No more Obese Class III, but troubling blood sugars...

First, for the win.  Today when I weighed myself and the scale showed 270.2, which gives me a BMI of 39.9.  This is significant because it moves me from Obese Class III to merely Obese Class II (at least according to the Government of Canada).  In other words, I have gone from an "extremely high" risk of developing health problems, to a "very high" risk of developing health problems.  I don't think anyone has ever been so happy to have a "very high" risk of developing health problems!

This is a wonderful milestone, especially considering that when I started working out, my BMI was a whopping 49.3.  And it only took 8 months of working out 5-7 times per week!  Ha!  It has taken 8 months of diligent effort, but that effort is clearly paying dividends, so there.

I am giddy with excitement.  Hitting 270 pounds is my next weight loss target, and I am within spitting distance of hitting it.  This weigh-in does not officially count, of course, because I only log my Friday weights, but I hope to keep the numbers in this 270 pound range and not lose too much ground by the end of the week.

I am particularly happy because this result came after Thanksgiving meal at my parents' place.  I was diligent about planning ahead and sticking to my food plan, logging everything.  I still had cake (2 birthday cakes) and pie (pumpkin, natch), as well as stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and turkey, but I had much smaller portions than I ever have had in previous years.  And no seconds for me.  For the first time that I can remember, I was the adult with the least food on my plate. 

On the good side, I was not depriving myself, because I got to eat everything that was served.  On the down side, I did feel like I had to exert iron-willed self-discipline, because it turns out that what I was used to eating at Thanksgiving dinner was nowhere near a portion.  More like 3 or 4 portions.  Of everything.  Plus seconds.  Changing that pattern is still work for me, but it appears that I was successful this year, at least.  Yay for that.

Photo courtesy Graham Colm, licensed CC-BY-SA

On the troubling side, my fasting blood sugar numbers have been running higher this past week than they were last month, to the point where this morning's test had a result of 6.7 mmol/L (where normal is 5.5 and diabetic is 7.0).  (With the exception of Thanksgiving), I am not doing anything from a consumption point of view that is different than before, so I am at a loss to explain why the numbers have been creeping up last week.

I am particularly concerned because the risk of pre-diabetes progressing to full-blown diabetes is supposed to be significantly reduced if you lose 15% of your body weight, which for me is right around 270 pounds, i.e., where I am today. 

I think that today's higher blood sugar readings can perhaps be explained by the astonishing number of carbs consumed yesterday, what with the 2 cakes, 1 pie, and all the other high carb and high sugar foods I was consuming yesterday.  Looking back at my food diary for yesterday I can see that my carbs were 225g, which is about 25g - 40g higher than usual, so today's reading is likely predictable. 

But the Nerd and I have been eating healthy foods this month, as we have been doing for months, and I am not indulging in cakes and pies on a daily basis. 

I am probably just being alarmist, and this is a minor uptick in an overall downward trend line.  With my food consumption and exercise habits, the weight is continuing to come off pretty consistently, and over time, the risk for diabetes will similarly decline.  But it's still something that I will keep watching, because knowledge is power, and you can't address a problem of which you are unaware.