How I Did It!: Gently, Simply, Realistically and for Good! My Weight Loss Journey From Type 2 Diabetes to Optimal Health

Part 1

Where Was I?

How Did I Get There?

Chapter 1

Obesity: How It Affected Me, and What I Did About It

General Effects

On Tuesday, September 10, 2019, I decided it was time to weigh myself after a ten -y ear break from stepping on the scale. I had a doctor’s appointment that Friday so I needed to diminish the blow, if you know what I mean! I had been avoiding the scale and my doctor the way people avoid the coronavirus. However, my husband, Sylvain, had been urging me for months to get a general check -u p including a breast examination and a second opinion about my back problem. Having reached fifty -t wo and seeing so many friends and acquaintances my age getting sick or even dying, I figured I might as well get it over with.

So, what did that lying, evil scale say? It threw the number 220 right in my face! That’s no big deal, I thought … I’ve seen worse! The last time I lost weight, I started at 245 lb and was able to get down to 187 lb in four months following the Food Lovers Fat Loss System. That was ten years ago, and I felt pretty good after that. The first time I went on a real diet as a young adult, I had just turned eighteen in May and was planning a Club Med trip to Haiti that September. At that time, I weighed 172 lb and wanted to reach my ideal weight, which, according to the Health Canada Weight Chart, is 140 lb. I got down to 150 lb at the end of that attempt. And what about all the times in between, all those times my weight bounced up and down as though my metabolism existed within the realm of a gigantic trampoline with locked-in protection all around so I could never fall off? A chubby accountant I know once explained his weight this way: My weight is like the stock market. It increases at a steady pace, takes a short dive once in a while, then rises past its initial point to keep going up and up and up! I must have lost at least 1000 pounds so far. Ya, well, I know what he means. Been there, done that!

After my last attempt at losing weight, which finished in a face-off with a major plateau the size of a barn, I told myself I would never set foot on a scale again and that I was awesome just the way I was. I was round and happy and strong. On most days, I felt that was true. Although I have never been a fan of mirrors, when I did look, I usually liked what I saw. Catching my reflection I would often think, Jeez I’m hot!

I went on for ten years without thinking of the consequences my weight had on my quality of life and my future. Besides, I was an active, strong, healthy, fun-loving woman who lived for the present moment. I blamed many signs of my weight slowing me down on getting old. My energy level had ups and downs. When I felt good I had more energy than most skinny young people I know, but after a day’s work and the completion of the household tasks that needed immediate attention it was a whole other story. I often felt drained and fell asleep watching dumb programs on television, which stopped me from evolving at a pace that satisfied me. The guilt of wasting time weighed heavy on my shoulders, but staying in this self-destructive pattern seemed easier than working to reach my full potential and make my dreams come true. Success is such hard work. One of my worst nightmares was that my physical abilities would slow down so much I wouldn’t be able to follow Sylvain in the active lifestyle we had always wanted.

My sex drive was greatly affected, too, but I blamed that on menopause and the sore back I got from what I thought was shovelling all that snow during the 2018 Christmas holidays. Since Sylvain and I have known each other we have been like rabbits during springtime, but for the previous year or so our sexual activities had been few and far between. It wasn’t as though I didn’t receive any invitations. There was nothing wrong with HIS sex drive. It was me. I compared it to eating something you like so much that you get sick of it. I got countless invitations from him, but often declined saying I was too tired, didn’t feel fresh or had too much on my mind. Sometimes it was because I had a sore back. But really, I simply wasn’t interested. It seemed like so much work.

Worst of all, my excess weight literally made me sick. All those extra pounds were putting a heavy strain on my back. All that stomach fat I had was choking my internal organs. Plus, with all those carbs I was ingesting, my pancreas didn’t stand a chance.

