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.