I began this blog a few years ago with very good intentions. I wanted to share my experiences of dealing with my Type One Diabetes, while living a very active lifestyle as an endurance athlete. My last entry was a recap of my Marathon in Myrtle Beach, where I qualified to run in the 2014 Boston Marathon.
After that race I have had some really big changes in my life, personally and in the way I treat and manage my disease. Diabetes is something that affects me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Not only me, but everyone who shares my life including Juliette, Wilson, Ella, even the people who work with me. I couldn't ask for a more supportive, caring, and motivated partner than Juliette! She is not just my fiance, she is my very best friend, we share everything; our love of adventure, travel, fitness, reading, preparing food together, but it doesn't stop there. My disease is her disease, she is totally immersed in every part of managing my diabetes!
That brings me to the subject of this post. Almost exactly one year ago we started trying to eat in a totally new way, it's called the Ketogenic Performance Diet. It is really not a diet, it is a new way of life. When I was first diagnosed over twenty years ago, the American Diabetes Association had endorsed and prescribed low fat, high carb diet for all diabetics. For almost my entire diabetic life I accepted and followed this way of thinking, they're the doctors who know right?!?! Well I had a teaching fellow at the VA who was treating me on a regular basis. She is now a board certified endocrinologist in Richmond, Va, who introduced us to Keto. Dr Barton is a runner and triathlete just like us. She asked if I had ever heard of Keto and we hadn't. The idea is that we get our fuel from our fat stores instead of carbohydrate stores. The "diet" involves eating HIGH fat, MODERATE protein, and lots of leafy green vegetables. It involves getting your body into a state of ketosis where your body is almost exclusively burning fat. When we started, it was very hard getting the hang of it and our bodies rejected it at first. Coming off sugar is hard! After living your entire life craving carbs, your body thinks you have to have them even when it really doesn't! During the first few weeks it felt like we had the flu, almost no energy. After you get through the initial transition, your body starts changing. You think more clearly, you don't crave food and while this isn't the reason why we love this lifestyle, you also drop weight immediately! Once you get to where your ideal weight, for your individual frame, the sudden weight loss levels off. At this point the light went off! This is how humans were meant to eat! We have all been lied to for so long! I know this sounds extreme to almost anyone reading this but think about it from a diabetic frame of mind. 1) What causes Blood Sugar to rise? Carbohydrates, aka sugar. 2) What causes diabetic complications? Chronic high Blood Glucose levels! But........... our bodies NEED carbs to survive right?!?! The answer is NO!
I know this way of thinking is very unconventional and drastic for most of the planet, especially in America, but I would urge anyone who has diabetes to research it and talk to your doctor. Complications from the devastation of prolonged high blood sugar can be halted and even reversed in some situations. It could save not only your life but the quality of your life.
Juliette and I both contribute to a Pinterest Board that includes articles, recipes and support information on starting and maintaining a Keto way of life. Please feel free to follow our Ketogenic Performance Board for more information. Also we belong to very supportive and motivating Facebook group called Type One Grit.
