My A1C Has Dropped to 7.6

Bloodwork conducted in April revealed that my A1C hit 9.6, the highest it has been to my knowledge since my diabetic journey began back in 2021. I was surprised, stunned, and worried with that number when I first saw it. Surprised because I had been feeling the best I had felt in a long time. No longer was I constantly tired or sluggish, so the high number made me concerned.

My endocrinologist was very concerned too. We discussed my daily habits, including my food intake, mental health, and mobility. The A1C measures a person’s average blood sugar levels over a three-month span.

Seeing that number drop by almost two full points this August brought a smile to my face. The work I have put in to improving my metabolic numbers and overall health since April has started to pay dividends. However, my weight is not where I would like it to be (260 pounds).

I Prefer to Hover Around 230 Pounds

I know that 230 pounds for a person who stands at five feet, six inches still is not ideal when it comes to BMI, but it is the first marker I have set for myself since my diabetic journey began three years ago.

When this journey started I was able to drop 35 pounds in the span of eight months by walking constantly, eating right, cutting out sugary snacks and drinks and taking my prescriptions at the same time of day every day.

While it is obvious to me when standing in front of the mirror that I have put the weight back on, I physically do not feel the added weight. My mobility has not changed (aside from a nagging knee issue that has been with me since my early 20s).

The inability to shed the weight at this point in my journey has frustrated me. I walk between 10,000 and 15,000 steps per day at a brisk pace. What makes the inability to lose weight even more frustrating is the fact that my bloodwork results were so strong, including my sugar levels (134 – the lowest my sugar has been since I measured 371 in the hospital in 2021).

I Start on Ozempic Next Week for Weight Loss and A1C

A routine visit to the endocrinologist this week resulted in him prescribing Ozempic for me beginning with next week. He was ecstatic to see the turnaround in my metabolic blood panel, especially the A1C and blood sugar levels. He shared concern with me that I have struggled with losing weight.

We discussed Ozempic and Wagovy, ultimately settling on Ozempic to start. I will begin with low doses to ensure that my body can handle it (monitor for side effects) and then up the dosage over the span of a few weeks.

Diabetic Treatment is a Marathon Not a Sprint

I keep reminding myself that diabetic treatment is a marathon and not a sprint. It is trial and error as no two diabetic people are the same. What works for one does not always work for another. This includes the exercises used to lose weight, diets, prescription medications and injectables.

For all I know, Ozempic will not work for the goals I have set for weight loss. That is why I will not get my hopes up that it will work for me. If I need to pivot to a different injectable, or even add in a different pill to treat the diabetes, so be it. Only time will tell if this is the right path in my diabetic journey.

The post My Diabetic Journey: A Lower A1C But Weight Remains an Issue appeared first on The Jimmy V Archives.

I have always had trouble with food. Not that it is an excuse because every culture has their food-related hobbies, but I am Italian. Our entire culture is centered around food. When families get together for even the smallest event, there is a large spread present.

There’s a running joke in Italian families that you cannot turn down a meal, especially when it is offered by your Nonna or grandmother. It’s almost an insult to say no to a meal or “light” snack when offered one from an Italian. Self control is a necessary skill to have when dealing with diabetes.

My Diabetic Journey: My Struggles With Food

My struggles with food go back to when I was a teenager. Even though I was quite thin as a child (I had to wear slim pants in school), I still ate more than my fair share of food at meals and for snacks once I hit high school. This eventually led to developing poor eating habits that followed me into college and adulthood.

What makes matters worse is that I continued to eat and gain weight knowing that diabetes runs in my family. It truly is challenging when everything that tastes good is bad for you.

I have been battling those same eating habits since being diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic. There have been times where I have conquered those habits for a couple of months in a row, shedding pounds and staying strong. Then, there are times where I fall back into a realm of constant snacking and eating too much at dinner.

The Problem With Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday to truly look at everything you are thankful for in life. It is also spent sitting around a table with quite a bit of food. Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, pies, cookies and cakes. It is hard to stick to a diet when the holidays arrive.

What makes matters worse is that I have never liked Turkey, the main dish for Thanksgiving. Turkey is not my thing. Not the lunchmeat version. Not the fresh turkey breast you can get at a restaurant. And certainly not the turkey you have on Thanksgiving.

Because of my disdain for turkey, my mom would make chicken parm on Thanksgiving. So, despite avoiding turkey, I would still find myself eating a lot of food. Multiple helpings of chicken. Plenty of rolls. Dessert too, if there were options other than pie.

The Gap Between Thanksgiving and Christmas

There is a nice little gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas where I tell myself I will eat better so I can indulge more once Christmas arrives. That never seems to come to fruition for me. Between the Christmas party at the firehouse, the staff Christmas party at St. Charles, and constantly being on the go; eating right takes a back seat.

The gap is not long enough to get back on track with my diet before Christmas arrives. I know this sounds like a lot of excuses. It does to me too. But, maybe if I put them in writing it will force me to make better decisions this year. Hopefully I will eat fewer rolls. Or, I might eat less seafood on Christmas Eve (Feast of the Seven Fishes).

