I was diagnosed with with type 2 diabetes about 8 years ago. This was not a surprising diagnosis when you consider the amount of garbage I would eat on a regular basis. Things like chocolate bars and kid’s breakfast cereals (I’m a Lucky Charms fiend) are not the best way to stay healthy and even worse when you’re pushing on towards the old half century mark. Even when I was sick, I would insist that bags of Double Stuff Oreos made me feel better. Over the years, these habits take their toll in many ways; general poor health is common, obesity is on the rise and of course the big “D” monster itself…. Diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is, for the most part, preventable and curable and it comes down to one simple question: “How badly do you want to be healthy?” I’m not going to tell you it’s simple or that there is some new miracle cure on the market. No, controlling or curing Diabetes begins with you… or in my case, with me. No one, not even your doctor, can cure you of Diabetes (or any other diet related illnesses for that matter) if you don’t choose to take control of you. As an example, I sat with a friend that said they were eating much healthier and then ate a lovely salmon with salad. I was impressed right up until they ordered a chocolate brownie ice cream dessert. I didn’t say anything, not my place but, I thought to myself, “Ya, that won’t work”. The reality is that many of us convince ourselves that eating a healthy meal once in a while is going to fix things. Reality check… IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY.
I’m not claiming I’m perfect. Even typing that made me laugh. I made huge mistakes, I still do… all the time. I’ve adapted a Denzel Washington line from the movie The Equalizer as my personal mantra… “Progress, not perfection”. We all make mistakes, there’s no avoiding it. What is important is understanding the mistake and working out a way to avoid it in the future.
It was once suggested to me that I adapt a Keto style diet. It was recommended to me by the doctor I was seeing a few years BEFORE I was diagnosed with Diabetes. My reaction was polite to him and a “Pfft, whatever” in my mind. All I knew about Keto was it involved no cookies, no chocolate and a lot of avocado. (Can’t stand avocado to this day) I listened to his info about the health benefits of fueling the body with ketones as opposed to glucose. In the end I walked away figuring I was doing just fine and I was in pretty good shape. Fast forward a few years… boy was I wrong.
There I was, years later, a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes, having just finished my second move across the country, sitting at a not too flattering 125Kg (275 lbs or 19.6 stone for our friends in the UK) and let’s not forget the sleep apnea to top it off! Oh ya.. I was a model of health! I decided I had to make a change and started doing a little research. I started reading about low carb and no carb diets. I started looking at ways I could could lose some weight and get back some of my energy… oddly the same diet came up. Everything started pointing at a Keto style diet. Higher fat, higher protein and lower carb eating is counter to what we’ve been taught most of our lives but, I stand before you a changed human. I’m currently at about 240 lbs and my blood sugar levels are stable and near perfect. Is it easy? No, but it’s very doable and most of the food that I’ve learned to make so far is pretty good. I’m not going to get too deep into the details here but, with a few simple recipes, you too can be eating tasty, healthy food in no time. In the not too distant future I’ll be adding some recipes here that I’ve made and enjoyed. I’ll also be bringing you along as I venture out in the world and try to find Keto friendly meals in restaurants and of course, I’ll try to create Keto meals to cook if I overnight on the bike.
Adventures with food! who would have thought?
Until next time
SeeNickRide 