This was just last week at the time of my one year anniversary of being diagnosed a Type 2 Diabetic!
If you'll look at the bottom right that picture was one month in and I was large and in charge! Then look up towards the top right with my yellow shirt on don't know when this was, but I remember it was at the Red Barn looking larger! Top right and top left pictures were when I was at my smallest and very fit! My friend Ralph (Rapha) Ximenes found a couple of old Red Rider jerseys for Bexar County and San Antonio (old because the ADA no longer does events in San Antonio! Don't ask me why!?). Rapha is part of The Street Ratz of San Antonio and I could not have succeeded on this journey without their support, help, and encouragement! Thank you David, Anna, Bella, Steve and Marc! I needed the help and you were there for me!
If you look in the second column in from the right you will see the guys that motivated me day in and day out, our fearless leader Jason Mirault (who is my T2D example), Brad Cleaves, and Chuck Brooks! My sister and my wife for encouragement and daily or hourly reminders of what the goal was! In fact, Kay was my inspiration for walking that got me from over 300 to closer to my last weight check of 293 lbs. Gayle, Gayle I can't say enough about everything she has done and does regularly! She is my conscience and constant reminder when I lose my way! This is a huge thing, she is, I call her, my nutritionist! She is the Atkins (with some keto) expert that guided my eating to a nebulous T2D diet that is surprisingly satistying and still fuels my workouts and brought blood glucose numbers down to 5.8 A1c and lost a surprising 55 pounds in first three months! Then, I corrected some (meaning after denying all year some items came back in to my regime like bread, but it is Sam's Choice Keto Bread and the baby Mission Keto Tomato and Basil tortillas that we use for hamburger buns as an example! If I eat more than two of those baby tortillas, I spike which means my blood sugars go to the upper limit of the optimum range) and have gone up to 5.9 A1c and 43 pounds lost with a trend where my blood sugars were higher but still in range when I checked them regularly 2 to 3 times per day! Now, I'm trending down again and am still trying to figure why that is happening so I can continue this good trend! The other pictures or memes that you see there are the ones that really motivate me to do the right thing! I have set a long-term goal of 5.5 A1c and 200 pounds (fifty more to go). Dr. Gabe Mirkin of RoadBikeRider.com and Internet fame says, 5.6 A1c is still prediabetic and I want to go into remission so 5.5 it is. Now even when remission hits the work is not done because in order to stay in remission one has to maintain the strict diet with once a week excursions in to regular esting if your body can tolerate it. We have played around with this possibility and it is encouraging to have a 96 blood sugar morning after having burgers the night before! A word about the picture with me in the México polera, I would not have had initial success if it weren't for La Madeleine French Restaurant! Their menu includes many items that are diabetic friendly! The bread they use on the Croque Madame and the Nouveau Breakfast not to mention their great salads and soups. We still regularly frequent the store in Alamo Heights and the Northwoods location!
Those gentlemen in my pictures inspired me and allowed me to see the possibilities! Later after losing 55 lbs. I find out that I was returning the favor! Yes! This meme speaks to this and even yesterday my Paved Trail Buddy Roland Gibson says while yelling as we ride by each other in opposite directions, "I want to be like you!" The addage, "You never know who is watching you and being inspired!" is true in real life and this keeps ne going past the current achievements!
This also reminds me of BezzyT2D.com and the accompanying app. I went there as a newbie seeking even more information about T2D and found a home away from home, a group of Diabuddies (a term I stole off of a new friend in Glucose Guide a diabetic app. [no matter what type 1, 1.5, and of course 2] that is run by my friend and Colleague Mila Clarke! So excited about helping Mila at Glucose Guide!) The future's so bright! Paying it forward is critical for me because I know I need to be helping in order to feel accomplished as a human!
We celebrated one year by going up to Carrolton and visiting with my sister Kay, she wined and dined us in great extravagance enjoying a ton of Brazillian food! What a treat, plus we manged a visit to Michael and Alli with antique gifts being brought! We swam at Kay's, walked, and compared blood sugar numbers! Tricks were traded and beautiful memories were made with Kay's friends!
Thanks to our paved trail system!
Here is my most current picture before my ride yesterday!
