Last updated on December 19, 2023
For many people, getting older means getting a bit “weightier” — and I don’t mean we get more serious. By my third year in a doctoral program, my weight was 220 pounds. I likely weighed more for a time, as even my 40-inch waist jeans were snug.
My autistic traits don’t include being a picky eater. Instead, I suffer from severe, annoying cravings. When I want something, eating almost another else is difficult. Sadly, my cravings include a lot of things I cannot eat. That’s one way to reduce calorie consumption, but it also leaves me frustrated and grumpy.
With the help of my wife and daughters, I’ve avoided the carb-loaded breads and pastas I used to love (and still would love). However, giving up fruits and some vegetables has been extremely difficult. I adore fruit. I love tomatoes on my salads. I enjoy carrots, too, which seem to raise my glucose readings.
Currently, my weight fluctuates between 170 and 175 pounds, with a six-month mean of 172.2 pounds.
My doctors had said that losing weight and then maintaining this current average would lower my daily glucose to 125 mg/dL and my A1C to 6.5 percent. Those are still “diabetic” levels, though right at the borderline of pre-diabetic and diabetic.
What happened instead? My mean glucose has risen 153 mg/dL and my A1C shot up to 7.2 percent. Quite annoying, considering how careful my wife and I when planning meals. I’m frustrated that doing all the “right” things didn’t produce the presumed result.
I return for labs in two months and would like to reach an A1C of 7 percent and an average glucose of 130 mg/dL.
To control my diabetes, I’m trying to reduce my weight to 170 pounds, cut more carbohydrates from my diet, exercise a little bit more, and manage stress better. How “keto” (low-carb) can someone get and still have an interesting diet? I suppose I’ll find out in the coming weeks.
Until March, when I had a medical adventure, I had managed to reach 10,000 steps and an average of 12 miles on my exercise bike daily. My autistic traits hate when I break a streak. Even with a good reason, I felt lousy when I didn’t reach the daily step goal or average riding distance.
I thought all that exercise would pay off with better news regarding diabetes. Though my A1C and glucose levels rose, I’m not going to stop exercising, anymore than I’m going to return to red licorice and gummies. I do miss my Red Vines and my Haribo gummies. I used to keep a tub of licorice and a jar of gummies in my office.
Diabetes annoys me. I’m at battle against it and unwilling to lose.