Years of eating out and ordering pizza in coupled with no exercise and I found myself diagnosed with Diabetes and Sleep Apnea at 40 years old. I weighed 350lbs with a 54 inch waist. I couldn't even walk a 1/4 mile without having to sit down to catch my breath. Once being diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes I did change my diet lost a bunch of weight. I was totally dependent on insulin. 1 shot in the evening and 1 before each meal. 4 a day.
Early this spring I found myself tipping the scales at 312lbs. again. I finally got some balls and got off my ass and started walking every single night. I totally stopped using the insulin as a crutch, I stopped taking it and started walking and working out. My blood sugars still run a little high but I'm in no means as bad a shape as I was. If I didn't take a bolus shot for a meal and ate normally my blood sugars would easily hit 300. Now I'm hitting 175-180 after meals and I'm at 120-130 in the mornings. I'm weighing in at 260, but some of it is muscle coming back on my body. I bought some 46 inch shorts a few months ago and now if I don't have my belt on they fall to my ankles. My end goal is 200lbs. I've got a long ways to go, but I'm doing it. I walk 2-3 miles a night and workout 3 days a week. When I started I couldn't make it a half mile without stopping from the pain in my feet, due to my lower legs having been swollen for the past decade or so. I have permanent discoloration on my shins due to the bruising. Today I know I could easily put down 10 miles now if I had to. Walking 2-3 miles a night may not sound like much to a lot of folks, but it has helped me to completely turn my life around. I've lost 52lbs. in six months. I know I won't keep that pace up, not even close, but I'm determined.
I know this doesn't help type 1's but maybe it will give some encouragement to some type 2 folks that need it.
Me playing some foos and weighing in around 190lb. in 1990.
Me and my big fat face in 2004, hitting around the 350lb mark. (Yes, that is my beautiful wife of 24 years.)
Me today at 260lb. wearing my 10 year old 2x Cardinals shirt that I never could fit in until now. GO CARDS!
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if your fat and diabetic the chances are if you lose weight you can not only improve your diabetes situation, but you can possibly beat it. I am going to do it! This is my diabetic kit!
I've wasted more than 15 years of my life, I'm not getting any younger and I want to enjoy the active years I have left in a much thinner body......
I'm also dealing with nerve damage and a bum knee but that's a whole nuther ball of wax, I'm not going to let that slow me down either