Monday Moanin'

So far, it's been pretty good for Monday.

The numbers for this fine morning in Houston, TX:

• Fasting Blood Sugar:  96 mg/dl.  Good, particularly after a weekend. I always slide on weekends.  No schedule is what it really is. I work best with a routine.  Weekends I just mostly slough off.
• Weight:  191 lbs.  Still not good. 
• Exercise:  45 minutes in the warm, humid morning air.   Mild winter so far and I am not complaining
• Mood:  8.0.  Good for Monday.

 The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Tofu/kale quiche and fruit, a banana, grapes and a Texas Rio Star ruby red grapefruit. 
• Lunch:  A ham sandwich and an apple, a Michigan gala apple no less. 
• Dinner:  Taco salad
• Some carrot slices, almonds and a piece of birthday cake.  Hey, it was a special occasion at work. 

A Tale of Two Chefs.

Last week Paula Deen made it official in a big event worthy of any celebrity with lucrative endorsement deal that she, too, is a type 2 diabetic.  I had read a while ago a rumor she was diagnosed with it, but kept quiet about it. Admitting to it could have ruined her whole lucrative act, at least at first. Now she's announced it to world.

I admit I like watching Paula Deen.  She's entertaining as heck.  All that butter and sugar and big portions of meaty, gooey, cheesy foods that made Southern cuisine famous. It just caught up with her.

Welcome to the club, Paula. It's happens to the best of us, trust me.  It can be a good thing.  It was for me.

I remember she made this hamburger she calls a Bo Burger:  Fatty ground beef, a grilled onion slice, cheese, a fried egg on a soft white bun. The proverbial heart attack on a plate.

Seriously, if I am every diagnosed with a terminal disease, I am eating a couple of these every day, and wash each one down with a chocolate malted milk shake.  And  for good measure I am going to add bacon to the burgers just for the heck of it.
 
As with any good celebrity,  she turned her problem into a big endorsement deal.  Say what you want to about her, she is a very sharp business woman.  She knows the Paula Deen brand.

She is promoting the use of the diabetes drug Victoza to control type 2 diabetes along with a lighter menu and exercise. For herself I think she is mostly going to depend on the drug.  She plans to keep eating and doing the things that got her into trouble in the first place, just doing less of it.

Whatever works, I say, assuming it does work.  I have my doubts.

Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge her a bit of it. I'm just a bit envious, that's all.  I would love a deal like hers.  I have shied away from diabetes medications, diet and exercise being my preferred treatment.  Over time, diabetes medications seem to lead to serious problems.  Advantia, anyone?  But, hey, for the right money, I can change my mind.

Her tale reminded me of this guy, Aaron Adams.  He was a very overweight chef in New York specializing in the upscale version of what Paula Dean is doing.  One day decided he had to change his life around and he did.  He left New York for Portland, Or., became vegan chef, opened a vegan restaurant, became a serious cyclocross racer and lost 130 lbs.

If he wasn't a type 2 diabetic, he was going to become one. He did the old fashioned way with diet and exercise, no drugs and no endorsement deal.  He does sponsor a cyclocross race team and he trains for it by riding 200 miles a week.

I'm more than a bit envious of him.  I wish I could handle a 200 miles a week and he has a cool Hufnagel bike to boot.