Hello to my readers. I have been away now for quite some time. My computer/laptop bit the dust and for several months I was off line because I just could not afford another. At around the same time I lost my work and then my vehicle. I was forced to walk everywhere for everything.
Now don’t get me wrong. There is a bus system in the small city I live in. However, each time I tried to use it, it did not seem to run on any fixed schedule. I would arrive with at least five minutes to the next supposed pick up, only to wait anywhere from 20 minutes to 35 minutes. It is supposed to run every 30 minutes. Once I waited over 45 minutes.
I can be a little impatient with standing out in the cold. I decided that the town was not THAT big and I started to walk instead of wait. Most times I get where I need to faster than waiting for the blasted bus. And I walk slow due to the arthritis in my back and hips.
In a few weeks I started to see some unexpected benefits. At first it was finding my clothing becoming a little loose. I didn’t think a whole lot of that because I had gone through it before without losing an ounce according to the scale. But my next doctor’s visit confirmed that I had lost 10 pounds. Oh, happy day!
For a number of years now all I had seen was the numbers going up. I am insulin dependent and was caught in the spiral. The more weight you have, the more insulin you need... the more insulin you take, the more weight you gain. I had cried many times after taking my weight at the doc’s to find it had gone up yet again.
Now here I was with a whole 10 pound reduction! I was ecstatic! Maybe it was only ten pounds, but to me it was a great achievement. And I hadn’t even been trying, having given up trying to lose. The next checkup I had lost another 10. Then another 5.
During this period I started having lows in the morning, so I reduced my night time injection of Lantus. After meals I started having lows as well, enabling me to reduce my injections of Novo-rapid. My appetite went down, thereby reducing my caloric intake and further helping me lose the weight. Over the next several months I lost a total of 45 pounds without making any changes except that I had to walk.
Some other benefits have been that my breathing has become easier. I am able to walk further, faster, and easier than I have for years now. There is less pain in my hips most days because I am not carrying so much around. I feel so much better about myself, too.
Until I became diabetic I had been around 100 pounds. I had been tiny all my life. Then came diabetes and insulin. I spiralled up to almost double that. In fact, for me one of the first indications of diabetes was a very rapid weight gain, unlike many who experience a rapid loss. Insulin dependence just exacerbated the problem.
Now I started feeling like I was getting my life back. For years I wouldn’t even look in the mirror. Now I was starting to feel like I could get the old me back. Oh, not the youth and ability to do many of the things I could no longer do. Diabetes isn’t my only drawback. But I can stand to see me now.
I am still walking. I am benefiting. My little dogs are benefiting too, for now they get a walk after dinner every day, no matter what other walking I have had to do. I will lose the last 25-30 pounds. I can’t wait until I am in a size 5 - 6 again.... but I will be satisfied with a 7-8 if I must. After all, I am getting older.
Until next time, my friends.
