BP: 142/87

BMI: 31.33 

Cholesterol: 205 (4-199)

Triglycerides: 162 (0-150)

HDL: 41 (>=55)

LDL: 132 (0-99)

VLDL: 32 (0-30)

Risk Ratio: 5 (High risk for heart-related concerns)

First Fix: The Diet

Diet was the hardest to fix, so I wanted to begin with it. I also believe diet is hard for everyone. Humans are a species that likes to eat. Additionally, we, especially in the United States, like to eat junk food. Before March 31, 2021, I mentioned that my diet had foods I could continue eating but had many that had to be eliminated or altered. 

During the first six weeks, I ate no sweets at all. No ice cream. No sugary drinks, like regular soda, slushies, or sweet tea. No fruit, as the sugar content could be a concern. Eliminating these items was a big move in the right direction. Later ice cream was incorporated back in but at a manageable amount. I had stopped drinking regular soda many years before I began dieting in 2011. The one that was hardest was sweet tea. I loved sweet tea. It's sooooo good. But, it had to go permanently. The last sweet tea drink I had was on March 30, 2021. Since that day, I have only drank sweet tea once at a meal, and that was because there was nothing else within reach to drink. But, this lovely item had to go, no more sweet tea, for that one notable exception.

Next were the fried foods. Now, I did still have a few mixed into my diet, like bacon, for instance. But that was about the only fried thing I ate during those first six weeks. I love bacon and grits with toast. I've eaten that almost every morning since April 7, 2021. Leslie makes that for me every day. She is the absolute best for doing that too. Sometimes my mom does it, but Leslie is the primary breakfast queen these days. The breakfast of bacon, toast, and grits is a fun, delicious, and basically nutritious way to start the day. I'm not a big egg person, nor did I want fruit. These three items were plenty for me to eat until lunchtime rolled around. I know it may not seem to be the healthiest breakfast to eat, but you do have to maintain some things you've done before when it comes to controlling diabetes. You can't stop everything cold turkey. Otherwise, you risk causing other issues making it harder for your body to adapt. 

But other fried foods, like at Chick-fil-a, Zaxby's, Canes, or anywhere that liked making fried food, were gone for those six weeks. Chick-fil-a chicken sandwiches were the worst to let go of because I loved their sandwiches. So delicious. But it had to go. I switched from a number one combo, which is a fried chicken sandwich, large fries, and a Sweet Tea, to grilled chicken nuggets, a side salad, and water or a diet drink. Other times I would eat a grilled chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-a and eventually settle on the grilled chicken club sandwich. This was monumental for me, as I never had enjoyed the smell of grilled chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-a. I never wanted to eat one. Now, I have a completely different mindset and still buy the grilled chicken club for a meal occasionally.

I switched to many grilled foods and vegetables, with fried food and sweets eliminated. Asian veggies are something I grew to love and were readily available at the grocery store. You warm the packet for 5 minutes and get a wonderful, tasty pack of steamed vegetables you can combine with a good protein, like beef frank hot dogs. I would grill some of the hot dogs, usually two, to eat with the veggies. It was a yummy lunch.

So, how did a typical day look for me with my new meal plan? I'll break it down for you below:

Breakfast

3 strips of bacon

bowl of grits with pepper and unsalted butter

1 slice of toast with unsalted butter

Lunch

Asian veggies with 2-3 beef frank hotdogs (no bun)

Supper

Zaxby's Grilled Chicken House Zalad (Many variations that could go here, like Barberitos burrito, S & S Cafeteria Roast Beef with new potatoes, green beans, and grilled onions with 2 cornbread, etc.)

Snack

3 pretzel bites and 3 carrots

I also took 1000 mg of Glucophage (Metformin) with these diet changes at supper. Two tablets daily. Now, the way Glucophage works, it helps to decrease extra sugar in the system. So, if your average blood sugar is running 240-300 like mine was with an A1c of 10, the Glucophage would kick in to help lower blood sugar in those conditions. The primary function of Glucophage is to help regulate the pancreas and insulin production, however.

With an A1c of 10, that meant I had some pancreatic function, and therefore I was producing insulin still, just not as well as I once had before the sugar issues occurred. So, the Glucophage helped make the pancreas produce insulin better and therefore work to regulate blood sugar correctly. But if there is no excess sugar in the bloodstream, either through diet modifications and/or exercise, then the Glucophage doesn't do much beyond helping the pancreas. In fact, the changes to diet and exercise work more effectively to assist with blood sugar than Glucophage alone. If I kept my diet under control, then the Glucophage might not be necessary, or at least reduced.

That was my goal, to either reduce or eliminate the Glucophage altogether. It was going to take work, though. A lot of work. Daily work, without end. Being diabetic was not something that would ever go completely away. A friend pointed that out to me because of a family member in their life and what they had to deal with. I knew this, too, from my past experience with both my grandmother and father-in-law. Simply taking medications would never be enough. The meds don't really work without you trying to change your habits.

Now I was on my way with a working diet that allowed me to still enjoy some things I had loved prior to the A1c of 10 and cultivating some new things into my diet that helped me start getting my sugars where they needed to be. 

That's another good reference point to show here. The first blood sugar reading was from the first day I assessed my sugars at home. From the first day I began, I was checking my sugars routinely, and the very first one showed this result:

This blood sugar reading was on an empty stomach, with no food consumed at the start of the day. I was seeing where I was on a random check. Clearly elevated, and it shows how far I still had to go. 

As I said, the diet was one piece, but now I had to get my exercise regimen back to work. What that would mean is not only doing more walking, but it also meant the return of something I thought I would never do again, along with activities I hadn't done in nearly 20 years.

Tune in next time for 10: Exercise Routine.