Hello all,

It's two hours until 2016. Amy and I just had a steak fillet, a baked potato with spray butter and cheese, an amazing salad, and some beer bread. A few cocktails and some wine. In an hour we're going to bust out the sparkling wine (not Champagne because it's 'Cooks'). Happy New Years to you all!

Tomorrow I will have a re-cap of my first day of our version of the Whole 30 program, my attempt to incorporate my e-vape into my day in order to cut back on smoking, and my attempt to cook everything at home and cut-out fast food for the next six months. If you have any suggestions, please post a note below or PM me.

Thank you to all of you that have Friend'ed me on the fitbit app. If you have a fitbit and want to Friend me, my email is itcomagic@gmail.com.

If you like what you have read so far, please Like, Comment, and Share this blog.

- Doug

Hello all,

I've decided that starting January 1st (its a Friday) that I will update this blog at least twice a week. Once on Monday to re-cap the weekend; and the second time on Friday to re-cap the week and going into the weekend. Any posts beyond that is bonus for you.

I have a reminder to post an article twice a week via the 'Coach.me' app. It's a pretty neat interface that reminds me throughout the day/week of certain things. Things I am attempting to make habits; like exercise, mediation, reading, expanding business ventures, etc.

One item in particular that I've been doing off and on for stretches is 'Luminosity'. It's like Brain Age for the NDS. It exercises your brain instead of staring blankly at Angry Birds. Give it a try.

I am super excited that this winter Amy (godzirra!) and I will be doing a large part of the Memphis-Arlington bottoms. We have been in the area several times but now we are going to hit the area hard. In fact, we are planning a Periscope event soon.

So, I just got my first badge from fitbit. It seems their default steps-per-day is 10,000. My first day I clocked 11,000+ steps without even trying. I forgot my pedometer on my iPhone was even on until I got the notification. Apparently, walking isn't going to be my concern. I'm going to have to improve on strength and resistance.

From time-to-time I'm going to post recipes that keep me heart/glucose healthy. But, for my first recipe post, I'm going to give you something that may very well kill some of you; but, it is literally heavenly. Enjoy.

- Doug

Hello all!

No "fast food" for six months? What does that even mean?!? Well, to me, it means that if someone can get you food out of a window in less that six minutes, it is processed to the point of unhealthy. Simply put, if you are on the list below, I will not come see you between January '16 and June '16.

McDonalds
Burger King
Wendys
Back Yard Burger
KFC
Chik-fil-A
Hardees
Buffalo Wild Wings
Krystals
Popeyes
Arbys
Danvers
Panda Express
Five Guys
Chipotle
Dixie Queen
Tops BBQ
Dominoes
Pizza Hut
Papa Johns
Subway
Little Caesars Pizza
Jimmy Johns
Firehouse Subs
Lenny's

Schlotzsky's Deli

Zaxby's

Sonic Dive-In

Jack Pirtle's

Krispy Krunchy Chicken

More To Come...

If you have any more suggestions for this list, leave a comment.

- Doug

Hello all!

Good news, everyone! I just ordered a Fitbit Charge! It should be here within a week and I'm pretty, pretty, pretty excited about it. It has a few bells and whistles beyond your standard Flex (that Amy has). I will be setting daily goals for exercising and better sleeping habits.
I used to meditate a few years ago and I am eager to get back into doing that. I have a really cool app called 'Calm' that I use to go to sleep. It has water sounds, forest sounds, birds, etc. You should check it out if you have trouble sleeping.

Also, I invested in an e-cig a couple of months ago, the e-go one, that I haven't been using as much as I should. That is going to start January 1st. I really do like it, but just like any quit-smoking thing, I am a little nervous about going full tilt on it; though I know I should. And I will.

Amy is out of town right now, but when she gets back we are going back on our Whole 30. And by Whole 30, I mean the Nom Nom Paleo version of it. That is, we will still eat soy and legumes, but we will be watching everything we eat.

Speaking of which, about five years ago I went on a "No Fast Food For A Year" thing. I kept up with every time I went through a drive-thru. For the entire year, I cheated eight (8) times. Not bad. This time around, for the six months of January '16 through June '16, my goal is zero (0) times. If I consider it "fast food", I don't go. End of story. Full stop. More on what I consider "fast food" on a future post.

Thanks to Dawn Tredway for her comment on eggs. I read it and am still processing it, so to speak. Check out the article she sent here.

Admittedly, the last few days have not been awesome as I am still wrapped up in the Christmas spirit. However, I am very excited to get back on track and show my doctor, Dr. John T. Crews (and his nurse Beth), that 5.6 is not a figure I will accept even though I am "well below the danger zone". This is too close and I WILL be that person that takes that figure and destroys it to its very core. I will NOT go quietly into the night.

Thank you to all who have commented, shared, and followed this blog so far. We have so far to go and I hope to not go it alone. Tell your friends. The more in-put I get, the stronger I become.

- Doug

Hello all!

Livebetes is a name I stole from 'The Man Show'. I should explain why. Recently I got the news that I was border-line diabetic. It was super scary. So, I decided that for the next six months I would live as though I had Type 2 Diabetes. I want to lower that glucose level to a point beyond "acceptable" and more to "awesome". To do that, I need to cut out processed food, exercise more, and quit smoking. This is my way of being accountable. Follow me on my journey for the next six months (starting January 1st) and see what I can accomplish. I will update this post at least once a week, sometimes twice, for the next six months with tips and dietary tricks to keep my blood sugar below 100. If you have any comments please post them. I am super excited to hear them!

- Doug