The Pump

I have been on my style of insulin pump for about eight years now. Like anything, there are negatives and positives. It does make life easier. I fought the idea of having a pump since the early 90's. I didn't want some wire sticking out of my body all the time and have to carry a pump around. 

Now as an adult, my thoughts are completely different. Part of me wears it as a badge. The best thing about wearing it is when my students think I have a beeper or playing some video game device. It amazes me that 9 and 10

year olds even know what a beeper is. Overall, my control stays pretty consistent unless I calculate carbs incorrectly.  

There are some days when the site is bad with the infusion set. This last weekend I was frustrated with this and unplugged my pump for a day. Things went well, but I was paranoid about where my numbers were. I figured that being plugged back into my pump was the best choice for me.

What control for me comes down to are the choices I make. I make good choices and my diabetes treats me nicely. I get a bit sloppy and the diabetes slaps me in the face. Life is all about choices. 

Reset

The last few weeks I have not been very disciplined with keeping a routine with diet or exercise. This has led my blood sugars to be on a roller coaster. I know what I need to do to feel good and have control of the blood sugars.

For me, I have found that a very low carb diet with lifting weights seems to do the trick. I know I have said this in the past. I have to accept that the fact that some routines are not the best for me. I am not going to put my health at risk. I need control. I have restarted 5/3/1 with low maxes and I am going to keep things simple. For conditioning work, I will push the prowler and train strongman events. I am also keeping my eyes peeled for any in state powerlifting or strongman events.

I admire those type 1s that can pull off the high intensity activities and still feel well. There is a type 1 athlete's page in Facebook that is very motivating. People that are a part of this group push the limits of being a T1D. More importantly, people offer help to each other and are very supportive. 

80 Burpees

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. I have mentioned this to people and they have no idea. I can't blame them. If it doesn't touch them in any way, it's not a big deal. 

On Friday I wore a Type 1 Design shirt that said cure T1D. My 4th graders that I teach thought I was wearing a One Direction shirt. It was pretty funny. 

One thing I am doing all month long is each day I will do 80 burpees to support an all T1D CrossFit team. I came by this through a type 1 athlete page on Facebook. The group is very helpful and very supportive. The group has made me question CrossFit again.

For me, if I have some carbs and some insulin before a high intensity workout like so many are in CrossFit things are okay. Would Fran(thrusters and pull-ups, 21-15-9) be the best workout for me? Probably not! Is it fun? Yes! This where I need to check the ego and use my brain. I have to build in rest or slow down my pace. The blood sugars have been kept in check. 

The last few days I have done partner workouts. Friday's was done in my garage with my friend Sean. He is great with understanding the diabetes and never let's me use it as an excuse. I think the rest while my partners were doing their part has helped.

Saturday, I worked out at CrossFit GP(www.crossfitgp.com). The atmosphere and community were great. Everyone supports each other and helps each other out. Finding CFGP, has helped me in so many ways it can't be measured. A huge thanks goes to the owners Chris and Corrie Dunkin for providing our small town with something special. The magic of CrossFit is the community. 

I know in the past I have said that CF isn't the best thing for me, but I think if I approach it appropriately things will be okay. One mistake I made in the past is not having enough fuel in my system before and after a workout. I still will be lifting heavy 2-4 days a week, but with a more rounded approach. 

I am interested to see how the 80 burpees a day improve my conditioning. If you would like, please feel free to join me for the rest of November with the burpees.

Please leave comments or questions. Thank you for reading my blog!

Apologies and Wellness

One of the best things about being a type 1 diabetic is when people apologize about eating junk food in front of me. I normally explain that I can eat whatever I want because I can cover the food with insulin. I then explain the difference between T1D and type 2. I guess I should be used to it, but it always surprises me. 

Situations when people assume that I am a T1D due to a poor diet always reminds me of the day I came home from being diagnosed. My grandmother said its because I ate too many cookies. That crushed me at 12 years old. I didn't know if she was joking or what at the time. I didn't know at the time T1D is an autoimmune disease. It would be interesting to know if the average person knows this.

It's not the public's fault. Most of the diabetes information out there is regarding type 2. T1D doesn't seem to get a lot of attention. When I was younger, I should have be more active in fighting to bring attention to my disease. At least once a week, I will wear some type of "fighting diabetes" or "cure" shirt. It does spark up conversation some times because people don't believe that I am a diabetic. Yet again people are thinking of type 2. The public needs to know the difference.

