Around this time last year I was in a bad place… I hadn’t yet been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes but I was feeling the effects on my energy, mental health and overall happiness!
The year before I had done a video interview for Entrepreneurs’ Organization, which I honestly don’t remember doing, but when it came out I was shocked to see I looked like a fat thumb that someone had drawn hair and glasses on! During the GLC event in Singapore last year that video was playing on a huge open air market event and it seemed like some kind of dystopian future overlord grimly addressing his people which did not sit well with me at all!
(Photo credit: Philip McKernan)
To be diagnosed with Diabetes, your Hba1c level has to be at 48 or higher (42 – 48 is pre-diabetic and anything above that is diabetic) – this time last year my blood work showed my Hba1c level was a whopping 91! So something (or some things!) had to change.
With amazing support from my family and friends I started implementing some major lifestyle changes and cutting out all kinds of sugar and minimising carbs in the extreme. For someone who used to have at least 5 cups of tea with sugar a day plus the odd bar of chocolate at lunch and some kind of treats in the evening, the fact I haven’t had so much as a biscuit since February last year has been a huge change for me.
My goal was to get to 100kg from 115.6 (the photo here was during the video I did and I was around 118 then). Yesterday at Orla Walsh’s clinic I weighed in at 99.6… I’m not often lost for words but I felt a wave of emotion on seeing that double rather than triple digit scale…
In my latest blood test just before Christmas my Hba1c level was 47 which was a huge boost indicator that I was making real progress toward my goal!
The next step now is to start doing some weight training to keep the muscle mass up and keep the body weight percentage down and get to my ideal weight for my height / frame of around 95kg by the summer.
Progress towards Purpose
Over the course of this particular journey, I also launched the Happy People Project as I have come to realise that happiness comes from progress towards purpose – whatever that purpose is for you and it forms a huge part of my mission in life to make the world a better place with happy people in fulfilling, rewarding careers.
The biggest shift in my thinking I made a year ago was to change my self identity and how I internally thought of myself through my internal frame of reference. Instead of thinking I was someone who “couldn’t eat these things anymore” which would have lead to a life of longing and (in my opinion) unhappiness wanting something I can’t have… I switched my thinking to identify as someone who simply “doesn’t eat sweets” and if that was the case for my perspective, then of course the decisions and habits I started to make were oriented around that behaviour, which then led to habits by design.
Easier said than done…
I understand though, that it’s easier said than done – when I gave up smoking 18 years ago and coffee a few years ago (I’m back drinking coffee now but that’s actually by design also!) – it was using the same mental switch. In both cases I had no cravings or mood swings but the day after not having sugar… That was a very different physical response!
The reason for this post really is partly pride in the journey but mostly to encourage anyone reading this that even if the changes seem impossible at the start, small changes make a huge difference if you are able to shift your thinking to lead your behaviour.
The analogy to think of is a normal houseplant in a 1 litre pot will require constant watering through the year. It will take approximately 13litres of water over the course of the year for it to flourish and thrive, but if you try to put all 13 litres in at once and make huge changes from the beginning it will get overwhelmed and die… small consistent steps make the difference!