In 22 years of dealing with this, I really only ever encountered one doctor who even bothered to spend time explaining this disease and. That it was up to me to solve it and that it was solvable. Now I only saw her twice before she moved out of state, but. I got to tell you, I still value our sessions together. She planted the seeds 10 years ago that are really bearing fruit with me today. So I'm always going to appreciate that. Hi, and welcome to the solving type two diabetes podcast. I'm Tom. And I'll be your host as I share what I'm doing in my daily life to solve my type two diabetes. Listen in, as I share the food, movement, and tools that I'm using each day. This podcast is intended for entertainment purposes only. For a full transcript or to follow the solving type two diabetes podcast on social media. Please head over to SolvintType2Diabetes.com for all those links and more now onto the show. Welcome to this week's episode of solving type two diabetes podcast. I certainly hope you had a great week. we've really had a great week here. We're currently staying at Disney's Vero beach resort. And it is, I call it a green paradise. It's Disney's resort right on the beach. we're staying in a one bedroom Villa. And everywhere you look, it's just lush green, tropical. Yeah, it's just very, very nice. Uh, you might be hearing the waves actually crashing in the background. We're only, if I look over there, we're about 150 feet from the beach. here where we're staying. And, they have lots and lots of amenities here. To offer. This is not a Disney or a travel podcast, but I just really want to describe what it's like here, because, we're having a beautiful time. We've been here before. we've been here. maybe. I don't know, since 2005, we try and come every year. Now we've missed a couple of years, but mostly, for about 17 years, we've been coming here every single year. And, And actually they have a tremendous pool area. they have a big slide that, we all like, it's been a few years since I went down the slide, but, it is really nice. They have a little miniature golf course. That's fun. It's really well-maintained. They have a shuffleboard. They even set up like a bocce ball court. they have corn hole. If you're into that. They have bikes to rent, in the pool area, they have floaties and, you know, life as for the kids, they have pool noodles. to relax if you're an adult, just wants to hang out by the pool and not have to work too hard to float. They have a campfire area where they show movies or actually sing songs around the campfire in the evenings and roast marshmallows, which I think is really nice. Even across the way there, they have a tennis courts and a pond area, like a nature walk type thing. But I guess the biggest attraction is, the beach itself. And it's right on the beach. Disney, I guess has about a quarter mile beach front. And there's public beaches on either side, but you can look up and down the coast for miles. And it's great for walking out there in the sand, looking for sharks, teeth, which is something we really like to do. It's just a super area, very relaxing to stay. And it's a nice in that. for example, our, Villa has a full kitchen, that's helpful. And they do have restaurants here on site. They have regular sit down restaurant, plus they have a marketplace where you can get, made to order salads and sandwiches and stuff like that. They have the Cabin Green room, which is great for a cocktail in the evening, or, even served breakfast sandwiches. Uh, in the morning. So just a fun place all around. we have been dealing with a little bit of summer heat. it's been 88 to 90 every day. And we do get, south Florida. Late afternoon, tropical thunderstorms almost every day, this time of year. we've had, I'd say. In the evenings, maybe starting around five lasting till about eight. We've had some pretty heavy downpours. every day. So we just know that, get your act or activities done before they hit. And, you're good to go from there. The other thing I did this week was get my COVID. bivalent and booster shot, type two diabetes is a risk factor for complications with COVID. figured we get that out of the way and here's a little sneak preview, but, we're going on a cruise next week. And in fact, we're going on one the week after to. so I figured why not? Let's just get that booster. I guess that makes a total of five shots for me so far. I think we're pretty well Vaxxed up. On that. let's look at my weekend review. Each week I want to share with you the things I track and the numbers. And for this week, I have closed my apple watch rings. each of the seven days. There's a ring for movement, a ring for exercise and a ring for standing. And those are all closed, which is great. And so far, I mean it's only mid month, but it looks like September might be a perfect month, of closing rings every day. So don't want to jinx it, but 18 days down so far. We'll see how that goes for the remaining days. My glucose has been great this week. the average for the week. as you know, I wear a CGM, a continuous glucose monitor. So my average for the week. Has been 117. That's average over the 24 7 for the entire week. Now, average of one 117 equates to about an A1C of 5.5. Which is at the very