Day 24

I noticed my abs for the first time in 30 years today looking into the mirror and so did my wife!  I had a good juice day but a bad number day.  I forgot my meds just in the AM and my numbers went to over 400!  Guess I am still diabetic.  Well I still know that I am on the right road.  No cheating on the diet and going to bed now for it is 10:35 PM and I am working out now 5X a week!!  My body is tapping into the stored energy and I am looking great.  I will take another PIC soon.  Blood test is next week.  I weigh in tomorrow we will chat then.  Blessings

Day 23

Yes Yes and Yes, not giving in.  Difficult to stay in this fast.  So I have had some social events to attend this past week and it was very nice to see some make accommodation for me and actually bought me some "green"juice!!  Thank you to those who did that and one of them was my Navy Boss!!!  Well.  Some days are better than others.  I have four children as you may recall so tonight I have excused myself from the table.  Why?  It is too difficult now for me to be around food.  I hate this disease. I love food. I have but only one way out of this.  That way out is in fact weight loss.  I need your prayers.  I do feel much more connected in my prayer life and spiritual disciplines since I have eliminate all solid food.  I can't believe it is FEB 23!!  Almost one month down.  My weight is still 271 and my body feels great and my clothes are all loose.  Because of the seriousness of my disease and it being a progressive disease I must be even more aggressive for my family.  I will keep you posted.  I want to say the drinks my wife makes me are awesome and she is even more awesome in supporting me.  Beth thank you my love in your support for me to complete this journey.  I love you.

Breakfast and Lunch in a Bowl

This is my breakfast and lunch in a bowl, ready to juice for the day. Looks like a beautiful garden. I doubt I would want to eat this all at once, but it's pretty easy to drink it.  All those micronutrients ready to be absorbed in my body quickly. It's amazing how much energy you get from juicing. No need for Red Bull. Fruitier for the morning, green at lunch. In the bowl, I've got spinach, broccoli, bok choy, celery, and cucumber, sweet potato, carrots, cantaloupe, oranges, apples, strawberries. All this makes 2 big juices. I make them in the morning and take them to work with me.

Pure Bliss

Breakfast can't taste much better than this! It's a great way to start off the morning. I prefer having a fruity juice in the morning because it feels more like breakfast to me. I save the green juices for the afternoon. I can't believe how much more energy I have by juicing.

My Breakfast Bliss: (serves 1)

2 carrots

1/2 beet

1 apple

1 orange

1/2 grapefruit

handful of parsley

handful of pineapple

handful of blackberries

Wash all fruits, juice and enjoy!

Day 14

Well Happy Valentines Day!  Still in the fight for my life and have some news for all of you on this with me.  My LABS:

A1C:  11.6 This needs to go down to 6.0
Fasting BGL: 121 This is good because my last labs were over 300
Cholesterol: 147  This is good any time it is below 200
LDL (BAD): 39  This is a good number and it should be below 100
HDL (Good): 33  This needs to go up to 40-50
TRIG: 375 This needs to go down to 150 or below
Weight: 271
Waist: 43"
Neck: 20"
7 Day Avg on my testing is 188.  That means an A1C of 7.4 we are shooting for 6.0

So still the fight continues 10 days ago my A1C was 11.5 as you remember.  That means an an average of 332 BGL (Blood Glucose Levels) very poor.  The purpose of giving my blood every 10 days is to keep the doctors informed.  Remember my goal is to reverse the disease so the numbers now are important but not as important as completing this fast for 60 days.  I am feeling better than at any point in my life.  I ran this AM with my son and in the gym 5 days a week.  The farther I get away from FEB 1st the better I feel and the numbers will fall into normal ranges.  So no dark clouds over my head only sunny skies and a new healthier me!!!  Lots of good news and green above.  Please continue to pray for me as I am on the way to showing the world you can reverse Diabetes.  Currently I am testing 15X a day to get a good base reading.

Day 10

Well here I am 11pm still fasting...  Blood draw tomorrow.  Tomorrow is the beginning of 100% liquid which means no solid food at all.  Nothing.  I so much need Jesus at this point.  I will write soon I am tired but I can tell you I FEEL SO AMAZING.  God Bless you for being with me.

