GUEST BLOGGER: Eric Vitols on having T1D and being a competitive Ski-Racer

A good friend of mine and fellow Type 1 Diabetic shares his insights and personal story of being a competitive ski racer and having  Type 1 diabetes.  Here is his piece. 

I am 20 years old, studying Finance and Management at Bishop’s University and have had TD1 for 7 years.  I had ski raced for over 10 years and I was diagnosed just before a weekend when I had a race I was to compete in, so I was pretty bummed out at first.  The first thing the doctor said to me was TD1 is not your fault.  I quickly accepted the fact that I had TD1 and told the doctor, “now what? I have a race on the weekend and I am not going to miss it because of Diabetes.”  I had 3 days to learn as much as I can from the doctors about carb counting, injections, insulin doses and checking blood sugar levels.   It took a few weeks to start to get the hang of carb counting and dealing with TD1 in general, but with the help from my parents, friends and doctors, managing TD1 became second nature.  I took this as an opportunity to change my life for the better. My goal was to control diabetes and not let it control me.

My passion for skiing really drove me to learn as much as I can about TD1 and its affects on you while you are active since I was diagnosed during the ski season.  I found that when I skied, I made sure to have a large breakfast each morning to help keep my sugars slightly higher during the day.  Most of the time my sugars remained fairly consistent during skiing, but about 3-6 hours after I finished skiing, I noticed that my blood sugars were dropping.  To adjust for that, the doctor recommended that I had to have a snack after I ski.

These days I am on a pump and I find it much more effective to control TD1 with a more active lifestyle and being at University. I am able to reduce my basal rates so I receive less insulin while I am training and I keep them reduced for about 6 hours after I train.  By reducing basal rates and having healthy snacks, I have managed to maintain blood sugar levels between 6-12 when I am training.  There are the occasional highs and lows, which can happen.  Sometimes after seeing a pattern of highs or lows, if I was unsure on how much of an adjustment I needed to make to my carb ratios or basal rates, I called my doctor to get his input, which helped me understand more about TD1 and how to better manage it on my own.

When it comes to diet and nutrition for me, I found that when eating healthier it is much easier to control TD1. The effects of eating healthier and staying active with TD1 allowed me to reduce the amount of insulin I use for meals and throughout the day, which has helped me achieve a target A1C of 7.0.  When it comes to supplementation for training, I find that Biotsteel is one of the best products to use given that it is diabetic friendly and it contains all natural ingredients to properly fuel you.

Be the Cure you want to see

Lately, I have been thinking  a lot about ways to fix some of the small annoyances of diabetes and I think I have come up with something we can all invest in.

I know there is a lot of cool hardware (meters, pumps etc.) and there are some cool apps and all that is great, but still for some reason diabetes continues to be quite the handful.  There is no app that will eliminate a stigma of being “different”, there is no app that will tell me what to do when I am somehow embarrassed, there is no amount of hardware to fix and cure the pains of diabetes.

This doesn’t mean that I have given up on the fact that technology can make a difference and I am positive that there will continue to be breakthroughs in the tech and health care sector that will make handling type 1 diabetes easier. I defiantly would love to create some sort of service/product/app that does make handling diabetes related issues simpler, whether this be through connecting a community on a deeper level or something else – I will do something.

But until we make these breakthroughs a reality, there is one thing you can always count on to make handling diabetes a little easier, and that is yourself and your attitude. 

If you can change the way you think about certain situations, you can change the outcomes. If you can take diabetes in steps and celebrate the small victories- from having good numbers to eating right- you will feel good and be happier – and who doesn’t want to be happy?

Lately, I have  been so happy and this is largely because I take handling diabetes in small steps. I feel good when my numbers are right before a workout or my carb count was accurate. Why don’t we feel more happy when we get something right, even if it is small, but are so quick to feel bad when we are wrong about something?

Don’t overlook the small winnings in life/diabetes you create. The more you start appreciating them, the more they will start popping up.

What is Your “Diabetic Character?”: dealing with the “bads” of diabetes

What do you do when the storm hits?

There are many ups and downs living with diabetes.

Some days will be great- your sugar levels will not fluctuate a lot, your numbers will be steady and everything will be going smoothly.

If only it could be like this all the time…

Other days will be completely different. Your blood sugar will rise for no obvious reason, insulin dose that you normally take with a certain meal won’t be enough or will be too much, sending you into a high or a low. I am not sure which one I personally hate most. What’s frustrating about these bad days  is that they are often unpredictable and can happen out of the blue.

