Middle Aged & Lucky Genetics

649 Views 12 Replies 7 Participants Last post by DREW_22, 3 mo ago

backcountry

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

Thx for the comments last autumn when I was asking similar questions to those about to follow. I've been successful in losing weight since November and I'm down more than 25 lbs. Most of that was lost in the first month but I'm still slowly shedding pounds. I'll need to regain some muscle but thats something I accepted when I started.

My body is responding along the lines I hoped. My BP has slowly decreased, now I'm just figuring out Rx, including all the fun rebound effect decreases to them can cause.

I'm also lucky that I seem to have avoided becoming prediabetic, if I was ever heading that direction to begin with (more in a second). But my A1C and mid-morning to bedtime blood glucose numbers are simply not great.

I'm slowly gathering the data to bring to my doctor, as he didn't seem as curious by this reality. I've bought a small meter that rated as one of the most accurate and I've run tests to verify it.

But my #s spike sometime in the evening through the morning, sometimes as late as 10ish. Evidently this can be associated with the "dawn effect". Most people are able to manage the glucose spike just fine (and to their benefit) but I seem to have something going on.

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm obviously going to work with my medical team but I'm curious if anyone has first hand experience managing prediabetic figures limited to overnight fasting. I feel lucky to have teased out the trend and believe it's very manageable but diabetes (including prediabetes)scares me as much as cancer. I'd assume avoid what much of my extended family has experienced.

Would love to hear anything people have experienced along these lines. The most common recommendation seems to be focusing some exercise to post-dinner timeframe and morning (with the ever present "exercise more" always there to begin with). I'm already doing so and track it.

The lemonade from this discovery is I have more leverage for outdoor activity, including hunting. Morning or evening grouse hunts this fall may be what the doctor orders 😉

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backcountry

Discussion Starter · #5 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

Okay Shaun or mini

DREW_22 said:
You're going to die of a damm heart attack with how much random $hit you worry and post about on this forum. Go outside and pick up a fishing pole, gun, or bow. Put the phone, pc, life support monitor, and legal code links down for a week or 2. Then check your numbers. Maybe your health and happiness will improve without the internet.

It's always interesting to see who certain moderators share their likes with. Reveals a lot.

Enjoy your evening Shaun or Shaun-lite.

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backcountry

Discussion Starter · #6 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

taxidermist said:
I worked with a guy that would jog 1-2 miles each day for his lunch time. Had some green and blue colored smoothie drink every morning, and would eat some of the strangest items throughout the day in the office.

I came into the office and he wasn't there. I was later informed that he had a heart attack and was in bad shape. He survived the attack, and a few weeks later was back at work. His diet changed from the green and blue drinks, rabbit food, and weird stuff. I don't recall him jogging anymore either.

Ya never know when your number will be called, so I live, eat, drink, and do what makes me a happy camper. If it kills me, then I guess I'll go doing what made me happy.

Oh, I've lived life to the fullest for 20+ years of my adult life. I did life in reverse and don't have any regrets.

I'm not drinking blue smoothies nor will I ever. I enjoy my wine, fatty cuts of meat and guilty pleasures much like most folks.

And....anyone with friends or family members with diabetes knows not to be so glib. You let that disease get ahead of you & you start wishing your ticket was going to be punched. Constant, unmanageable infections; loss of organ function; amputation of appendages. My extended family members have lived it. I'd rather die now than be stuck in a chair suffering those excruciating moments.

If you don't have that family history, count yourself lucky. It's an unenviable genetic lottery.

So I choose a few, simple lifestyle changes that are very manageable and not uncomfortable. Turns out I enjoy eating more vegetables and losing weight. Crazy, I know! Less wine doesn't mean no wine. Just made & enjoyed the gluttony that is gumbo. And I might, just maybe, get to suffer the unfortunate side effects of having more years of quality experiences with my daughter. Gasp!

I post these things because I care about being healthier and maybe gaining a little insight from folks I don't know. The audacity!

Reality is I suffered the worst pain and experiences living life with moderation, exercising plenty & enjoying a healthy amount of indulgences. Now I've decided to embrace what my middle aged body is telling me and make a few proactive changes. In return, my BP dropped, I've got more energy and maybe I'll get to live a little longer, or at least a little longer without as much discomfort.

I'll take that learning curve over what I previously experienced any day of the week.

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backcountry

Discussion Starter · #8 · 3 mo ago

BigT said:
Have you tried carb cycling? It can be tedious at times, but it's pretty impactful...

At my age, I still run some.. Not a ton but I get quite a bit of cardio (generally incline walking) and strength training in. My eating is up and down but when I am disciplined with my diet, it's amazing how much better I feel. And I am not talking about special smoothies, or gerbil food like that... Just stuff the body likes and needs to function properly.

Thx, mate. This is why I post such things and ask questions. I don't know what I don't know.

I'll look into carb cycling since I don't know the concept. Worst case is it doesn't apply and I learn something new. But maybe it does and I get to help myself with some new discipline.

That said I lost 25+ lbs largely by trying a "lower carb" "diet" so I'm guessing it could be relevant. I didn't eliminate anything and eat whatever I want; I just changed what I want to eat.

Sincerely appreciate it.

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backcountry

Discussion Starter · #11 · 3 mo ago

TomU said:
There is a food based program called "Whole30". It has ton's of followers and some that have diabetes have said it has helped them manage it.
You can find everything you need online so you don't have to buy anything to follow it. You may want to take a look.

Thx for the recommendation.

We've done that in the past and carried some of the ideas forward over the years. But I'm pulling out our Whole 30 book for the next couple months as it's got some great recipes. I'd ideally like to lose another 5-15 lbs and then rebuild some muscle & it's got some great options for those goals.

My guess is we'll use aspects of Whole 30 the rest of our lives. It's a pretty flexible tool that way.

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backcountry

Discussion Starter · #12 · 3 mo ago

Thanks to everyone who have replied with constructive ideas to this post & question I shared. I was already motivated to move forward with a few more changes but your posts have given me a helpful little extra boost!

This isn't the perfect forum for such requests and I recognize hunting/fishing can require a certain physical ability my situation already does affect. But sharing my health issues and asking these things was absolutely the correct choice given what I've read in the last 24 hours. So thank you for helping me remember taking that risk can pay off.

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