For children with T1D being lumped together with type 2s must be very difficult. It was for me as a kid. I knew I had some obstacles ahead of me as a child, but being active and eating well helped me distance myself from the diabetic label. 

Acceptance

Having this blog has caused me to think very hard about how I treat my diabetes. It has been an enemy for the majority of my life. The more I fight it, the worse it treats me. There's no denying the fact that I am a type 1. Life is different for me compared to a person with a fully functional pancreas. That's a fact. 

Once I accepted the fact that I must work with my diabetes, the better is has treated me. More of a controlled and consistent diet, planned out exercise, better sleep, and tracking my blood sugars have helped out immensely. For me, working with rather than against my diabetes has been very beneficial. 

I wish I would have known what I know now about food and health compared to what I didn't know as a teenager. Life would have been easier and healthier. Athletic performance would have been better. The major struggle I have now is all the different opinions out there about how to treat type 1. It can be very stressful and frustrating. Education is key and finding out what works for an individual is best. 

Food and Fitness Musical Chairs

My last post I mentioned eating a more rounded diet along with a balanced fitness routine that included much more conditioning than I have done in quite awhile. Due to my blood sugar control, I am switching back to a low carb meal plan and heavy lifting routine with small bouts of conditioning. 

One of the major switches is due to what the most responsible thing is for my life. Can type 1s be active in running, biking and CrossFit? Yes, but at what expense? These athletes that are type 1 don't always have very good control. I am at a stage in my life where I am not willing to put selfish wants of trying to be an athlete in front of my health anymore. Some people may think I am taking an easy route or I am not tough enough. That's fine. My whole reason to workout is to help my overall health and lifting with a tiny touch of conditioning is the way for me. 

I have gone back and forth with this for quite a while. In fact, I have probably changed my mind a thousand times if not more. To quote my more than supportive wife,"You need to just make up your mind. This is ridiculous!" I can only imagine what my workout partners think of my wishy washiness. Sorry guys! 

The hardest part is knowing that I am more than physically capable of doing what many people are able to do. The problem is the recovery. Chasing the high blood sugars and then bringing up the lows makes for an awful feeling. When I am strict with lifting heavy, this doesn't normally happen. 

High protein and power lifting. November 30th USPA Powerlifting meet in Corvallis  is the next competition. 

Back to Work/Type 1 Design

So this summer has been an interesting one on the diabetes front. I have tried different ways of eating, exercising and my weight fluctuated quite a bit. Starting a new school year will help with my consistency with a lot of aspects in the everyday life. One thing that gets added to the mix is stress.

Stress seems to really throw the blood sugar levels on a roller coaster. No stress and things are pretty good. A bit of stress and things are upside down. I wonder if I eat more when the stress is present. It is just time to tight things up again.

Nutrition wise, I am going to try to stay with a low carb way if eating. My best control is when I do this. Unless I am going to do some very strenuous activity, I am going to keep the carbs in the 30 to 70 gram range. For those more strenuous days, I will probably be around 100-150 grams. It seems the more I read about the diabeetus, the more conflicted I become. 

On a different topic there is a company that makes shirts for type 1 research that donate proceeds to the JDRF. The company is called Type 1 Design. The shirts are quality shirts with some creative designs. I received the two I ordered yesterday. Prices are good and the money goes to a cause I care about. http://www.type1design.com/

Here's my shameless plug: I can be followed on Instagram through breakingdiabetes. I post my workouts along with blood sugars and post workout meals. 

A Big Directional Change

After a lot of thought and frustration, I started up with a new endocrinologist that is local. 

The main reason I went was to get a meal plan figured out. What my doctor told me was to keep veggies and fruit the main source of food. Protein and carbs should fill out the rest of my diet. 

The confusing thing here is how I read all the time that insulin is such a bad thing from so many sources. As a diabetic, I know I need it. It is all so confusing sometimes.

On a training note, I have decided to let go of powerlifting for the moment. This summer I have only been lifting heavy and I feel less athletic and very beat up. I have introduced more CrossFit style workouts and I feel pretty good. The addition of more carbohydrates is a huge piece to this as well. 

