Getting back on track

Thanks to having a solid month off any decent exercise along with a diet similar to that of Morgan Spurlock in 'Supersize Me', I have needless to say been having some issues getting my blood sugars back into reasonable control. We all need a break from the daily gauntlet that is diabetes and I for one am very much in favour of cutting yourself some slack and remembering just how much living with a chronic illness deserves some well deserved rest now and then. However, a 'break' as far as I'm concerned is a day here or weekend there. A month, is not.

Having a month off changes everything. And boy do I know it! Yesterday I decided to bite the exercise bullet and head back to Body Combat. Whatever you are thinking about the name and how intense it sounds trust me, it's worse! Imagine standing in a room with 50 other people while high octane music blares out and an instructor who apparently has no limit to their boundless energy shouts through a microphone, while you attempt to mimic them (and fail drastically) while doing moves from mai Thai, karate, Thai chi, kickboxing and if you do it like me, 90's rave. Now also imagine that this exercise propels your fitness, energy levels, self-confidence, endorphine-crazed laughter and general well-being faster forward than anything else you've tried.

As a diabetic one of the challenges we face is keeping all those trillions of nerve endings alive and (literally) kicking. One of the ways to do this, is exercise. It gives you much better control long term, increases sensitivity to insulin meaning much less is needed, it helps manage weight, it encourages the heart and blood to get pumping and makes you feel wonderful.

Yesterday however, I did not feel wonderful. In fact I felt a little as though (despite it being non-contact) I'd been karate slapped in the face by the entire Olympic martial arts team. I was puffing like a haggard old smoker, sweating like I was smuggling drugs into Thailand and being taken for my frisking and was about as red as Bill Clinton when Miss L went public.

I'm sure my 6 inch meatball sub three hours before with extra south-west sauce (omnomnom) didn't help, but needless to say I learnt my lesson!

My body needs a rest. Not from diabetes, from me and my month off! A day here or there is OK; a month is not.

So today was soya yoghurt with nuts for breakfast and home made veggie soup for lunch. I've had a litre of water already and planning on making a habit of it.

Wagon, you and I must get re-acquainted. STAT!