A couple of months ago I fell into a strange insulin resistance phase for almost 3 solid weeks. I kept increasing my meal insulin and my Lantus but no matter what I did, I would always end up with high blood sugars. It was frustrating because it was so unpredictable, and also because I did not know why it happened.

Many things can affect your sugar levels – the truth is that diabetes is part of an incredibly  complex metabolic and hormonal system – everything from weather, to hormones, to viruses, to your subconscious moods and thoughts can have influence on it…..

So what is your Diabetic Character? Do you allow these setbacks to affect your day? Week? Month? How can you overcome these types of days and get back on track to what you want to do.

I try and accept that these type of days come with having diabetes and that makes them less surprising and frustrating. I know it’s a crappy thing to admit but yeah, random high blood sugar will happen and it can make you feel terrible physically and  mentally. I try to understand that being diabetic comes with these type of days and they are just small hurdles and challenges I need to deal with. I don’t take the highs personally – I don’t feel sorry for myself and say “why me, why is this happening?” I try to control/understand the situation or, if that fails, ride out the highs with slightly more insulin – I am careful and wait for feedback from my body before going onto the next step and deciding how aggressive I need to be. If you really understand that random high numbers is a part of having diabetes, then when it does happen it won’t feel as upsetting or frustrating. Of course, if you are very high for few days, you need to check for ketons and consult with your doctor as this can also be very dangerous.

Find your support group and use it. Who in your network of people that you know can you talk to and get advice from? Who is willing to listen and help you out when things aren’t going your way? I’ve recently come across numerous Facebook groups which hold communities of diabetic people helping other diabetics out. If your numbers are going crazy one day share what’s going on, you’ll be surprised to realize how many people have gone through what you’re going through. Personally, I always talk to my mom when my numbers are out control, she offers support and knows my situation.

I try and see good in the bad by realizing that all these ups and downs just make me a stronger person. I take getting through a bad of diabetes as an accomplishment. When my numbers are running high and I eventually find a way to bring them down however that may be, I like to think of it as a little accomplishment and I like to think it has made me a stronger person, I know that I am more resilient and can persevere because I have experienced and overcame those hard days as a diabetic.

Accept that these days will happen, use your support group to connect with others and take it in strides. Realize that the challenge of diabetes is helping you become stronger,  more resilient, disciplined person with the ability to persevere when days aren’t going your way. We all experience little setbacks daily as diabetics but how we recover from them is the true test of our “Diabetic Character”.

Seeing Fear as an Opportunity

I wanted to dedicate a second piece to all my friends who don’t have diabetes and all the newly, young or old Type 1 diabetics who all may need a little “kick in the butt” and it’s about facing your fears and getting uncomfortable. Please don’t let this piece offend you it was simply written to motivate the individual who may be feeling down on themselves Type 1 diabetic or not.

When I was originally diagnosed with T1D I automatically thought that I wasn’t going to be able to do a lot of things. I thought my diabetes was going to block and restrict me from doing things that I loved.I had been involved in athletics my whole life so when I was diagnosed I immediately thought my career was over, I was scared. I had diabetes and I was scared because I thought I would never be able to play the same way again. I feared that diabetes was going to take me out of competition, I felt that I would never be able to “win” with diabetes.

I think that anyone who is newly diagnosed or is a young person with T1D has these fears. They often think that diabetes will inhibit them from doing the things they love or know they will love doing.

I hear and read stories all the time of T1D people just drowning in their own sorrow, their lives seem to be permanently tinted with sadness. (Of course, diabetes can be a terrible disorder if un-managed and I have empathy for the people who may have  worse and more uncontrollable cases than I do, so this next paragraph/rant is for people who are willingly feeling sorry for themselves).

I get frustrated reading this type of stuff because people don’t realize that they have the power to “break through” the chains of diabetes. We as humans have the power to control our future and environment with which we live in- all by the way we think. It all really translates back into fear issues for me: are you going to let your life be dominated by this thought that you can’t be the best because you’re diabetic? Are you going to let other people’s thoughts and images impose themselves on you? Or are you going to get up and push through your fears and believe firmly that you can achieve anything you want? Accept that you have diabetes and manage it, and manage it to the best of your ability but also move on and take control of your life.

Letting fears dominate you signals that you are headed in the wrong direction. Fears produce dis-comfort, we are hesitant and unsure,  and we get used to fear. When you are in your comfort zone your whole life and shy away from what you continually fear, you probably can’t create anything new because fear is such a limiting factor.  How can you move forward if you are consistently content with doing only what you’re comfortable with – what your fear allows you to do? How can you break new barriers? It’s about getting uncomfortable sometimes, it’s about doing what you fear and using fear as a way to push yourself to new personal possibilities.

