Diabetes

There are many reasons why a person might decide they want to try to lose weight and become healthier. Diabetes happens to be one of my biggest motivators and this month happens to be American Diabetes Month. Seems appropriate to blog about this since my Dad has type-1 and my Maternal Grandmother has type-2 Diabetes, making me a very good candidate to have either one if I had not decided to make the appropriate changes in my life. So I feel it's my obligation and a service to those who may read this blog to write about it and to inform. Here's the gist on the disease:

Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use glucose for energy. Insulin is produced by the pancreas. When you eat food, the body breaks down all of the sugars and starches into glucose, which is the basic fuel for the cells in the body. Insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can cause two problems:

• Right away, your cells may be starved for energy.
• Over time, high blood glucose levels may hurt your eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart.

There are two types of Diabetes:

Type-1
The body does not produce insulin, which is needed to take sugar (glucose) from the blood to the cells. In people with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas no longer makes insulin. The beta cells have been destroyed. They need insulin shots to use glucose from meals. Diabetes sometimes damages kidneys so badly that they no longer work. When kidneys fail, one option is a kidney transplant. There are also pancreas transplants, as well as islet cell transplants. Diabetes carries an increased risk for heart attack, stroke, and complications related to poor circulation. Diabetes can damage the kidneys, which not only can cause them to fail, but can also make them lose their ability to filter out waste products. This is called nephropathy. Diabetes can cause eye problems and may lead to blindness. People with diabetes do have a higher risk of blindness than people without diabetes. Early detection and treatment of eye problems can save your sight. One of the most common complications of diabetes is diabetic neuropathy. Neuropathy means damage to the nerves that run throughout the body, connecting the spinal cord to muscles, skin, blood vessels, and other organs. People with diabetes can develop many different foot problems. Foot problems most often happen when there is nerve damage in the feet or when blood flow is poor. Learn how to protect your feet by following some basic guidelines.

Type-2
It is the most common form of diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Conditions associated with type 2 diabetes include hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. Some complications of type 2 diabetes include: heart disease (cardiovascular disease), blindness (retinopathy), nerve damage (neuropathy), and kidney damage (nephropathy). Type-2 can be managed a combination of with a proper diet, medication and insulin supplementation. This disease used to be also seen primarily in adults over age 40, in contrast to type-1, it is now increasingly seen in children and adolescents, an increase thought to be linked to rising rates of obesity in this age group

For more info visit the American Diabetes Association website.

This was just a small intro into the disease. It's one the can wreak havoc on the human body, but also one that can be preventable and controlled even up to the point where no medication at all is needed. Seeing some of the things that my Dad went through was hard, leading up to the point where Gastric-bypass surgery was needed including a month long stay in the hospital. It was a rough situation that definitely pushed me even more to be conscious of my own health and of those that I care about. I'm glad to say now that he is a lot healthier person and his Diabetes is in much better control.

The more everyone understands how being overweight and unhealthy can lead to diseases such as Diabetes the more a person can take charge of their own health to live a longer fulfilling life. Take those first steps, they may be hard but completely worth it.

The Start of the Overhaul - Food

Have you ever wondered why you feel like you workout so hard sometimes and you don't see a difference after some time? It's what you eat. Working out is only a part of the whole equation. Different factors together contribute to weight loss and increase in health. In my opinion, what you eat is the most important factor, more than how you workout.

I know what you might be thinking because everybody thinks the same thing...what do I have to give up? Nothing. I wanted food from In & Out yesterday and that's exactly what I had for lunch. It's not about giving up the food you like to eat, but it is about controlling when you eat it and the frequency that you do.

My turn around began at just over 250lbs. It got to the point where I simply got tired of it, my own rock-bottom if you will. I didn't want to succumb to the health problems that obesity brings, especially with strong family history of Diabetes. Whenever I would go into a major bookstore I would check out menshealth magazine to get ideas on what I could do. The editor was also the author of the book The Abs Diet. I got so inspired by the testimonials that I decided to buy the book during the summer of 2006 and read the whole thing in two days. I made the decision that at the start of the fall semester I would begin to follow the concepts outlined in the book. Lets forget about working out for the time being and focus on what to eat. For those wanting to take serious steps, I highly recommend this book! There is a book for you too ladies! The menshealth website carries most of the same info, but the book is the best way to go to always have the Abs Diet reference in your hand.

Here's some "straight talk express" for you. (I try to find every chance I get to use that phrase...) This may be difficult at first. It's naive for me to say or for you to think that this should be easy when first starting to change your eating habits. This reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from the show Scrubs that I think is relevant right now. It's an exchange between Dr. Kelso and an obese 25 year old woman who wants to just have gastric bypass surgery.

