Insulin Free

Since this is my second day without insulin I figured I should let my doctor know. I called the office. She was on vacation. So I texted.


(Actual transcription of my text messages with my doctor.)

Me: "Hey Dr. Thys. I started waking up real low and even having midnight lows and so I stopped taking Lantus 2 days ago. Numbers have been pretty good. Is that okay?"

Her: "Yes"

Communication made easier by technology. I am very very excited at how good the numbers have been. And I figured something else out today. I take usually 6 pills per day. A pill takes care of roughly 100 carbohydrates. A carbohydrate provides 4 calories of energy. Therefore any day that I take 6 pills will be a day that I consume 6x100x4 = 2400 calories worth of carbohydrates. Protein probably makes up at least 10% of my diet or around 60 grams or 240 calories, and I imagine I have at least 30 grams of fat or 270 calories. Combined that is a minimum of 2910 calories per day, a pretty good amount for somebody my size. Although with all the workouts maybe I'll start taking 7 pills and eat an extra 400 calories around lunch. And now for further proof of my insulin-free success!

Dailies:

11:20 -> 93 Perfect morning number! Took 2 Prandin with cereal 110c then at 1:00 had 2 apples 30c an orange 11c and peanuts 8c.
5:31 -> 83 Something obviously working! Took 2 Prandin with dinner of lentil soup with quinoa 115c and salad with hummus and avocado 45c. Also had fake coffee 4c, apple 15c and orange 9c.
10:55 -> 52 Low alert! Apple 15c. Waited a few minutes and then had a yam 75c with 1 Prandin, an orange 9c and a Larabar 24c.
2:42 -> 69 Too low for bed. Had a carrot 11c, 4 celery w/pb 4c and brussels sprouts 20c, and a half cup of apple sauce 20c. Going to bed!

Gratitudes:
1. Got my personal days approved in May.
2. The temperature went over 60 degrees today.
3. A productive physical therapy session.

Day 79

No Insulin Experiment

"This is my quest, to follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far."
~ Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha

The results are in and I am pleased to say that I survived my first synthetic insulin free day since December 19, 2011. Does anybody else find this as insanely awesome as I do? What a freakin' journey. I went to the doctor with all the classic symptoms of diabetes. I had an A1C of 13, a blood sugar level of 569, a C Peptide level of .55. In common English that translates to "YOU HAVE DIABETES DUDE!" This to me was an unbeatable disease, that's what everybody said. But in those early days I forgot a very powerful truth.

Unbeatable is not the same as unfightable.

I am very very lucky right now. My doctor has said it before and I've realized it many times since. I'm lucky. I've reversed every number that I just listed. My A1C continues to drop, and if I continue on my current trajectory I hope to get back an A1C under 7 when I get blood work done next week. My blood glucose was 67 last I checked and my C Peptide is 1.65, back in the healthy range.

Now, just because I've stopped taking insulin doesn't mean my Diabetes is in remission or anything like that. I'm still on 6 pills a day. I suffer lows an highs on a daily basis. But remember this:

A diagnosis is not a death sentence.

There are two ways to deal with being diagnosed with any type of Diabetes. You can bend over and allow Western medicine and western doctors to make a statistic out of you, or you can do everything in your power to maintain as close to normal health as possible. Make changes. Be an outlier. And keep up the good fight!

Dailies:

10:43 -> 89 This is my first fasting sugar level after not taking basal insulin. Took 2 Prandin with cereal 110c. At 1:30 had strawberries 30c. At 2:00 had 2 mandarin oranges 17c. At 3:30 had blueberries and nuts 10c. At 4:30 had an apple 25c in anticipation of a workout. Ran with sprints, about 4 miles.
5:30 -> 75 Took 2 Prandin with dinner: lentil soup with rice 100c and salad 30c and 2 mandarin oranges 17c. At 8 had strawberries 30 and fake coffee 4c. At 9:30 had an apple 15c, a cookie 10c and my last orange 9c.
12:31 -> 67 Took 2 Prandin with supper: red cabbage and squash 100c (that's a LOT of cabbage) and beans 57c and quinoa 30c.
3:26 -> 182 I'm not unhappy with this number. A little high, sure, but not so high, and since it's three hours since my last pills I'd guess this number is heading down. Will be interesting to see my morning number on what will be Day 2 of the experiment!

