I’m sure each and every one of us has had at least one of those “Eureka I’ve got it!” moments in their lives. I’ve had a few, but one of the most profound, and life altering moments occurred for me just about 10 years ago.

My “A-HA!” moment was quite the significant wake-up call to me as it relates to my diabetes. I don’t recall the exact date, but the memory of the realization is incredibly vivid. It was probably October, and since my ex-wife wasn’t interesting in doing much, we were home watching TV. We both had a history of weight issues, so, as many people were doing at the time, we were indulging in a bit of Schadenfreude by watching the Biggest Loser. Incidentally, since we were not “as fat as the people on the show” we had no guilt about having some snacks while watching. At the time, my nighttime snack of choice was a partial or full pint of Ben & Jerry’s, more often than not, a full one. I used to justify the Ben & Jerry’s because my A1C was under control at about 7, and it helped keep my morning glucose readings low. We all know the lies we tell ourselves to justify our bad eating habits, right?. I have since gotten much better, but at the time, it was working for me… or so I told myself.

During each season of the Biggest Loser, they had certain weeks which the viewers eagerly anticipated, like the dreaded week 2 where the individuals who lost 30, 40, or more pounds in the first week lost only 2 or 3 pounds. There was also the week where they televised the visit to the doctor to review their health status.  Dr. Robert_Huizenga (Wikipedia) frequently would provide a bit of tough love to the contestants showing them their actual age vs. their physical age due to various tests and health markers. One contestant was in his late 30’s, a lot like myself, but he was (in my mind) “considerably more overweight” than I was so I eagerly anticipated the dressing down he was about to receive from the Doctor.

Dr H. started in on him… You are 39 years old, you weigh 425lbs, but your physical age is 53, meaning that you have lost 14 years of life expectancy because of your weight and medical conditions. He continued… “Let’s look at your medications. You’re on Lisinopril for your blood pressure.”

My internal dialog began right here with a significant “hmmm, I take that.”

“You take Simvastatin for your high cholesterol.”

Internal dialog: “Umm, I take Pravastatin.” (essentially the same thing)

“We’re going to have to add a new medication to your list. We’re going to have to get you on Metformin because I hate to tell you this, but your blood work shows you have Type 2 Diabetes.”

Internal dialog: “OH POOP! (yeah, not what I really thought, but I want to keep a PG rating) I’d already been diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic, and I’ve been on metformin for a while already.”

Yup, I was hoping to get some leisurely entertainment watching the biggest loser contestants work their asses off, literally, while I was sitting in front of the TV eating a big fat bowl of Ben & Jerry’s. I put the bowl down and was stunned. I was on the exact same medications as a biggest loser contestant, I had the exact same conditions as a biggest loser contestant, the only thing separating me from that individual was my weight. I got up, and went into the bathroom, and stepped on the scale, not something that I normally did, because who really likes to see the numbers on the scale when you are seriously overweight.

298.

I weighed 298 lbs! WTF?!? How did that happen?  The last time I weighed myself, I could swear I was like 275lbs, and that is a far cry better than 298, wasn’t it?

I looked down at the scale, I wanted to stomp it so it no longer told me what I didn’t want to see. I shouted a few choice words.  I’m sure you can picture the scene, was I angry with the scale? No, but it was an inanimate object that I could vent on without worrying about hurting its feelings. My wife, shocked to hear me so angry in the bathroom asked what the problem was. I told her that it was nothing, this was my battle to wage, and I had just declared war.

I didn’t know how to fight, but I was going to fight. I vowed to myself at that very moment that I was not going to ever gain those two pounds to tip the scale at 300lbs.

The very next morning, I began my journey back to health. I woke up earlier than I usually did and trudged down into the basement. I located the treadmill I had purchased a few years previously, if memory serves me, when I was first diagnosed with T2D, and proceeded to sweep all of the junk that was hanging off the sides, right onto the floor. What better use for a treadmill than a place to hang clothes that you didn’t want to bring upstairs because if you went up those stairs with anything in your hands you became hopelessly out of breath? I live in a raised ranch…. We’re talking about maybe a dozen steps. I could barely make it to the main floor of my own home without gasping for air, I was certainly a hot mess.

I got on the treadmill. I hadn’t used the thing in years, even though I spent about $1500 on it when I got it, I only used it maybe twice… so it took a few minutes figure out how to program it to set up a workout. I did that, but knew I was going to be facing an extreme uphill battle, so I made sure there was no incline involved in this workout. 0% incline, check. Speed… Hmm, I don’t know, I should be able to walk 4 miles an hour, right? That would be a big fat hell no! Big and fat, just like me. 3mph? 30 seconds, gasping…. Still too much. I was certainly glad I was alone because if I were at the gym, this would have been horrifically embarrassing. Finally, I settled into 2mph, and set the time for 15 minutes. Coincidentally, 15 minutes was the smallest amount of time allowed to be chosen on the treadmill.

I walked, and had to rest a few times, but by god I did it! I brought my knife to a gunfight, and claimed victory! I wasn’t monitoring my heart rate, which is probably a good thing because I probably would have freaked out, I’m sure it was through the roof. I didn’t die, but I was really wondering if that might happen later in the day. It was a small victory, but a victory none-the-less.

The next day, I was back at it. The day after that too… and so on. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. That couldn’t be more true. That day several years ago, I started on the adventure which has gotten me where I am today. It has been an adventure for sure, and I’m not ashamed to say that it has many instances which I ended up going backwards.

The Ben & Jerry’s from that night ended up melting in the bowl, and I washed it down the sink. I’d like to say that it was the last one I’ve had, but that is definitely not the case. As for my weight, I never did pass the 300-pound mark, I’ve gone down, but the scale has not always gone in the same direction. That is part of my story, and the lessons I have learned over the years, some learned the hard way. I will share my experiences, I know many of them are not totally unique, but by sharing I hope to show that we are all on this adventure together, and the goal is a long and healthy life. Oh, I’ve also traveled quite a bit more than a thousand miles, but that’s a story for another day.

We’re all in this together, I’d love to have you share one of your “A-Ha!” moments in the comments below. I believe we can all learn from shared experiences, and would love to involve the readers in future posts. 

-Todd