Walking my way to lower sugar.. and thank god for podcasts.

[rayinpenn]

It started with my quarterly visit to the doctor and some bad A1 numbers. I had to do something so I started walking once a day. At first 30 minutes after a while closer to 45, then twice a day and I introduced ‘the hill’ into my loop. It’s been 2 months ...

Results:
1. Hello to jeans that were way too tight.. I am swimming in them.
2. I can look down and see parts of my body lost for years
3. Neighbors greet me “Hey you’ve lost some weight.”
4. I discovered the Moth podcast in which people tell stories.. I find it wonderful. Others I like include Stacking Benjamins, Choose FI, the Dough Roller And Side Hustle and of course This American Life.
5. Best of all I feel great.

My post is for others who could use some encouragement.. Go forth! If this 2 metal knee guy can do it you can too!

 

[Ronstar]

Good for you, Ray!

 

[Moemg]

Good for you !

 

[Bamaman]

When I get out and work really hard, my blood sugar drops as much as 40 points. Too bad I'm not up to 6 hours of hard labor daily. But I do have to pay close attention to how I feel when working.hard. Nothing worse than to have a sugar low.

 

[MRG]

Awesome Ray.

 

[Fedup]

Good news, Hope your knees are doing well.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

FWIW. I went from 8.6 to 5.3 with a keto lifestyle and fiber regiment. Lost 25 lbs in the process. YMMV

 

[Beldar]

Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[Rianne]

That's great news! My DH, when under stress at megacorp, had blood sugar over 400. Company gave mini yearly physicals and they had to re check to make sure that was right. He was DX diabetes and put on metformin. Said his blood was like syrup. That scared him so much he immediately changed his diet and started walking/exercising. After 6 months, off metformin and no longer diabetic and lost 60 lbs. They continue to monitor him because once you're DX diabetic, it sticks with you and is on your medical records.

 

[Christine]

Lots of people with diabetes 2 in my family including parents and grandparents. So I started to cut sugar years ago without anything diagnosed. Eventually ended up eating keto-like. And feel much better for it.

 

[Red Badger]

+1 Ray.

I started walking when I got close to 200# (I'm 5'8"). When I got below 170, I started jogging and got below 155#. However, I had multiple running injuries, so reverted to walking in 2016. I walk 3-5 miles per day, 5X per week.

I hover between 155 and 160 and my medical "numbers" are all excellent. I also modified my eating habits. Still eat what I like, but monitor portion size fairly well. Full disclosure, I get a lot of calories from my love of wine. If that was absent, I'd weigh perhaps a buck-five.

Back story. In 2013, I was travelling on business in Ireland during the winter. I always brought the exact amount of clothes needed. Anyway, it was my last day, and I grabbed my last sweater as I preened for the day. I put in on, and was mortified by what I saw in the mirror. I looked like the banger in bangers and mashed. I took it off and tried to stretch it. That was useless. Luckily, I had a sportcoat. I donned the sportcoat, and it hid most of the damage.
But that embarrassment got me on the weight loss Do Right Program ASAP!

To any peers on this forum. Weight loss doesn't take a miracle (or that crap Marie Osmond pedals). It does take consistency, but nothing more. Modest food consumption along with modest exercise. Too bad Jared (Subway) turned out to be a pervert. His message wasn't too bad. But I'd not suggest a diet of sub sandwiches (nor perving on kids ).

 

[SumDay]

This is impressive. Keep us posted on your progress.

Now that I have more time, I need to make myself get out there more. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[RAE]

Very good news! Keep walking, Ray.

 

[Tekward]

Good job. I'm a new gym-rat in retirement but my wife is not and had knee replacement so I'm always trying to get her moving. Yesterday we walked ~6 miles round-trip for dinner at Panera. One step at a time.

 

[6miths]

Great work. Walking can do it for sure. Congratulations.

 

[aja8888]

 

[haha]

Good job. I'm a new gym-rat in retirement but my wife is not and had knee replacement so I'm always trying to get her moving. Yesterday we walked ~6 miles round-trip for dinner at Panera. One step at a time.

Her knee and the rest of her must be in very good shape then.

Ha

 

[Chuckanut]

Peter Attia has an interesting interview on sugar and fructose in particular. It seems fructose may have been necessary to survive through the ice age because it causes us to add fat, but mother nature never anticipated the abundance of it we humans would have access to today.

https://peterattiamd.com/rickjohnson/

In this episode, Rick Johnson, professor of nephrology at the University of Colorado, explains how his research into the causes of blood pressure resulted in a change of research direction to focus more on how fructose has such profound metabolic effects. Rick begins by talking about the relationship between salt and high blood pressure, then provides a masterclass into uric acid, and then expertly reveals the mechanisms and pathways by which sugar (specifically fructose) can profoundly impact metabolic health. From there, he explains how he applies this information to real life patients as well as touches on some of the most promising ideas around pharmacotherapy that are being developed in response to the epidemics of fatty liver, insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity. Furthermore, Rick gives his take on artificial sweeteners compared to real sugar, discusses cancer’s affinity for fructose, and much more.

