That comment totally baffles me

You either control your blood sugar however you have to do it OR

You are not really/truly concerned about it at all

Now, if you mean you Promised your Doctor you would eat better, get some exercise and work on your weight and you haven't quite got around to that yet - news flash - you are NOT trying

If you were prescribed medication and you don't take it as prescribed, on time all the time without excuse - again, NOT trying

If despite your best efforts and… read more

This question in one form or other seems to come around again and again.

Weight control is important to Diabetes Management for two reasons.

First off for every point our BMI is above 25, our insulin resistance gets worse.

Second off for every point our BMI is above 25 it puts extra strain on our heart.

Now I'm not going to get into a big discussion about Positive Body Image or Healthy At Any Weight or how some have a Slow Metabolism.

You need to hide those crutches in an unused closet when… read more

(2 parts and comes with one of those "viewer discretion" warnings)

I will answer that but just want to forewarn that some may find this post a little “harsh”

I work with two different Diabetes mentoring programs – a “regular one” and a “Bootcamp”

For any that have Served and had the pleasure of Basic Training they would recognize our Bootcamp technique – it’s fashioned the same way – you are told what to think and what to do to try and teach you what you need to know

To do what is expected… read more

All of us here have either been diagnosed with Diabetes or have someone close to us that have been given the news

So what is the "criteria" that separates us from Joe or Jane SugerEater?

Currently it is simply having an A1C, above 6.5% (47.5 mmol's in the IFCC scale) "twice in a row" measured 90 days apart

That's it, that's all - that "test" is all that is required for the Doc to determine "You have Diabetes"

No matter what you do after that, no matter how you control your blood sugar - no… read more

I work with a couple of other groups and one of them is trying to answer that question with an eye to developing a kinda "cheat sheet" to be used for someone newly diagnosed

Some of my suggestions are:

Explain what diabetes is
Explain what an A1C test is looking at and what their number was
Tell them what their target A1C should be
Tell them "why" control is important - explain the main complication and impress upon the patient that "bad things WILL happen" so they need to take this seriously

It's a recurring question - I try this or that but just can't seem to lose weight, what can I do?

Today while working on a presentation for the Diabetes group I work with I was gathering information on something called a "Basil Metabolic Rate" (separate discussion), but basically what a BMR is the number of calories each of us would burn if we simply had a "couch potato" day.

Calculating your BMR will tell you how many calories you need to survive and not look like someone on a hunger strike… read more

The "squeeky wheel" (me) is back, with yet another (new) complaint! Snork! I read that walking is the greatest thing to do and I keep trying it, but it just seems boring seeing the same things over and over in my neighborhood. I live in a blue-collar suburb, where thankfully not much happens, but there is just not much new to see either. And in the winter people are inside their homes. I owned one dog in my lifetime and walked him several times a day-now that had a purpose! For years after he… read more