Introduction --- You see cute little things about where someone has eaten a salad maybe for the first time in months, and then they step on the scale expecting to have lost. or say someone didn't go to McDonald's on Tuesday and all of a sudden they expect the scale to be lower on Wednesday. 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 2 Diabetes podcast on social media. Please head over to SolvingType2Diabetes.com for all those links and more now onto the show. I hope you are having a great week this week. Before I talk about my week, I would like to ask a favor of you. Would you please share this podcast with someone who you think might benefit from it? I'm guessing you're finding some value in listening to this podcast, and I certainly appreciate that. If you would take it one step further and simply share it with someone else. Do a great deal for the growth of this podcast, and I would certainly appreciate that. My Week in Review --- All right, let's take a look at my week. I have been home all week, no travel at all. except to a doctor's office. earlier this week I did have a lipoma, L I P O m a, a lipoma removed from right at the junction of my neck and my left should. Sort of on my back, but right up in that little triangle area between my neck and my shoulder. Now I've had this lipoma, and a lipoma is just like a fatty mass, that forms for whatever reason. And I've had it for, I'm gonna say at least 15 years. And it started out real. Maybe about the size of a p when I first noticed it, it's right almost in the skin or under the skin, in the fatty layer, between the muscle and the skin. And I noticed it and really didn't bother me. It was a little bump and I thought, oh, what's that? So I've asked a few doctors over the years and they said, oh, don't worry about it unless it starts to bother you. folks get 'em. We don't know exactly why. so I have a lip. Anyway, about maybe six months to a year ago, it really started bothering me. It has gotten bigger. Turns out when they removed it, it was actually bigger than a golf ball. I did take a peek at it in the specimen jar. But it did start to bother me if I were wearing any kind of a small backpack, like with my laptop in it. Or even if I was just out for a long walk, it was putting enough pressure on that area of my neck and shoulder that it would actually cause me pain. And, last September when I was at my six month, checkup with my dermatologist because in the past I have had a few bouts of, basal cells, carcinoma removal, some skin cancer. So I go every six months. And anyway, last September when I was there I said, Hey, you know what? This thing is really starting to bother me. Can we take it out? Sure, no problem. So I looked at my schedule, they looked at their schedule. And this past week was the first time we could fit it in because what I needed was two weeks at home where I did not already have any travel scheduled. And as if you've been listening, I do quite a bit of travel. So it took this long from last September to find a two week period where I had absolutely nothing planned. So I had that removed. The procedure took about two and a half hours, from the first injection of lidocaine until they, put the dressing on it to go home, and the lidocaine really did a great job. except for feeling the first couple of lidocaine injections go in and they used a combination of lidocaine and epinephrine. The epinephrine actually, clamps down on the blood flow in the area, so there's a lot less bleeding. And of course, the lidocaine is a local numbing agent. So that's all I really felt. Didn't feel the procedure at all. Maybe a little bit of tugging and whatnot, because they did remove it all in one piece. So they had to, loosen it from the interior structure before they could remove it from the, little incision they made. Now I say little, the incision is about two and a half inches long. there ended up being three layers of stitches, two on the inside, and then one layer outside. and that outer layer. Of 12 stitches, I will get removed here in about nine more days. So anyway, came home because the location of where it is right on my neck and shoulder area. Sleeping was not good. I could only sleep on my back sitting upright, so as not to put too much pressure on it for the first several nights, the last couple of nights I have managed to sleep on my side, which is where I really prefer it tremendously, but only on one side. And it has not been ideal. I really also can't easily wear a jacket or anything up around my neck because it's gonna rub on the bandage. So I basically stayed inside, since Tuesday. So it's Sunday now, and five days inside is not my style at all. But that's been my week. My Numbers --- If we took a look at my numbers now this week because of that little surgery, I only close my rings two days, and that is very unlike me. But hey, it is what it is. It's, a rare occurrence and it really will not have any negative effects. So two out of seven days for closing my rings for my seven day glucose. Reading with my Freestyle Libre three. Continuous glucose monitor. my average glucose for the past seven days has been 99. That's a 24 7 average, and that equates to a gmi, a glucose management indicator. Oh 5.7. And if you wanna know more about what a glucose management indicator is, it's a calculated version of the a1c and I put an explanation and a link about two episodes ago. If you look back on those show notes, you'll see a link to an explanation from the American Diabetes Association on why they come up with a GMI and what it's used. My body fat percentage is down, it's down to 21.3%. So the last couple weeks, I guess I lost a couple pounds of fat, which is nice. my goal is about 17, percentage of body fat at a maximum. So 21.3. I'm certainly getting closer. My macros