To be successful with the new way of eating I have decided to use the Zone as a guideline. I am eating far more veggies and fruit as I was before. It's all about keeping the food choices as natural and healthy as possible.

Here are the workouts I have done this last week that have made control very easy.

Daily Doubles Flashback

I can't help but to write about football daily doubles this time of year. Balancing an immune disease with the amount of exertion that is required to handle daily double practices or other similar activities is very difficult. 

When I was in high school, the knowledge that I had of my disease was very limited. Talk about a lack of control! I probably averaged around a blood sugar of at least 200. As my control has improved over the years, I could not physically handle that. I look back and wonder how my performance could have been better if my numbers were better. I dealt with highs and lows on a daily basis. 

In college, I was a bit better because I tested more often. I still wasn't where I should have been. Practice was more strenuous and this beat me down. Staying illness free was very difficult. I just assumed that it was due to the difficulty of the practices. I always thought that everyone was in better condition than me because they didn't seem as run down as me. This is not supposed to be a pity party. Did my disease hold me back? Maybe, but I can't think like that. 

Diabetes was my motivation in these times of my life. I was out to prove people wrong. I was out to prove my disease wrong. 

As an adult, my mindset is different. Instead of proving my disease wrong, it's about working with it. No matter how bad I want it to just go away, it's not going to anytime soon or ever. What I can do is be diligent about the choices I make physically and dietary wise. The better I treat my disease, the better it will treat me. 

Back to Control

This summer it seems I have tried everything under the sun diet wise to try and keep control of my blood sugars. Unfortunately, it has not worked very well. 

Not being strict has caused me to increase insulin levels, energy lagged and body weight increased. These three things are important to be able to control. When they are I feel better. As simple as that. 

Every time I seem to change or try to change things, I always revert back to a  minimal   carb diet. The ultra low carb diet makes control much easier.

On the exercise arena, I have switched from nothing lifting to a more rounded routine that includes all realms of fitness. The CrossFit Games was a major influence. I like to feel athletic and that's what CF did for me in the past. 

I have to make sure I stay consistent. 

Getting Dirty

I have been tweaking my diet a bit this last week and a half. It's pretty Carb Back Loading. I try not to go overboard. I have been trying to keep my carb intake below 30 throughout the day and after working out in the evening I will junk it up quite a bit with about 100 to 150 grams of carbohydrates.

This hasn't messed with my control like I thought it would. I think mainly because the junk I am eating in the evenings is all prepackaged, so the carb count is fairly accurate. Maybe not the best options, but it's working. 

Training wise, I am making good gains with strength for a number of reasons. The most important thing I am doing is pushing myself a lot harder and sticking to a routine. My goal is to turn my weak points into my strong points.

The days I train, my blood sugars are always better. I feel better. I take better care of myself. I feel invincible. On training days I break diabetes.  

Vacationing

This last week I was on vacation visiting my family in California. It was an enjoyable and fun trip. My blood sugars did not favor so well.

I ate some food I shouldn't have and exercise was nonexistent. I don't like to have to guess about carbohydrate grams, but I did quite a bit. As I reflect, the best thing for me would have been to go ultra low carb for the week. I wasn't working out, so my fuel didn't need to be as high. 

I should have made time to get in some type of exercise. Mentally and physically it would have been very beneficial. I had opportunity to, but had a lazy week. 

I am glad to be back at my home. Being at home is very comfortable for many reasons. Diabetes is better, food is more controlled and the garage with the weights in it. 

The next few days I am going to disconnect from my insulin pump and see how that goes. I have done it twice recently an my control was fantastic. The pump makes it very easy just to punch numbers in and eat as wanted and be slack on any set schedule or routine. I understand this is what regular people get to do, but it seems like the pump has made it easier for me to not control my sugars as well. I can just punch in a blood sugar level and carb grams and I am good. Easy? Yes. Beneficial? Second guessing the pump!

I will train in the afternoon, looking forward to it. We are out to create PRs in some variation of the bench press. 

Control and a Bit of Confusion

Tonight my control has been fantastic. Hardly any insulin after a hard weight training session. I have been messing with the diet a bit this week. My carbohydrate intake has averaged about 150 to 250 grams depending on how strenuous my training has been. As long as the food I consume is clean things seem to be good. I have more energy with the upping of the carbs. My blood sugars haven't been perfect, but still very manageable.