low end of the pre-diabetic range. I'll take that any time. My body fat percentage. when I stepped on the scale last, this past Sunday, before we left to come down here. Was 27.3%. And, uh, that's another thing that I track. I track that instead of my weight. you'll learn more about that in a future episode So as part of my weekend review, I'd like to go over wins and challenges, things like that. And for this week, I really want to say it's grocery shopping. Now that might seem strange, but you know, we're traveling we're away. And it's pretty easy just to go to restaurants all Because you don't have to cook, you don't have to clean. it's time to relax. we travel quite frequently. So if I went out to restaurants all the time, number one, that'd be quite expensive. But also, have less of a chance of eating things that are helpful to me because I don't know how they were made. And sometimes some of those menu options are pretty enticing. Even though it might not be the best. So for this week, we did a lot of grocery shopping when we got here. And, we did go out to restaurants a couple of times so far. I'm Go out again. before we leave. But I'm making most of my meals here in the Villa. I have been able to stay right on track. Okay. That was my weekend review. So let's move on. Let's talk about. Three news articles that I came across. Okay. So the first article is talking about walking after meals. It's entitled. Walking after meals for just two minutes is enough to lower blood sugar. Here's why according to science. So I think that's a little bit of a clickbait title. Two minutes I think would be the lower range of an effective walk. But it does say here that walking right after a meal, can result in lower blood sugar levels. And, it goes on to explain why. that helps. And, It's a very interesting article. It says, even among those who do not have diabetes exposure to chronic high levels of sugar can increase risk of heart disease. And type two diabetes down So that's a pretty common. piece of information. And it says here for the biggest health benefits. Aim to walk within 60 to 90 minutes after you finish a meal. That's, for most people when blood sugar peaks and it says that, two to five minutes, even notices a little bit of a difference, but of course, A little bit of a longer walk. Can be even more helpful. So that's an interesting article. The links will be in the show notes. Of course. The second article here that I came across was entitled researchers identify multiple causal genes that drive type two diabetes risk. Now this article is what I call very sciency. It does link to the full study. But what they have been doing is identifying genes. That they think actually increase a person's risk. For type two diabetes. Again, you can get a lot of details in the actual article. That it links to. It's a very, short write up here. And, , it makes sense that diabetes can be genetic. I know, for example, my wife. Eats a whole lot more sugar than I do. And really doesn't get the movement in at the levels that I do yet. Her blood glucose is absolutely perfect. nothing she eats or does seems to move it. A bit. so that's fabulous for her. I didn't get so lucky and I guess I might have some of these genes. that increased my risk, but. I have found that lifestyle can make a huge difference. So even for those of us with maybe some of these not so lucky genes, can benefit, From lifestyle. Activities and in eating things that help us. The third article that I came across this week that I thought you'd find interesting. It's entitled seven healthy lifestyle habits may reduce dementia risk for people with diabetes. Now here, once again, we do know that people with type two diabetes do tend to have a higher chance of getting dementia. And they have found here in this study. Now this is a British study. They followed. over 7,000 people. And, so it's fairly extensive. It's a multi-year study. here, but they did find that there were habits and, we know some of those habits, but there were habits that helped people, even though they did have type two diabetes, reduce their risk of dementia. So if that's of interest to you. I encourage you to look at this article as well. And again, The links for all three of these articles will be in the show notes. Over on the website. Solving type two diabetes.com. So I encourage you to check them out. Okay. So let's get to the main topic for this week and it is my own backstory. wanted to share with you something about myself. to let you know a little bit about who I am, what I've gone through with this diagnosis of type two diabetes and a where I think So primarily. my biggest identifiers are husband, father, and grandfather. those are the things that bring me the most joy in my life and those relationships and family. And so that's my main central focus. Now I have had a working career as well. I retired in 2020. From a 35 year federal career. I first started enlisted service with the United States air force. that was a very exciting seven years in the air force. And then I got out of the service and finished my college education. And then I got my first civilian job with the us census bureau. And I remember when they came on campus, they were the only, employer that