for the week. I average 61 grams of carbohydrates each day, and I averaged 148 grams of protein each day Mounjaro Update --- for my Mounjaro update. Now, I have taken my seventh injection at 7.5 milligrams, so there were eight injections before that, so now I've taken 15 total injections. And this time, unlike the last two times, I only waited seven days. Seven days is the recommended interval between doses, but previously I had waited 10 days. Cuz I do like to take only as much medicine as needed, but when I took each of those last two injections after waiting 10 days, I did have a strong reaction. I think it's because the level in my bloodstream had gotten low and by boosting it back up with a 7.5, that was a little bit too much. So this time I only waited seven days. And I had almost no side effects whatsoever. It was much better. it turns out that 10 days might not have been a grand idea. also now because since this injection after waiting only seven days, everything has been working just fine. No bad side effects. A1C is in good control. So now I'm honestly second guessing, moving down to the five milligram. I'm still not sure about that. I see my doctor next month. So at that point in time we will discuss, do I stay at the 7.5? Do I go down to five? I'm gonna work that out with her and see how that goes. I'll keep you posted, of course. Challenge and Win --- My challenge and win for the week. with not getting outside, not getting in any kind of, exercise or movement. know, the first several days I was on restriction, I'll call it light duty, if you will, but no lifting. really I didn't, when I would get out there even for a walk of any distance, because, my jacket would have rubbed against the bandage area and I was not into that at all. So my challenge was keeping my blood sugar in line. With almost no exercise whatsoever. I did not even come close to closing my rings, the past five days. And so far it's not been a problem. I did cut back a little bit on the carbs. If you, remember about two minutes ago I reported on averaging 61 grams of carbohydrates. Now, prior to this, week, I had been doing 80 grams of carbohydrates, which were working well, but with new exercise, I cut it back down to 60 from the 80 and that small change. Now, I can't say it's causal, but I did make that small. And my A1C was great, so I'll call that a win. News --- All right, let's take a look at the news. Got some good ones for you. If you listen to last week's episode, you may remember that I was talking about a news article where they mentioned Americans ordering ozempic or Mounjaro from Canada. Because Canada's selling it for much cheaper than we are here in the us. In Canada, it's averaging just a little bit over $300 for a one month supply. Whereas in the US it's averaging well over a thousand dollars for a one month supply if you don't have insurance. So now, That was last week. This week I'm reading an article that's entitled Canada Cracks Down on American Ozempic Prescriptions. So I guess it was too good to last. And they are saying here that, British Columbia, and so far it's just bc, just British Columbia. Province in Canada is limiting the sales of Ozempic to only Canadians. You must live there in order to get, sold Ozempic and Ozempic is, prescribed for type two diabetes. I know folks use it for weight loss as well. this was, previously allowing Americans, like I say, to save hundreds of dollars a month, but, they were concerned that because the drug is in limited supply, that Canadians would not be able to buy it in Canada. at least just British Columbia so far from what I can see in this article, they are preventing now Americans from purchasing it. It, only lasted a short time. The next article here is, very interesting for those folks who maybe wanna learn more about Ozempic or the other label, Wego V or Mounjaro, it's entitled, what's the difference between Ozempic Wego V and Mounjaro? Now, we've talked about before how Ozempic and Mogok. Two names both by the same company, but one was primarily approved for type two diabetes and the other one, Wego V, is primarily approved for weight loss. However, it's the same drug. it's the same chemical. There is no difference between Ozempic and Wego V except for the dosage. They are both semaglutide, one is authorized, if you will, primarily for type two diabetes. That's the ozempic. And then the Wago V. Same drug, different dose is for weight loss. Now, Mounjaro is a different medicine. Mounjaro is Tze peptide. So Mounjaro, like Ozempic has a GLP one. I. But it also has a G I P inhibitor. So anyway, you can read this article here. It, goes into a little bit more detail than I just did, but, that's why I provide a link, to the article for you to get all those details. And the link for this article and all the articles, as always are both in the show notes and also over at the website solving type two diabetes.com. The third. Article here looks at the. It says here, the market for diabetes drugs is set to double in a decade as more patients receive diagnoses. Now, we have certainly talked before about how the rate of type two diabetes is going up and up, and right now it says 9.3% of the population of the world, which is more than 640 million adults. Have diabetes and that is expected to increase dramatically and by, well over 25% just in the next 10 to 12 years. So that, rate of disease is going up, dramatically. And even so they say about half the cases of diabetes. Normally type two is completely undiagnosed. Until people start having very severe complications and kidney problems, vision problems, heart disease, other things. And then they find out that this person might have had type two diabetes for quite some time. So they're saying that these drugs now are, including insulin. these drugs are, gonna