This morning the television was on an the news running along the bottom if the screen mentioned that there's a cure for type 1 in the near future. I searched the Internet tonight trying to find more information, but no luck. Everything I found was for recently diagnosed type 1s and how type 2s can reverse things through diet and exercise. I am jealous of type 2s!

The news story I did catch was discussing how obesity is now going to be considered a disease. This is very difficult for me to digest and have sympathy for those people who fall into this hole. Choice is an interesting concept. When a child or adult is diagnosed with type 1, it's not a preventable situation unless the child or adult already has type 2 and can't control what they eat along with being inactive. This kills me because its going to steal attention away from finding a cure for type 1.

Westside Method

So I wanted to write about my training tonight. Over the weekend one of my training partners and I went to a powerlifting certification seminar run by AJ Roberts formally of Westside Barbell. Westside is the strongest gym in America and they are always breaking records.

It was a great experience. Not just learning the methods and programming concepts, but what makes an environment and culture that breeds success at the highest level. What everything came down to is hard work and training optimally.

Today was squat day followed by assistance exercises. We all hit PRs and pushed it on the assistance exercises. Insulin was cut in half to cover my dinner tonight. There was no need for conditioning because of how hard we pushed everything else. I can't wait to see the future results we will encounter.          

westside-barbell.com

People Must Learn

Things are always interesting when the students I teach learn that I am diabetic. It is normally one of the first things I let them know in the first few moments of class. The next thing that happens is that a bunch of hands go flying up wanting to tell me that their grandfather or grandmother is diabetic. Normally these people my students know are type 2 diabetics. Sometimes I wish there were more of name difference between type 1 and type 2. I often refer to myself as having the real diabetes.

Recently, I have made the decision that I shouldn't be so negative or have negative thoughts for type 2 diabetics. Am I a bit jealous that they can control things with diet and exercise? Of course I am. I probably wouldn't have diabetes if mine was determined by lifestyle.

Kids need the proper education when it comes to what an active lifestyle is. As a public educator, it is astounding what the kids don't do with their free time. I know that many of my students I had this year will be on the couch watching TV or playing video games all summer. The youth need to be moving around and be active.

The last thing I want for someone is for them to be diagnosed as a diabetic no matter which type. People must be informed about health and well being. Not only will this improve physical health, but it will improve mental health as well.

We must fight against diseases that are very avoidable!

June 8th Powerlifting Meet and Diabetes

Tomorrow is the meet. I feel good, blood sugars have been controlled, and the goals are sighted.

This past week, I have really put a lot of thought into a service dog to help with my own diabetes. In so many ways it would be a wonderful addition. Once school is out, I am going to put aside more time to get involved more in the local diabetic community. I even ordered a few shirts from the ADA. If wearing a t-shirt can bring awareness, why not?

My meet tomorrow is something I am doing that seperates me from being diabetic. To keep my health in a good situation, I will have to be a powerlifting diabetic rather just a powerlifter. That  may not make sense to people without diabetes. It's all about embracing it and using diabetes as my motivator.

Tomorrow I will break diabetes.

Self Reflection

After meeting the 13 year old's family that I mentioned in a post on Saturday, I think this blog needs a new direction or a better focus.

My goal is to hopefully help type 1 diabetics not feel alone. The reason for me posting about lifting weights is to show that being diabetic doesn't have to hold me back from achieving physical goals. Does it make things a bit trickier? Of course it does.

It's time to be an advocate for diabetes. I have always been fearful about telling others about my disease because I didn't want pity or be treated differently. I would like to believe that the disease doesn't define me, but it sure is a huge part of my life and my family's life. It's who I am and it's helped mold me into the type of person I am today.

Let's BREAK DIABETES!

Getting Involved

This post is motivated by a 13 year old in my city. I read his story Thursday in the local paper and was brought to tears. His family is attempting to raise money to get a dog that will know when the boy is running into trouble with his blood sugars. I met the parents today and they are very supportive of their son.

The reason I was brought to tears is I know what it is like to be at that young age and have some disease that you only hear about with people that make poor lifestyle choices. When I was diagnosed, I had no idea how or why I was diabetic. People made comments about me eating too many cookies and that crushed me. The ages of 12 to 14 are tough enough without a disease. As a diabetic, all I have ever wanted to feel is normal.

After sitting back for years, I am ready to step up and get hands on with helping others that are in the same situation.

