Kettlebells

                                              (this is the reason I've been in pain the past 4 days)

The other day was a good friend's birthday. This particular friend and I happen to be training for the eventual completion of a race in the future. We had long gone without training together and had pursued physical health on our own. He's primarily a gym rat, while I prefer jogs and stair running. Reuniting after several weeks prompted us to schedule a joint workout, one that involved both cardio and strength work. Featured prominently were kettlebells, or as wikipedia describes them:


"The kettlebell or girya (Russian: ги́ря) is a cast-iron weight (resembling a cannonball with a handle) used to perform ballistic exercises that combine cardiovascular, strength and flexibility training.[1] Russian kettlebells are traditionally measured in weight by pood, which (rounded to metric units) is defined as 16 kilograms (35 lb).[2][3]


Unlike traditional dumbbells, the kettlebell's center of mass is extended beyond the hand, similar to Indian clubs or ishi sashi. This facilitates ballistic and swinging movements.[4] By their nature, typical kettlebell exercises build strength and endurance, particularly in the lower back, legs, and shoulders, and increase grip strength"

We chose 15 different exercises: kettle swings, squat presses, standing back row, push-up rows, side squats, tricep dips... to name a few, and executed one after the other for 45 seconds with 15 second rest to prepare for the next exercise. We did the entire sequence twice, and then a third time modified to only 30 seconds of exercise and only the 8 hardest exercises. My body will be sore for days!

Dailies:

10:44 -> 108 Took 2 Prandin with cereal 110c and apple 25c. Worked out with Ian and Lori and kettlebells. It was epically hard.
1:58 -> 156 Took 2 Prandin with lunch at ANGELICA restaurant and ordered the Dragon Bowl approximately 140c. At 5:00 had 2 kiwis 20c.
6:07 -> 138 Took 1 Prandin with lentil soup with rice 100c (over 2 hours), peanuts 8c. At 9:30 had a grapefruit 23c.
12:52 -> 87 Took 2 Prandin with salad 25c, strawberries 30c, bell pepper 7c, carrots 28c w/pb 6c.
3:20 -> 172 That's still within 2 hours of eating. Not too bad, but a little high.

It's going to hurt to sit tomorrow.

Day 86

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

Inspiration: Friends

I've called this blog "The Fittest Diabetic" largely as a way to inspire myself to become just that - the fittest diabetic, or at least the fittest diabetic I can be. It wasn't so long ago that i was frail, weak, dehydrated, cramping, and dangerously hyperglycemic. The memory still shows up in late morning lucid dreams. I started this blog so that I would be reminded every day of my commitment to myself, to transform my body as I haven't done since I was in college. But despite my workouts, and my daily postings, I have been a bit lax. I need more concrete goals, and a plan of attack to achieve those goals, in fitness and in life.

The first lightbulb went off when I was flipping through a newspaper and came across an image of New York Giants long snapper and special teams captain Zak DeOssie '03. This two time superbowl winner taught me how to bench press and was the first person to show me the power of the mind over muscle when lifting weights (although I didn't realize it at the time). His achievement injected me with just a little bit of envy, just a bit, maybe half a unit's worth. Not so much that he has two awesome rings, or that his arms are the size of blue fin tunas, but that he has dedicated himself to achieving a goal... and succeeded. He lived football, it defined him. If i want to be defined as a screenwriter, I better start living the part.

The second metaphorical light bulb went off when talking to good friend and uber-manly man Ian Lassiter. We've been trying to encourage each other to train for a hypothetical future competition. He mentioned he'd been running, but so have I. "How many miles are you doing?" I asked.

"7"

Woah. I talk the talk, he's running the run. That's it. I'm hitting the pavement tomorrow. Sweet ol' Seth is joining me (holding me accountable). I'll report back tomorrow (knee deep in ice no doubt).

11:48 -> 124 Cereal 110c = 2 units.
1:50 -> 100 Man I feel heavy, but the sugar's perfect. Must just be fatigue. I went to bed too late last night. Have to change that.
4:51 -> 81 Dinner: Salad 15c, Chicken w/veg 40c, quinoa 30c, 2 oranges 30c, banana 27c, snap peas 8c, toast with peanut butter 25c = 175 = 3 units. At 6:00 I felt low and had a Larabar 24c.
11:58 -> 83 Supper: Salmon w/broccoli 28c, rice 71c, avocado 16c, 2 apples 40c, chips 19c = 174c = 3 units.
2:25 -> 84 Wow, almost no movement. I think I'm safe to sleep on this. The avocado fat will probably hold back a little sugar anyway. Plus I've never experienced hypoglycemia overnight. I'll keep a pez near my bed.

Day 51

Moving Day

Today was the big move. The first time I've ever driven a truck. The first time I've ever driven a truck with Diabetes. The first time I've ever needed to hire a truck to move furniture... that I own. I'm such an adult. It makes me feel so lame.

Morning started as it should on moving day, with 12 vials of blood taken followed by torrential downpours. But then I got to the rental company and the rain started lightening up.

In Astoria i was assisted by the very generous and talented Bhavesh Patel and the stoic, uber-strong and surprisingly funny in a sort of grown-up fratty way Elliot Villar. I paid them in beer, pasta and love.

I then drove as slowly as I could using only streets to Park Slope, Brooklyn. My friend Seth Numrich who had to "audition" for something... loser. But instead I got Alex "the Alamo" Hoeffler who is strong as an ox in a 5'10 slightly hipster package. The move was a success.

As for my blood work... only time will tell - and the wise analysis of my awesome Detective Doctor.

#s
pbpk -> 184 If only my stocks would grow this quickly.
9:24 -> 184 Lame! This makes me a bit unhappy. I went to bed at a good number, but I guess the jam was an over-correction. Now the blood work may be a little botched. I had cereal 100c with an apple 20c = 3 units + a correction = 4 units.
11:30 -> Felt a tad low but didn't check and instead had a Larabar 27c.
4:17 -> 127 Finished moving (re: exhausting physical exertion). Had an Elk burger on a gluten free bun 26c, side salad with almonds, cranberries, blue cheese... 20c? = 46c = 1 unit.
5:30 -> Cleaned out my refrigerator and ended up noshing on a bunch of random leftover things: hummus 1c, yogurt 14c, cheese 1c.
7:50 -> 181 Not surprised that I'm high. Vitamins, pb&j 57c, 2 apples 30c = 87c w/correction = 3 units.
9:30 -> Coffee 5c, protein shake 5c. After the show I had a hard cider 26c + alcohol.
1:48 -> 110 Took my 5 units of Lantus.

All in all a pretty successful day. Nothing over 200 or under 100 and there were several variables: irregular mealtimes, irregular physical exertion, unusual foods. The coming weeks should start to level out a bit as I take control of my kitchen again and start working out on a schedule.

Day 39


Disclaimer: I actually love Seth Numrich, all aforementioned comments about him should be read with sarcasm.