The Mega, the Mini, and the Micro

Not everyone wants to go on an eight-day endurance adventure. Not everyone can find the time or money. That’s where the Miniadventure and the Microadventure come in. Almost anyone can take on a Mini- or Microadventure a couple of times a year.

THE MICROADVENTURE

A Microadventure is something that takes very little advanced planning and doesn’t take a huge chunk of time. It probably doesn’t even take you away from your home, but it does wake you up from your usual routine. It usually can be prepared for and accomplished over the course of a month.

I am now two weeks into my major training block for the 2017 One Drop Caicos Adventure and I am having a hard time shifting from my pre-season mindset of training when I get a chance, to my regular training, where my workout has to be done when it is written and can’t really be put off or excused away.

But my discipline skills are weak so I have a very difficult time making this change. To fix it, I need a microadventure. This one is a bit weird, but exactly what I need.

Before Feb 28, I will put in thirty-four 42-minute sessions on the treadmill. That is nearly every day that I am not doing my long weekend paddle or ride.

Why is it 34 sessions of 42 minutes? I am in the middle of season five of my all-time favorite, totally-embarrassing TV show. So embarrassing, I’m not even going to mention the title. There are 34 episodes left from where I left off in season five, through all of season six, and the two-episode series finale.

And I really want to watch all of them. At one episode a treadmill session, it becomes a fair trade off. I use the desire to watch the next episode as a driving force to get me going since I am not allowing myself to watch any of them unless I am on the treadmill.

And the ever-present deadline keeps the stakes high and makes it so I can’t put it off until tomorrow if I am just not feeling it today. Making it a microadventure gives me a sense of purpose and increases my motivation to do it. I can’t wait to mark off each session in my One Drop App as I make progress toward my 34 sessions.

Microadventures are great for when you need a little kick in the pants to get going. They are not a huge commitment so they can be entered into on a whim. They also won’t take a major sacrifice of time or money to accomplish.

I can for sure spare 42 minutes each day to gain huge health benefits. And I have already seen the benefits in my blood sugar numbers, my momentum to get back int he workout habit, and my overall sense of well-being.

THE MINIADVENTURE

A miniadventure requires some advanced planning and training. It is something that doesn’t require time off from work and can typically be done in a weekend. It is within driving distance and doesn’t take any more money than a little gas and some food.

Both of the miniadventures I have planned for this year will go right along with the training I am already doing for the One Drop Caicos Adventure in June, but will provide a great quick getaway to keep my motivation high throughout the long training block.

In mid-May, my adventure buddy Michelle and I will be cycling to from my home in Carlsbad to my hometown of Seal Beach and then to Michelle’s hometown of Malibu over the course of two days. We will cover roughly 60 miles a day. This will be a good chance to get a feel for what my legs can handle just six weeks before Caicos and to get two days of head-clearing adventure just in time for the last five week push of school.

The other miniadventure will be a two-day paddle from Seal Beach back home in late August. This should be roughly 60 miles of paddling, with a little camping in between that I am thinking I might attempt solo. There is still much to work out in the way of details and feasibility on this one, but I like having something on the calendar to strive for after my mega adventures so the dreaded post-mega-adventure blues don’t set in.

Because of the size and scope of the Miniadventure, they are a great place to start if you are stuck in a rut and are looking to add something wild to your life. I usually like to start my planning about six months out. This gives me plenty of time to enjoy the hope of the adventure. It is this hope that motivates me to take great care of my diabetes and it brings me through the long, dark times that come with life.

Four to six months of physical training also keeps me strong and keeps my blood sugars in check. And it means that I can oftentimes do three to four of these in a year (with some overlapping of training).

THE MEGADVENTURE

A Megadventure is a multi-day long-distance event. It typically involves a good deal of travel to get to the location and brings with it the beauty of a new location you probably have never seen before. It takes about a year or more to plan and carry out the trip.

It may involve a team of people, but doesn’t have to. But because of the amount of time

and money invested, it will require a real assessment of what you will have to sacrifice to make it happen. These are the once in a lifetime, forever memory builders.

I try to do one of these each year, although some years, I have not been able to make the sacrifice. Those are the tough years for me mentally. When times get tough, I love relying on the thought that soon I will be on a wild adventure. It makes everything else so easy to take. So in the years I have had to miss a Megadventure, I have felt the loss.

WHAT FIRST?

If you are just beginning to think of adventure as a way to manage your diabetes, it is best to start with a Microadventure. Because they can be easy, cheap, and quick, you will find success easier. Then that first success will drive you to go bigger and take on more. it will also give you the confidence that you can adventure.