Control: Thank You Conditioning

Since adding in a bit of conditioning and a tighter diet, my blood sugars have been great. My numbers have been hanging around 70-140. It is amazing how much better I feel when my numbers are consistent.

5/29/13 Training:
Split Jerk work working on quick feet and hips
5/3/1 Bench with 295 pounds with a 2 second pause on the bottom

Conditioning:
3 Rounds
10 body weight dips
10 body weight pull ups
10 40 pound dumb bell shoulder press
200 yard run

This wasn't for time or anything measurable. I have just been focusing on properly moving and not getting totally gassed. The rest of the evening I didn't really need to bolus for my food at all. I ate a clean chicken salad and a turkey burger afterwards with a coconut ice cream bar.

Reflecting about the last few months of training, I probably should have kept up with the conditioning. I have spent more time lifting and neglecting the conditioning.  My lesson has been learned. I am curious how this will affect me at my power-lifting meet next weekend.

Strongman Blood Sugar Levels

I have started to add in some conditioning with my lifting of weights. I keep the movements simple and on the heavier side. This has helped control the diabetes a bit, but more importantly has made me feel like an athlete.

Feeling athletic is one if the major reasons why I enjoy exercise. Having a target or training for something is a huge help. My primary goal is good health, but I like to see how far I can push myself.

Once I have the June 8th powerlifting meet behind me, my focus will be strongman training. There is a competition in early August that I am signing up for. It should be fun. I will posting more details about it as it gets closer.

Training from 5/27/13:
Squat - 5/3/1 rep scheme with 435 pounds for the last set.
Squat cleans - worked up to 255. I attempted 295, but did not commit like I should have. Since I haven't been spending time on any oly lifting recently, my form has suffered.

Conditioning:
5 rounds of
1 yoke carry x 30 yards
I stone carry x 30 yards
5 kettlebell snatches per side with 70 pounds

This was challenging, but very fun. I am not trying to look to far ahead, but I am looking forward to the strongman transition. The major difference that will occur is that I will do more Olympic lifting, more pressing in replace of bench pressing, and picking up the level of conditioning. It will be interesting  how this will require me to alter the diet and diabetes care.

www.strongmanwod.com - Great strongman workouts!

Training from Monday 5/20

The last few weeks I have limited any kind of conditioning and have focused on mobility and form. Monday was a 3x3 squat day.

3x3 back squat with 385
3x3 front squat with 295
5x10 pull-ups with bodyweight
5x10 kettlebell swings with 70 pounds

After the 3x3 back squats, I attempted a heavy single at 485 pounds. I failed with the lift. My target for the meet is to hit a personal record. My current best is 480 pounds.

I wrote a while back about trying to cut weight, so I could lift in the 198 pound class. After feeling run down and not feeling good, I have decided to stay with the 220 pound class. I don't need to cut weight at all and I have some room if I gain weight. I am floating around 212 pounds to 218 pounds.

State of Mind

With three weeks left of training for my meet on June 8th it is time to focus on a number of things. Rest, nutrition and building a plan of action for the meet. The meet I did in March, my blood sugars were running real high all day. This time around, I am going to disconnect from the insulin pump and give myself a shot of Lantus to cover me for 24 hours. I will have to give shots for highs with my humalog. I haven't done this in almost ten years. I can't believe I have been using my pump for so long.

The thing about the meet that has been a big hurdle are the weights to choose to lift. I feel good about my opening selections, but not so sure for my second and third attempts. I guess I will just go by feel.

Here is something my dad emailed to me today. He doesn't know the great timing of it!

State of Mind

IF YOU THINK YOU ARE BEATEN, YOU ARE.

IF YOU THINK YOU DARE NOT, YOU DON’T.

IF YOU LIKE TO WIN BUT THINK YOU CAN’T,

IT’S ALMOST A CINCH YOU WON’T.

IF YOU THINK YOU’LL LOSE, YOUR LOST.

FOR OUT IN THE WORLD WE FIND

SUCCESS BEGINS WITH A FELLOWS WILL.

IT’S ALL IN THE STATE OF MIND.

IF YOU THINK YOU ARE OUT CLASSED, YOU ARE.

YOU’VE GOT TO THINK HIGH TO RISE.