I interviewed with. Who could guarantee me to start work the Monday after I graduated. and I needed the income. I was married. I had kids. And, my job while I was in school was a co-op. Uh, internship of sorts and that income was going to stop the Friday before graduation. And the census bureau guaranteed me work. The Monday thereafter. So absolutely. I signed Uh, moved to Maryland and, was with the census bureau for, just over a decade and a very interesting work started there as a computer programmer. And I ended up my career. the final 12 years with the FBI. Federal deposit insurance corporation. I'm sure you've seen those stickers at your bank. your money is insured. And, so that was a very rewarding time. Very interesting work. I did project management for them in. Information technology, writing software for bank examinations, and it was a very rewarding. Throughout my entire life I've been overweight. I got a little bit of a handle on While I was active duty in the air force. But really it's spending an ongoing struggle. And up until recently, I honestly only focused on weight. And was it up or was it down? I really not other. Risk factors, but my weight probably peaked. Somewhere. Between 2005 and 2009. And I know that at one point I did 300 pounds or just shy of 300 pounds and that. At freaked me out when I saw that in the scale. I knew I was very overweight, sometimes until you see the number. you Really don't. grasp, the situation. So that did shock me a little bit and I. Began trying multiple diets and they would, fail or succeed and go up and down and. Up again. And. I did have a gradual. very slow weight loss, probably starting in about 2010. And between now and then past 12 years, I am down. Yeah, a little bit over 80 pounds. And now you might think, that's taken off a long time, 12 years to lose 80 pounds. And it is, it's an average loss of seven pounds each year. But it wasn't just a gradual slow decline. It generally went down, there were months, where are we going up? And then down and then up and then down, it just depended on. How much I was paying attention. How sick of it? I got. And, quite frankly, it's really frustrating. because I really didn't have any information. On how to do it properly or what was healthy? I just tried. Every little thing that came along and tacked enough together to drop the 80 pounds over the course of 12 years. I'm currently about two 17. And in a future episode, I'll explain why I really don't care. About body weight for my tracking and why I focus on body fat percentage. As part of what I track. so stay tuned for that. That'll be a future episode. We'll get into, why body fat percentage might be a more helpful thing to track. So. Regarding my. Diagnosis. I first was diagnosed with pre-diabetes in 2000. now as part of a routine doctor's visit. I got blood work done. And they took the fasting blood glucose and it was about 1 0 5, I believe. And I really remember this visit because she said you have pre-diabetes my doctor. She said you have pre-diabetes. Now you must choose between dinner rolls or potatoes. That literally was the sum total of the medical advice she gave me. I remember that distinctly looking back now, how. I don't know, ridiculously. Insufficient. That was as far as medical consultation. But regardless. so she said that. I thought about it, maybe for a total of two seconds. And then really didn't do anything. To help myself. for several years, so things didn't get better. So eventually in 2010, I got the actual diagnosis of type two diabetes. my doctor at the time, different doctor. You know, had me do an A1C. It was elevated. Went back three months later, did another A1C test. It was still elevated. So I got the official diagnosis of type two diabetes. And that doctor started me on Metformin. Now I'm at, foreman's a very common first line drug. with, type two diabetes. It's usually the first, drug they prescribe. But again, still? No. Education or anything. that, came along with it. Evidently the doctor and I both thought Metformin was going to be a miracle cure. And just solve it all by itself. And then , I started feeling this tingling or needles in my toes, and I looked that up and it turns out that's a form of neuropathy, often side effect of having type two diabetes. So continue on a couple of years. Metformin's not doing a whole lot. Uh, and I was diagnosed in 2012 with metabolic syndrome. So that's just a combination of things. High blood pressure, high cholesterol being overweight. type two diabetes. And obviously things were looking. Not good. still. I got to say, not really any education for doctors, but I did start reading a lot. Myself, started self experimentation. with food and movement. but I have to say In 22 years of dealing with this, I really only ever encountered one doctor who even bothered to spend time explaining this disease and. That it was up to me to solve it and that it was solvable. Now I only saw her twice before she moved out of state, but. I got to tell you, I still value our sessions together. She planted the seeds 10 years ago that are really bearing fruit with me today. So I'm always going to appreciate that. My own experimentation showed that for me very low carbohydrate and movement