Jeff's August Recovery

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
- Ferris Bueller

Lately I’ve been dealing with some life issues, things that are beyond my control. During this time I’ve been diligently recording in my daily Game Plan tracking worksheets. I won’t lie to you, it hasn’t been pretty.

Game Plan Tracking: June & July
Here are some general averages:
Stress: Averaging around 4 and 5, up from about 2
Sleep: Less of it, and not as good quality rest
Energy: Down, and been drinking lots of diet mountain dew to compensate
Mood: Averaging around 4 with a couple 2s, down from 7 and 8s
Food: Eating too much fast food, bad food, high carb food, simple sugars, not enough green vegetables and nutrient dense protein shakes.
Exercise: Whatersize? What is that again? Ohh, you mean that stuff when you actually work out? Nonexistant.
Medication: Because of ALL of the above, I’ve been “pushing” my health into line with more insulin, but I can even see that starting to get frayed at the edges


Medical Tests
I had a full battery of blood work done about the end of May / beginning of June. I also went in for a yearly eye exam. All of this is standard care for diabetics, but gives me a window into things that EVERYONE should know about themselves. Things like artery health, cholesterol, kidney function, blood platelets, and more. If you haven’t had a solid blood panel run, I HIGHLY recommend talking to your doctor and having one done so you can get a better picture of your own health. Step 1 is having the information so you can make better decisions.

So what were the results? I just met with my Endocrinologist (diabetic doc) on Monday and he was raving about all my results. My bad cholesterol is low, my good cholesterol is elevated – he called it a favorable situation. My kidney function is perfect! My eyes checked out exemplary at 20/20, 20/25 (35 and still don’t need glasses) – by the way, I like having my eyes checked by a doctor’s office that ISN’T also trying to sell me glasses. Really the ONLY thing wrong with me is that I’m diabetic.

August Recovery
Sooooo…. It hasn’t been good. About three weeks ago things straightened out enough that I’m getting back on track. One step at a time, bit by bit, I’m rebuilding.

I’m back to kicking butt. I’m sleeping 8 hours of better sleep. My mood is up, and my stress is down. This last week I’ve been getting up and exercising for 35 minutes with Coach Greg’s band program (I’m using the brown band which is like a super-duper gold band – GO me!), and my treadmill for some cardio. I’ve been drinking the pro-grade shakes, and have been drinking a multi-vitamin energy drink daily (healthiER than the diet dew). As you might suspect, my blood glucose has come into check as well, with better fasting levels (first test of the day) and more control of my levels throughout the day.

I’m feeling the Livabetic power coming back into my body and it feels phenomenal! It is the great feeling that I want to share with everyone.

What’s more, I’ve started working a job where I have a 40 to 50 minute commute each way. As you would expect, I’m working on developing tips and tricks to surviving the commuting lifestyle.

All of this IS relevant not just for me, but for you as well. Taking care of our whole health is critical. In 20 years I don’t want to be forced into taking drugs that may cause my liver to implode, my eyeballs to bleed, or extemporaneous explosive diarrhea (in 5% of clinical cases).

It’s all about priorities. When life hits you hard you have to deal with it. It causes setbacks to be sure. But once you’ve worked through the issues its time to get back on track with a vengeance!!