Gratitudes:
1. I held my blood sugar under 200 on my first day off insulin.
2. I felt compelled to periodically sprint during my run today.
3. The sun was out and the sky was clear. Spring is almost here.

Doc told me last time I saw her that she wanted my body to "cool down" which was the reason for ditching the Gluten and for ramping up the vitamins. Well, I'd say my body's pretty cool right now.

Day 78

China Study Review: Part 2

The China Study is nothing if not a vegan manifesto. The list of evidence is compelling. The science is sound. A whole foods plant based diet is the best way to prevent a whole host of diseases including cancers, coronary heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, Alhzeimer's disease, etc.

Don't compare what you read in The China Study to what you hear on the news. The China Study is the primary source. This is the book written by the project manager of the biggest most comprehensive study on nutrition ever conducted. A $5 million dollar study examining the dietary traditions of villages across China over decades and the correlation to disease.

Really and truly, the author repeatedly throws some light on fad diets, science of convenience, and agenda based policy and reveals them all for what they are. I've obviously been influenced. If you can find this book in a library, check it out, it is shocking.






And with that I move onto my next book: A Fighter's Heart

Dailies:

11:33 -> 71 Noticing a trend? This is the fifth day in a row I've woken up under 100. Took 2 Prandin with V cereal 110c. At 12:45 had a banana 27c. At 1:30 had two apples 40c.
2:49 -> 86 Pre Joey number. Not high enough. Had a pb sandwich 25c. Did 1st act then had a Larabar 26c. That's a total carb count of 216c for 2 pills.
7:22 -> 74 Wow, impressive how low that is. Took 2 Prandin with beans 67c, chorizo 13c, quinoa 30c, brussels sprouts 20c, chips 20c, blueberries 20c, yam 60c, squash w/ tahini 4c. 234c for 2 pills.
10:03 -> 244 Dang it, I let my appetite get the best of me. If 216 carbs over 8 hours kept me stable with two pills, what made me think that 234 carbs would balance out 2 pills in one sitting. I'm an idiot.
1:00 -> 208 At least I'm heading down (I hope I didn't peak higher between these two numbers, though I probably did). It will be very curious to see what number I wake up at.

Gratitudes:
1. Medical insurance sent me a check, paltry but helpful.
2. My sis arrived in town.
3. Despite some shoulder irritation I completed a very enjoyable performance of Joey.

Day 75

The China Study: Part 1

Well, I've finally come to the end of the 1000 page behemoth that is George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones, a cheesier, less complex American attempt at recreating something along the lines of Lord of the Rings. Everybody's reading it, and though I've become less social these days, I still want to equip myself with conversational fodder. To stretch an analogy, one might say Lord of the Rings is to Game of Thrones what the British diet of the 1940s is to the American diet of the 21st century. Our diet is less nutritionally dense, less filling but more addicting. But reading Game of Thrones won't cause cancer. So I read it, and am happy to be done.

I'm now moving on to a book that I have been anticipating reading for about four years. It's the book that turns meat eaters vegetarian and vegetarians vegan. So why am I reading a book that is likely to make me cut out even more food from my diet? Because, as the cover states, it is "the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted."

I'm only 100 pages in, so I haven't even gotten to the juicy stuff yet, but to reduce a several decade several thousand person study to a few lines, T. Colin Campbell outlines the affect of eating animal protein on the promotion of cancerous cells, illustrating how he can "turn on" or "turn off" cancer depending on the volume of dietary animal protein. How's THAT for a page turner!

I'll do a proper review later. But for any amateur healthies out there, this is a book - like Blue Zones, In Defense of Food, Animal Vegetable Miracle, etc. - that should be in your library.


