I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes on September 29, 2022.
While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. My wife is Type 2, as are several friends of ours. The “other Type” of diabetes was what caused the death of my Best Man a year after my wife and I got married. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was a kid. It was called Juvenile Diabetes then. Today it’s Type 1. Since then, I haven’t WANTED to talk about diabetes at all. But…for my own education and maybe helping someone else, and not one to shut up for any known reason, I’m reopening my blog rather than starting a new one. I MAY take a pause and write about Breast Cancer or Alzheimer’s as medical headlines dictate; but this time I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome to join me!
FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL POSTS, I’M GOING TO DRAW FROM THIS GUIDE:
https://diabetes.org/health-wellness/weight-management
So, the thing here is HOW DO I LOSE WEIGHT while being Type 2?
PART of the problem, is that I have NEVER been able to lose weight on purpose. I’m pretty sure there’s this psychological trigger that the moment I tell myself I’m not going to overeat, going to eat the “right things”, or that I HAVE to lose weight, the “C’mon! I DARE YOU TO MAKE ME!!!!” reflex kicks in.
What does the RESEARCH say about losing weight when you’re Type 2? I’m going to start at the beginning – NOT FOR YOU, but for me. (You can ride along if you’d like to!)
Get back to basics. The key to weight loss for most people is simply finding the right combination of exercise, healthy foods and portion control. No fad diet required.
While I’m not GREAT yet, I have made a solid start (for the past 3 years) with increasing my exercise. I LOVE biking. That wasn’t hard to start doing more often! However, I learned to LOATHE putting my bike on a stand in the basement or in the “spare room” and pedaling while GOING NOWHERE! I even tried reading while biking, and while I did that for a while, ultimately, I came to hate that as well. So, I’ll bike during the season.
But we live in Minnesota. Weather is entirely…unique. For example, it started snowing a few hours ago. We’ve got about four or five inches. It will CONTINUE all night. It will also continue all day tomorrow. AND, the wind will begin to whip it around at blizzard speeds. Virtually EVERYTHING will be shut down tomorrow until it blows itself out and we dig our various selves out, then continue to snow sporadically until next Friday, encouraging further forays with the shovel and snowblower.
At that point, the daytime temperature will be 60 degrees F.
At that point, I will have walked several MILES while blowing snow (and hauling, digging, throwing, and otherwise abusing snow whilst muttering dark threats to move to Florida or Hawaii. But walking for “exercise”? I hated that. But I created a routine for myself: I walk down the steps with my “step tracker” turned on, walk toward Palmer Lake Park Reserve (a TEENY urban slice of near-inner-city, that was entirely undevelopable because it’s a frequently overflowing SWAMP (also politely called a “marshland” at the end of the street), then along a sidewalk, slightly uphill to the street separating the neighborhood from a cemetery.
I turn around, follow the reverse path home, and when I arrive on my doorstep, I have walked 1.06 mile. On purpose and aiming for every other day when it’s WINTER out – and it’s enough that I willingly go out when it’s sub-zero, and without a care when it’s merely below freezing.
So, I’m exercising. A good friend of mine has suggested methods of dealing with sore hips (I AM almost 69!) that I’ve started doing…
Anyway, that’s it for now! Later.
Source: https://diabetes.org/health-wellness/weight-management
Image: https://diabetes.org/sites/default/files/styles/card_container_3_column_392w_2x/public/2023-09/exercise-type-1-card.jpg.webp?itok=6Autlf4i
For the first time since I started this blog eleven years ago, it’s going to be about me. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes two weeks ago. While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. My wife is Type 2, as are several friends of ours. The “other Type” of diabetes was what caused the death of my Best Man a year after my wife and I got married. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was a kid. It was called Juvenile Diabetes then. Today it’s Type 1. Since then, I haven’t WANTED to talk about diabetes at all. But…for my own education and maybe helping someone else, and not one to shut up for any known reason, I’m reopening my blog rather than starting a new one. I MAY take a pause and write about Breast Cancer or Alzheimer’s as medical headlines dictate; but this time I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome to join me!
