The Last Post
So, I wrote this post some 2 and a half years after finishing my juice feast.
In that time I’ve received a few emails from people asking what happened, did it work? Some of them quite angry that I hadn’t updated the blog.
Well, a few things happened…
After an initial period of stable blood sugar levels, they started to go back up as my diet changed back to a more reasonable, sustainable diet. If I remember rightly, I was back on insulin by late December / early January 2009.
Personal circumstances didn’t help matters either, but I’m not getting into that here 
One very positive thing that I did - and this was part of my plan since around November 2008 - was visit a hypnotist in Minneapolis called Devin Hastings, who specializes in stress reduction and diabetes coaching - you can find his website here: http://www.mindbodyhypnosis.com/
I spent 3 days with Devin and he gave me some very effective tools that I could take away with me to reduce stress and allow me to attain a level of calm in future stressful situations.
What did I learn - looking back on the juice feasting experience?
I learned that for me, the juice fast (not feast because I only drank a half of the recommended volume of juice per day, as I couldn’t stand the taste) was unsustainable as a diet - and it was never supposed to be - but as a result, I viewed it as something I couldn’t wait to get off, and eat “normal”, everyday foods.
Within about 2 months, I’d put back on 50lbs, but needed to, as I was unhealthily thin.
If I can give some advice to anyone with diabetes reading this blog, I’d like to stress the importance of sensible eating - something that I’m still working on - and plenty of exercise. Not exactly round breaking advice, but you’d be surprised how many people eat crap and just don’t exercise. Also, very important is testing and finding out what medication is right for you. Take an active role in this and work with your doctor.
For years I struggled and struggled with the idea of taking insulin and just didn’t want to do it. I couldn’t come to terms with the idea that I needed something external in order to help me live. Which is kind of crazy when you think about it, because that’s what food is: something external that you need to live. Manufactured medical Insulin is the same thing, it just helps you process the food you consume and turn it into fuel.
I took metformin and gliclazide for a few years and ended up so tired. My pancreas was being force to spew out whatever insulin it could during the day, I was eating a very restrictive diet in order to keep my sugars low, and was unsurprisingly not very happy, or energetic. For me the metformin / gliclazide combo felt like someone pinning me to the bed in the morning, it was that hard to get up.
Insulin can gave me the boost you need to get up and start exercising. Yes, it takes some trial and error to get your levels right - both dosage and exercise levels, but the end result was increased quality of life.
For anyone with diabetes, whether you’ve had it for a while, or you’ve just been diagnosed, educate yourself.
There’s plenty of material on the web about it - try to keep to the more reputable sources, as there’s plenty of people that want to make money from people with diabetes. Actively seek knowledge and view it as something you can tackle and cope with, rather than something that’s happened to you.
I view my 92 day juice fast as a success. After all, I did it. When I think about it now, I have no idea how I did it, but while I was doing it, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to go all the way. I didn’t get the result that I wanted at the end - to be released from diabetes, or no longer have diabetes, or cured of diabetes - however you want to phrase it, but it’s an experience that I will never forget, and one that I have learned from immensely.
So, in closing, If you’re still reading this, you probably either have, or know someone with diabetes.
Good luck to you on your journey. Be strong, make yourself and others happy, and actively look after yourself.
All the best,
Chris.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 at 5:04 am and is filed under journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
