I’ve recently taken some time to take a step back to view my year to date and I’ve convinced myself that the biggest change in my life is that, I have diabetes.
If you’re close to me, and had no idea about this news, let me alleviate some of that shock in the aforementioned statement – more accurately, I have willingly inherited type 2 diabetes. Here’s what I mean by that –
In mid February of this year, a good friend of mine, RQ, admitted to me that he has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I’m versed enough to understand that it’s more than eliminating soda pop from your diet. Here’s what I got –
When we eat our bodies break down foods and turn them into glucose and other nutrients used to fuel bodily functions. After a meal, our levels of glucose rise, which then triggers the pancreas to produce insulin (a hormone) which unlocks the doors for glucose to be released from the blood.
When someone has diabetes, either their body can’t produce insulin, or the body doesn’t properly respond to insulin. This is a problem, because insulin is what allows glucose into the cells. If glucose can’t get into the cells, that means glucose stays in the bloodstream, causing abnormally high sugar levels. High sugar levels can lead to even more health problems; the snowball effect is not a desirable one here.
Let’s look at that differently with slight shift of the eye, layman’s terms on another level, if you will. We’ll remix the following:
Glucose is now Joy.
Pancreas is the Landlord.
Insulin is named Keys.
Blood will be called Prison.
And cells will be me, you, your mama, and your cousin, too.
When we eat our bodies break down foods and turn them into Joy. After a meal, our levels of Joy rise, which then triggers the Landlord to produce keys which unlocks the doors for Joy to be released from Prison.
When someone has diabetes, either their body can’t produce keys, or the body doesn’t properly respond to keys (like a wrong key unable to unlock a door). This is a problem, because keys allow Joy into me, you, your mama, and your cousin, too. If Joy can’t get into me, you, your mama, and your cousin too, this means Joy stays in Prison, causing a lot of unhappiness all around. And a lot of unhappiness leads to me, you, your mama, and your cousin to have a laundry list of other health problems.
Are we good on understanding diabetes? This is where you nod.
At the time I accepted this news with empathy and carefulness. I’m not a doctor, and while I may have some idea on how to help, I hadn’t a clue where to start. This is all I knew – that RQ was told to take insulin shots, eat less of the bad stuff and more of the right stuff, and to increase his physical activity. Emphasis on increase physical activity.
For the first two thirds of my life, I lived a very unhealthy life. I ate all the bad stuff too often in a day. I was beyond obese, and if I continued this path I would have died a very young man. From my own experience I understand firsthand how intimidating it is to make that first step into fitness – not just a gym – fitness. Whether it’s on a treadmill next to people faster than you or even at home in the privacy of your living room, fitness is absolutely terrifying and judgmental, and it will tear you in pieces until you reach some level of comfort under your own skin.
In the same conversation RQ broke his diagnosis to me, he also shared that he’s already been doing something about it – taking a group class at a nearby studio where he works. At the time he’s three-four weeks into this class. I fully grasped how much courage that took, needless to say I couldn’t have been more proud of the guy. But I knew he needed, he wanted more. While one workout a week is a start, the solution to this needs more horsepower.
For work, this is what I do, again layman’s terms – I look at a lot of data and oversee software configurations for my company. My company manages health and fitness centers for other companies and community centers that have their own gym within their work campus. In other words – in regards to RQ – I can get him any gym membership he wants. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not one to initially push people in gyms. What I’ve learned throughout the years is that, if anyone is going to stick around in a gym for longer than the first three weeks of January, they’re going to need to push themselves in first (as a business, the trick is to keep them from leaving, but that’s another story).
And that’s exactly what RQ did – he pushed himself in an awesome studio (The Corner Studio) in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood. He’s gotten his feet wet, now it’s time for the deep end, and this is where I was able to give it another nudge – I told him exactly what I said earlier, “you pick whatever gym you want, and I’ll get you in there.”
“But I don’t know how to use the machines, I wouldn’t know what to do,” he replied.