[There’s no evidence for this (yet?), but I have ZERO doubt that the makers of O, M, and all the others are preparing a vigorous smear campaign for studies like these.]
I’m writing to say that my own experience of reducing my Ozempic injections to once every other Sunday (my day for injections) supports the study linked below.
From the study, “In a small new study, most people who switched from weekly to every-other-week GLP-1 dosing maintained their weight loss and metabolic health improvements. [A fraction of the people regained weight and needed to return to weekly injections — suggesting close monitoring is important when reducing dose frequency.] While I have NOT regained weight and have NOT returned to a weekly dose. People who want to reduce their dose or space out GLP-1 injections should always consult their provider first.”
I talked with my doctor before getting off Ozempic on January 24, 2026, he supported my move, and with his concurrence, I stopped taking it every week.
I could share the actual data with you, but what you would see is NOT a miraculous return to the response of a person who is NOT insulin resistant – but you WOULD see someone who works to exercise regularly, watches both WHAT he eats and HOW MUCH he eats.
What you will NOT see is a man who has become acetic – only eating salads, twigs, single bites of fat-free yogurt (I have a cup of fat-free or low-fat yogurt a week and a cup of either fat-free or low-fat cottage cheese a week. These dairy products are mixed with (mostly) whatever fresh fruit is available at the grocery store (like raspberries, blackberries, apples, pears, and strawberries) mixed with a cup of either cottage cheese OR yogurt, and sweetened with Splenda – NOT to “ward off the effects of Ozempic”, but because I need to eat that amount of calcium twice a week so I don’t get cramps in my calves!
I confess that I DO have the occasional Dairy Queen PB Parfait or some scoops of ice cream during the week. I also walk a straight mile (ie – I have a route that I’ve clocked and know exactly how long and how far I go when I walk from our house to a nearby cemetery.); then add in whatever else my cell phone’s step counter has recorded. I’ll confess also that I am NOT religious about how much I walk…
My OTHER faith, “Minnesota Winter Weather Variation” has grounded me more than once. OTOH, I walked once day when the air temperature was -7F and the windchill gave the air a “feels like/ability to freeze skin” temperature of -36F (of course, that’s more to prove that I am still, indeed a Minnesotan)! I also now park as far out as I can in the grocery store or Target or church parking lot and walk into the building – no matter the temperature.
So…I did in fact reduce my use of Ozempic from weekly to bi-weekly. My starting physiological data are as follows:
2/24/2023 BP:155/180 Weight: 253.8 Blood Glucose: 189
9/7/2025 STARTED OZEMPIC BP:122/75 Weight: 241.2 Blood Glucose: 171
2/25/2026 BP: 120/75 Weight: 230.6 Blood Glucose: 145
Data indicates that when I DON’T walk, my BP and Glucose are higher. Weight can’t be measured as a “daily thing”, rather as a range. For example when I was originally diagnosed with Type2, I weighed 260.8 in April of 2023. Exercise and watching what I ate DID have an effect on my health. Ozempic initially help me break a barrier.
Because I’ve lately been drifting into the high 220’s with my Winter regimen, I’m going to work to push it lower when I take to my bike this Summer. We originally bought our house because it was adjacent to a park that is connected to biking/walking trails stretching from northern Minnesota, west to the Great Plains (North and South Dakota), south to Rochester and some go East into Wisconsin. I can literally ride the entire state and slices of three others and with the right permits, north into Canada!
I LOVE biking, and it’s stayed with me since I was a teenager and was biking to get away from my “sports-obsessed-family” – of course three activities I loved (biking, swimming, and camping) weren’t “sports-enough” for them…and, “Yes, you DO sense a bit of bitterness in my tone!” At any rate, I’m looking forward to losing a few more pounds (my recent A1c dropped to 6.2 about a month ago!), and seeing my daily blood sugars more often in the 140s rather than the 150s.
