Riding with Diabetes

[philidor1958]

I was diagnosed with type II diebetes about 6 months ago. It runs hard in my family as all 3 of my brothers had it and my sister has it and all 13 of my dad's brothers and sister had it. It was just a matter of time for me and my luck ran out about 6 months ago. The doctor told me my weight was fine, but I now need to watch my diet and eat 3 meals a day instead of just one. I am luck because I love veggies, but when I eat a cow has to die. The only time I really feel bad is when my sugar drops below 90, and I know when it is there. I usually try to check my sugar, drink 1/2 of a can of Dr. Pepper, wait 15 minutes and then my sugar will be up. The hardest part about dieabetes is eating 3 meals a day as I prefer to snack all day and eat a hardy supper. Oh I forgot the major weakness I have outside of Dr. Pepper is "Homade Vanilla Ice Cream", damn I love my ice cream.

[boxcardenny]

got type 1 in 2005 lost 65lbs and was wasting away,i went from 175 to 112 when i drove from AC to pittsburgh on the turnpike and dont rember the ride.i had 50 dollers worth of gateraid bottles all empty,dont have a clue what i did or were i got the gatoraid.my brother in law took me to the hosp were i spent 15 days before i was let go.i still ride dont take long rides,100-200 a day when i go out,dont no how to keep ins cold? THEN AGAIN I ALL WAYS GIT SICK WHEN I TRAVLE!! so any advice wood realey be helpfull.

[aswracing]

Reversing Type 2 diabetes starts with ignoring the guidelines

[Hippysmack]

^ +1

I can't help with type 2 but I'm versed in type 1 due to my son having it from age 5.
I can vouch for the fact that there isn't one doctor or nurse in my county that gives the same advice.
And all their advice made his sugar high or really low.
We got lucky with his endo being a specialist at Children's.
She allowed me to learn by experience, best teacher.

[ParrotHead]

Originally Posted by Henry007

Sorry for bumping, but I've just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and I'm shocked...It would be great if more people shared their experiences. Thanks in advance.

I was diagnosed as Type II in 2015. Over time you learn how your body reacts and feels and eat accordingly. I used to check my sugar at each food/gas stop or when I simply did not feel well. I now will check in the morning and evenings or if I just feel off.

I ride a lot, 30,000 or so miles a year and this has worked for me so far. I actually find my sugar is better when I ride since I don't snack as often even though I am more likely to eat a sandwich as a meal.

[Hippysmack]

I can't tell you how many folks I've run into with type 2 that basically refuse to check their sugar often.
Glad to hear that exists.

[aswracing]

I've found the message in that video to be right on the money. Eating carbs, and the glucose & insulin spike that comes with it, over the long term makes you insulin resistant. Let it get bad enough and you have type 2.

I just wish I had that information in my 20's. I would've been a lot more careful about what I eat.

Instead, I got to my sixties, only to be told I had "metabolic syndrome", which is a collection of conditions that indicate an out-of-whack metabolism from eating too many carbs for too long. High blood sugar, overweight, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and low HDL.

Never actually got a full blown Type 2 diagnosis, but I was well on my way and would've been there within a couple years.

Based on that video and other research, I went to a low carb, high fat diet (LCHF). The improvement in my health was dramatic. Within 6 months I had dropped 40lbs without even trying. Blood pressure is normal, fasting blood glucose in the mid 90's, HDL has rocketed from 35 to 72, Triglycerides went from 445 down to 42. I mean, eating LCHF turned my health completely around.

HAMMER Dan also had metabolic syndrome, followed my example and started eating LCHF, and had similar results.

I also shared that video with a good friend who's been type 2 for 15 years. He's 76 years old. After loading him up with metformin for years, his doctors were telling him it was no longer getting it done and now he needed to go on insulin. Metformin and insulin just treat the symptom, not the disease, and the disease just keeps getting worse. So instead, he started eating LCHF and now he's completely reversed his type 2 and off the metformin completely, let alone having to take insulin.

I find I don't really miss eating carbs. There are good low-carb substitutes for many things, like bread for example. I love meats, fish, and avocados, which are all LCHF. I eat good. I just have to avoid the potatoes, pasta, rice, sugar, and regular breads.

The way I look at it, each of us has a lifetime allocation of carbs. Once we've passed that allocation, pounding on our cells with sugar and insulin for decades, it catches up to us. It would've been a lot smarter to spread that allocation over a longer period of time. But I had no idea the damage I was doing to my body. Nobody had ever told me. Even now, not all doctors are on board. That's a lot of what the video is about, how screwed up the American Diabetes Association guidelines are. The guidelines tell doctors to treat the symptoms instead of the disease. But the disease just keeps progressing unless and until you address the root cause, which is carbs.