YOU’VE GOT TO BE SURE OF YOURSELF BEFORE 

YOU CAN EVER WIN A PRIZE.

LIFE’S BATTLES DON’T ALWAYS GO

TO THE STRONGER OR FASTER MAN.

BUT SOONER OR LATER, THE MAN WHO WINS IS THE MAN WHO THINKS HE CAN

Fun vs Fitness

What is the difference between fitness and fun? This is a question that always messes with me. I enjoy and have fun working out. When the idea of competition is thrown into the mix, fun normally escapes quickly for me. I have always enjoyed the training aspect of things. Self doubt is an ugly monster.

Bench and Blood Sugars

This old diabetes was rather tough today. For some crazy reason it just won't disappear. The self control was tough to over come while at work today with junk food. It's Teacher Appreciation Week and it seems the thing to do is provide us teachers with junk food. I am very appreciative that people are thankful for what teachers do, but I would prefer vrrbal thank you rather than a donut. I ate a handful of donut holes and paid for it.

The blood sugars were elevated for two hours, but were normalized by insulin use. The rest of the day my knees an ankles were swollen maybe because of gluten. I try my best to stay away from all gluten. My stomach and limbs give me issues when I don't eat clean.

Since my blood sugar levels were messed with my attitude went south and seemed to stay there all day. I was tired and grumpy. This attitude carried over to my training. My two friends that train with me have great attitudes and I aspire to be as positive as they are.

Training-
Bench 5/3/1-205, 245, 275
Front Squat 5x1- 225, 245, 275, 295, 315
3 rounds:
30 yard yoke walk
10 40# ball slams
10 pull-ups
20 yd sprint

It felt good to move around in an athletic manner this evening. As the meet on June 8th approaches, the more difficult it is for me to stay focused on my goals. There's nothing better than some self doubt.

No Good Title

On Saturday, I trained at the CrossFit gym that I coach classes at. The workout lasted almost 30 minutes and destroyed me. I spent the rest of the day chasing blood sugars. There was a lesson taken from this, I shouldn't do CrossFit. For me health wise and what my goals are its just not for me anymore.

Yesterday I squatted, did power cleans and pull-ups. With squatting, I am trying to improve my form so my upper body is more vertical. I tend to want to bend over a bit much when things get heavier.

On the diabetes side of things, my control has been pretty decent. As long as I keep the carbs below 100 grams, my control is fairly tight. The only problem with that is my energy lags. The thing that I have to remember is what is important.

The most important thing is my family. If I am not healthy, I take away from them.

Control and the Bench

It looks like keeping the carbs low has really paid off the last few days. Blood sugar levels have stayed below 140 and overall health seems well. I am down 4 pounds as well. I have been drinking a ton of water daily and eating very clean.

Today's training was a 3x3 bench session with some accessory work.

Bench-3x3-last set was 275#
315#x1 with a pause at the bottom
Sling shot bench 1x3 at 315#
3x3 weighted dips 80#
3x3 weighted pull ups 80#
10 20 yard sprints
Shoulder and hip mobility for 20 minutes

Great video-http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FK_LQtc0ALQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded%26v%3DFK_LQtc0ALQ

Consistently Inconsistent

After messing with my diet and training routine, I have figured that less is more. I have not been very good with diet, which in turn has turned the blood sugars to be very up and down. To sum it up, it's made me tired and sluggish. After 22 years, this diabetes thing still won't go away as much as I would like for it. I often think how things could have been different without the disease.

With my training, I have been doing too much. I need to keep the volume low. I just will do the main lift for the day and follow that by two accessory movements. The areas I have left by the side lately have been mobility and flexibility. Those have always been weaknesses of mine.

I have made the choice to get down to the 198 pound class for June 8th. Depending on the day, this means I will have to cut anywhere from 12-17 pounds of weight. I am going to try and limit carbs and  use fats and proteins as my energy source. This will also help regulate the blood sugars as well. I did this back in December and early January and my levels didn't get above the 140 range. It took a few days to adjust, but I felt great.

My Mother's Perspective

 I am quite sure that every parent that has a child with diabetes can remember the day they were diagnosed. I can picture it vividly down to the pajama's Jeffrey had on in the car on the way down to San Diego to meet with the endocrinologist.  That was 22 years ago and it feels like yesterday. We didn't even know what a endon???? did, let alone know much about diabetes. Other people had that, not my beautiful healthy son that was happiest on a basketball court or a football field. I have wanted to write on Jeffrey's blog for over three weeks now. All of the memories, good and bad, have been swirling around in my head and I just couldn't put any words down on paper until now.