Either way, seeing my mistakes on paper hits harder. I know what I look like in the mirror. It makes me angry. My anger then turns to stress. Then, my stress turns into binge eating. It is a coping mechanism. It is also a vicious cycle that I seem to be unable to break.

My Diabetic Journey: New Year’s Day Brings New Resolutions

Hope springs eternal on New Year’s Day. There is the promise of a better year ahead if you struggled in the previous year. Many people love setting goals for the new year for themselves, resolutions to improve their lives.

But, what does New Year’s Day bring? A celebration with family around the table. A traditional meal for New Year’s Day is ham. Ham is often paired with mashed potatoes, rolls, and other carbs. While ham is a good option for diabetics due to it being a source of lean protein, the side dishes that are served with it defeat the purpose.

Are you worried about the holiday season and your diet? Have you struggled with bad food habits during the holidays? A little willpower goes a long way towards improving those bad habits. Let’s talk about it in the comments section.

Don’t forget to subscribe to The Jimmy V Archives. You will only receive an email when I publish new content. Thanks for reading about my diabetic journey!

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For three weeks I removed foods from my diet in the hopes of finding a solution. After that I thought maybe it was a stomach bug that just lingered. I visited a gastroenterologist. No luck there.

Following multiple blood tests and another test, which I will not name (all of which came back with normal results), my general practitioner decided to stop my daily Metformin for four days. Within two days my stomach issues were resolved.

At the direction of the doctor, I took half of a Metformin pill on a Monday. The entire next day I was laid up in the house with stomach issues again. That determined it. The doctor said to stop taking Metformin for the foreseeable future

Once I went a solid month without Metform (I remained on Jardiance), the doctor decided it was time to move completely away from the medication until September. I was able to keep my blood sugar in check (it actually averaged lower daily numbers off of Metformin compared to when I was taking it).

My general practitioner referred me to an endocrinologist for an initial consultation and in-depth blood panel. The endocrinologist was pleased with the decrease in my A1C, which dropped from 8.4 to 7.8 (still not the lowest I have been while battling diabetes), so it was decided to add in a second medication again.

The endocrinologist prescribed Januvia. I have been on it for a little more than one week now and have yet to have any side effects. That, combined with Jardiance, a better diet, and continued exercise (I make sure to hit 10,000 or more steps per day with a brisk walk), my diabetes continues to be kept in check.

I will continue to see my general practitioner, but will also remain under the care of the endocrinologist as I fight diabetes. As I have mentioned before, this is a long road that does not come with an immediate solution. There have been ups and downs along the way and I expect more to come. However, my outlook, attitude, and drive are all much improved. I know what it takes to keep my blood sugar in check and what needs to be done to reduce my A1C.

Are you battling diabetes? It is not easy to avoid sweets, sugar, and other foods that taste so good but are so bad for you. It is especially difficult being Italian. We grow up in a culture of pasta, meats, carbs and desserts. Do I avoid all of these completely? No. It’s almost impossible. But, I have a stronger willpower now and have learned to say no to second helping of pasta or to avoid sweets altogether.

The good thing about my fight against diabetes is the support I have surrounding me. Nicole understands what I go through daily. She reminds me of how I used to feel and how unhappy I was with how I looked. Nicole and the boys are my driving force in getting this under control.

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The Jimmy V Archives will aim to be a daily blog of just about anything that comes to mind: sports rants, book reviews, stories about Tony and Enzo, life with a basset hound, marriage, my diabetic journey and much more.

The Jimmy V Archives is not my first foray into blogging. You can find my baseball work on At the Dish, my stories about fatherhood at Life With Tony and Enzo, and my news content at Cinn City News.

As someone who writes professionally, it is difficult to find the time to write for pleasure. Keeping up with my personal blogs and websites is never easy. Paying the bills has to come first, so focusing on client work has always gotten in the way, so to speak, of my personal blogging.

With The Jimmy V Archives, I hope to be able to publish at least one story per day to not only keep my writing skills fresh, but also have an archive of stories I can look back on later in life.

As you might have noticed, I moved three stories to this blog from a different publishing platform about my diabetic journey so far:

• My Diabetic Journey Two Years Later
• One Year Later: 30 Pounds Lighter and a Whole Lot Smarter
• A Trip to the ER is Changing My Life

I am hoping to spark a conversation on all of my posts, so be sure to leave a comment, whether you agree with me or not. Positive discourse is the cornerstone to a thriving blog and The Jimmy V Archives will not shy away from such. However, I do ask that you be polite and keep your comments clean or they will be deleted.

So, with that said, it is time to go on a fantastic journey into The Jimmy V Archives as we file this first post under Random Rants.

Be sure to subscribe to The Jimmy V Archives. You can find the subscribe box on the right side of this page. You will only receive an email from the site when I publish new content. Thanks for reading!

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