Fighting the Diabetes Monster

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I went into my appointment with my endocrinologist with a defeated look. I had downloaded and charted the data from my Accu-Check Aviva and I didn't like what I saw. I gained another pound and my BG readings are all over the map.

The diabetes monster is beating me. He has escaped his cage, has clawed and chewed his way into my life in a way that makes me feel like the battle is lost. The monster's fangs are huge and his attacks brutal.

How do I defend myself? What do I do to push the push the monster back into the cage? Where do I start?

I know I must do these things:

  • Exercise
  • Eat lower carb

Exercise

I get up at 6 6AM so that I can get ready, eat breakfast, and be out the door to work by 7:30AM. I'm not willing to sacrifice sleep to exercise in the morning. But getting exercise is a challenge for me. I live in the North Eastern USA. Summers are hot (above 27ºC) and humid (over 80%) and winters are cold (-4ºC) and humid (snow, freezing rain). I especially hate winter. Last winter, I think it snowed everyday. I had very severe seasonal affective disorder. I found the weather depressing. I am not willing to exercise when the temperatures are in the extreme.

Exercising at lunch time is doable, if I drive (about 10 minutes) away and find somewhere safer than the area where I work. I stopped walking around outside last year after a gang shooting occurred a few blocks from where I was walking. Bullets are not conducive to health. But driving to somewhere safer means sacrificing lunch time. I hate gobbling my food. If I am only allowed a limited number of meals in limited amounts I want to savour the experience.

I could exercise after work. In the summer I have daylight after I get home (around 5:30PM). In the winter, I am lucky if I see sunlight when leaving the office. On winter mornings, I don't see sunlight until after I get to the office.

Low Carb Diet

I am not sure what a low-carb diet means in an absolute sense but I know what it means for me. It means eating less than 120 grams of carbohydrates per day. But how much less? 100 grams per day? 90 grams per day? Even less?

I am considering going on a diet of Soylent. I have a package of Soylent in the basement1 and I think I could cut my caloric and carb intake by eating half the recommended daily serving. That's about 1000 calories per day and 114g of carbohydrate per day. Hmm ... that doesnt' seem low-carb.

Perhaps I could ingest 14 of the Soylent serving per day. Can I be healthy on 500 calories per day?

The monsters roar is deafening and I can barely hear myself think. How do I avoid being eaten alive?


  1. I had pre-ordered and then cancelled for a full refund, but the vendor still delivered the product. It was too much hassle for them to have me return the package so I got to keep it.