Tag Archives: health

Not Dead Yet

not-dead-yetDuring the 2013 Tour de Cure ride, my friend Marty was active on various social media sites … he frequently used the phrase “Not dead yet”.

As it happened, I recently finished a book that was recommended to me by a fellow type 2 diabetic.  It was “Not Dead Yet: My Race Against Disease: From Diagnosis to Dominance” by Phil Southerland.

When Phil was a child, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  His mother was told that he would either be dead or blind by the time he was 25. Despite this prediction, he went on to be a world class professional cycle racer and founded a professional cycle racing team: Team Type 1 (now Team Novo Nordisk).

I found the book to be very good and quite enlightening … on multiple levels.

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Tour de Cure 2013!

Lahead-square-100st years Tour de Cure was great! I rode 35 miles and raised $3500 for diabetes education & research. I also met some really great people and got involved in a cause that I can believe in.

Riding in the Tour has multiple benefits for me … obviously raising money for diabetes research can only help… and riding is a great exercise.

So this year I’m stepping it up a notch.

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A1C

As someone who has type 2 diabetes, tracking my blood glucose levels is very important.

The problem is … tracking your glucose levels on a daily basis isn’t really enough … at least it’s not enough for me.

Everyone who has diabetes should be getting their A1C tested on a periodic basis.  The A1C value represents a 3 month running average of your blood glucose levels. People with well controlled diabetes have an A1C level under 7%.  Non-diabetic levels are below 6%.  The American Diabetes Association has a good writeup on A1C.

Getting your A1C tested usually means going to your doctors office and having it tested.  Sometimes this can be done with a simple finger stick blood test but, often, it requires a full blown blood draw (nobody likes those).

A few months ago a co-worker clued me in to the fact that Bayer had home A1C testing kits … so I picked one up to see how well it worked.  It cost around $35 for 2 tests.

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Cinnamon & Diabetes

For those of us with Type 2 Diabetes (of which I was recently diagnosed), this article on the NIH’s web site might prove interesting.  The conclusion was …

The results of this study demonstrate that intake of 1, 3, or 6 g of cinnamon per day reduces serum glucose, triglyceride, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes and suggest that the inclusion of cinnamon in the diet of people with type 2 diabetes will reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Bonus: Cinnamon tastes good in coffee.

Working Out

Those if you who follow me on Twitter will know that I’ve started going to the health club in a pretty regular basis now.

I try to work out at least 3 times a week. Monday, Wednesday, and once on the weekend (usually Sunday morning, while Ginny is at church).

So far I’ve been doing quite well and have stuck with it. I’ve seen noticeable improvement in my cardio health, and the last time I had my blood tested my glucose level was down markedly. Ginny has also commented on my general appearance. I’ve lost 10 pounds and my jeans are a bit looser.

My routine us to do 30 minutes on the elliptical machine in cardio mode (targeting 139), then 20-30 minutes of strength training in the other machines.

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It sucks to be sick

It really sucks to be suck … especially on a holiday.

Yesterday I stayed home from work because I wasn’t feeling good. At one point during the day I had a fever of 100.1.

Today I’m feeling better, but not 100%.

Originally, Ginny and I were planning on going to my folks house for the 4th of July, but I don’t want to risk getting anyone else sick.

So today I’m just going to relax and take it easy. Maybe try to get together with my folks on Sunday.

Thank you Riley

Well, it looks like Riley does a bit more than shed, chew on cords, and season the furniture … I found this on the web (via slashdot):

The finding, from a 10-year study of more than 4,300 Americans, suggests that the stress relief pets provide humans is heart-healthy.

– US News & World Report : Cats Help Shield Owners From Heart Attack
‘course I knew he made me feel calmer… and I think I found a site that referenced a study that showed cats helped lower blood pressure.