Dr. Kelso:You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change, because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out with the surgery because you're scared. You're scared because if you try and fail, there's only you to blame. Well, Missy, let me break this down for you, Bobbo-style. Life is scary. Get used to it.

J.D.'s Narration:And then it seemed like Dr. Kelso wasn't only talking to her.

Dr. Kelso:There are no magical fixes. It's all up to you. So get up off your keister, get out of here, and go start doin' the work.

**[Howie Day's "Collide" beings]**

Miss Goldman:What if it's too hard?

Turk:[leaning down to face Dr. Kelso next to Miss Goldman] Yeah, what if it's too hard?

Dr. Kelso:Turkleton, I have no idea why you're chiming in, but I'll say this to both of you. Nothing in this world that's worth having comes easy.

Losing weight and being physically fit and healthy is definitely worth achieving! I feel better in every way possible because of it. The beginning will be hard but my recommendation is to go full force. After even just two weeks you will feel a difference. You wind up not craving as much certain foods and you become smarter on what to eat...even when you go out to eat. There are always smart alternatives when going out to restaurants. The Abs Diet will help you lose 15 to 20lbs in your first 6 weeks. The first two weeks will just focus on food (without having to exercise) and you may even lose 5lbs just there without even working out and not starving yourself. I personally lost 16lbs in those first 6 weeks.

I mentioned in my first post of this blog, that a change like this should not be temporary. It should be a lifestyle change. It improves that quality of life in many different ways. Even after about two years of starting out on the Abs Diet, I don't necessarily follow everything I originally learned. I still do a lot of the same things but I've also learned other ways of working out and eating from different sources. At some point after you initially start you might plateau as you progress and will need to change things up to continue with weight loss. I hope to continue passing on ideas and tips as I learn about them.

I am a different person today than I was two years ago, that inactive crappy food eating person who didn't feel happy with himself. Today I enjoy different activities such as running (some 10Ks under my belt), weight lifting, a boxing conditioning class and hiking. I always try to look for new active things to do. These are things I didn't think I was capable of thinking back two years ago. I also didn't imagine the possibility that I might get under 200lbs again but I'm inching my way toward that, responsibly of course. I hope that as a reader you can find some sort of inspiration to start taking the steps. To all that know me personally, I'm more than happy to talk to you about this and give you help/tips to getting started.

The Beginning

Health and fitness have been a big interest of mine in the last two years. An interest taken note by my family, friends and co-workers. There are so many perspectives given on what is healthy, dictated by the media and connected to beauty. What is true, is that Americans in general are unhealthy and our daily habits add to that unhealthy lifestyle. So many diseases and health problems that Americans face today is preventative and is brought upon by obesity due to unhealthy eating and lifestyle.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Results from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), using measured heights and weights, indicate that an estimated 66 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. Another statistic According to the American Heart Association, more than 9 million children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 19 years are considered overweight on the basis of being in the 95th percentile or higher of BMI values in the 2000 CDC growth chart for the United States. (NHANES [2003-2004], NCHS; JAMA. 2006;295:1549-1555.) These statistics continue to rise.

There are so many "solutions" offered out there to fight weight gain. Almost all of these solutions make it sound simple by taking a pill or supplement, which in my opinion is a big mistake. Where is the mention of how to eat properly or workout properly? The before and afters photos of people are great and are inspiring but the back story of the real hard work is not really shown. I understand their business sense, they can't say it's hard, they have to make it look easy to sell. But it's a disservice to the American public to make it seem like some magic fix all.

My hope for this blog is to give eating advice, workout tips/plans and make it easier for my family, friends and co-workers to follow in some of the footsteps that have helped me from being a 252lb (6'1") lazy college Engineering student to a happier 205lbs (still slowly going down) active Engineering professional. My plan is to have this be a weekly blog (maybe 2 entries a week) that will cover various topics in physical health such as eating, working out and lifestyle.

It is important for everyone to know that weight loss should not only be a goal to look better for that reunion coming up, a wedding you need to fit into a dress/suit for, or a trip. This should be for life. I see it too many times that people are looking for the quick fix and quickly return to old habits once a certain goal is reached. Let me be clear about this, this is not easy and it should be a lifestyle change for the rest of your life! It does not help you for me to lie and say this is easy, it's not but I am happier with myself now than any other point in my life and it is easier now than at the start of my turn around. Those beginning steps are where the work really is. The quicker a person understands this mentally that it will be a hard task the quicker physically you'll be able to start your turn around. I am fortunate enough to be pretty self motivated but for those that need that extra push, definitely find that person with a mutual goal and take the steps together.

My next blog will cover the beginnings steps a person should take (the exact same ones I took myself) to becoming the healthier, fitter, active and happier you. I hope that this blog can serve a great purpose of inspiring others to take the positive steps into a healthier, active and happier life.