helped. Something I did find out is that. Those good results can go away. Just with going back to eating too many carbohydrates or stopping intentional movement. It was frustrating because it was really hard to just keep up. I would think I was doing okay, but not really know for sure. And I still needed more tools and without them, it was easy to move back into. The unhelpful eating habits. So eating the junk and not moving caused, adding for Farxiga. And 2021. You had another doctor. Looking at my A1C. Decided to add far Farxiga and About this same time. I saw an ad for a continuous glucose monitor on Instagram. Uh, CGM. So I started wearing one. myself in June of 2021. And that coupled with the knowledge I had gained. And the medications I was on. Finally. I had all the tools I needed for success. It's been a rough ride of ups and downs over the past 22 years. But now I think I'm seeing the light. It will never be over, but now at least I'm managing my disease. For the past several months. I'm consistently using my medications. Helpful low carb foods. Consistent movement. And the 24 7 glucose monitoring with great success. My A1C is now routinely. Between the low end of pre-diabetes. And high, normal. And I'm happy with that. Let's look at your questions. Now this is our third episode and we actually have our very first question, which I'm really happy about. And, if you would like to ask a question, leave a comment or feedback. Just head over to solving type two diabetes.com. Click on feedback and there you can just enter it and I will get an email right away. And then I can get your question answered or address your feedback. That'd be great. So this week's question is. How do I get an A1C blood test? So this listener. Goes on to explain that they don't know let me say, I know of two ways there might be others, but two basic ways, the first off, and this is what I recommend. Is that you sit down with your doctor and discuss it. On your next regular office visit, ask them about getting an A1C blood test. Explain that. you know, that. 10% of the people are affected by type two diabetes. And you just want to see where your levels are now. Your doctor might just suggest getting a fasting blood sugar test, which you know is fine. That tells you how your blood sugar was in the And I guess for someone. Pre-diagnosed that's pretty normal. But the A1C test, what I call the gold standard. gives you a 90 day average. Of your blood glucose level. So that is really effective in. Telling how you are over the longterm and not just at one particular moment in time. But if your doctor says, Hey, this is not for you or no, I don't recommend Then you can in fact, get A1C blood tests over the counter. I've seen them in Walmart. I've seen them in drug stores. They tend to cost, I think between 50 or a hundred bucks. But, you can get it yourself. you don't need anyone's permission. And if you're only going to do it once to see where you are, or maybe once every six months. 50 bucks once every six months for you could be a good investment. But that's for you to decide. But thanks again for that question, please send me more questions and we'll be happy to answer them here. Okay, so what's coming up next. Obviously next week, I'll also go over my weekend review but the main topic for next week is my goals. What are my goals? Why am I doing this? What am I hoping to achieve? And I'm not talking about the podcast I'm talking about. The interventions that I'm taking with my type two diabetes. So I'd like to look into that with you. And. See where I'm thinking I'm going to be with this down the road. So that should be interesting. At least I hope it's going to be interesting. Also, and this is going to be a biggie. Next week, we're going to be cruising on the Disney wish it's Disney's newest cruise ship. I'm looking forward to sharing My experience on the ship, especially as it relates to living with my type two diabetes. I'll get a chance to talk about. How I can manage to eat properly. Eat things that are helpful to me. while cruising. And we cruise quite often. So it's important. for me to get that right. Also my movement, the type of movement that's available. on a cruise ship, I happened to know they have a really nice gym. So I'll be exploring that. Also looking to do some walking. Might have to run on a treadmill depending on what their facilities look But all in all, it should be interesting to, talk to you about. Cruising with type two diabetes on the Disney Wish Well, that wraps up another episode of the solving type two diabetes podcast. I hope you found it valuable. Please follow and leave a five star review, as it helps other people find the podcast. By subscribing you ensure you won't miss the next episode. You can always get a full transcript of the episode@solvingtypetwodiabetes.com. There you also find the links to leave feedback and links to follow on social media. I'm very interested in hearing from you with comments and suggestions. Thanks very much for listening. Please remember that everything I share is just from my own personal experience and should not be taken as medical or health advice. Please consult your own medical professionals. This podcast is intended for entertainment purposes only.