Well, today I'm another 2 lbs lighter, weighing in at 194 lbs. My blood sugar has been in the upper normal range all week and my blood pressure, as of today, is at 110/76, which is normal. Of course, that's still with the use of my blood pressure medication, so I still have a little more left to do on that. My guess is that when it gets down to around, say, 90/60 with medication, then it will be safe to discontinue the medication. I would expect that, at that point, my unmedicated blood pressure may be around 100/65 to 110/70, which would be the best range to be in. I'll have to consult with my doctor on that before I know for sure, but that seems logical to me. At 100/65, I'd be in the range that athletes and children are normally at. At 110/70, I'd be at the level of normal blood pressure after strenuous exercise, according to the chart found at http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/medicine/blood-pressure.htm
I discovered the effects of junk food on blood sugar yesterday, while on the road. I was returning from a visit to my brother's place and hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast and, with at least a couple of hours' drive ahead of me, I decided to stop for lunch. However, I was off the beaten track and wound up stopping in Cleveland, Oklahoma, where the local McDonald's was the only choice. I carefully chose a grilled chicken sandwich from the menu and, because I was hungry, I ate the fries and the bun along with it. I also wanted to see what that would do to my blood sugar, as it would be about time to measure it when I got home. I did eschew the soft drinks in favor of water, though. Well, when I got home, I checked my blood sugar and found it had been jacked up to 158! That was with the healthiest choice on McDonald's menu! I think that, if I had tossed the bun and the fries and just eaten the chicken alone, I'd have stayed a bit closer to the normal range, but I was pretty hungry and so, let my appetite get the better of me. Anyway, later on that evening, after dinner, my blood sugar had settled down somewhat, to 111. I'm sure that, by tomorrow evening, it will have dropped back into the normal range again. This was an interesting experiment, though, as it clearly shows how much a single fast food meal can affect a diabetic's blood sugar. This proves my case against the advice being given by doctors and nutritionists these days, that a diabetic can eat whatever they want to, just "in moderation." Bullshit! If you are diabetic and you eat that way, you can count on maintaining your diabetes for the rest of your short life.
