"Let the Games...BEGIN!"

My office perpetually has some type of contest going on.  For the past 12 weeks, and continuing until the winter comes (or whenever the "season" ends), we're playing in a NASCAR fantasy league.  I've managed to maintain a first place lead in quite dominating fashion through the end of segment one.  Despite my good fortune in that contest, the one I'm really excited about started this past Monday, May 12.  We're having our own version of "The Biggest Loser".
For those unfamiliar with this program on television, it is a gathering of obese people who are seeking to literally change their lives by changing their exercise and eating habits and making remarkable transformations in their bodies.  The majority of the people at my job are at least overweight.  More than a handful (no pun intended) would be considered obese, (going by the definition of a Body Mass Index of 30 or above.)
I've been struggling for a while now with getting my blood glucose levels under control as well as reducing my blood pressure.  Being diabetic, this is vital.  Unfortunately, I have not been excelling in those areas.  In January, my endocrinologist offered some very strong admonishments.  My Hemoglobin A1c test came in at 8.7%, which equates to an average blood glucose level of approximately 200 over the previous 3 months.  A normal blood glucose level would be no higher than 126.  Despite lofty pronouncements of a change, I continued to defer exercise and eat unwisely.  Eventually my endocrinologist kicked me to the curb.  That was the wake-up call I needed.
I started walking on the treadmill we have back in March.  My efforts were sporadic at best, but I continued to work at it until I was doing it a minimum of 3 days per week.  When April came around, I was at it a minimum of four days a week, most times five days a week.  I had gone to my primary physician to get refills on my meds and to obtain a referral to another endocrinologist.  To my surprise, the walking had begun to pay some dividends.  The scale showed me at 249 1/2 lbs on 4/12.  I had weighed 255 lbs. in January.  My blood pressure read in the normal range for the first time in I don't know how long.  I received another verbal lashing at the hands of my primary physician, but I wasn't upset.  I was actually elated over the progress I made though I still recognized, I had a long ways yet to go.
I visited the new endocrinologist on 4/18 and he made some slight adjustments to my medication.  One of the insulins I take, Lantus, was being taken in the morning.  He changed that to a bedtime dosage and also slightly reduced it to 40 units from 45.  He encouraged me to keep exercising and to make better eating choices.  I went back  two weeks later and weighed in at 245.  My blood glucose readings had dropped quite considerably.  When I had gone to the primary physician,  they had bloodwork done.  My HbA1c had increased to 9.7%, an average of about 230 mg/dL.  I am confident that by the time the next one is taken, I will be close to the American Diabetes Association recommendation of 7%.  My personal goal is to be at 6.5% or lower.
That is why this contest has me excited.  The next twelve weeks is an invitation for me to vastly improve my physical body, to regroup and relearn successful eating habits and regain and reincorporate successful exercise habits into my life.  I've taken a slew of measurements, though the only one required for the contest at work was my weight.  Disappointingly the scale they brought into work to serve as our official scale is woefully off.  It weighed me in at 253.6 lbs.  I know I am not that heavy, but hey, let's hope by the end of the contest the scale will be off as well, in my favor.  I am going to be "The Biggest Loser"!

Tale of the Tape