Summary, perhaps not Final, Post

Nothing since I began this blog has swayed my philosophies, nor have I changed except for two things: First, it is easier to do what I do; it always gets easier. At the same time, and apparently it is natural and expected, I am much less anxious to be perfect in my practice. Second, I started out bent on getting off injected insulin dependence, now it is hardly important to me. It's just not a big deal any more. Even tho I still believe it possible. Nothing new here, I hope, but to stress some important points: Eating well has always been important to me and remains so. I seem to be much more sensitive to the difference in feeling good between eating empty calories (commercially processed junk that lots of folks consider wholesome), and real food. I would not trade the experience and spiritual growth I have gained through more than a decade of diabetic-related struggles. No one ever wants to trade spiritual growth. In the beginning, I thought I was permanently healed overnight a couple of times, and such was my aspiration. Now, I am profoundly grateful it didn't happen that way. I still say it's silly to link diabetes and diabetes risk to obesity as an effect of a cause. I still say obesity and diabetes can both be linked as two parallel effects of a common cause: eating American. But a bigger point to be made is, WEANING YOURSELF OFF OF INSULIN OR GLUCOFAGE IS NOT MAINLY ABOUT BLOOD SUGAR LEVEL CONTROL. If you are able to maintain decent blood sugars by a diet and exercise, you don't yet have it covered. While you may be saving your feet, eyes, vessels, nerves and kidneys from the damage excess sugar in the blood can cause, you may yet be starving - getting by on less nutrition than nature intended. Insulin and cell response to it are necessary for the cells to absorb ALL things, not just sugar. Insulin is necessary for you to get your protein, calcium, vitamins and minerals.....and oh yeah, 'control your sugar.' Maybe if you can get healthy enough, your ability to absorb into your cells nutrients can become adequate without the aid of injected insulin or orals. The primary issue with diabetes of either type is getting all nutrients into the cells, not just sugar. A secondary concern is that if sugar isn’t entered into the cells, it will do damage while left in the blood, such as to blood vessels, kidneys, eyes and the nerves. If you can tell you are strong and not wasting away or anemic, but building up, then weaning off may be ok. If you are merely comfortably maintaining normal sugar levels by eating adequately and perhaps exercising a lot, you are in danger of dying a slow death. You will lose teeth and stuff like that. You will weaken in the same manner as someone living on Dorito’s and diet Coke. But the key indicator of whether you are getting adequate nutrient absorption into your cells is whether you can eat a meal to satisfy your hunger and fatigue, and be satisfied to the point that nothing could interest you in taking another bite for the time being. If you do not experience this “I’m full” feeling, you are starving to some degree, and you need medication. Lastly, a reminder that the appetite is key. If cared for and not messed up by a lot of flashy flavors and decadent (yes, this is still a word with a negative connotation) indulgences, it will not only tell you when to stop eating but also what to eat right now or today, and what not to eat. I personally recommend you ignore all diets that begin with "The ______" and end with "diet." Such as the Atkins diet, which was pure insanity. You don't need diets, you need sensibility and a healthy appetite - which again, doesn't mean you eat a lot, but means you can tell how much and what to eat. You can hear something, in other words, when you 'listen to your body.'