Forestier Disease

I started feeling pain in my back during the winter of 2018. It had snowed a great deal in the Lower Saint Lawrence region that year, and there was a lot of shovelling to do. That and overexertion during our lovemaking were the culprits, I thought. More precisely, it was my sacroiliac joint that was giving me trouble. It was at its worst when I weighed 220 lb, especially when lying in bed and getting up in the morning. Being in a horizontal position felt as though I had an extra bone sticking out of my back; putting all that weight on it was adding too much pressure and causing excruciating pain. Sometimes while lying down, I swear I could hear bones rubbing together. I had a hard time finding a comfortable position in bed, and it often stopped me from having a good night’s sleep. Getting out of bed was extremely difficult. Sometimes my right leg would give out under me when I got up, and the first ten or fifteen minutes of movement were stiff and slow. During the day, I was almost OK. The feeling was always there, but with warmed-up muscles and a bottle of Motrin close by, I could live with it.

I had to do something about this problem because Sylvain and I had planned an amazing trip to Newfoundland in June of 2019 that would allow us to check three items off our bucket list. For years we had been talking about hiking the trails of Gros Morne National Park, seeing an iceberg close up and visiting the Viking village in L’Anse aux Meadows, which is a Parks Canada Historical Site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For that to happen, I needed to be in good shape to walk long distances many days in a row. We trained all winter and spring by snowshoeing and walking, although training is a big word. The moderate speed, length and frequency of our training sessions weren’t much of a challenge for Sylvain. Still, I figured that what we did would help reduce my back pain during the trip.

I also had frequent appointments with my chiropractor during the two months prior to our trip thinking it would help, but these visits just brought more pain. This was before I received the diagnosis. I would leave the office frustrated and scared thinking I might not be able to finish my hikes in Gros Morne. On my last visit I told the chiropractor I wouldn’t come to see her anymore because I hadn’t seen any improvement after ten visits and that, once back from Newfoundland, I would make an appointment with my family doctor. That’s when she suggested we take X-rays. What a great idea! Too bad she hadn’t offered me that before! So, I got some professional portraits taken of my bones at the local hospital. The radiologist put them on a CD, and I brought them to the chiropractor the day before we left on our trip.

Approximately three weeks after returning from a phenomenal, life-changing journey in Newfoundland I got a call from the chiropractor.

I have bad news, she said. You have an illness. It’s called Forestier disease. It’s concentrated in your sacroiliac joint, and it is debilitative.

OK, so what can I do about it? I asked.

Nothing much, she answered. Just stay active as long as you can, but don’t do any intense physical activity. That could worsen your situation.

Bullshit, I thought. I didn’t even wait until our conversation was over before Googling it. This is what I found on the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center’s website:

Forestier’s Disease [described by Dr. Forestier, who else?] or Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH syndrome) is a disease characterized by new bone formation in the thoracic and thoracolumbar spine resulting in large bulky osteophytes (spurs) particularly on the right side of the spine. On x-ray, the osteophytes look like candle drippings on the edge of the spine. The osteophytes are often very characteristic, starting at the margins of the vertebral body and look very different than the thin osteophytes of the B27 diseases. Unfortunately, the result is often spinal fusion (ankylosis), disability and pain. It occurs mostly in the elderly, and is associated with glucose intolerance and obesity. Its cause is unknown. There is no known disease modifying therapy. Physical therapy and pain control help to maintain function.²

Wow! Awesome, hey? Thank God I have mostly lived by my own rules and figured I could overcome this by losing weight, being more active and having a positive attitude.

Diabetes

Sylvain left for a fourteen-day shift to work at the mine in Fire Lake the day before my doctor’s appointment, so I was a bit apprehensive about getting some bad news and facing it alone. Believe it or not, I was diagnosed with diabetes on Friday, September 13. With the blood test I had done the week before, my doctor was able to tell me a lot about the state of my health. When I sat down across the desk from her, she had that look you never want to see on your doctor’s face. I was sure she was going to tell me that nothing could be done about my back problem, and that I would end up crippled within a few years.

