I read this article today:

http://www.kcbs.com/American-Diabetes-Patients-Expected-to-Double/170845...

"New figures show one in three kids born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime."

This is in the US, but I suspect the trends are similar for Canada, where we're as inactive (or active) and have the same kind of diet.

We stood in two lines in the Diabetes Education classroom. The first line was to wash our hands with hot soapy water. I waited in line with the rest of the 'students' – a gray-haired older man, a middle-aged East Indian woman accompanied by her son, a 20-year-old woman who wanted to remain a flight attendant.

And as each of us went forward to get our fingerstick for the first time, we had the same reaction: we yelped or cried out as the lancet pierced our skin.

After writing my last post on using diabetes as a crutch, I thought I'd made a commitment to change.

Turns out it was a soft commitment.

A soft commitment is one you make of your own accord – like "I'm going to walk 10 miles today." A hard commitment is one you ensure is going to happen by setting an external deadline or force – like "I told the gang at the office I was going to skip Donut Thursday."

But circumstances can change a soft commitment into a hard one. Enter Florida.

A few weeks ago I was invited to a party in Hamilton (I live in Toronto). Because of mechanical issues with my parents’ cars, I would have had to take the bus. It was freezing subzero weather, and the forecast wasn’t pleasant. The plan was to take the bus and subway down to Union Station, then the Greyhound bus to Hamilton, where we’d party until late and return on the last Greyhound to Toronto.

I wanted to go, but I didn’t end up going...because of my diabetes. And now it’s making me question a lot of things I have done or not done ‘because’ of my diabetes.

With the end of January, I’m still contemplating changes to my lifestyle for 2008. I lost over 40 pounds since I started with my trainer in late 2006 – also improving my mobility and helping me do a lot of things I couldn’t beforehand. But I’ve stalled at that 40-lb loss. Hence, the thinking about low-carbing.

From today's Globe and Mail:

"In a study of coffee drinkers with Type 2 diabetes, Duke University
psychologist James Lane found that caffeine boosted blood sugar levels
by an average of 8 per cent."

Why it's significant: The test was done in 'real time' using sensors embedded in the patients' stomachs.

Why you may want to take it with a grain of salt: The study was only made up of 10 people.