Dailies:

11:08 -> 96 Took 2 Prandin w/cereal 110c. Had some macadamia nuts at 1:00 (Thanks Tom!) 4c, and an apple 20c at 2:00. At 4:30 I had some peanuts 5c. I was starving by the time I ate dinner.
5:39 -> 67 Nice! Better than being high. Took 2 Prandin with Dinner: Lentil soup 45c, salad 30c, apple 20c, fake coffee 5c. At 7:30 I had pb on toast 15c and a few more macadamia nuts 5c.
11:32 -> 82 Took 2 Prandin with Supper: broccoli w/roast garlic and homemade pesto (unsuccessful) 45c, salad 20c, yam 25c. Took 5 units of Lantus (late).
2:29 -> 178 More or less what I expected based on the way my body felt. Going to bed.

Crazy how some days the ratio is 100carbs to 1 pill and others like tonight 45carbs to 1 pill is still too high. And it's not as if I wasn't active today. I did two shows. There must be some other part of the equation that I'm not aware of yet, types of food maybe? Tomorrow should be better. I plan on going to yoga and maybe doing a little cardio work too, and in the evening Joey!

1.Grateful that I stayed under 200 today.
2. Grateful for a moment of perspective I had today while crossing backstage before an entrance. I suddenly remembered how cool this job is.
3. Grateful for a network of family and extended family who really love and care about me. I see evidence of this every day.

Day 71

Gluten Free Beers

I'm beat. A two show day and a mid-day workout of 10 quick sprints up a three story flight of stairs. So here's a quick round-up of a few beers I've had. All of them surprised me, in a good way. I'm also pleased to announce that there is some diversity between them so I'll start keeping them all on stock if such an opportunity arises.

GLUTEN FREE BEER!!!

Bard's Beer - Bards was a good place to start. I entered with very low expectations and yet it's cold crisp and pleasantly hoppy taste resurrected my faith in a benevolent God. This is beer, gluten free beer. There was a slight metalic taste and the aftertaste reminded me of my college red cup days, but it will suffice in a pinch and is worth the adolescent memories for the first few sweet sips. My life will not be beerless, just no more beers at bars. That's like going to the dentist expecting root canal and finding out it's just a cavity. It's a beer I'll drink if it's handed to me.

Greens - This is the closest I'll get to the Trappist Ales I've had to cut out of my diet. It is Belgian made which automatically makes it the best gluten free brewery in the world. It is the most expensive (to be expected) but has incredible depth, high alcohol content, and a robust sweetness that only comes from a Dubbel style beer. This is the cadillac of gluten free beers, best enjoyed cold, slowly, in a proper mug with a plate of strong cheese, gluten free bread, and a steaming pot of mussels.

New Grist - This beer was [very] light, crisp with a bit of a syrupy aftertaste. This will be the beer to fill those endless warm summer nights outside listening to the cicadas and crickets, or sailing down the coast of California, waves tickling my bare feet that hang over the deck, sun bleaching my saltwind swept hair. I guess what I'm trying to say is, though it's no wheat beer, it is similar enough in flavor quality to a Blue Moon to be my go to when I'm hankerin' for a fruity beer that is still masculine.

Redbridge - Of the four, Redbridge is the best all purpose beer. I'd be equally comfortable drinking this out of a tall and sexy glass at a Vegas club (although why would I be there?), or straight from the bottle at a monster truck rally. This is the beer for poker night, for drinking with a burger, for camping trips and tailgate parties, or for washing down the body aches of a long day working with your hands building a deck, or mending a fence or painting a house. It's gluten-free America in a bottle. Tastes like freedom.



Dailies:

12:00 -> 116 Took 2 Prandin with cereal 110c. At 1:00 apple 20c. At 2:00 had pb toast 15c and fake coffee 10c.
5:45 -> 68 After a few sprints up some stairs. Took 2 Prandin with 32 oz of chili 100-120c? At 8:00 had an apple 20c and quiche 35c. At 10:45 had half a beer.
12:01 -> 64 Based on this number I'd guess the chili was closer to 100c. Had a huge salad w/avocado 35c and chicken. Took my 5 units of Lantus.
2:45 -> 87 I'm going to sleep on this number. I'll keep sugar nearby, but honestly I imagine this to be slowly creeping up. I'll probably wake at 100.

