A Message From Phil

Good Days Bad Days

The journey has been long. Almost 15 years long, with many many failures along the way. The one thing I have learned that I really believe, is that a true and deep love, can by itself carry you forward where you need to go. The path isn’t always a clear one, but when you lead with your love-foot, it’s much more difficult to misstep. I have been very lucky to have someone in my life who I love deeply, and who loves me in equal measure. We really are a family, Sylvie and I.

Exercise for Diabetes

Diabetes recovery and exercise go hand in hand, although I stumble on this piece all the time. I sometimes awaken with high numbers after a night of binge-peanut-butter-eating (one of my two food-weaknesses, the other being 3-year aged gouda). I want to exercise, I need to exercise, and I sometimes do exercise, but I need to do more. Especially when I get a nasty version of the dawn-effect (still pretty often).

Keto

It may come as a shock, but much of the keto diet has been helpful for me. Since I’m not overweight anymore, I don’t have to think about losing fat so much as I have to think about the kind of food my body wants and needs from the carbohydrate point of view. Keto fits many of these spaces because it’s a low carb diet.

Failing

I’m a chess teacher in my every day life, and this part about failing could not be more important. Embracing failure isn’t easy. At the chess tables, the kids I teach learn quickly the value of winning. Yay dopamine!! But it’s much harder to see the long term investment that losing actually is. It seems to have an adverse dopamine, but positive serotonin effect. Meaning simply the long term goal of improving through playing against better players, is present in your slow-moving serotonin uptake, which you can measure through tournament play. But the fast-acting hedonistic dopamine doesn’t get released in these moments of losing, and that can act as a disincentive.

In the end, failing is how we end up learning. When I eat foods that I thought were good for me but turned out to be bad, I see it in the constant glucose monitor that I wear. The short term fail I see in the numbers is a little sad. But I use that information to succeed later on, by avoiding foods I thought would be okay for me, like brown rice and whole grain breads.

Succeeding

Success is a process, not an event. Low carb eating (not dieting) that didn’t make me feel like I was living a restricted existence was the key for me. Sylvie’s truly amazing cooking, is my normal. Not temporarily, but all the time. It can be yours too. Things that have become staples for me like Cauliflower Rice, Zucchini Noodles, and most important of all for me, Chia Seed Pudding, are things that are easy to make, not at all expensive (cost of an ear of cauliflower, or a bit of zucchini?), and honestly, super-delicious.

Final Word

Bring your experiences, and I’ll bring mine. Let’s talk on the chat forums and let’s take this walk together. It’s hard alone. Much easier with friends who understand because they’ve been there, and are there.