Progress

I had a very interesting thing happen to me yesterday. First, let me say that I have worn out a pair of walking shoes, and was starting to get some pain in my lower back when walking anything over a mile or two. So I went to the store to get some new shoes. I was glad to have worn out the old ones, I have lost twenty pounds (19.6 officially at Weight Watchers and a few prior to joining) and I am moving around and breathing much better. And my blood glucose numbers have dropped to normal. Yes folks, there is now one thing in my life which qualifies as 'normal.'

In fact, the thing which happened to me yesterday actually gave me a little scare: my blood sugar dropped so low that I felt bad. I was shaking, my vision began to close up just a little, and I had trouble getting the key into the door of my truck to get home. Relax, it just means that my diabetes has gone away, and I need to stop all meds. My body will sort out the rest!! I tested this morning and got a number of 76.

Why am I giving all this information? Because Diabetes is a terrible disease. I was beginning to get to the point that there was a threat that I might lose parts. My right foot is getting numb, starting with my large toe. This is called "neuropothy," and it is not reversible. Many Diabetics lose some or even all of their extremities. Vision can be next to go, heart problems crop up and it gets really ugly from there. How do I know so much about this? Two reasons:

1. it killed my sister
2. it was trying to kill me.

So I did the research. There are two main types of Diabetes, and the one I have is generally controlled by diet and exercise. Yes, I have lost twenty pounds in one month. You now know why I am so motivated. I am thankful to God that I don't have to take any more meds, as long as I keep in shape.

So, do you know of a man - men are more at risk than women, but don't count on that to give you a better chance ladies - a man who is over 40 and who needs to lose more than 30 pounds? More than 40 or 50 pounds? Tell them. I had nobody who cared enough to actually tell me, except my wife. And for some reason I was not able to receive it from her. Don't know why, don't know if it is the way things generally go, but her concern didn't motivate me. I wish it wasn't that way - she cares! She loves me, and she would have to bear the brunt of anything which cost me any part of my life. But that's the way it went.

Now? I see people all around me and I want to become an anti-flab evangelist.

Get out there - move around
Eat better. Fast food is not your friend - it may very well take your life.
Watch what you eat - write it down and figure out how many calories your main food items contain: that alone may scare you straight.
Get accountable. Not everyone has a blog, Facebook and a bunch of friends, but you all have somebody you can talk to. Somebody who will hold you accountable and that can give you an amazing boost. I'll even offer to be that somebody if you really don't have anyone else.

And you people who are naturally thin? You still need to be sure to make healthy choices about what you eat. Balance that diet. OK - I'm preaching here. Yes, and I don't apologize. Jesus said that he came that we might have life, and life more abundantly. So anything which takes away, shortens or limits that life represents disobedience. That's not a good choice.

Let's do it!