Being T1D,  we can get used to this comfort zone. I love being at home sometimes more than I should because I always get help with my diabetes management like carb counting but I know that if I want to get anywhere in life I need to get used to being diabetic in public and get used to relying on myself for carb counting- it may be very uncomfortable but it’s what’s preparing me for life.

So back to my story…

When I started to compete in soccer after I was diagnosed I really sucked at soccer and management, I couldn’t combine the two. Management and soccer combined made me feel uncomfortable, especially on a new team I was trying out for. I would get strange looks all the time. I was out and out scared to play soccer fearlessly like I used to be able to. I was afraid to give it my all – my fears of diabetes were holding me back.

If I hadn’t actually faced my fears of competing and get on the pitch again  (getting uncomfortable) then I wouldn’t be where I am today and probably not writing this.

Imagine the first guy/girl who ever ran an Ironman race with a T1D. Do you think he/she was scared? Probably terrified, but he/she did it because they had a burning desire to do so, they faced their fears, got uncomfortable and in turn pushed the limits for what T1Ds can do- for other T1D’s and other people who thought T1D’s “couldn’t do that”.

I made it a goal for 2014 to get as uncomfortable as possible because I know that if I just stay content and comfortable with what I am doing I will never progress. Starting this blog and really putting myself out there was uncomfortable – but I did it.

I know that if I don’t face my fears with extreme will power and with the positive intention of overcoming them, then how will I move forward? How will I find new opportunities?

When you live with something you are told will limit you, and conventional wisdom says will limit you, fight it with a push back from within, we can get limited only as much as we allow ourselves to be, and at the end of the day, the choice is always ours, and the responsibility for those choices is only ours too.

Face The Facts And Conquer Fitness

Fitness. The one word people tend to dread.

I am not talking your average jog around the park – I’m talking extremely intensive, make-you-want-to-throw up exercise. 10km runs, hills, marathons and other exercises that put you on your hands and knees. I have been and still am a part of some grueling fitness workouts that our coach and trainer have us doing.

The word itself has the power to shift the entire mood of a team and individual. When I know we are doing fitness I personally have to mentally prepare myself almost as if it were a game.

Fitness isn’t only practiced in soccer or other sports. Fitness can mean a range of things for different people. Fitness can describe the workouts that you absolutely dread but know are necessary and they almost always involve some form of running. Maybe it’s that 5AM jog you need to force yourself to get up for or it’s the extra bit of training you’re doing by yourself to get an edge on the competition. Regardless of what fitness means for you, it’s a grind but it’s one that pays off.

I got my first very serious taste of the fitness levels required for top competition when I lived at Bollettieri Academy in Brandenton – the amount and intensity of fitness we had to do every day was grueling to say the least – it made me realize the importance of committing to fitness and giving your all.

Fitness is a true test of an athlete’s character and really fitness makes us consider how bad we REALLY want something.

Fitness can be  scary because it is the one aspect of our lives as athletes/active people that we can completely control (unless diabetic complications arise). The decision on how far to go, whether to give “our all” is solely up to us as individuals. Fitness makes us face the facts and determines how committed we are to our goals. Sometimes that power is scary, it’s often a wake up call for ourselves. For example, I know that if I want to be the best soccer player I can be, I need to get through these fitness routines that our coach has us doing. If I don’t do them then that makes me think: “Do I actually want to do this soccer thing?”

Facing fitness is a way we can physically gauge our ability to overcome challenges and with also having T1D there will be a lot of them. 

Giving my all during these types of exercises makes me feel positive that I will be able to handle what ever diabetes throws at me, however tough it may be. I know I am developing  grit and determination through conquering fitness. For me, this is another area where an athletic pursuit can help you develop a skill which you can use in life.

I have to admit that my optimistic attitude regarding T1D partially comes from my ability to put myself through these grueling workouts and seeing others doing even more than me. As an example, when I hear that there are T1D’s out there running IronMan’s and Triathlons/Marathons I am honestly inspired because it’s literally like slapping diabetes in the face. It redefines and re-frames common perceptions about diabetes and people’s ability to do the “impossible”.

Please look to my next post where I describe some of these tough fitness exercises I do and to see how I manage my T1D for them.

Getting The Most Out Of The Gym As a T1D

Most people at some point in their life have worked out at the gym. For the average person the experience of working out is just a matter of going to the gym, doing some workouts, drinking a protein shake and then leaving to go home.

For a Type 1 Diabetic working out  is much different, the idea of activity and exercise brings on another level of preparation and caution.  Exercise, depending on what you are doing, has the ability to push your blood sugar down  and can send you into hypoglycemia- which no one wants.