Thoughts: I think the key to using Prandin successfully for me is understanding that it's affect on me is slow. Two of my pre-meal numbers were in the 60s and yet both times I didn't panic at all, felt no low affects and ate shortly afterwards. Those are not 60s that are dropping fast, but simply a reflection of a pancreas that is slowly ticking away and dealing with my obscene amount of food. One day soon I'll probably do a few 2-hour after my meal checks to make sure I'm not having any huge spikes as I was in the early days of Prandin.

Day 68

The City of Unlimited Choices

Today was rough. Not diabetically, not physically, in fact for no reason related to my condition at all. I had a crappy day at work. It happens, we've all been there, I'll live to see another day.

But a bad work day coupled with more wind and rain than we've had in months gave me a positively negative demeanor. And then I passed this...

Choco Bolo

The sign in the window advertised Chocolate, Cake and Coffee.

Chocolate, Cake and Coffee!

CHOCOLATE, CAKE AND COFFEE!!??

I can't have chocolate because I'm Diabetic. I can't have Cake because I'm Gluten Free. And I can't have coffee, because I gave it up for Lent!! AAAHHhGGGGHHhhH!!!

Sometimes I feel as discriminated against as a black man in rural 1950s Alabama. They're all inside there looking so happy, eating away at their eclairs and viennese tortes, sipping their mocha lattes and macchiatos and mayan sipping chocolate, oblivious to the amount of carbohydrates in each, blind to how hard their pancreases are working, to the caffeine that's running through their bodies artificially spiking their heart rate and adrenal production. Oh I envy you coffee drinking chocolate cake eating affluent kept women of the upper west side with your double decker MacLaren strollers and your dogs with cute sweaters, and your Chanel bags and your precocious little children.

I hope you feel a particularly intense burn of lactic acid when you're at your group pilates class at David Barton's gym. I hope your gyrotonics instructor dropped his shot of wheat grass on his way to work and takes it out on you. So there!

Breath,

breath,

breath...

Phew...

Sometimes, you just need a good shouting session. A time and place to vent and the freedom to do so. It's not always easy, living in the city of a thousand choices with so many restriction on you. It's not easy getting the stink eye from cocktail waiters who, while collecting used beer bottles, realize the Gluten Free bottle didn't come from their bar. But what's not easy is hard (I swear. Look it up in the dictionary if you don't believe me). And doing things that are hard make you stronger.

I'll be strong if you will.

Dailies:

11:23 -> 78 Took 2 Prandin w/cereal 110c and an orange 17c. At 2:15 had toast w/pb 15c. At 3:15 had Larabar 15c.
6:00 -> 89 Took 2 Prandin with Chipotle 110c, apple 20c, peanuts 6c and face coffee 10c.
11:20 -> 102 Took 1 Prandin with dinner: brussels sprouts 18c, salad 20c, apple 20c. Took 5 units of Lantus at about 1:00.
2:15 -> 74 pbgft (peanut butter gluten free toast) 15c. Bed

Day 66

Hour of Power

I swear, sometimes I only workout because I know that at the end of the day I'll have something to write about. I dread a blank screen more than I dread a painful training session and so I give myself a minute to decide what sort of workout is best and then I just do it. I wonder if that's the best thing that comes of writing this blog. But if so, then this blog is successful indeed. They call that something, don't they? Doing something not of your own accord but for somebody or something else. They do - they call it accountability.

Who or what are you accountable to? We all have things we could do better. If you're a Type 1.5 diabetic like me, maybe your A1C lives near the 8% mark and you want to get it lower. Maybe you're a type 2 and your goal is weight loss. Or you've taken on the Gluten Free Challenge and find yourself faltering, standing in the aisles at the grocery store with a hand on a box of mac and cheese, or in line at a sandwich shop. Maybe you're training for a competition, or just working towards your own personal goal. Are you a creative type who keeps resolving to start that novel, or finish that screenplay?

Everywhere I look I see people with wonderful wonderful goals. One friend wants to learn Portuguese so he can go to Brazil for the world cup. Another wants to save enough money to buy a house. One has aspirations to be a great banjo player. But goals are cheap. They are. It's a beautiful word that belongs somewhere near maybe or could in the dictionary.

