LITTLE CURRENT—November is Diabetes Awareness Month (with World Diabetes Day taking place November 14). The Manitoulin Diabetes Conference was held in the upper hall of the NEMI Recreation Centre on November 1 from 9 am to 3 pm and featured speakers on the top 10 essentials for diabetes management (a keynote by Health Sciences North Nurse Practitioner Patricia Byne), kidney health to prevent the need for dialysis and a personal journey that resulted in diabetes remission (delivered by Noojmowin Teg Child Nutrition Program Coordinator Cody Leeson).
The conference was open to all members of the Manitoulin community and enjoyed a large turnout of those living with diabetes and health professionals.
Although all of the speakers were engaging, it was Mr. Leeson’s personal journey that seemed to strike the greatest chord among the attendees. The child nutrition program coordinator was cautious to note that his story was his story, and that not everything that worked for him would necessarily work for others. But given that he managed to lose a remarkable 60 pounds over the course of the past year with the result that his diabetes is now in a state of remission and that he no longer requires medication to control his blood sugar had many in the audience sitting up to take notice.
“It’s different to hear from somebody who isn’t just a health professional, but who has actually walked the walk along the path to a healthier life,” noted one audience member.
“I was on the see food diet,” quipped Mr. Leeson at the start of his talk. “If I see food, I eat it.” The result was steady weight gain and a sudden diagnosis of diabetes. Normally, he noted, people are diagnosed first with a pre-diabetic warning. The news struck him like a thunderclap, and his reaction was one of anger.
“Choose your hard,” he advised. A saying he adapted from the anonymous quote “Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard. Choose your hard. Obesity is hard. Being fit is hard. Choose your hard. Being in debt is hard. Being financially disciplined is hard. Choose your hard. Communication is hard. Not communicating is hard. Choose your hard. Life will never be easy. It will always be hard. But we can choose our hard. Pick wisely.”
Mr. Leeson’s hard was to harness his anger. In the seven stages of grief, one starts with denial. That is often the result of a pre-diabetic diagnosis—which inevitably results in full-blown diagnosis. Having never received the pre-diabetic warnings, Mr. Leeson had to start out at the second stage—anger. “I never moved on from anger,” he said. Instead, he went all in. “You can choose all or nothing,” he said. “I chose all.”
The result was an aggressive regimen aimed at “getting myself back into remission.”
He downloaded an app from the internet that worked well for him. (Loseit, available for free trial from loseit.com.) “At the beginning, I was weighing all my food,” said Mr. Leeson. He set his caloric intake at 1,500 calories, with the additional focus on burning off any excess. “So, if I eat 2,500 calories, then I burn off the 1,000 extra calories through exercise.”
Mr. Leeson readily admits he has never been big on “activity,” being more of a football fan than player, but he took up walking with a vengeance. He also limited his carbohydrate intake to less than 20 grams a day. As for medication, Mr. Leeson was on the initial dose of a metformin.
Three months later, he went for his diabetes check up. “I was down 30 pounds and my A1C was 5.1,” he recalled. That provided a clear indication that to Mr. Leeson that he should stay the course.
When it comes to eating, one of the biggest challenges is FOMO, he explained. “Fear of missing out.” Another is having to explain to people why he didn’t want to eat something being offered. “Trying not to be rude when people offer you food,” he said.
He also adopted intermittent fasting, taking a time-out from eating for period each day. For him, it was from 8 pm to noon the next day, or from 7 am in the morning to 3 pm in the afternoon. “Choose 16 plus eight or 20 plus four.”
The challenge with hard core routines is that they can quickly become boring. So, Mr. Leeson said he had to find ways in which to change things up. Luckily, he is a bit of a foodie, so changing things up becomes kind of a hobby. “Variety helps to overcome ruts,” he noted. “There are staple foods that I eat every week, but they can become exhausting.”
He still finds himself eating something he knows he shouldn’t, and it can be hard to get back on track, but “you choose your hard,” he said.
Today, Mr. Leeson is at a weight suitable for his height, 152 pounds, and his BMI is 23.8. His blood sugar comes in at 4.9. “I maintain a calorie load of 1,900,” he said. “When I go over, I will go under the next day.” He has maintained the same weight for the past three months, and that is down 60 pounds from when he received his diagnosis 401 days ago.
His anger has abated somewhat, and he has relaxed somewhat from his aggressive focus when he was first faced with the diabetes diagnosis. “I still do intermittent fasting, but not as much now,” he said, “not every day.”
He benefits from a glucose monitor that tells him what his blood sugars are regularly. “Oh, my blood sugar is high,” he would notice. “Then I go for a walk.” He has gotten into yoga, but still is not keen on exercises like lifting weights. His favourite winter exercise is watching his sports team play while riding on the stationary bike.
Mr. Leeson highly recommends getting a fitness watch like his Fitbit and setting achievable goals.
“Oh, and read labels,” he said. “You will be surprised at how many supposedly ‘Keto’ things that spike glucose.”
Another important strategy that works for him is finding a group of people to share your experiences with. He uses the internet social media app Reddit. “Find a community to share your successes with,” he said. It also helps to have a place to vent—one that isn’t your partner. “I didn’t realize how much I wanted to talk about things,” he said.
“Remember, your best is good enough,” he said. “Things are different for everybody, and what works for me might not work as well for you. Find a solution that works for you.”
