Check-up

Few pieces of good news / bad news type of thing.  A1C, which is now the common measure for determining diabetes, along with your fasting blood sugar levels are the major indicator for diabetes.

A1C

Diagnosis A1C Level
Normal Below 5.7 %
Prediabetes 5.7% to 6.4%
Diabetes 6.5% or greater
*Any test for diagnosis of diabetes requires confirmation with a second measurement unless there are clear symptoms of diabetes.
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [1]

Blood Sugar

  • Random blood sugar test. A blood sample will be taken at a random time. Regardless of when you last ate, a random blood sugar level of 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) — 11.1 millimoles per liter (mmol/L) — or higher suggests diabetes.
  • Fasting blood sugar test. A blood sample will be taken after an overnight fast. A fasting blood sugar level less than 100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L) is normal. A fasting blood sugar level from 100 to 125 mg/dL (5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L) is considered prediabetes. If it’s 126 mg/dL (7 mmol/L) or higher on two separate tests, you have diabetes.
  • Oral glucose tolerance test. For this test, you fast overnight, and the fasting blood sugar level is measured. Then you drink a sugary liquid, and blood sugar levels are tested periodically for the next two hours. A blood sugar level less than 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) is normal. A reading of more than 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) after two hours indicates diabetes. A reading between 140 and 199 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L and 11.0 mmol/L) indicates prediabetes [2].

My Results

A1C of 6.3% and fasting blood sugar of 7.9 which is on the high side of prediabetes to the point of being clinically diabetic. Since I’ve been told of these results, my fasting blood sugar has never gone above 6.1 and has been going down over time as I’ve been trying to get better control over my nutrition. So while 7.9 is definitely in the diabetes range, the fact that I’ve not had a duplicate measure since then is somewhat positive. That is still considered prediabetes, however, and I have no real intention of allowing that to increase on a regular basis.

You can see now why I consider my last doctor to be a quack as these risk factors don’t just appear overnight. Had I known these types of results previously, I could have introduced some more consistent life style changes earlier. Its one of those things that everyone knows about in terms of good health but until its you that impacted, its never real in the sense that its something that happens to other people, not you. At least now with this doctor I’m getting better suggestions on care and things I can to do help prevent this from getting worse.

On the plus side, the risk factors for a fatty liver, which I had two different doctors in the past mention, wasn’t present. So it seems the fasting I had done previously definitely helped with that. Beyond that everything was normal across the board. Next round of blood tests will be in July so we’ll have to see whether the changes I’m trying to adhere to will have had any effect.

As with any new pieces of information, my goals are shifting to reflect my changing circumstances. As an example, my blood pressure has been in the normal range for someone of my age. So long as I am exercising on a regular basis, I shouldn’t have to check on that daily but blood sugar certainly is something I need to check regularly from now on. So after having visited with my doctor, my goals are slightly adjusted:

  1. Maintain a 7-8 hour block of time to sleep
  2. Shift towards a more Mediterranean diet long term
  3. Exercise – at least 300 minutes per week
  4. Monitor (blood)

This morning I’m at 327 lbs which is back where I was at December 6th when I started the last fast. I’m still a believer in fasting and while I haven’t done the 5/2 fasting schedule I was hoping to back in January, I definitely have plans to incorporate more fasting into my nutritional plan over the next several months. I have two trips coming up this month so there is no point in starting a new fast now. Once I’m back from the second one however I’m likely going to take 7-10 days in June to do another one and see if I can’t crack that 300 barrier again. 290 is my true nemesis as I’ve come close to that on several occasions but never manged to breach it. But for now, 300 seems to be a reasonable goal before my next round of tests in July.

R52 Day 5
Off-Track Big Time

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