I wrote a bit about willpower yesterday. But today I want you to think about what role accountability can play in fortifying your willpower. And when you're done thinking about it, choose one of your goals (preferably one that is attainable in the near-term, say a month or two) and find a way to hold yourself accountable. Make a pledge to someone who will check in on you and monitor your progress.

So what's an hour of power anyway?

Well, it's a very unoriginal name for sitting on an ergometer...

...and pulling you're butt off...

...for an hour.

It hurts. It's long. It's boring. BUT...




When you finish you realize you've just rowed 9.5 miles, a solid hour, burned over 1000 calories and you know that you are stronger and healthier than you were before. And what's more, you've built your self-confidence and strengthened your resolve. Next time will be easier and easier still until you'll have to make the workout harder to keep up with your progress.

But for those of you who read this only for the fitness aspect, yes, I realize that I've done two epic cardio workouts in one week. I had to do it to prove to myself that I could. It was mental training. Did I have what it would take to push through a distance. I answered that question. My question for next week is, how much intense pain can I suffer in the short term. In other words, sprints, and things like sprints, and lots of them.

Dailies:

12:17 -> 120 Seems a peculiar number. had 2 Prandin w/cereal 110c. Rowed a POWER HOUR! Had an orange 16c and salad w/quinoa 45c and chicken.
5:37 -> 77 Took a Prandin with chicken, quinoa 40c, indian eggplant 26c, orange 16c. Did Joey. At 9:30 had pb toast 15c, protein shake 5c and fake coffee 8c. At 10:45 had a shot of tequila, beer and Larabar 26c. Took 5 units Lantus at 1:50
2:40 -> 74 Don't feel like taking meds and waiting, so I just had baby zucchini 12c w/ tahini 5c.

Day 65

The Gluten Free Challenge

It was in Turkey back in September of 2009 that I really understood for the first time the purpose of giving something up for Lent. It does not feel so long ago that I was there, wandering the stalls of the Istanbul spice market, feasting on river fish, fresh figs, walnuts crushed with honey and cheese, sipping their dark and syrupy tea in a glass delicately held between my two fingers. A few days later I was on my own in the small seaside town of Amasrat, where I could sprawl on great sun baked rocks and watch the locals exchange village gossip or sit themselves in the shade of the cliffs. But it wasn't until I went to Bolu, a large but unimportant town in central Turkey that the meaning became clear.

Let me start by explaining that there is nothing in Bolu. It is a very dull place unless you are being hosted, which I suppose I was. He met me at the local park, spotting me easily, a tall blonde man made whiter by the goopy thick sunscreen I bought from the nearest convenient store. I've since forgotten his name but he was a slight man, short, dressed in a short sleeved collard button up one size to big tucked into his khaki shorts which were cinched tightly in an effort to give him the waist his God overlooked. When we met he was tired and irritable, nursing a headache and fatigue, but he put his physical troubles aside and took me to a local favorite spot of his for some food. I ordered two sandwiches and some exotic pastries before it dawned on me that he was a very religious man.

September of 2009 was Ramadan, a time of year when Muslims eat only when the sun is down. If you're thinking, "hey, I could just become nocturnal for the month" then you're just where I was two years ago. But even if you did choose to spend your Ramadan sleeping during the day and dining in the dark, which wouldn't be so fun after a few days, you'd be missing the point. As it was explained to me by my Turkish host, the point is to experience life, if only while the sun is up, as the poor and hungry do. He had been fasting since 5am, no food, no water and it was nearly sun down and still in the mid 80s. To feel, actually feel the hunger and the thirst is to understand better their lives. There is no better foundation for compassion than this shared experience.

That night when the sun finally went down he met with friends around a table sagging under the weight of the food. It was a buffet set for kings and as they filled themselves with all the bounty of the very generous Turkish land I saw them come to life again, enjoying food as you never can when it's always there. They had gained an appreciation for the gift of nourishment.

It's not Ramadan, and I'm not Muslim. But tomorrow is Ash Wednesday which means the beginning of Lent. I don't think I've successfully given something up for Lent in years, or even decades. Partially this was due to laziness (I couldn't think of anything big enough not to feel guilty but small enough not to really change my day to day life), partially this was due to a lack of motivation. I asked myself, "what's the point? Why should I give up chocolate... beer... ice cream? What will that teach me?" But those questions are selfish.

