Fighting Diabetes part 2

Round 1: Research

Research Research Research, I can’t reiterate that enough. When the news was first delivered to me I went home and dove into the World Wide Web like a spider looking for his next meal. I searched for as much information humanly needed to understand this disease and how I could fight it. Though some get it through genetics which is no one fault of their own, I began to see that my bout with it came through my inactivity. All through high school I played football, was a member of Air Force JROTC and was part of the weightlifting club. Back then I had small aspirations of being a power lifter. As you can see physical activity was never absent. Then came the years where I figured “Well hey I’m going to rebel against my body.” I partied and drank like a sailor on shore leave. Eventually it all settled out and I got back into my physical mode and lost the freshman 20. I began to get too comfortable. People were telling me you lost of lot of weight and that I looked good. I let that get to my head and thought that it was ok to get back into those old habits of drinking and eating anything that I wanted. Well that was a thought that shouldn’t have entered my mind. I gained back those freshmen 20 and they brought 20 more friends along. Fast forward about 6 years and now I’m a working married man engulfed in day to day life. So we all know that means eating on the rush with fast food being the main course of the day.

Enough about me back to subject at hand, research. There are many valuable sources for information about diabetes. The main source being your physician, but if you are looking for information on your own the best source I found was the American Diabetes Association (diabetes.org). They have information for those who have just been diagnosed. Meal plans, fitness plans and even links where you can sign up to volunteer. A great website for any person with diabetes, it was a great stop on my train to good health. I actually took a turn to a track less traveled. I checked out a few bodybuilding websites about information for diabetes patients. Bodybuilding.com had a few great articles about bodybuilding for people with diabetes. They mentioned how the building of muscle could help the body raise its insulin levels. I have started doing a few workouts that some of the pro bodybuilders have said they followed. I normally do 1 for a couple weeks and then I switch to another one so that I don’t get stuck in a rut with the same routine. When doing these workouts remember that yes you may gain some mass but you also want to lose the fat. Always remember to do your cardio and don’t do those crazy mass gain and then cut carbs to shrink down pre contest plans you will see every where. You will be lifting for your health. Not to appear on stage in those tiny drawls covered in baby oil. You lift to live (I tell myself this during every workout.

Another place you can get some valuable information is going to see a nutritionist. I must admit I haven’t talked to mine in over a year, but the information she gave me helped me out a lot. Before seeing her I didn’t know what I could and couldn’t eat. I didn’t really know how to read the nutrition facts on food labels. She gave me all the information I could ever really need on what to eat and how much to eat. As a diabetic you must watch the sugar you will intake with every meal. You must also not skip meals, which was something I had and continue to have a problem with. Through research I found out that it is better to not eat 3 large meals but rather several smaller meals through the day. This helps keep your metabolism going and which in turn helps burn more fat.