The Divine Versions

It's been two months now since my bloodwork indicated I was prediabetic.  I increased my exercise regime and started a low-sugar, low-carb diet, but I didn't really get serious about it until I got back home from Big Ears on March 26, so it's really only been about six weeks now.

The effect on my blood pressure was immediate and kind of amazing. Before Big Ears, my average blood pressure, despite taking an angiotensin receptor blocker medication, was 140/84.  After Big Ears and the start of the exercise and diet regiment, my blood pressure dropped to an average 123/74. On March 27, Day Two of the regiment, it was down to 118/76, and has generally stayed low ever since.

Those kind of results give one a lot of motivation to continue. I've been walking 4 miles every other day with  near-religious dedication.  Haven't missed a day since Big Ears. 

The diet has been a bit more of a work in progress. I threw out a lot of sugary and ultra-processed foods, and have been diligently watching sugar content and carbo loads ever since, constantly whittling both down and buying ever-leaner groceries. I'm now down to one low-fat, whole-wheat English muffin (no topping) and two cups of black coffee for breakfast, a bowl of non-fat plain yogurt and berries for lunch, and a salad, sometimes topped with chicken for protein, for dinner. For snacks, I keep plain, unsalted peanuts, oranges and bananas stocked for snacks, and as the occasional splurge, a peanut-butter sandwich on whole-wheat bread once every couple days or so.

I finally bought a scale to track weight loss, and since April 25, when Amazon delivered the scale, I've lost 6½ pounds. I assume my glucose and A1C are dropping along with the pounds and blood pressure, but I'll wait until my next doctor's appointment to get those readings.

I'm hungry all the time. I'm hungry right now. But when I consider the success of my diet and exercise program, the hunger doesn't feel like pain, it feels like success. I don't "suffer" hunger, I experience it more like the "burn" some feel from a good pilates or spin class. The hunger tells me my effort is working.

Years of Zen meditation, sitting still for long periods of time without moving a muscle while constantly returning my attention to the breath, has given me some vast resources of self-discipline. I'm going to need that discipline to stay hungry and to keep walking even as the heat of a Georgia summer approaches.