Hi everyone. I’m Bianca Capo and this is my first time blogging…ever…
I was diagnosed as a type 1 in May of 2005. This past May 2009 I was able and honored to join DiabetesSisters in Raleigh, NC at the TCOYD conference as their guest speaker and celebrate me being in control of my diabetes for 4 years with an ongoing A1C of 5.6%. I told my story in a nutshell and asked everyone there to really take a hard look at the power of choice, specifically the choices we are making in our own lives. Are they reactive or are they proactive? There is this great saying I have on my refrigerator that says, “Life is not about finding ourselves; it’s about creating ourselves”. 

That speaks volumes to me and reminds me that the choices I make should be about continual personal growth or circumstances I want to create in life. I can write about many things that I have deliberately chosen to do in order to be where I am in my life or be the person I am today, however; I just want to focus on sharing with you my love for weight/resistance training as an option for us to manage our diabetes. I don’t do a whole lot of cardio, even though I did teach a Zumba class till recently. At least with me, my body type, an ectomorph, doesn’t require a lot of cardio. To read about the different body types in order to know how you should exercise go to; http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/body-types-ectomorph-mesomorph-endomorph.html. Diet is as important, if not more than showing up at the gym and hitting the weights hard 3-5 days a week. As you all know, our condition some times takes away our control of what and when we need to eat. The diet associated with building muscle tone is very similar to how the diabetic community should be eating without all the “excesses” for exaggerated and unnatural muscle growth of course. We all should be eating 5-6 times a day, moderate to low carbs, and exercising in order to manage our glucose levels. As it turns out, this is the same for any one that weight trains for muscle tone and increased strength. If you’ll recall the old saying, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. Well, the same for our muscles tone. As we age, our muscles atrophy and weaken. However, we can “fight” (manage) this by staying active and incorporating resistance training in our exercise routine. I would suggest at least three times a week, along with your cardio activities if you need to lose weight. The more you build muscle, the faster your metabolism and easier time losing weight.

When starting a diet, may it be in order to lose 20 lbs, or in my case last summer when I needed to reduce some body fat to show the muscle tone and lines to the judges, first you must know how many calories you must consume in order to maintain your current body weight. Once you know this number, reduce it by 20% consistently in order to begin your “healthy” weight loss regiment. Go to http://www.internetfitness.com/calculators/bmr.htm
and calculate your BMR. Read about the difference between BMR and BMI. Once you know your “maintenance” calorie intake minus 20%, put a menu together (measured quantities) for at least 5-6 meals a day. Next week I will share some of the meals on a daily basis. The trick is keeping a balance between carbs, proteins, and healthy fats. For contest purpose, my goal is 40/40/20%. Keeping fats that low is hard, but staying under 30% is do’ able. The 40% carbs is some times a bit more than I like to eat, but it’s necessary in order to have the energy to workout and build muscle. Just watch those simple, high glycemic carbs….. they should be a “seldom choice”.. in our book. ;-) Till next time. I hope you join me in my journey and I look forward to interacting with as many of you as possible.
Bianca