I could say that diabetes really didn't affect our lives that much, but that would be a lie. The lives of everyone in our family was changed that day. Since my husband and I are the parents of three very athletic boys we gathered together as a team. It certainly made us stronger. If Jeffrey was "low" the youngest or the older brother would run to get his machine. We tried to convince his brothers that diabetes was not going to change his life. We were a team and we would all be there for each other. Someone was almost always at football practice just in case, but it was never obvious. We truly just loved watching him. The need for food was a constant reminder, but one that we just got used to. When Jeffrey decided to go surfing the cooler was always with us. People would look at us and think we were crazy to let our son be so active. We were not going to stop him and the Dr. was in agreement. His sports no matter what he was doing was his way of fighting this disease. Was it hard? yes, but so well worth it.

When I saw the name for this blog,"Breaking Diabetes" I smiled to myself and knew exactly what Jeffrey meant. He broke the code 22 years ago and we were going to allow him to full fill every dream that he had. One time when he was 13,  he broke his little finger badly and insisted he could still play with a splint. During the game he looked up at his Dad and motioned at the taped up splint and his Dad gave him the thumbs up. Jeffrey unwrapped his finger on the field and made a touchdown. It was a huge moment in his life at 12 and we were not going to take that away from him. That little finger is fine by the way.

This is no way meant to be a tribute to his atheletism but an example of how anyone can break diabetes especially through exercise. Jeffrey has always been there to help anyone who has diabetes and if he can help only one person understand how to deal with this disease then his has accomplished quite a goal.

 Love you buddy,

 Mom

Deads and Press

It seems that deadlifting seems to be the best thing for my blood sugars. My insulin usage after deadlifting is just my basal rate and small bolus levels to cover food.

Training:
Deadlift 3x5+ last set was 445# for 6 reps
Press 3x5+ last set was 175# for 5 reps

Squat 2x8@225#
Press 2x15@95#&115#

Dips 3x10 body-weight
Hammer Curls 3x10@40#

*5 strict pull-ups after all press sets

I put in more mats in the garage and moved things around quite a bit. I can't be luckier to have my very supportive and loving wife. She has been very encouraging with me pursuing my interest in powerlifting.

Monday 4/22/13

1.Squat 3x5 last set was 375
   Bench 3x5 last set was 255

2. Front Squat 3x5 used 195 for all three sets
    Sling Shot Bench 3x5 used 255 for all three sets

3. Hammer Curls 3x10 with 40 pounds supersetted with body weight dips 3x10

*I did 5 strict fat grip pull-ups between the benching sets. 

It was a fun training session. More importantly, I didn't need much insulin the rest of the evening. I have also made the decision not to cut weight at all. This will give me less stress and will allow me to fuel my body, so I can improve on my total. I have put on weight the last week or so. At my meet in March I weighed about 209 pounds and was a lot lighter than others in my weight class. This time, I want to put up bigger numbers and part of that is me gaining about ten pounds.
   

Training

My training has been very fun lately. Having training partners that keep me focused and accountable has helped me push myself.

We are following the 5/3/1 program mixed with general physical preparedness work. The goal is to get strong and to make progress. We don't do any steady state cardio because that will take away from the goal of gaining strength. With a powerlifting meet coming up in early June, the amount of conditioning will dwindle as the meet gets closer.

This is what we did on Wednesday evening:
We broke it into four sections:

1.5/3/1 deadlifts
   5/3/1 strict press

2.speed deadlifts 8x1 with a band and very light weight

3.strict press 3x10 light weight
   banded good mornings
   body weight dips 3x10

4. weighted driveway runs(the driveway is about 90 or so yards) x 5

It was a fun workout and challenging. The deadlift is becoming my favorite movement! More importantly my blood sugars were very consistent after this workout.

The main decision I have to make now is to try to cut weight or stay in the 220 pound class.  I would have to cut about 11 pounds to make the 198 pound class. I am thinking of just staying in the 220 pound class and not worry about cutting weight. The last thing I want to do is compromise my strength gains or the blood sugars. We will see what happens.

