Sugar...Buh..buh...bah..bah..Ahh, Honey, Honey.

I've got high blood sugar. Officially (cause the letter says so) I've got diabetes. So, I'm on a blood sugar medication to reduce the tolerance level in addition to the other one to reduce the blood pressure. If I don't make the changes, then parts of my anatomy which I'm particularly fond of - feet...may wither and fall off. Or the kidneys will clog up and shut down...or the heart goes phfttt. Or inumerable other things may happen to me. Including getting hit by a truck.

Nothing else new however...I need to continue on the weight loss and excercise. I'm walking about a mile a day and would like to increase that amount. Yesterday, I cajoled Alexander into walking around the subdivision with me by telling him we're going out to fight bad jedi with out lightsabers. That worked up until the point halfway around when he started asking where the "real jedi" were.

Yesterday was also a banner day for Alex when he piped up in a restaurant with Meredith that he saw a man with only one leg. He then proceeded to laugh uproarously. Meredith had to calm him down and explain that sometimes people have bad accidents or have gotten hurt somehow to only have one leg.

If you were three and you first saw someone hopping around with one leg and a walker wouldn't you think they looked funny? Anyway, Meredith handled it fantastic. Alexander really does have a sympathetic ear for people when he understands what's going on.

Weight Loss and Life

I'm on the Weight Watchers Flex Plan diet with Meredith helping me out. Its a lot easier tracking points during the day and evening when I can just do it over the computer. I don't even have to think about the calculations and I can manipulate the serving amounts with ease.

This is all precipitated by going to the doctor last Tuesday. I've been feeling rather run down - problems with occasional dizziness and blood sugar issues. At my height of weighing I was 276 lbs 2 years ago. Since then, I'm down to 260 and I need to lose the 60 extra pounds. By the charts I'm supposed to weigh something like 170 or something...but I'm not sure I could do that. If I can make it to 200 I'll be happier.

In addition to the doctor's office, I had to go get a battery of blood/sugar/fluids tested. That was last Saturday and took up my entire morning. I had to drink the orange drink and wait around for two hours then get blood drawn on a regular basis. Hopefully, I'll come in under the "Diabetes" range of the glucose test and just need to work on the lifestyle changes.

The first week hasn't been that hard. The more difficult time will be on Sunday after church with all of the snacks out...and then the following weeks as I start having cravings for Whataburgers and Mexican Food.

So far, Subway has been a friend. I can have a 6" Roast Beef sandwich with lots of veggies, no cheese and spicy mustard and a bag of Lays Baked Sour Cream and Onion Chips and a Diet Coke for $6 and only 400 calories.

Lastly, I've been scared straight with the news that one of my good friends suffered a heart attack this past weekend. He's going to recover, but it scared him and his family something awful. I can't imagine what they went through as it was happening. He's a bit older than I am, and smokes, but he has a much more relaxed viewpoint on life than I do. I have to make the changes now...or I'm putting my whole family at risk.

So, if you and I go out to lunch or dinner...encourage me to get the healthy choice. I've always needed friends to kick me in the butt on occasion to keep me moving forward.

Ford Sitting Around and Grinning