I have been working out for 3 years now and for the last 2 years workouts  have become more intense as it is now more important than ever to be physical fit in order to stay competitive in the University league.

Weight lifting can be considered either aerobic or anaerobic exercise, and anaerobic exercise, in contrast to the aerobic one, tends to raise your blood sugar (here is a good summary of this  http://diabeteshealth.com/read/2010/10/31/6751/exercise-often-raises-blood-glucose-in-type-1-diabetes-/ ) depending on the speed and intensity, but in my case, I find that it usually lowers it so I prepare accordingly.

1. I try and eat some simple carbohydrates like pasta 2 hours before and cut back on my insulin with that meal by about 25% (my bolus to carb ratio is 1:20, so I take between 2 and 6 units for majority of my meals). I am not cutting more because, in case of weight lifting, I know that it may also happen that the exercise may end up being more “anaerobic” – like with everything that is not black and white, you need to strike a compromise that keeps you safe while not allowing your BG to raise too much.

But weightlifting still isn’t extremely laborious for me so I don’t tend to go too low during or after the workout- which also explains only the partial cut back of insulin. If I were going for a long run, I would have cut back a whole lot more. In this case I still want some uncounted for carbohydrates that will cause my blood sugar to be a little higher as I still expect a little bit of a drop (maybe 2-3 points).

2.   I try to get my blood sugar between 7-9 before the workout

This level is perfect for me – it is not too high to make me sluggish and not low enough to cause me to worry if I start going down during the exercise. I can workout and still have enough energy.

3.  I drink a VEGA sugar-free Sports Energizer drink before I workout.

Everyone is crazy about pre-workout and seems to swear by them, the only problem is that many of them carry enough caffeine to keep you up for years and have enough sugars to put us diabetics in not such a great place. VEGA makes a pre-workout that is completely organic and plant based, its sugar free and I find it perfect for me to give me that extra bit of energy before a workout.

4.   I eat a protein bar after my workout.

I like to have bars because they have some carbohydrates in them, this replenishes the glucose that was used up to power my workout and helps ensure that I do not go low hours after the workout.  I usually have a CLIFF protein bar. Sometimes if for some reason my blood sugar is crazy high after the workout (and these maddening irregularities do happen) then I will skip this step, in that case I will make a simple sugar-free protein shake.

As you can see my routine isn’t that crazy or complicated. I have been fine tuning what works for me and allows me to get a good workout. The biggest concern I hear about from other T1D’s regarding working out is the fear of lows.  The concept that all exercise drives your blood sugar down is outdated and incorrect. But to start with, like I did, and get more comfortable with the whole idea of exercising, it is better to go in a bit higher by cutting back on pre-exercise insulin and/or taking extra carbs before, during and after exercise (of course checking often). When I first started and lived in a serious fear of going low during exercise, I would usually drink a bottle of Gatorade (40 carbs) over the course of a couple of hours of moderate exercise. Later, as I learned more about what was happening and why, and through frequent testing and careful experimentation, I started changing and customizing to what works for me.

Please let me know how you manage your T1D while at the gym and what adjustments you make to ensure that you have a good workout.

Forget Public Speaking! How To Overcome Your Fear Of Public “Diabeticness”

When you are first diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, not only is it difficult to learn how to manage it, what to eat, how to carb count, how to look after your insulin etc., but there is an additional aspect to having T1D  that can be the most difficult  – how to overcome your fear of displaying your “Diabeticness” in public and to embrace diabetes on a social level. By “Diabeticness” I mean checking your sugars, taking insulin and doing all  the necessary components you need to do to make sure your T1D is under control.

Doctors will teach you a lot about  how to manage your sugars and look after your diabetes  but learning how to cope with your newly diagnosed disorder socially is something  you will need figure out on your own.

For teenagers who are newly diagnosed, as I was, this can also be  difficult because you are at a time in your life where your social image matters so much and you don’t want to do anything that may effect it.

For me, checking in public and taking insulin was weird – I didn’t want people to think that I was really sick or less capable of doing things than they were. I wanted to be like my friends, do what they do and ate what they ate, without doing a whole bunch of “odd” rituals. I did not want to be different!

As I was going through my teenage years as a diabetic, people would always ask me questions like ‘What is that?” “Are you okay?” “Does that hurt?”  and many would even try to give me advice on my diabetes, tell me “what’s good for it” etc. For me, it wasn’t an issue to give answers to those who asked about diabetes and I never let it affect me personally, but I know from other friends that it is not easy. A common lesson in sociology tells us that we tend to view ourselves how others perceive us, so when people are constantly bombarding you with questions, opinions and comments about your diabetes you may tend to feel more alienated and different.

