From FatCatAnna

Well, this past weekend was a blast from the past.  I haven't stayed up until the wee hours of the morning in a very long time.  I had jokingly said to my friends, after we met up in a bar to watch a band - "let's go and continue the party at your place until 3:00 a.m.".  They looked at me abit odd and went along with it. 

One of my friends, Richard and his finance Suzanne were visiting Montreal from Vancouver, B.C.  Richard just before going on holidays was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.  He had alot of questions for me - which I hopefully answered as best as I could.  The main thing I told him was, get his weight down, eat healthy, exercise, check his blood sugars daily and hopefully he'll avoid the type of diabetes I have - where he'll be hooked on insulin for the remainder of his life. 

So, of course, we got the munchies later. Out came the chips, etc.  and I started to show them the carb count on the package of the "healthy" corn chips full of "fibre".  A ploy I told them just to make you feel less guilty of what you are ramming into your bodies.   We then decided, all of us, to test our blood sugars.  Never in my life have I done this with a bunch of friends.  It was such a blast!  Of course, they were all in good ranges for non diabetics - phew.  I was actually getting low at the time - due to giving a wee bit too much insulin earlier (hate snacking - it throws me off).  So, they all panicked with getting cake out, and other foods for me.  Once again, teacher mode took over in me, despite my low blood sugar while I explained the difference between how certain foods entered your body to control your low blood sugar faster.  Of course, I had my Dex4's with me - and took a few of those to bring my BG's up.

All I can say is, luckily no one had sore fingers after that night/morning - as we tested quite a few times - the vampire Edward was out that night (yes - Twilight along with Blood Ties came into the conversation - vampires are the "in thing" at the moment). 

Anyway, the party continued onto the next day, and if I could only have video recorded my friend Sylvie with her impersonation of Edward (see prevous blog - you'll understand why I mentioned his name) - as he wonders how my blood sugars are doing - she just cracked me up!!!  It was a wonderful way to end a great weekend with friends that can laugh along with me and my life as a legal drug user! 

NB: We didn't get to noddy nod land until 4:00 a.m.  We were Born To Be Wild!!!!

From FatCatAnna

I just watched a news clip from ABC (believe it was perhaps Good Morning America) - that was discussing the benefits of walking to lose weight.  That not only does it help offset complications of the heart, but also diabetes, dementia/Alzheimer's.  Even better, you don't have to purchase any expensive equipment to do this or join a club and it's not hard on your joints like some exercises can be. 

I keep on thinking that maybe the reason why I am still in good health - with having had diabetes for so long - that perhaps it is my love of walking (aka Tip-Toe Through the Tulipcs).  I just love to walk!!  I have friends that tell me that my calf muscles were very athletic looking (more like hard as a rock but I'm not that athletic more like a couch potato most of the time).  I think that it is probably a combination of walking as well as long term diabetics having "firmer" flesh that have made me this way (many doctors over the years have commented on that when examining me).  I also have friends that I think I poop them out because of my joy of walking.  I don't walk fast - as far as I can tell - I just go along with the flow.

Now, I don't wear any fancy schmancy footwear.  I either wear my rugged Mephisito thong sandals in the summer time - or if I really have to - a pair of running shoes (I hate enclosed shoes).  No foot problems as of yet - touch wood.

According to the news clip I watched - 10,000 steps a day equals 5 miles.  Easier said then done you are saying to yourself?  Well, walking from your car that is parked further away from the mall entrance, walking up or down stairs (I always seem to forget something downstairs in my house).  It all adds up. 

If you are lucky enough to be able to walk outside everyday - and this is supposed to be done in 30 minutes - go for it.  Pick a nice route, perhaps that has some nice gardens along the way.  Whatever gets you motivated, such as a friend, a dog that needs a walk, or even a walking club (we have a few here in Montreal that I've heard of).  Come winter time, there is mall walking as well (just window shop DO NOT BUY ANYTHING ).