As usual, Dr. Attia's interviews are filled with medical terminology that most of us won't understand very well, if at all. May I suggest that listening from minute 0:52 to 1:05 will give a lay person most of what he/she will get out of it.

Basically, fructose drives all five of the conditions that are involved with Metabolic Syndrome: high triglycerides, large waist, low HDL level, increased blood pressure, increased blood sugar.

Three of these five mean Metabolic Syndrome. Fructose drives all five.

From what I understand (I am certainly not an expert) consuming fructose in small amounts over a long period of time is not a big deal. It's our modern foods that flood our bodies with it all day. So if you must have a soft drink, a sip every 10 minutes for three hours is not nearly as bad as drinking it all in 20 minutes.

 

[Chuckanut]

In the above podcast the guest remarks that high salt diets tend to cause the body to produce more fructose, which leads to more fat. So high salt diets will cause us to gain weight. Lucky us.

 

[audreyh1]

The recent type II diabetes epidemic in China has been interesting. The diabetes rate exceeds that of the US, yet the China obesity rate is far lower. In China plenty of normal weight people are diagnosed with type II diabetes. China traditionally has a high carb diet with plenty of processed carbs including the ubiquitous white rice. Yet they were fine for eons in spite of this. What changed - we’ll they are very, very little sugar. Now influences of the Western diet have greatly increased sugar consumption in China. So it seems fructose is the main culprit.

Interesting about the high salt. In ketosis the kidneys shed a lot of sodium, so you actually need a higher salt intake on a ketogenic diet.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

How's it going Ray? My A1C number have been a bit high and I have started the "walking" regiment now. I would run, but a recent knee injury (and weighing over 200#) makes running not such a great idea. I am doing 45 minutes 5x a week and have seen some weight loss already...hoping to see reduced A1C at my next check up.

It's good to see that folks *can* lose weight just through walking!

 

[audreyh1]

FWIW. I went from 8.6 to 5.3 with a keto lifestyle and fiber regiment. Lost 25 lbs in the process. YMMV

I went from A1C of 5.1 - considered perfectly healthy and not dangerous - to an A1C of 4.7 by switching to a low carb/ketogenic diet.

What you really want to know is your fasting blood insulin - mine was higher than ideal, 8.6, which indicated some developing insulin resistance. By going very low carb it dropped to 5.6 which meant I reversed any insulin resistance and am no longer in danger of developing metabolic syndrome (or fatty liver, or type II diabetes, etc.)

You can have high fasting insulin/insulin resistance for years and even decades before the body starts to finally show high blood sugar and develop type II diabetes.

16 or so pounds melted off fairly quickly too.

 

[audreyh1]

In the above podcast the guest remarks that high salt diets tend to cause the body to produce more fructose, which leads to more fat. So high salt diets will cause us to gain weight. Lucky us.

Yes, I had no idea the body could even produce fructose!

But I’m not worried about high salt as low-carb diets tend to increase sodium needs.

 

[Gremlin]

I think this is one of Peter Attia’s best interviews. (And I love most of his podcasts) I found it interesting that it’s the serum sodium concentration in the blood that’s the key risk to eating salt in regards to blood pressure. And that drinking water before eating it helps mitigate the effects. By the time you feel thirsty, the damage is already done.

Peter Attia has an interesting interview on sugar and fructose in particular. It seems fructose may have been necessary to survive through the ice age because it causes us to add fat, but mother nature never anticipated the abundance of it we humans would have access to today.

https://peterattiamd.com/rickjohnson/



As usual, Dr. Attia's interviews are filled with medical terminology that most of us won't understand very well, if at all. May I suggest that listening from minute 0:52 to 1:05 will give a lay person most of what he/she will get out of it.

Basically, fructose drives all five of the conditions that are involved with Metabolic Syndrome: high triglycerides, large waist, low HDL level, increased blood pressure, increased blood sugar.

Three of these five mean Metabolic Syndrome. Fructose drives all five.

From what I understand (I am certainly not an expert) consuming fructose in small amounts over a long period of time is not a big deal. It's our modern foods that flood our bodies with it all day. So if you must have a soft drink, a sip every 10 minutes for three hours is not nearly as bad as drinking it all in 20 minutes.

 

[audreyh1]

Peter Attia has an interesting interview on sugar and fructose in particular. It seems fructose may have been necessary to survive through the ice age because it causes us to add fat, but mother nature never anticipated the abundance of it we humans would have access to today.

https://peterattiamd.com/rickjohnson/

Wow - yes - that has been an amazing interview. I restarted it via podcast and listened with DH driving to the airport. Haven’t finished yet, and I do understand some of the pathways. Yes, it’s pretty technical but overall quite understandable. Thanks for sharing.