be in a much greater demand, in the future. So I don't give stock tips, but take it for what you will. This final, article here is very interesting. It's a very high tech, cutting edge research. It's titled, Implantable fuel cell that generates electricity from excess glucose in the blood. Now, they have done this in mice already. They have not done human trials, but what it does, it's a fuel cell that breaks down glucose from the bloodstream and turns it into electric. Which, it's very tiny. They say it's about the size of a tea bag. So if you're a tea drinker, you know how big a tea bag is. it's maybe, I don't know, half the size of a pack of chewing gum, something like that. And this is implanted and linked. Somehow to the bloodstream. It's wrapped in a non-woven fabric and coded with an algae product that's used in other medical devices. So this allows for the blood, glucose to enter this fuel cell. Where the chemical reactions take place and the output is electricity now. Right now they only use it to power of all things an L e d light bulb. which I guess they use that to show that it's working. But I guess they have mice running around with lights on them. I don't know. But what they hope to do now, this is where it's fascinating. a lot of folks with type one diabetes use a insulin pump. Of course, that insulin pump is battery operated. It's on the outside of the body. But what they're saying is now, instead of having to use batteries for the insulin pump, they'll be able to take electricity made from the patient's own excess glucose to power the insulin pump. that's, it sounds like science fiction, but evidently, they have steps. they're looking for more funding. But this is a real thing here. And, so it does lower a person's blood glucose just by a little bit, not enough to really, solve the disease. But, it is enough to produce enough electricity, they say, to run an insulin pump. Self-sufficient now is, is that a, a human, machine, a cyborg type thing. I don't know. But look at that article that, that was in the, medical Express and, yeah, that just came out, 28th of March. So I'll link to it of course. But, that is cutting edge science. Now who knows if and when that'll ever come to market, but wow, what an amazing thing to think. Consistency in Solving Type 2 Diabetes --- All right, let's get into the main topic for today. Now, I told you last week that I had wanted to talk about consistency, and I follow a few, nutrition coaches, who talk about this a lot. And I found it to be true, in my efforts to solve my type two diabetes, but consistency, realizing things over the long. Is really a key to success for me, and I've seen it be a key to success for other people as well. there's a fallacy out there. you see memes about it. You see cute little things about where someone has eaten a salad maybe for the first time in months, and then they step on the scale expecting to have lost. or say someone didn't go to McDonald's on Tuesday and all of a sudden they expect the scale to be lower on Wednesday. So it's not just weight loss where people have this fallacy, but it's also for type two diabetes, general fitness, everything else. you join a gym and the next day you wonder why you can't bench press 600 pounds. that's not how it. there's a fallacy that if I, oh, I've done something for the last two or three days, why don't I look, feel, act, move completely differently? Because it takes consistency over the long term. Now, the long term isn't just some nebulous thing. The long term is made up of each small decision that you make. The long term is. Not just what you eat today, but it's what you eat today, tomorrow, the next day. What you can do today is to start that long-term consistency. Some folks like to call it a habit. And that's the most comfortable way is if what you're trying to do actually becomes a habit. Because we don't tend to think so much about habits. We tend to just act on autopilot, if you will. Now, outliers certainly will happen, but mostly. What we need is to be on target most of the time. Now, I'm not talking once in a while, or occasionally, or even half the time. True consistency needs to build to a level where it's like 90% or better. You know, in a month there's 30 days. So in 30 days, if you make. Good decisions that are helpful to you, helpful to your movement, helpful to your nutrition, say 27 out of those 30 days, that's gonna be a consistent quality month that's gonna push you towards your goals. But if you get less than those 27 days, oh, it's three out of four days, or it's half the days, or it's at least a couple times. That's not gonna cut it. That's not consistently, you're being consistently inconsistent. That's not what we're shooting for. Now, we also don't need perfection. You do not need to have a streak of where you keep under your carbohydrate goal for 400 days without a single. No, you don't need that. You don't need to close your Apple Watch rings or go to the gym every single day for six months without a break. No, you don't need that. What you need is, unless some planned or completely unavoidable thing happens, you do what you know to be helpful to you in reaching your. Now, like I said, it's important not just for your eating and movement this is really, you can apply this to anything that you're trying to change or improve on in your life. Maybe it's, reading a page a day in a book, or a chapter. Maybe it is a cutting back to no more than one hour of screen time a day. Wow. That would be tough for me. I like my tv. maybe it is getting out and getting in a long walk. Maybe it is avoiding sugar or processed foods and things like that for those to. You really need to be consistent. So how do you do that? What? What's the mechanics involved? I think there's many different approaches, and