Spring Cleansing

My diabesity dilemma

As it turns out, I have type two diabetes. Sugar is raging through my blood at an inflated level. I am taking a pill every day for the next month to lower my blood sugar. I’m also cutting out carbs and sugar and practicing intermittent fasting. Eating between 10:45 and 6:45 daily and fasting the other 16 hours. The pill I’m taking (metformin) must be ingested after a meal. After I go off of it, I plan to extend my fasts to 24-36 hours 2-3 times per week. Maybe do another longer fast (3 days? 10?).

I once did the “master cleanse” for ten days, back in my mid-twenties. Water with lemon juice, cayenne pepper and molasses. Only. That was tough but I did feel good sometimes during it and definitely after. The other time I tried to fast I ended up breaking it with Peter Pan peanut butter and Hershey’s kisses: a terrifically bad idea.

So, yes, 2023 is bringing clarity and more clarity. (Careful what you wish for!)

The diagnosis was a shock, yet it makes so much sense in retrospect. My dad has had type 2 diabetes for years, and my mom is pre-diabetic last she checked. I have been overweight since my late twenties. I probably had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my daughter over ten years ago. That’s when I started waking up having to pee multiple times per night. That didn’t end after her birth and has continued to persist to this day. It was just one of those things I’d learned to accept as normal and unchangeable. Like my weight/belly fat. Like my overuse of marijuana to check out and relax.

I’ve had chronically recurring yeast infections I’d estimate 6+ times per year for the past five-ish years. They first started when I was visiting Colombia over the holidays. The diet there is super carb-heavy and sugary. So if I didn’t have full-blown diabetes yet, I surely got it then.

I’m grateful to the doctor who knew to have my blood tested. I’m a little down and out but simultaneously upbeat and motivated. My Gemini nature coming through? Or Libra ascendant perhaps.

Now that I am aware, I can take action.

This is a gift.

I read The Diabetes Code by Dr. Jason Fung over the weekend. Learned so much and felt so inspired. Type 2 diabetes is reversible and preventable through diet and lifestyle changes. Namely, limiting carbs and eliminating added sugars, as well as exercising more and doing intermittent fasting. My goal is to lose 25 pounds (12 kg) in the next three months.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com