Yoke

Trying to figure what works with my body is very confusing at times. As much as back loading with carbs has been kind of fun, it does put me the position of chasing my blood sugars. Up and down and all around. I am going to keep things simple and keep carbs under 100 grams a day spread out throughout the day.

Training over the weekend was fun. Saturday, my wife and I did a little dumbbell circuit with ball slams working on using the hips to create some force. Sunday, a friend came over and we used a yoke for some heavy yoke carries.  This was pretty fun. Pick it up and put it down!

The yoke has been the greatest purchase for my garage gym. It was easy to assemble and can be used for all kinds of things. I ordered mine through www.strongmanwod.com.

I want to give a huge thanks to my friends Matt and Sean who helped me out big time on Friday evening with my son. My son split his head open and they even went to the hospital with me. On a drop of a dime, they will do anything to help others out. I am very thankful.

Powerlifting Goals and Training for 4/10/13

Goals for June 8th meet:

Squat-490#

Bench-345#

Deadlift-585#

This will only be my second meet. My first meet was March 23rd in Portland, OR and I squatted 480#, benched 325# and deadlifted 568#. I know I had more in me, but my goal was to have a successful meet without getting overboard with personal records. 

This meet my main goals are to set some personal records(listed above), and stay injury free. 

Training:

Strength-

3x3 Deadlift with the last set being 465#

8x2 Speed deadlifts with 135 and a band

Conditioning-

5 Rounds

Yoke carry 40 yards

Prowler sprint 30 yards

40# ball slams x 5

53# Russian Kettlebell swings x 5

I did some hammer curls and pull ups as well. 

Diabetes:

Due to the conditioning, my blood sugar shot up to 235 when I was done. The one thing I have learned the last couple of years is that these highs don't have to be treated aggressively. The workout allowed me to pig out the rest of the night. I ate a huge steak, guacamole, salad, and topped it off with two cupcakes. 

I have been messing with back loading my workouts with carbohydrates and keeping the rest of my day with less than 30 grams of carbohydrates. I have noticed that my control is pretty good when I do this. More importantly, I feel like I don't have diabetes!

The Roller Coaster of Control

One of the things that has been the most confusing part of being diabetic for 22 years has been how to eat. I have been all over the place doing what doctors recommend, the ADA, low carb, Paleo...etc. The best solution for me has been to keep the carbs to a minimum and lifting heavy weights.

When I do this my levels normally don't go above 140. I feel great and my insulin levels are very low. When I eat the way the ADA suggests, I feel like I am on a roller coaster. My energy levels aren't where I would like them and I flat out don't feel good.

It's not that I don't eat carbs. After I workout, I will consume my carbs for the day. Normally, I won't even have to bolus or take insulin to cover them.

For example, last night I worked on my bench press for three heavy sets of three and did some heavy work to help my bench. My blood sugar level was 145 when I was done. I ate 40 grams of carbs afterwards and only bolused for 10 grams. My levels stayed between 85-123 until I went to sleep.

If I would have bolused for the 40 grams of carbs like my pump recommends I would have been eating all night long to not go low. When I have done this, my bs levels the next day are normally always high.

My personal solution to the roller coaster of control is to eat low carb, high protein, high fat, and lift heavy weights.

My Introduction

So here's my story...

I am a type 1 diabetic on an insulin pump. I was diagnosed at 12 years old and had no idea how my life would be changed. Luckily, my parents never made my diabetes dictate what I could or couldn't do. If anything it was more motivation to try new things and push through difficult situations. We were a very active family and the diabetes wasn't going to hold us back. I refer to "we" because it effected my whole family.

I stuck with sports and ended up playing small college football. Diabetes got in the way quite a bit. It would take me longer to recover from games and my performance was not always at the desired level due to highs or lows. I often thought and still think how things could have been without the diabetes.

If there was one huge bonus to being diagnosed with diabetes it was the amount of responsibility I had to take on. I always have to be prepared with food or supplies. There have been times when I wasn't and I have regretted it. Luckily, I have a very organized and supportive wife that helps me with all her heart!

Being active has helped me in huge ways. It is one of the things that make me feel like a normal healthy person. I have messed around with biking, running, CrossFit, and now my new passion of power lifting. All of these activities have helped me BREAK DIABETES!

That is what this blog is about. Not letting a situation stop people from believing and breaking personal records.