I’ll keep you posted! Have a great week!
Source: https://www.everydayhealth.com/weight-management/can-taking-glp-1-drug-every-other-week-help-you-keep-weight-off/ ; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11885104/ Image: https://aeroflowdiabetes.com/media/wysiwyg/diabetes-guide-booklet-aeroflow-diabetes.jpg
From the first moment I discovered I had been diagnosed with DIABETES, I joined a HUGE “club” that has been rapidly expanding since it stopped being a death sentence in the early 20th Century. Currently, there are about HALF A BILLION PEOPLE who have Type 2 Diabetes. For the past 3500 years – dating back to Ancient Egypt – people have suffered from diabetes. Well, I’m one of them now… Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…Every month, I’ll be highlighting Diabetes research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: Diabetes Technology: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2026.
Being a Type 2 diabetic sometimes bugs me.
I wonder how I could have screwed up so much in my life that I wrecked my body so badly, it broke! Turns out, I’m not the only one who carried the stigma of being diabetic: “Diabetic Stigma is defined as negative attitudes, judgment, discrimination, or prejudice against someone because they have diabetes. It comes from the false idea that people with diabetes made unhealthy food and lifestyle choices, which resulted in their diagnosis. These false beliefs don't consider key factors that can cause diabetes, such as family medical history. They also don't factor in social determinants of health, which are the conditions where people grow, work, live and age. Diabetes stigma can particularly affect people with overweight or obesity. More than half of people with diabetes report that they have experienced stigma. Diabetes stigma can exist anywhere: in the family, school, workplace, and even in health care settings. Diabetes stigma can be experienced internally or externally. Internal stigma is a belief that a person with diabetes has about themselves. It can include feelings of self-blame, shame, and guilt. External stigma is blame and judgment that comes from other people and society. It can include awkward or mean looks, rejection, exclusion, and difficulty maintaining relationships and friendships.”
The word “stigma” derives from the Latin word, “stigmata”. A stigmata was literally religiously produced spots on the skin. At one time, claims were made bearing the stigma was a holy sign of God.
That’s not what it means any more: stigma: “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.”
While I learned as a kid, I can’t control what people THINK about me, I CAN control what I think about myself.
“Technology is rapidly changing, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to technology use in people with diabetes. Insurance coverage can lag behind device availability, people’s interest in devices and willingness for adoption can vary, and health care teams may have challenges in keeping up with newly released technology. An American Diabetes Association resource, which can be accessed at Link to Diabetes Technology Guidediabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-care/diabetes-technology-guide, can help health care professionals and people with diabetes make decisions on the initial choice of device(s). Other choices including device manufacturers, can help people troubleshoot when difficulties arise.”
When I first read this last year, I pretty much skipped over it because it seemed OBVIOUS that these would all be things providers should be doing to help manage Type 2 diabetes. I had also started thinking about the stigma I carried. Like it says above, I was working with a load of self-imposed self-dislike; and even though I was a science teacher, I still couldn’t get around what I thought of myself!
So, what do I do?
I took one step two weeks ago: I talked to my doctor about keeping up on Ozempic; by changing the frequency to every TWO weeks. I’ll be taking my shot tomorrow, and have discovered that walking is going to be IMPORTANT, MAYBE EVEN VITAL, to keeping my blood sugars down.
It sure has altered what I think of myself. I don’t feel so helpless any more…
I’ll keep you posted!
Links: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/articles/diabetes-stigma.html ; https://www.everydayhealth.com/weight-management/can-taking-glp-1-drug-every-other-week-help-you-keep-weight-off/#:~:text=More%20Than%203%20Out%20of,same%20after%20the%20reduced%20dosing.
