Thursday, May 22, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Why
Why! Why The Blog?
Because Maybe I Can Help !
For someone like me, not good in spelling, grammar or writing in general, it takes a lot of time and work to put down what I’m thinking, doing or feeling. I Blog because I feel it’s an extension of my “Social Media” and I’m communicating to friends and family that may care, at least a little. If you are here reading this, you are one of those friend/family or you were push here by a “search” engine, social media post or you just roll up on a bike *laughing*. I also make up my own “slang”, “language” and “words” here, spelling is not that important, especially if you get my point, as well as grammar. Remember this is “MY” Blog and it takes a lot more time writing it than it takes you to read it, unless you are viewing my videos. You may leave comments (notes) but if it’s criticism, please make it “positive” or not at all. This site is intended to be inspirational, upbeat, funny, happy, focused and balanced.
Most of it is going to be “Now” or within the last year or two. There will be “Posts of the Past” but may not be interesting only to my inner circle, but all is welcome to enter.
Yes, I am Diabetic, Yes, This is about me. But through me, it may help and inspire YOU!! I am here to spread “what works for me” and empower you NOT experience the effects of Diabetes Mellitus. It Sucks ! So I Am #DiabtesEmpowered.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
My First Tour de Cure - Jacksonville
May 18, 2013 - My First Tour de Cure
Jacksonville Tour de Cure: This Is Where It All Started, My First Tour de Cure…It Was Fantastic! This Year I Planning My First Century (100 Miles) for the 2014 Jacksonville Tour de Cure
Lake Nona - Orlando Tour de Cure
Another Diabetes Empowered Activity - Lake Nona Tour de Cure
#Diabetes - Kathy’s First Road Experience.
Special?
Why Am I Special?
Am I?
I Don’t feel Special, So Am I Special? The Only People That Can Answer That Are The Ones Who Read This Blog, My Friends or My Family.
The Family Votes Are In, Mmmm Nope! Not Special.…. I Am A Father, Brother, Uncle, Step Dad, Husband and with Diabetes, So That Does Not Make Me Special, Does It? Nope Again !
I Was 280 Pounds When I Was Diagnosed With Type 2 Diabetes. I Suffer From Nerve Damage and Pain, My Eyes Are Affected By the Disease, My Arteries and Other Internal Organs Have Been Affected,Makes Me Special,Nope Again!
My A1C was 12.7 When I Was Diagnosed With Diabetes, Special? Nope ! Scary? Yes ! According to Many Different Diabetes Sources Out There, Normal A1C should below 7 , Again Not Special !
When “Unofficially” Diagnosed (Blood Test) I Couldn’t See My Doctor for 2 Months, By the Time I Saw Him, in which he ordered “Labs”, My A1C was down to 7.8 and I Drop 30 Pounds. You See, I Read A Lot on American Diabetes Association ,WebMD Websites and Listen to Kathy RN (my wife) To Get Information How I Can Control This Monster That Is Robbing My Life, Am I Special Now, NO !
While I Started To Do Some Serious Cycling, I Picked Up On ADA’s Tour de Cure, WoW A Race For Diabetics? Of Course Not, You Know Better Than That! It’s A Fund Raising, Educating, Empowering Family Bike Tour. Not Only That, But I Am A RED RIDER, I Person Riding With Diabetes, and I Get My Own “Red Rider” Cycling Jersey, WoW!!! Am I Special Now? No Silly!!!! But the Other Red Riders Are!
My First Tour de Cure was Jacksonville Florida, on May 18th. 2013. That Is Where I Fell In Love With “Tour de Cure”, They Made It Was Rewarding, especially the gal that was in charge, Kimberly Lewis, she made us feel like we were part of a Big Family. I Was Hook After My 35 Mile Tour…………..Am I Special? Nope ! But Kimberly Is !
-after the Jax Tour de Cure, came my “Jersey Shore” Tour de Cure, I Am Doing the Metric Century,100 km (62 mi) With My Oldest Son,Bill. Am I Special ? No, But He Is ! Also At “Jersey Shore” I Met Up With Some Friends from High School Days (67-71), Bruce, Sue, Janet, Don, Adrienne, their spouses, their friends and my Youngest Son, Michael for a Send Off I’ll Never Forget, Now Am I Special? No No No, But They Are!!! 
Since I Started The “Tour de Cure” in May 0f 2013, I Have Completed Jax, Jersey Shore, Lake Nona (Orlando), Southwest Florida (Tampa). I Did Lake Nona With Kathy and It was Fantastic, Cesar, ADA’s Asst. Director (Orlando) did A Great Job. Am I Special? No ! But Kathy, Cesar, (SWFL)Drew and Melissa Are!!!
Lake Nona Tour de Cure,
Kathy, Kym and Bill
Kathy, Kym and Bill
Kathy Had A Goal of Running All of runDisney’s Half Marathons, 10 milers, some 5 and 10k, along with some challenges ( Coast to Coast, Glass Slipper). To Honor the Completion of Her Quest, I Decided To Run “MY FIRST EVER” 5k, which I Did! Boy, I Must Be Special, Wrong Again ! But You Know Kathy Is Special (again) !!!
My First Ever 5k
My Wife, My Best Friend,My Support,My Love
Being A Former Smoker (40+ yrs.), Not Being Active at all for 10 years, Being 62 Years Old, -and-
After 1 Year of Being Diagnosed With Diabetes and It’s Brutal Effects, Riding Over 1300 Miles, Running 2 5k’s, Dropping 90+ Pounds, Getting My A1C to 5.8, Having All Of My Friends and Family Support and Encouraging Me, Loving the Physical/Athletic Activities, The Good Lord Giving Me A Second Chance and Controlling My Diabetes………….
