Mastering Diabetes: What I have learned - Part 1

As I read Mastering Diabetes (MD) by Cyrus Khambatta and Robby Barbaro and watching their Mastering Diabetes channel on YouTube I've been learning more and more about diabetes. I think the first thing I learned is that there isn't just type 1 or type 2. There is Pre-Diabetes, Type 1, Type 1.5, Type 2 and Gestational diabetes. Each of these require different approaches to the treatment plan.

Mastering Diabetes

On November 1st I was diagnosed with Diabetes. Which is disappointing in general but particularly for me as back in 2014 I went full on whole food plant based largely because I was obese and pre-diabetic. I was able to drop my weight from 192 to 137 at my lightest but generally around 145 - 150. All my biometrics came back to what is considered normal parameters - Total Cholesterol under 0, LDL under 100, cholesterol ratio around 4.1. Glucose under 100 or a touch over upon occasion.

Well fast forward in time and injuries, changes at work(generally for the positive but disruptive to my schedule), and then the pandemic knocked me out of my patterns. Particularly with the pandemic I became more sedentary and I "pampered" myself with vegan food. I want to emphasize I did not go back to eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) but just loosed up to eat vegan. I also ate more and some of those bad lifestyle patterns came back to roost - sitting in front of the boob tube after work for a couple of hours.

Free Yoga as in Free Speech not as in Free Beer

My friend and fellow yogi, Evan, posted on the Cultivate Yoga Instagram account the following about the offerings we have at the Cultivate Yoga Space, our yoga studio:

At Cultivate, FREE YOGA does not only apply in the financial realm and how we have chosen to share our offerings to the community within a gift-based model. FREE YOGA also means that the yoga we offer is free from the constraints of western practices and eastern philosophies. FREE YOGA means we recognize that a true yoga practice is eternally evolving, perpetually in motion and is unique to each and every one of our students. FREE YOGA means that we recognize every student who chooses to practice with us is on their own journey and it is our most sacred duty to create space that will allow for that journey to flow freely with space for infinite exploration. FREE YOGA means that every one of our teachers holds the freedom to completely be themselves and show up how they need to on any given day for themselves and our students. FREE YOGA means that each class we offer is unique, each student we serve is unique and each teacher who serves with us is unique - and when all of these elements align in their authenticity, an infinite FREEDOM occurs. This is FREE YOGA. Click on the link in our bio to learn more about our gift-based model.

Japan Trip 2021 - Part III | 2021年日本旅 ー その3: Yasukuni Shrine Visit 靖国神社

While on our visit to Japan we visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. In all the years I lived in Tokyo and Japan (18 all told) I never visted Yasukuni. Yasukuni is the controversial shrine dedicated to the soldiers of Japan and therefore associated with the fascist nationalists that want to restore the military imperial structure of Japan from WWII.

Every year there are protests surrounding the annual visit by the Prime Minister of Japan to the shrine which large parts of the nation and Japan's neighbors have problems with - particularly those that were treated atrociously by the Japanese in WWII. South Korea is a perfect example of one such country.

Seeding Change - Vote with your wallet to save the Amazon rain forest

Last night, Elly, Arisa and I wanted Seeding Change documentary about the depletion and destruction of the Amazon and how several corporations are trying to leverage their businesses to reverse that process.

Japan Trip 2021 - Part II | 2021年日本旅 ー その２

This is my series of blog posts on Arisa and my trip to Japan in spring of 2021. The first one is here. We are here for two reasons, 1) Arisa's father's funeral and 2) to start the discussions over the will and related inheritance that stem from his death. However, since that is personal I won't be discussing that I'll just be talking about the other aspects of the trip.

In the first post I talked about the experience of arriving at Narita Airport. Once you have cleared all of that, all inbound travelers need to quarantine for 14 days. In two days I'll be half way through. At that point I'll be able to go anywhere in Japan that our little hearts desire. Right now we're basically limiting ourselves to the local area and really only for exercise or grocery shopping.

Japan Trip 2021 - Part 1 | 2021年日本旅 − その１

So as I write this blog, I am in Tokyo, Japan. My daughter's place near the Yoyogi-Uehara station. Sadly we are here for my father-in-law's funeral. We are only in our third day and we'll be here for close to a total of 30 days. For me it has been 5 or 6 years since I've been here, less for Arisa as she and Ken went two years ago. The interesting thing about this trip is that it is in the middle of the covid pandemic. So it has been quite the experience.

This post will relate some of our experience for others that are perhaps coming to Japan.