this is a personal thing. You might have to experiment a bit to find out what works best for you, but perhaps you could tack on this new habit to an existing habit, let's say every morning when you wake up. You make coffee, let's say you tack onto that right next to the coffee is maybe everything you need to make a nice breakfast. maybe eggs and bacon or whatever you eat that is helpful to you so that you can avoid the drive-through at McDonald's on the way to work. Or you can avoid the two donuts with your. At Dunking Donuts, maybe you can tack on a healthy breakfast habit to your habit of making coffee in the morning, exercise. Maybe you, plan your clothes for the next day. maybe you could put out. Exercise clothes each night, and then literally all you have to do is roll out of bed, put on the clothes, and you're halfway to going for a walk. Maybe on the way home from work. Maybe you take your exercise clothes with you to work, change in the restroom or locker room if you have one at work. And when you get home, you are ready to hop right out and go for your walk. Maybe you get your walk. Before you even leave work, you get your walk in at outside, at work or at the gym, at work if you have one. And by taking your clothes with you to work, maybe you can start that habit. Other folks might like a checklist. Let's say you have two or three things, and I would recommend starting out small. Don't try and all of a sudden gain consistency over six or seven different things in your life. Take 'em one at a time. Make it easy on yourself. Don't cause yourself to have struggles, but maybe you make a checklist of the couple of things you wanna make sure you do. You could use your phone, you could use paper, whatever works for you, take a timeout. This often works with eating. Before you go to grab something, especially if you're grabbing it in the go and you're not even sitting down for a meal, take a timeout, maybe write it down, maybe put it into an app like MyFitness Pal. Oftentimes taking that little timeout is enough to think, Hey, is this thing really gonna help me? Or is there some substitution that I could make that would help me? Doing that every day, taking that time out could really help you build your consistency in forming this new habit. Also, plan your day, and this could be reserving a time in your day on your calendar to get in your walk, to get in your gym time, plan it like any other appointment. Put it in there and you know for a fact it's in your calendar. You're going to the gym five days this week. You already have your times and days picked out, blocked off in your calendar. Maybe you plan your eating for the next day. I often do this. If I can't tell you what good choices I'm gonna make for the next day, I'll sit down and I'll put 'em in my fitness pal. Now, for me, I'm fairly consistent on when I do that too. When I'm watching the evening news, which I really like. I like the, the NBC news with Lester Holt. Anyway, that has nothing to do with anything other than that's when I do it, I actually put into my fitness. What I'm going to eat the next day. Make sure it hits my macros, make sure it's something I really want to eat, make sure it's something I have available to eat, and that way it's done. It's a no-brainer. I can be consistent in that little plan, which lets me be consistent in my eating. Now you might find that you want to use technology, you want to use apps. That's generally the way I go. some folks like paper, some people get a, dry erase little board and they put it on the board every day. I know somebody who does that. so whatever works for you, whatever's convenient and something that you're gonna see and do consistent consistently will help build those habits that are gonna take care of your eating and your movement. 90% of the time are better, and that's what we're shooting for. Questions --- Okay. Let's take a look at your questions now. We have had some really great questions these past few weeks. It just so happens that this week we don't have any, and that's okay. So let me take this time and talk about me. I'm gonna remind you of my little. If you could please share this podcast, the fact that you're listening. I'm guessing either you're very bored or you're actually getting a little bit of value out of this. If you're getting a little bit of value, then yeah, please share it with someone. If you're very bored, maybe share it with someone you know who's usually very bored. Either way, I would greatly appreciate it. Now, there's also two ways to contact me. Hopefully you will have a question for me this week, so you can either just send me an email directly. Tom Solving type two diabetes.com. Just shoot me an email or go over to the website solving type two diabetes.com and click on feedback. By doing that, you fill out a simple little form. You can enter your question, your comment, what you like or don't like about the podcast, maybe a topic you would like me to cover in the future. Just send out that little feedback form and I'll get an email. What's Next? --- Okay, what's next? Next week I wanna shift gears a little bit and I wanna talk about food substitutions that I make. So I often, think about something and then, that would be good. Now, is that meeting my goals? Is that something that's gonna be helpful to me? And if not, I'll try and go along the same line of thought, but make a food substitution. I found there's a lot of foods that you can substitute for. I'm gonna say standard American way of eating by making little substitutions to me still taste great, but push me towards my goals. So that's next week. Well, that wraps up another episode of the Solving Type 2 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 at SolvingType2Diabetes.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.