“Then I’ll work out with you. I’ll take that studio class with you, too.”
“That class is too easy for you. Don’t you work out hard? I can’t do your workouts.”
“We’ll modify. Every work out is hard, don’t ever believe otherwise. If you’re willing to put in an hour into something that a large majority won’t do, then it’s never going to be easy. We’ll get this done.”
Since then, RQ has gradually increased his workout count anywhere between 2-6 days a week, and anyone is putting in that amount of work, results are expected. This is the fun part. Here’s what happened since –
When one is diabetic, their blood sugar level is 7.5+.
In February 2017, RQ’s blood sugar level was 10.3.
Three months after training, RQ’s blood sugar level dropped down to 8.0.
Five months after training, his blood sugar level dropped again to 7.8.
Seven months after training, his blood sugar level dropped again to 7.1.
Blood sugar levels between 4.0 – 6.5 are considered normal.
To reiterate – I’m not a doctor. But I think I can confidently tell you that those trends are pretty fucking good. Most mornings I would receive a text from RQ, a photo of his daily glucose readings measured in mg/DL, and when using this method of measurement 70-130 is considered good. RQ began to hit between those marks pretty much every day. I accepted this as my own levels without question nor hesitation – his levels were my levels, his training is my training, his diet is my diet, and all the good and the bad and everything in between was mine too. This what I allowed myself to train for. No longer chasing PRs on lifts. No longer the focus on the amount of miles logged in or the minutes per each mile. No longer chasing 200+ revolutions on a jump rope in a minute. No longer driving down that needle on the weight scale.
I’m hell bent on getting to that 6.5 blood sugar level.
His texts then follow up with words of appreciation for the training, things like and not limited to “your methods/strategies are working, you deserve great moments, any ex-girlfriend of yours should have never left you,” and this one being the most used, “may good karma reward you back.”
Karma. Hmm.
First of all, no ex-girlfriend of mine can have me back. Secondly, yes I do believe in karma, don’t let that hmm throw you off. It’s like the hippie cousin of Newton’s 3rd Law that says for every action there is a reaction, yeah? Newton was pretty good at science. Newton was a good guy.
And that’s the key to good karma isn’t it? It’s returned to good people. And I’ll be the first to tell you I am far from a good man. But for some strange reason I’ve been lucked with knowing some real great people. RQ is one of them, one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met. And another great guy I knew was our friend AJ.
RQ, AJ, and I hung out in our college days. We were good friends, enjoyed a lot of good times and laughs. From the early 2010’s and on, AJ was a severely dedicated marathoner and triathlete, fighting for his own young daughter who was battling cancer. He co-founded the organization Team Cancer Sucks that helps raise funds for cancer patients. In the worst of ironies, he was diagnosed with his own cancer, the very damn thing he was fighting against for his daughter. She won that battle, she is alive, healthy and well. But AJ is no longer with us after losing his life to cancer in 2015. AJ was a damn great man.
AJ had cancer. RQ has diabetes. I have… nothing. I shouldn’t be without health conditions. Karma, life, whatever is responsible here is 0/3 – AJ didn’t deserve cancer. RQ doesn’t deserve diabetes. And I don’t deserve nothing.
I can admit, maybe the reason I help RQ is in part of trying to avenge our friend AJ. Maybe this is my anger at karma for not allowing me to carry the worst of situations. Maybe I drive myself through the concrete with work, training, and everything else in my world to the complete and utter brink of exhaustion because deep down I know I shouldn’t be so lucky.
Maybe, just maybe, I’m trying to be like AJ, where he seemingly took the cancer that plagued his daughter and took it as his own to deal with.
I don’t know, maybe it’s a little bit of everything. Maybe I’m overthinking it all, and I loathe it when I overthink. Regardless, my focus is unwavering – I’m all in for breaking through 6.5.
This is for RQ, and this is for AJ. Straight up, no sugar added.
PERFECT TIMING 