I have some bad news for you, she said. You have type 2 diabetes. Having diabetes is a bad thing. It can lead to all kinds of problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, nerve damage …

That’s it? You look like you’re telling me something devastating. I’m not dying! It’s just diabetes!

Diabetes is a very serious disease, she replied.

Yes, but I can deal with diabetes!

Really? I wasn’t expecting this reaction from you.

Well, I thought you were going to tell me something much worse, something to do with my back or cancer. I’ve been meaning to make changes in my life, and this is just what I need to get started. I drink too much. It’s time I quit. Limiting my three Ps will be a challenge because I love sandwiches and pasta. [In French, the three Ps refer to pâtes, pain et patates, which means pasta, bread and potatoes. Although filling and delicious, they are all loaded with carbs, which is like kryptonite for diabetics.] Sylvain and I move a lot already so I’m not sure how I’m going to increase my level of activity. I don’t want to be a gym rat, that’s for sure. Just let me soak all of this in and I’ll get started. I’m ready.

So this is good news for you!?

Well, it’s not bad news. You’ll see! I’ll beat this. I’m sure diabetes is reversible and it won’t get the best of me!

I’m glad you’re taking it this way, but it won’t be easy. Your glycosylated hemoglobin level is 10.5%. That’s severely high. It isn’t impossible to reverse diabetes, but we rarely see people do it.

At the end of the appointment, she handed me a prescription for metformin (500 mg twice a day). She also gave me a blood glucose meter to monitor my blood glucose levels, which she said needed to get to below 7. I told her my goal was to get off the meds within the next year. She assigned me to a nurse practitioner and wished me good luck.

I was alone and it was Friday so I thought I’d have one last weekend with my buddies — beer and chips — before bidding them farewell. I also invited Netflix to come along. The four of us had been a great team for quite a while, and I didn’t know how I would react to letting them go. So, I went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription and made a detour to the grocery store to pick up my special guests one last time. The first thing I did when I got home was get acquainted with my Accu-Chek, the little gadget that would read my blood sugar levels. I was shocked — it said 18.1! I was confused by the difference between the numbers my doctor told me and what this little machine in front of me was saying. In a panic, I jumped on the computer and started reading. Thank God for Google!

For those of you who aren’t sure what the difference is between a glycosylated hemoglobin level and a blood sugar level, let me share the simplest and clearest explanation I was able to find on the internet. It is from an article in the Harvard Health Publishing (Harvard Medical School) newsletter entitled Ask the doctor: What’s the difference between blood sugar and hemoglobin A1c?

Blood sugar and hemoglobin A1c are connected, but they are different, too. Your blood sugar meter measures the concentration of glucose in the bloodstream at the instant you prick your finger. … Blood sugar levels vary throughout the day. In people with diabetes, they can range from below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/l) to well above 200 mg/dL. (11.1 11 mmol/l)

The hemoglobin A1c test measures the percentage of red blood cells with a sugar coating. In people without diabetes, that’s only 4% to 5% of red blood cells. But in people with diabetes, who have more sugar in the bloodstream, the percentage can reach 15% or higher.

The hemoglobin A1c number reflects your average blood sugar over the past 2-3 months. It’s a way to gauge long-term glucose control, or lack of it. Blood sugar meters can’t check for hemoglobin A1c; finding that requires a trip to the lab to have your blood drawn.³

I threw the chips in the garbage and the beer down the drain. Then I started my research. I needed clear, simple answers to many questions that would guide me to my goals. What is diabetes? What causes it? What are the symptoms and complications? How does one get rid of it?

What I Did About It

Then I made a list of goals. First on my list was to get off the metformin. To do so, I needed to cut back a great deal on carbohydrates and lose a tremendous amount of weight permanently. Doing this would allow me to win my battle against this sneaky, complicated disease and go into what the medical world calls "diabetes remission." Apparently, it’s an almost impossible feat, but it can be done and I did it. I love the thought of living by my own rules. It’s quite empowering. Losing the weight my body needed to lose would also