What helped me to conquer this fear of  showing others I was diabetic and dealing with their reactions, and sometimes uneducated and uncalled for comments, was  the understanding I embraced that diabetes can not define who I was unless I let it. This fostered a personal philosophy of mine which is that I never let others’ remarks create an image of myself for me...

If you want to be an astronaut or a professional athlete, or anything, then you can, regardless of how people along the way may “label” you as being “sick” or “different” or somehow less capable. But don’t judge them, their opinions are often based on lack of education, and to be honest, I would probably be one of them had I not been a T1D so what helped me with dealing with other people was just putting myself in their shoes and assuming a position of empathy.

I personally believe that everyone, diabetic or not, has to one day overcome their fear of what others think of them  to truly go after what they want. Unfortunately, being diabetic can expose you to this practice early as people now have a real specific reason to look at you in a new light. The quicker you master this ability to not let people influence you in a negative way, the quicker you will be on your way to success in anything you choose. So maybe this is a gift.

My Story

I have decided to create a blog to share some of my experiences and insights about being an athlete with Type 1 Diabetes as well as to learn from yours. This post outlines what I want my blog to be about and how it provides value to the reader.

For those who don’t know me I’m 20 years old, studying Arts and Contemporary studies at Ryerson University and I have been a  Type 1 Diabetic for 4 years.

Here is a bit of my story:

I had played soccer at the elite level since I was 6 but at 13 I decided to quit soccer and take up tennis seriously.

I lived off and on Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida for 3 years, training intensely and getting into competition.

When I got back home at 16, I realized that I had missed soccer and wanted to get back into it – this of course was crazy given that I missed 3 years of training, some coaches did not even want to talk to me but I managed join a club called Sporting, On top, I joined a local boxing club and pursued boxing in parallel for two years.

Shortly after I joined them, I got diagnosed with D1. It seemed to me that my dream to pursue soccer on a high level might be over. But I did not let it. Within a year I got into the Toronto Lynx team which competes in the USL league, where I am currently on the U20/PDL roaster. In the time that I was there Toronto Lynx had either been a runner up or a winner in the North American USL finals.

Currently I play varsity soccer for Ryerson University and am in my second year with the team. This year the team broke records for the soccer program- going 27 games unbeaten and playing in a national tournament.

Here’s how I wish to provide value:

I  will share my experiences and the lessons I’ve learned  on the management side of Type 1 Diabetes and how I  still achieve optimal performance with my athletics. These experiences will be there not to exactly “tell” you how to manage your Type 1 Diabetes- there are doctors for that,  but instead will try and provide value to you by showing you that anything is possible athletically and in life with Type 1 Diabetes. I am young and still experiencing it all, I have a long history in competing at the top level and wish to share with you what I’ve learnt and what I learn along the way. I also want you to share with me some of your experiences with athletics and how you manage your diabetes- as this creates the best of both worlds. I want this blog to provide conversation surrounding any given topic so it can help others.

I understand that there are numerous blogs where bloggers are more involved in athletics then I am and can really show and tell you how to manage your Diabetes. But if you wish to read my personal accounts – in language you can understand – from a young motivated, ambitious person who is still going through it all and who is open to your advice, feedback, conversation- then stick around.

Some concepts I will be blogging about from the athletic side:

Game Day, Off-Season/Pre-Season/Season,  Weightlifting, Supplements, Diabetic Meters, My Position (soccer), Nutrition, Fitness :(, Road Trips, Practices, Aerobic/Anaerobic Exercise, Drinking/Partying (must be spoken about), Try-Outs, Pre-Game routines,  2- a- days, Away Games/Home Games etc…

More concepts are sure to arise as I start blogging.

So…

To any athlete out there who feels like they’re alone in facing some of the challenges that arise from having Type 1 and playing sports.

To any athlete who feels like quitting  because they’ve been diagnosed with Type 1.

This blog is for you and I strongly urge you to connect with me so we can share our stories and learn from each other.

But that is not all i want this blog to be about…

Along with athletic advice I want this blog to be a space for people to come, read and be motivated and inspired.

I am here to tell you not to ever let Diabetes get in the way of doing what you love. Ever. This will be the main concept surrounding all my posts.

To wrap it up.

Let my experiences with athletics and Type 1 Diabetes be a motivator for you to manage and control your own, while still maintaining a competitive edge.

Let me show you how I’m turning my Type 1 into  Being Number 1.