And so I come to my challenge for you.



I challenge you, the readers of this blog to learn what it is to be afflicted by gluten free living, to walk for a month in the footsteps of Celiacs and others with dietary restrictions around the world. Feel the small burden of our daily restrictions and sacrifices and know that no matter how annoying it may get, some day your inconvenience will end, but ours is for life.

I welcome you to share your experiences as comments on this post. What was the hardest thing to give up? What did you crave the most? What new foods did you learn to love? How did you find eating at restaurants? Would you be able to make the switch if you had to? I hope we all grow from the experience.

Dailies:

10:33 -> 116 Higher than I've been in the morning, I blame my late night. Took 2 Prandin w/Breakfast: Cereal 110c, banana 25c. At 1:00 had an orange 20c.
3:10 -> 108 Took 1 Prandin with Lunch: 1/2 rotisserie chicken, plantains 70c, salad 5c. At 5:00 had 1/4 protein bar 6c, peanuts 6c, 1/2 orange 10c and teeccino 7c. At 8:30 had peanuts 7c and 1/2 orange 10c.
10:48 -> 79 Took 2 Prandin with Dinner: Salad w/quinoa 60c, asparagus with onions 30c, bagel 26c, banana 26c, peanut butter 8c = 150c.
1:54 -> 256 Felt high, was high. The bagel was too much which is too bad. It was really really delicious. I'm sure I'll drop into range by tomorrow as the Lantus and Prandin continue to work.

Lessons:
1. Don't overshoot it late at night, it's easier to correct a low at night than a high.
2. If you aren't very active during the day expect your ratio to be smaller than usual. Afer the run I was almost 240c:2 pills. Today 150c:2 pills is too high.
3. If you don't sleep long enough you tend to run a little less efficient which can lead to highs.

As for me, since I'm already gluten free, I'm giving up caffeine.

Day 63

Reading Labels for Dibetic and Gluten Free Living

Well don't I feel like a fool. I made one of the classic schoolboy errors. Here I am, a guy who grew up reading labels, searching for key words like sugar and high fructose corn syrup and monosodium glutamate and other various additives that aren't good for you my whole life. Since my diagnosis I've gotten even more anal, checking for any glutinous ingredients or any of the manifestations of refined sugar. And I've gotten good, really good. I eat more and more macrobiotic foods, whole plants, unprocessed meats, fresh fruits and unrefined grains. But despite my obsessiveness mistakes happen. Here's an example from yesterday which may explain why my post breakfast numbers have been a bit higher than I'd like.

As one of the components of my breakfast "cereal" I include 3/4 cup of yogurt - organic, nonfat, unsweetened yogurt. I go through it pretty quickly and so I'm always back at the store buying more. Trader Joe's has a few good choices, so does Whole Foods. Both of these stores however get crowded, especially at peak hours. And when I only have 15 minutes to grab what I need, sneak through the line and bolt back to work I rush, and get sloppy and make mistakes. When reaching between an asian couple with a child (in stroller) a man restocking shelves, and an indecisive middle-aged tree-hugging type for yogurt I grabbed what looked like the last of the nonfat yogurts.

Over the next few days I made my cereal concoction as usual, guessed it to be about 110 carbohydrates, ignored my taste buds complaints at how uncharacteristically saccharine it was, and then was surprised at post-breakfast highs. When am I ever above 180 after breakfast? Why don't two pills knock out the carbs from a breakfast of cereal and fresh fruit? What the devil is going on?

I had had it with all these inconsistencies and so this morning went back to the drawing board measuring all my portions and checking it against the food labels. Everything was lining up as it usually did and I was at 100carbohydrates with only yogurt left. Unsweetened plain yogurt should have popped me up to about 110, but the stuff I was shoveling into my mouth was 30 carbohydrates! I was 20c higher than i should have been. I had compromised my health for the sake of saving a few seconds. That explains all the wacky numbers. Luckily the fix is quite simple, use less yogurt until it's done and then go back to what you usually buy.