As well, check out this website I just found now - called 10,000 steps - The Walking Site it contains alot of valuable information to get you started!

From FatCatAnna

A friend of mine a few weeks ago had told me about the benefits of “short” spurts of exercise being good for diabetics.  I had tried looking for this news on the Internet afterwards and gave up in the end thinking he must have been pulling my leg.  Anyway, the actual link was in the March 2009 issue of Diabetes Current that is put out by the Canadian Diabetes Association.

A study was done at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh – involving 25 inactive young men over a 2-week period where they all did short bursts of exercise such as cycling.  It seems that the few minutes of intensive exercise enabled them to process a glucose drink afterwards whereby any extra glucose in their blood stream disappeared quicker.  Apparently with the short bursts of exercise – the insulin they produced worked more efficiently!

I didn’t realize until reading this article that cardiovascular disease begins early in our lives, and diabetes is one of the biggest risk factors (and visa versa if you already are a diabetic). With the right type of intensive exercise for short periods of time, they are hoping it will be possible for youths and middle aged adults to reduce their risk for developing diabetes.  Since most of us don’t have the time or energy to spend 5-6 hours a week in an exercise program.  Okay – maybe if I was rich and could afford a personal trainer I would do it .

Even though I have diabetes (Type 1) – as this study was aimed at Type 2 diabetes. Perhaps because I have always done this type of “short spurt” exercise – it might have helped me in avoiding the more serious complications that some of my diabetic friends have now.  Who knows?

So, off I go to run up the stairs to the kitchen, then run back downstairs, then run back upstairs again since I “forgot” something.  I’ll get my exercise done in no time at all!!!  Oh and my title above "Run, Fatboy, Run" - excellent British comedy from 2007 - directed by David Schwimmer.

Here’s the link to read up on this study - http://www.news.hw.ac.uk/news/4253-Dramatically_reduce_diabetes_risk_factors_with_just_seven_minutes_of_exercise_per_week

From FatCatAnna

 Yikes - the other day I noticed here on the Diabetes1 website a new little "toy" to play with.   Being part cat in my former life - curiosity took over - and I went into play around with the ball of wool for abit (program is very easy to use - takes you 30 secs - bing, bang, boom equals results).  I put in my details (you don't have to be a diabetic to use this tool if you are wondering) - and I wasn't surprised by the results of my being in the "considered overweight" area.  The interesting bit though of this calculator is the fact that now - BMI isn't the only tool that tells you your health risk.  A CBC link that is shown (yeah - Canadian!!) goes on about the waist / hip ratio actually being a better indicator of your health then the usual BMI result.

I do realize that I need to shed some weight (who doesn't?).  Age, less activity (especially for me during the winter months), holidays - has caused me to plump up abit.  My excuse is that my wrinkles on my face seem less obvious - so I "appear" younger - this is my story and I am sticking to it (you will find I like to use this phrase from time to time - guilt - guilt - guilt ).

Anyway, I have started up stationery cycling almost every day when I can fit in 30 minutes here and there with the radio playing in the background (yesterday on CBC Radio 1 - Jian Ghomeshi  of Q  was interviewing Jamie Bamber aka Apollo of Battlestar Galactica).  I've also started to go the route of Doris - another blogger on this website who averages 12g carbs per meal.  I'm going to attempt to cut down on my carbs (e.g. mainly breads/pasta - eating smaller portions - but not cutting them out totally).  It's going to be a hard thing to do as I'm a big lover of carbs - but I'm going at it slowly - and adjusting meds as needed (I'm insulin dependent since age 7).

In battling the bulge I will try my best on my own along with support from my main squeeze Mike.  He's also been told to lose some weight as well (he did his BMI test as well) - as he went to his GP for the first time in about 10 years!  So, it's not like I'm doing this alone.

BTW, if you want to listen to a good radio station while you workout (or even while sitting down at your PC) - check out this great Canadian institution where you can learn about what is going on outside of your backyard, along with great music (and no ads) - http://www.cbc.ca/radio/