Day 9

Well...96 hrs since my last post.  Some wonder am I still going on this??  YES I AM!!! THIS IS THE MOST DIFFICULT THING I HAVE EVER DONE IN MY LIFE!!!  I have this oral fix to eat food.  So I have been a vegetarian only once a day.  I have had very small amounts of meat but 98% of my diet is only juice.  I did have three bowls of split pea soup and three raw salads.  I am juicing all day tomorrow and blood work Monday 11 FEB.  This is becoming a spiritual journey for me.  I have lost 1" on my waist and my weight is 272.  So good on me for trying.  The first time I ever walked into a McDonalds with my son this weekend and walked out eating nothing.......I watched him eat a cheese burger and fries and drove home to juice.  I felt good about that.  As a matter of fact I saw people eating McDonalds all around me this last friday and all I want to do is cheat on myself and eat with them.  I have never noticed before all the people eating around me so unhealthy before, I am not ever going back.  I am going downstairs to eat some fruit.  My Goal is to juice the next 10 days no solid food.  Please pray for me.  Talk with you all soon.

Day 5

Well got my baseline labs yesterday.  Not good news at all:
A1C: 11.5 (very poor and out of control I need to cut it in half)
FBS: 306 (fasting blood sugar FBS)
Weight: 272
Waist: 43 (Down 1")
Neck: 19.5

Some have asked me what is an A1C Hemoglobin. The HbA1C is a measure of the percentage of the hemoglobin in the blood that has been glycated (has had a sugar molecule added to it); the higher your blood glucose, the more glycation occurs. The HbA1C result is an indicator of blood glucose levels over the previous three months. So that would include for me Nov and Dec Holiday period food.  So the longer I am fasting the better the AIC will become.  Currently mine is extremely poor at 11.5. After three months on the bean-enriched or grain-enriched diets, this measure of long-term glycemic control can be improved but a greater improvement was seen in the bean folks when tested in two groups.
Although it may seem small, a 0.5% decrease in HbA1C is actually quite large, considering that a “healthy” (nondiabetic) A1C is below 6.0%, and a poorly controlled diabetic level is 8.0% or higher and that is me. A1C reductions in the range of 0.5-1% translate into significant risk reductions for complications such as kidney damage. A small improvement in HbA1C (like the half-point improvement) is very significant, as it could represent years of lifespan gained or lost. Beans as the major starch source in the diet have the potential to make a huge positive impact on the long-term health of diabetics. These improvements in health are cumulative with other dietary changes that improve HbA1C. So a small improvement from more beans and squashes, comes with a small improvement from berries and greens, and an small improvements. Additionally, using nuts and seeds, and a small improvement from not snacking and so on all these small improvements which at first may seem like just a few tenths in HbA1C cumulatively result in massive benefits and for most, the end of diabetes.  So here we are day 5.  I juiced all day but ate some carrots, salad and hummus in the evening.  It seems that I am able to get further in the day without any solid vegetables.  My goal is to eliminate any solid food but not quite there yet.  My next blood draw is Monday so we will see what that brings.  I am a very discouraged with my AIC but I understand that it will go down because I am being consistent with this fast. The good news is I dropped one inch off my waist line so I am seeing some improvement.

Day 3-4

Well, still in the land of the living.  Watched the Super Bowl with my friends and my family and our kitchen was filled with all the food you could imagine that would make any waistband expand.  Just the smells alone were wonderful.  I had a few food items to be social.  I wanted to eat all afternoon.  Instead, I made some healthy alternatives in my Vitamix and shared it with everyone.  Just checked my sugars at 1151 AM and they are 150!!!  Wow.  Oh happy day...Today it is game on with the lights on!!  96 hrs into my journey.  I have never been this far from the shire or should I say the "American way of life" before.  I will get my labs tomorrow and post them.  I did work out this AM with my assistant in the Navy and will work out tomorrow as well.  I am in the zone.  After watching the Super Bowl all I want to be now is a "farmer with my dodge."  Just eating out of my garden...  : )

Day 2 I can't believe I am doing this...

Well here is day two.  Went to the Zoo with the family to clear my mind.  All I can think of is my poor appetite, poor Wes and how much I love my precious food.  I juiced all day but I nibbled here and their with some raw veggies and a few bites of regular food.  Overall I would say that I am ok but still intimidated and will try this tomorrow after the 49ers win... The goal in the next 96 hrs is no solid food.  None.

Day 1: The Journey Begins

Here is the big gut let me show you...Take a good hard look at that masterpiece.  Looks like I swallowed a cow. Waist 43.5" 271 lbs. Neck 20"