Living with Bob

Day 2
August 9, 2011
Wt. 261
Blood Sugar (first thing in the morning) 185
Blood Pressure 157/107 70bpm.
　
　
Life with Bob.
The first day is never easy. Not only are there familiar patterns but there is the body acting like a spoiled child in the checkout line. "I want, I want, I need, I need." Think the Bill Murray character in "What About Bob." In fact, I think I’ll call that side of me, Bob. After years of giving in to Bob, Bob has gotten used to getting his way. If you were to check your blood sugar levels, most likely they would be just fine, probably even on the high side. But Bob wants what Bob wants and it is up to us to reign him in until he gets used to the new voice. That one that says we have enough food in us right now, Bob. We don’t need a box of Sugar Bumps, or a soda, or a pizza. We are on our way to helping out the body we broke by giving in to Bob for years. If Bob stays in control, he will kill us.

I used to think diabetes was a disease of failure, my failure. Then I came to realize it is a disease of abundance and density. In our modern world the least of us can have what used to be called, "The Blue Blood Disease." Diabetes was once a disease of the wealthy as was gout and they have a lot in common. While the poor folks were working their butts off for table scraps the men and women at the table were packing away food like there was no tomorrow. Much of that food was loaded with fats and sugars in vast quantities. Abundance and energy density coming together like slam dancers on amphetamines.

What I’m about to say may seem radical in the face of everything the Diabetes Profit Machine is telling us but I believe it to be true. Diabetes is not a disease, it is a symptom of our bodies working too well. I came to this realization after reading that people who had laproscopic surgery that reduces the size of their stomach, either by banding or removing most of it, instantly quit being diabetic. That’s right they are diabetic when they lay down on the table and when they wake up from surgery they are no longer diabetic. Doctors are at a loss as to why but it seems to be a common side effect of the surgery.

My theory is that there are some of us whose bodies process food better than the rest of the population and in a world where food is hard to come by this was a huge advantage. However, in the world we now live in where food is manufactured with lots of sugar and fat our bodies are overwhelmed and like most things that are exposed to repeated stressors, it breaks.

We might not have a disease, but we are not healthy and well either. The automatic system is broken and so instead of going along like lots of other folks and letting the body do its job without us paying attention, we have to take control. We have to get Bob out of the driver’s seat and this blog is about how to go about doing that.

There are some simple rules, but Bob is not gonna like it until he gets used to it. Some of these rules are more like suggestions, you can fudge them a bit, those are the ones in blue. The ones in red you need to follow as closely as possible. If you go of the path just get back on it as soon as you can, don’t waste your energies beating yourself up. The occasional slip is not the end of everything, just Bob trying to get back in the driver’s seat. You can’t let that happen though. I will go into more depth about each of these rules in future blogs but for now know that there is solid reasoning and research behind each of them.

EVERYONE CONSIDERING THIS COURSE OF ACTION SHOULD TALK THESE OVER WITH YOUR DOCTOR. IF YOU REQUIRE INSULIN THEN YOU REALLY NEED TO WORK WITH YOUR DOCTOR AND CONSIDER THESE AS NO MORE THAN GUIDELINES AND FIT THEM TO YOUR OWN REQUIREMENTS.

Rule 1. You have to give up High Fructose Corn Syrup. It is the most energy dense food known to man. Think of it as poison or make up whatever story about it you want but get it out of your diet.

Rule 2. White flour, white sugar, white rice should be eliminated or at least reduced to the minimum.

Rule 3. Quit eating manufactured foods. Manufacturers are interested in profits so they make the foods that Bob likes. Their only interest in your health is that the food the make doesn’t make you sick or kill you right away. There is no profit in killing you and losing all future sales and they might get sued and that would be bad for business.

Rule 4. No more cured meats, hotdogs, bacon, sausage, bologna, spam, chicken or turkey breast that doesn’t come directly from the bird, ham. If it comes in a package it is not good for you.

Rule 5. Avoid fruit juices. You would think fruit juice would be really good for you but you would be wrong. Most people would not sit down and eat a dozen oranges, or even 6 in a single sitting. But with juices that is exactly what happens. Wham!!!! In less than a minute you can consume all of the fructose sugar of a pound or three of fruit. It hits your body like a freight train. It is better to eat an apple or orange than drink a dozen of them.

Rule 6. Stop eating after 8 p.m. and do not eat until noon the next day or until your blood sugar is in the normal range.

Rule 7. Exercise first thing in the morning. The exercise should be one that makes all of the muscles in your body hungry so that it uses up the excess glucose in your blood.

Rule 8. Don’t become a fanatic, give yourself permission to slide a bit. Pick a day that you can have a treat and break all of the rules a little bit. At first that day can be once a week. After you are in control and Bob is history then stretch it out to once a month. It is important not to go overboard. You can have that ham sandwich and the slice of chocolate cake, but not the rest of the ham and the rest of the cake. Whatever you put in your body has to be processed and the system just doesn’t work as well as it used to.

Rule 9. From time to time you may feel like your sugar levels have dropped into the pit of doom. Don’t panic. Test your glucose level. You may find that you have been running on high levels of blood sugar for so long that dropping into normal ranges feels like a hypoglycemic crisis. Check you sugar levels, have some fruit and rest until you feel normal. I try and keep the orange flavored glucose tablets around, especially if I am out walking or riding my bike. Don’t let Bob be in charge of them, you usually only need one or two and a bit of time to let them get into the system. Give your body time to adjust.  After a while normal levels will feel normal and not like you are about to keel over.

Rule 10. Eat as low to the ground as possible. In other words, lots of vegetables, some animal protein, some fruits, some grains. Once things are canned or processed beyond picking then they are on shelves and no longer close to the ground. If you have to eat canned then read the labels-the fewer ingredients the better. If it has any high fructose corn syrup then put it back on the shelf, same thing if it has lots of sugar.

That’s it. Ten simple rules. In the next blogs I will give you more details about how I came to formulate them and why I think they are important enough to make them rules.
Jim