If you are already pretty adventurous, it is time to take on more. Expand your horizons. Pick something that is just beyond what you think you might be capable of. And go for it. Maybe that’s a miniadventure. Maybe that’s a Megadventure. It really doesn’t matter what you call it as long as it inspires you to take amazing care of your diabetes and makes you excited to get up and get moving.

The Slow and Steady Series: Part 3 SKIPPING BREAKFAST: THE RESULTS

In Part 1 of this series, Sure Lady, I'll Hold Your Dog, I discuss why it is so difficult to deal with weight loss on top of good diabetes management. In Part 2, Skipping Breakfast, I lay out the reasoning behind my plan to skip breakfast. This Part will delve into those results.

THE PLAN

As I’ve mentioned in Part 1 of this series, diabetes is like juggling and trying to lose weight is like having someone throw a chainsaw into that mix.

Just when I had gotten into a groove with my diabetes, I go and change everything.

After skipping breakfast for nearly 8 weeks, I looked over my data to see if it worked and if I could maintain it.

DIABETES EFFECTS

The first change was in basal rates overnight and in the morning. They dropped by 0.5 units an hour. My 8-12 dropped by 1.2 units an hour. Then slowly the rest of my day dropped, so that my daily basal rate went down by 28.92 %.

So for the first few weeks, which I was adjusting to all of this, I went though about a hundred juice boxes. Some nights I had five lows. It was miserable.

But as I continued to make the changes, I began to feel better.

Besides the lowered basal rates and lowered boluses, my overall glucose control has improved. My average daily blood sugars over a 30-day period are down to 172 from an average of around 185 (see screenshot from One Drop App.)

My last 7 days average, at one point, even dropped down to a 135, which, for me is unheard of. Unfortunately a series of bad pump sites and long car trips has that back up a bit.

FOCUS EFFECTS

One of my biggest fears going into this was that I wouldn’t be able to focus at work before eating. I teach a room full of seventh graders, so being out of focus can be disastrous.

It only took about a week to adjust to the new eating schedule. The first three days I was for sure thinking about food a lot. But after that, I actually found myself with more energy and focus. That groggy morning feeling went away. My body was no longer bogged down while trying to digest a heavy breakfast.

THYROID EFFECTS

Another of the problems I had, which I didn’t even consider was my thyroid levels. For years, I have had to take synthetic thyroid after nuking my thyroid to stop hyperthyroidism. I take my pill about five minutes before breakfast, which is not really how they are supposed to be taken. You will absorb about 50% less of the hormone if it’s not taken an hour before a meal.

But my system was working so I stuck with it. But now I was eating three hours later. So now I was getting 50% more of thyroid hormone. And having too much thyroid is miserable. So I have been working with my doctor to readjust those doses. Now after about six weeks, I think we have a new good level.

SURPRISE EFFECTS

After doing a lot of research, I decided to pull the trigger. I thought I would see better blood sugars, and I did. But there were other affects that I could not have anticipated. What surprised me most, was that it virtually eliminated my fear of being without food.

Diabetes has a way of complicating our relationship to food. After all, it is both our medicine and our poison at the same time. After having a few lows without any food within a five minutes drive, I began to develop a fear of being caught without food.

So without really even thinking about it, I would eat a little something before leaving the house. I would always have an energy bar with me and would often eat it even when I wasn’t hungry.

After realizing that I can go without food for several waking hours without any issues, the fear faded. I began to realize the strength and intelligence my body had to take care of itself.

When we get low one of the biggest driving forces for me is the hungry clue. I know that if I am dreaming about being hungry, that I am most likely low and so will wake myself up.

If I feel really hungry during the day, I automatically test to make sure I’m not low.

In learning to manage my diabetes, I had also picked up some habits that weren’t ideal for weight management. Things that I had taught my children as they grew up, I had forsaken. Eat when you’re hungry. Stop when you’re full. Trust your body to give you the clues you need to get the right nutrients.

I had stopped listening because it is easy to get confused by the signals diabetes sends.

But the more I went without food in the morning, the more I realized that I was not going to die if I felt hungry. And that brought a lot of freedom.

It stopped my preventative eating before leaving the house. And it made me wait until I was actually hungry to eat my next meal, both of which are very healthy ways to control weight.

I also became less hungry throughout the day. The first week, I was ravenous at 9:30. But slowly that faded, as well as my appetite during the rest of the day. Which means that I was consuming fewer calories everyday, not just from the lack of breakfast, but every meal got smaller and I was snacking less.

WEIGHT EFFECT

My weight over this period has also lowered. Although it has been a bit more up and down than I would have liked (thyroid has a huge affect on weight, as do copious amounts of juice boxes) now that I have stabilized I think I will see an even bigger change.

Over the eight weeks, I have dropped two pounds, which doesn’t sound like much. But because of my thyroid and diabetes, losing anything is a great feat. At one point my weight dropped lower than this, but it was transient.