I AM SPECIAL !!!
Me – Me & Me
We Are Athletes
What A Freaking Year! It’s Been A Balloon Fest!
2013-2014 Has Been A great year for Kathy and myself. Even though I was diagnosed with Diabetes, I took steps immediately to Control the Disease instead of it controlling me. But enough of the Diabetes for now, you heard a lot about it in my first Blogs.
This is about Kathy and I having a Ball, We are Athletes, yes Athletes. Kathy started running 5k to half marathons last year at the age of 60, I started Cycling at the age of 61 and we are still enjoying doing what we do. This May 17th. I’m hoping, no I will, do a Century Tour at Jacksonville’s Tour de Cure, where it all began for me.By the way, I actually ran a 5K at Disney also, what a trip!
The Only Thing Kathy Has More Of Than The Balloons……..Is The Medals She Earned,
Kathy did All of RunDisney’s Half Marathons with a 10 miler, 10K and 5Ks thrown In. She Did the Following Races and Challenges:
1. Epcot’s Wine & Dine
2. Tower of Terror 10 Miler (x2) w/ 5K
3. TinkerBell (California)
4. Marathon Weekend
5. Princess (2x) Plus 5K, 10K and Glass Slipper Challenge (This One Also Got Her the Coast to Coast Challenge)
I Have Done the Jacksonville Tour de Cure (35 Miles) ,
Jersey Shore Tour de Cure Metric Century (62.3 miles),
Lake Nona/Orlando Tour de Cure (30 miles) with Kathy and
SWFL Tour de Cure (35 miles).
Winter Garden Bike Works’ Cancer Awareness Ride (35 miles)
I Also Completed the Horrible Hundred (78 Miles Tour) In the Hills of Lake County besides the Many Rides on the West Orange, South Lake and Withlacoochee Trails. 2014 Hillsbrough County Fallen Heros Memorial Ride (27 miles) North Florida Bicycle Club's Tour de Forts (Metric Century) -And-
Yes, My First 5K Run at RunDisney - also Place 3rd in my Age Division in my Second 5K Run at Lake Minneola Races.
So You See, even at the age of 62+ we are enjoying ourselves and that’s why WE ARE ATHLETES!
Monday, May 19, 2014
The Day It Began !! first published on April 7, 2014
WoW, Almost As Large As The Castle
As A Person With Type 2 Diabetes – I Learned To Control My Disease with Cycling, Diet & Living With A Positive Attitude - Here Is The Beginning -
December (2012) my wife, Kathy decided to look into our Life Insurance Policies.
At that time I said “No Problem”, even with the Insurance Medical check-up, yea I was a little Overweight, I have been overweight most of my life, so I thought “No Problem”.
Well, On January 17, 2013 It Was A Problem. Waiting over a month, finally the medical check-up results came in; "Insurance Declined!"
What! How and Why?
You see, the results showed that I was Diabetic, with an A1C of 12.7!
First Thought, Not Me! They made a mistake, I went into “DENIAL”!
Kathy thought it would be a good idea to make a doctor’s appointment immediately, but I couldn’t see our doctors of choice for at least 2-4 months.
Again, asking Kathy, with her being nurse; what should I do?
Her Recommendation was to go to the ER, were they will bring my glucose numbers down, and I’ll get to see a doctor, -or-
You can try to control it with diet and exercise until the doctor’s appointment.
Well you guess it, I decided to start that very day, dieting and exercising!
Well you guess it, I decided to start that very day, dieting and exercising!
I weighed 275-+, was eating “white” and “Rye” bread, Pizza and Pasta Almost every day!
I Thought; “I’m 61 years old, How am I going to do this?“
I went on the internet and visited WebMD and American Diabetes Association’s website for information. Started with a Very Low Carb Diet and exercised Daily. I was starting to exercise with my wife, which at the age of 60 had just started running ½ marathons, so I had good partners, with her and my friend, “Will Power”.
The Biggest Mode of Exercising for me was cycling along my wife running. After a couple of weeks began to lose weight steadily, feeling much better, also finding more and more energy.
Around March 8, 2013 and after going to the doctors, he ordered new blood work, that indeed proved I was Diabetic! There’s however a Silver Lining; My A1C went down to 7.8; which was done by diet and exercising. I lost over 35 pounds and feeling great!
As of July 2013, I Lost 90 pounds (180lbs) and A1C was 5.8 (better than Kathy’s) with the Help of Diet, Exercise and Metformin.
After Researching hundreds of Websites dealing with Diabetes, I Noticed There Is A Lot of Information out there to confuse the average person. I decided to SPREAD INFORMATION to others on What Makes It Work For Me, Not in Latin or Medical Terminology, but in Plain English Language!
One of the BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION; “It’s Just Sugar” !
No, It’s more than that, it’s the 7th largest killer, it’s a disease that affects every major organ in one’s body if not treated and control. Don’t believe it, just ask me. I am happy to share my DAILY ROUTINE, THINGS That WORK for ME and COMPLICATIONS I suffer.
I Do It, NOT for ANYONE to FEEL SORRY ,
I Do It, So Hopefully You Can Prevent This Dreaded Disease from affecting You and Yours.
Yes, it is a battle daily, but I am going to win this battle with medication, diet, exercising, and with continuing SUPPORT of My Facebook Friends and Family, I am not a quitter!Changing “My” Diabetes
One Day At A Time!
WoW, What Can I Say……. Except; What A Trip I Been On!!!
Never Back Down !!!
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