For the first time since I started this blog eleven years ago, it’s going to be about me. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes two weeks ago. While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. My wife is Type 2, as are several friends of ours. The “other Type” of diabetes was what caused the death of my Best Man a year after my wife and I got married. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was a kid. It was called Juvenile Diabetes then. Today it’s Type 1. Since then, I haven’t WANTED to talk about diabetes at all. But…for my own education and maybe helping someone else, and not one to shut up for any known reason, I’m reopening my blog rather than starting a new one. I MAY take a pause and write about Breast Cancer or Alzheimer’s as medical headlines dictate; but this time I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome to join me!
Yep. Oh, BTW – I’m not taking Ozempic so I can keep eating myself into a coma instead of learning how to exercise and eat healthier stuff in moderation! I’m taking it to help lower both my daily blood sugars and my A1c: my weight HAS dropped 20 pounds since I started taking Ozempic BUT, the biggest change has been my A1c from 8.0 in April of 2025 to 6.8 in October 2025! MAJOR CHANGE! and average blood sugars dropping from 238 in April 2025 to an average of 138 this week! Again, a MAJOR CHANGE and a healthier person! I’d love to stay on Ozempic forever. The injections – which was admittedly my biggest concern before starting it (including a test run using Rybelsus, which is an oral form of Semaglutide (the active ingredient of Ozempic injected) – but the cost was horrendous AND THE PILLS WERE SO BITTER (bitter like, oh, say, I just about barfed every time I took one. I had to play around with placing the monstrosity carefully on the back of my tongue with a glass of water at hand to wash it down INSTANTLY.
I finally decided that was enough of that. I would make a plan to go OFF Ozempic. Stop using it. NOT cold turkey...but gradually with my doctor’s help.
That’s exactly what it sounds like. I’m going to quit Ozempic. But WHY??? You might ask. The problem is THE COST. Currently, even WITH insurance, it will cost me between $732 - $800 for a three month supply of Ozempic semaglutide. As there are 12 months a year, that means I’ll be shelling out…for the rest of my life…between $2928 to $3200 each year.
But is it worth it?
Well…I haven’t just been laying around, stuffing my face, and shoot my belly full of Ozempic. It’s full-on Winter here in Minnesota, so it’s just a given that I can’t get out and walk on some days. I TRIED setting my bike up on a stand and pedaling during the Winter, but that was just plain BORING, even when I read. It’s like…I ride my bike to get somewhere. Even if it’s just a few miles around the same lake as I usually ride ride around – but here, the weather can change in a matter of days. Winter officially begins on December twenty-something every year. BUT – some First Days of Winter are 60 degree. Others are 60 inches of snow, windy, and a wind-chill of ten-below-ZERO (which, I might remind you is 32 degrees BELOW FREEZING – even Minnesotans regard wind-chills (also know stupidly as “feels like”) that cold as DANGEROUS.
At any rate, I found I LOATHED pedaling indoors for 30-60 minutes incredibly BORING. So – I walk during the winter and bike as soon as the ice is off the streets and sidewalks. Then I bike between 5 and 20 miles a week. THAT’S when I feel best. BUT…I have to come up with a routine for something to DO on days it’s snowing, sleeting, raining, tornado-ing, or whatever.
Eating? Dang…my biggest weakness. I know what I SHOULD be eating (“You mean a peanut buster parfait isn’t the same as drinking a glass of milk, eating a handful of peanuts, and eating a few dark chocolate chips???” or “You mean an Arby’s Double Beef Burger isn’t the same as eating lean been slices with carrots and spinach dip? It’s WORSE?”
So, here I am. We’ll see why my doctor says soon enough and I’ll keep you in the loop about what is going on!
Source: https://www.bursor.com/what-happens-when-you-stop-taking-ozempic/ ; https://www.goldfieldsfamilymedical.com.au/coming-off-ozempic/ ; https://www.aarp.org/medicare/faq/does-medicare-cover-ozempic-weight-loss-drugs/#:~:text=But%20unless%20you're%20overweight,unless%20the%20program%20is%20extended.