I expect that this will continue on a downward trajectory, especially since I am no longer consuming 5-600 calories in juice a day.

CONCLUSION

This was one of the easiest changes I have made for my diabetes care by giving me one less thing to do. It has become a very easy to manage habit and I will for sure continue it indefinitely.

FOR JANUARY

For January, I will begin to reform a few of the weak spots in my diet, but in a new way. I will be adding instead of subtracting. At the end of January, in Part 4 of The Slow and Steady Series, I will share my results.

DATA SO FAR

Weight -2 lbs

Body Fat % - ? %

Body Measurements - ? inches

Total Daily Insulin - 28.92 %

Average Daily Blood Glucose -13 mg/dl

The Slow and Steady Series: Part 2 SKIPPING BREAKFAST: THE PLAN

In Part 1 of this series, Sure Lady, I'll Hold Your Dog, I discuss why it is so difficult to deal with weight loss on top of good diabetes management. In this Part, I lay out the reasoning behind my plan to skip breakfast.

THE GENESIS OF AN IDEA

Two summers ago, something weird happened in my diabetes care. Nothing like it had ever happened before. For around two months, my blood sugars flat lined.

At first it was just a series of constant lows. Sometimes lows that would hover right around 65 for five or six hours at a time. Even though I would correct with plenty of carbs, it just wouldn’t come up.

I quickly realized that I had to turn down my basal rates so I wouldn’t forever be low, and so I wouldn’t lose my hypoglycemic awareness.

Once my basals were settled into the new normal, I would just get low after I ate. My bolus numbers also had to change.

I had no idea what was causing it, but I was loving every moment of my second honeymoon.

It got so good that I began to test it. I ate a Rice Krispie treat with no insulin and lo a behold, a high.

Nope. Not cured.

But I was still having great numbers without doing anything differently.

Once September started, so did the more “normal” wacky blood sugars and I chalked all up to a fluke.

Until last Spring when I hit another week of marvelous blood sugars. They were short lived until, once again, summer came rolling around.

A PATTERN EMERGES

I began to notice a pattern. On mornings when I could sleep in and lie around in bed, I wasn’t eating until after 9:30. Those mornings I could eat and not have that dreaded morning super high.

If I had to eat earlier than that, I would go high.

Same food, same bolus, but very different results.

My whole diabetic life I have been trying to master that morning high with very little success. I would try to change the foods, change my carb ratio, but no matter what I tried I would always hit a solid 200 and it would stick there for a while.

In twenty years, I never even considered just skipping breakfast.

I mean, that’s just plain crazy.

But after looking at the data, I knew I had to give it a try.

THE RESEARCH

Before I go trying every new idea, I like to do some research and really consider every angle of the theory. And every aspect of it made so much sense to me.

BLOOD SUGARS

On a good morning, I wake up around 100. Now, that’s not every night. Maybe only four or five mornings a week. But on those mornings, I always get so bummed to see that streak broken. Eight solid hours of perfect blood sugars will get destroyed the second I eat.

But when I eat at 9:30, that flat line keeps going for another three hours. That’s another 1/8 of my life with normal blood sugars. That alone was enough to convince me, but the evidence kept building.

At 9:30 I avoid the morning spike. So there’s another huge chunk of high time gone.

I am a huge breakfast fan. I love every sugary aspect of it. Breakfast, more than any other meal, is a bread-saturated affair. Most of my other meals are more veggie-based. So eliminating what, for me, is one of the lower quality meals was going to pay off.

TIME, ENERGY, MONEY

If I skipped breakfast, that meant I had to plan, shop, prepare and clean up after one less meal. It saved me about fifteen minutes in my morning routine. It lowered my grocery bill. And I had to think about things LESS not more.

If I am going to develop a new habit, I love for it to be something that makes my life easier. And this one definitely fit that bill.

DOCTOR APPROVED

At my last check up, I hesitantly shared with my doctor what I was doing. I wasn’t sure what his thoughts would be on this new plan. He has heard all of my wacky adventure ideas so he is used to me doing things a little differently.

“Great!” he said. “I tell all of my patients to try that and they look at me like I’m crazy. Almost all of them come back with, ‘But, Doc, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

If only they knew where that comes from a marketing slogan put out my General Foods to sell more Grape Nuts. They blasted it out on radios and in pamphlets in the grocery store. Soon everyone was thinking it. And after a while, it became general knowledge.

But the science didn’t and still doesn’t back it. And more scientific studies are being conducted lately to confirm this.

I decided I’d better take my doctors word for my nutrition above a cereal company trying to force its product down my throat.

After getting my docs approval, I knew I was on the right track. Now I just needed to wait for the results to come in. Stay tuned for Part 3 of The Slow and Steady Series