Later in the day (after I had come up with the idea for this post) I invited a friend of mine out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. The conversation got serious before we managed to order so I quickly browsed the menu, ordered the enchiladas, haphazardly looked up the carbohydrate content, guestimated the total and threw down a few pills. Once again my health had taken a back seat, this time to save a heartfelt conversation from interruptions. As I was about to finish my meal something began nagging me, so I went back to the carb counter book, added them up again and got a higher number, so high in fact that I decided to take a third pill (that still only totals 1.5mg, max dosage per meal is 4mg so don't freak out about the quantity). But now I was left in a strange situation, I had taken two pills a minute before eating, and then a third pill with only a few minutes left of eating. And what's worse is the book's estimate of the carbohydrate value of enchiladas seemed wrong. After all, they're little more than a tortilla wrapped around chicken with a little sauce. How could that be 49c? I added up the components and got closer to 25. Which put me way under, and since I was still hungry anyway I had a piece of peanut butter covered toast. Now I was one big mess, pills dissolving at different rates, food breaking down at different rates, my Pancreas getting the green light, followed by a second green light. And I was doing Joey tonight!

(this is me unhappy about doing Joey when my body's raging a war inside!)

If you're not used to reading labels as a diabetic or celiac it's time you started. Counting carbs is an art not a science but a good degree of practice is required before you get comfortable. Sometimes the book is wrong. It's your body, use your own judgment. The same goes for recognizing gluten and derivatives of gluten in products. If you're not sure, why risk it. Similarly with diabetes and carbs if I'm not sure I round the carbs up. Better (in my opinion) to start to descend a bit earlier than usual and correct with an extra snack then end up in the stratosphere having to decide whether to take a prandin or shot of insulin on top of what you've already had.

Dailies:

11:00 -> 126 Good enough, wish it was a tad lower though. Took 2 Prandin with cereal (actually 110c) a banana 25c, and apple 20c = 155c. At 3:00 I had a piece of bread with peanut butter 17c.
5:21 ->84 Dinner. Took 2 Prandin with enchiladas 40c, beans 40c, rice 70c, chips with salsa 40c = 190c. But, the carb counter book mislabeled enchiladas as 49 each so I took a third Prandin on mis-information, figured out my mistake later and had an additional piece of bread w/pb 19c. Total carbs 209c with 3 Prandin (1.5mg)
8:17 -> 231 High. Damn it. Probably because my meal was so carb heavy and I didn't give myself anytime to digest the Prandin before I started eating. Performed in Joey and drank a lot of water.
11:00 -> 128 Well either the Prandin is still working or Joey really uses a lot of glucose. Took 5 units of Lantus. Went bowling. First game 115, second game 124. End of year goal 180.
2:20 -> 58 What the hell?? Is the Prandin still working? I mean, I took it 6 hours ago! Unless the Lantus just decided to work really quickly. How can I possibly regulate a medication that takes up to 6 hours to fully work but not at a constant speed at all. Ugh! At least I felt able to eat an apple without worrying about a spike 20c.
2:58 -> 89 Well, finally I catch a break with a decent number. Chances are my blood sugar's on the rise, but how high can an apple put it? Just to be safe I'll also have a bunch of snow peas 12c. And some herring 0c.

These numbers do not a happy GI Jon make. Especially because I was hungry most of the day. I was hungry after breakfast despite eating 155c, and hungry after dinner despite eating 209c. And I'm tired of feeling like I ALWAYS have to load up on protein now! I mean, I eat a lot of vegetables, maybe not today, but in general. I need to be eating probably in the range of 150 carbs per meal, and yet the annoyingly slow rate that Prandin metabolizes my sugar means that that many carbs will probably create a sine curve - first high, then low. The only way i can think to avoid that would be to eat medium sized meals followed by snacks similar to what I did this morning. I would hate to see what a continuous glucose monitor would say about me.

Mamma said they'll be days like this!

Tomorrow, despite rehearsal and a show in horse I'm going to workout. With temperatures projected in the mid-high 40s, I gotta take my bike out for a ride!! :)

Day 58