Johnny Storm's Health Blog 

 

  My name is John Sandstrom (aka Johnny Storm) and I have type 2 diabetes and an enlarged prostrate.  My daughter Cassandra inspired me to start this blog in order to inspire others into action!  So the purpose of this blog is to teach you what I’ve done and hopefully get you healthier than you’ve ever been!  In April of this year I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.  I was told by my doctor that I have a serious disease and that I’d be on medication the rest of my life.  In my case the drug was Metformin, a drug designed to trick your body into lowering blood sugars by tricking your insulin system.  The world famous Mayo Clinic puts the description this way:

Metformin is used to treat high blood sugar levels that are caused by a type of diabetes mellitus or sugar diabetes called type 2 diabetes. With this type of diabetes, insulin produced by the pancreas is not able to get sugar into the cells of the body where it can work properly. Using metformin alone, with a type of oral antidiabetic medicine called a sulfonylurea, or with insulin, will help to lower blood sugar when it is too high and help restore the way you use food to make energy.

There you have it from a world renowned clinic/research center.  As you can see it tricks the body into lowering blood sugar.  But at what cost?  Here is a link to the side effects that the drug could have:  http://diabetes.emedtv.com/metformin/metformin-warnings-and-precautions.html

Now that we have all of the definitions of what this drug does it’s time to move onto the next health issue I faced.  I also had an enlarged prostate.  I was going to the bathroom way too often and I was having some discomfort.  Essentially I was peeing every 60-90 minutes and I wasn’t getting sleep because of that.  I realized that changes had to be made and fast!  At a minimum my quality of life was on the line and on the max my life itself was on the line.  The changes had to be not only fast but massive.  In order to defeat these “diseases” I had to change diet, exercise consistently and take the proper supplements.  That is the only way to defeat type 2 or even type one diabetes.  You have to address the underlying cause, not just the symptoms.  Some say the disease is hereditary and that it can’t be stopped.  I say that’s BS and a cop out to not making the changes needed because “it’s hereditary I can’t help it” while eating a big mac and slurping a diet coke.   I’m not sure if a person is predisposed to getting the disease because of genes or not but what I do know is that it can be defeated!  A brother of a friend I have defeated type 1 diabetes through diet and exercise and he was on insulin!  I’ve never heard of someone beating type 1 before and actually getting off insulin, that was incredible!  I plan on having him on as a guest on my show soon!

Ok  so what did I do and what have I done since my diagnosis?  Let me back up a bit first.  While I was at the doctors office and I told him I would defeat this thing with diet and exercise he scoffed at me.  Most doctors would at that point.  I was close to 100lbs over weight, smoked and obviously I wasn’t taking great care of myself.  He said he had seen 4 or 5 patients in his career that defeated type 2 diabetes.  I told him he was looking at number 5 or 6.  He smiled and wished me luck while telling me to take my meds and be a good boy.  After I left one of the first calls I made was to the mother of the man I knew had beaten type 1 diabetes.  She is a semi retired nurse who not only knows the medical establishment but also has seen first hand what her son did and how he did it.  I found out that he simply walked away from his meds because his doctor told him that without some massive action he would die young.  He has always been a vegetarian so he loaded up on veggies and herbs that would knock his blood sugar back to normal levels.  All his body needed was the proper fuel, exercise and the determination of the mind and spirit.  After I took my pills for 3 days I walked away as well.  First they weren’t lowering things by much and second they made me feel sick.  *Caution* (Please speak to your doctor before quitting any regimen they have you on!  I am NOT a doctor nor have my results been studied by professionals).  I had already purchased a book called “The Stop Eating so F***ing Much Diet” by Shane Elison and bought his recommended supplements.  One supplement I bought was called Cinnergy.  It’s a combination of cinnamon and milk thistle that lowers blood sugars and detoxes the liver according to studies like this 

one:http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/milk-thistle/safety/HRB-20059806

As you can see milk thistle does lower blood sugar and cinnamon does similar things.  Yes there are a small fraction of people who may be allergic to the plant so once again contact your doctor before starting this regimen.  One other study the mayo clinic did showed that it could cause LOW blood sugar in people so we know by their own study that it works.  Wait you’ve never heard about that before?  Join the club my friends as I hadn’t heard of it either.  Then I decided to check out Shane’s best selling book called “Over the Counter Natural Cures” at Amazon.com.  Since I’m a prime member I got to read it for free on my kindle but I ordered a hard copy as well so I could highlight it and reference it easier.  In that book and the first book I learned a hell of a lot that I had never known before.  You see Shane has a masters in chemistry and he worked for big pharma and knew how all of this worked together.  He also put things into terms a layman can understand.  It wasn’t a mish mash of chemistry jargon that I couldn’t understand rather it was written in an informative way so anyone who can read should be able to understand it.   I was thinking “FINALLY someone wrote a book I feel I can trust and that gives solutions to the diseases listed not just false hope!”  Ladies and gentlemen all I can say is that these two books may have saved my life.  The “Over the Counter Natural Cures” book has become my nutritional bible for my body as much as the Holy Bible is for my soul/spirit.  Now that I was armed and ready I started in on the regimens described in the books.  Oh and my prostrate issues?  That’s in the book too!

I started this journey with a blood sugar count of 300.  The A1C test showed that it had been at 300 for at least 3 months.  So when did it start?  Who knows but I was warned by a previous doctor 3 years prior that I was headed in this direction as my levels were “elevated”.  So I have had this disease for 3 months to 3 years it’s hard to know exactly when it started but here I am.  My blood sugar today was 139, the second lowest reading I’ve had.  I started taking the Cinnergy tablets as directed and drank the shakes, took other supplements Shane and Mike Adams “The health ranger” directed me to take.  I also started juicing a few times a week at our local health food store.  I joined the “juice club” and I’m still a member today.  Does juicing help?  I would answer that with a question “Does juicing hurt?”.  No it doesn’t hurt and it even tastes good.  I also drink lemon water a few times a week (which I’m trying to make a daily habit) which gives you massive doses of real vitamin C.  Once again it doesn’t hurt.  I also cut carbs out of my diet especially refined sugars and processed foods.  The carbs I get now are from the fruits and veggies I eat daily as well as the few I get from snacking on nuts like sunflower seeds and mixed nuts.  Watch your labels on nuts as some contain sugar and MSG!  If you want bread you’ll have to go to something called Ezekiel bread.  It can be found at big stores and health food stores.  Check the freezer section as it has to remain frozen.  I started interval training, push ups and hindu squats for exercise and I do it 3 days a week minimum.  Interval training isn’t for the weak of heart so once again consult your doctor before starting!  Some weeks I haven’t done 3 sessions but I have surgically repaired injuries that sometimes act up and prevent me from training.  You can only ignore your body’s danger signals for so long before you realize you better listen to them!  I’m currently experiencing severe sciatica and that has put me on the shelf for a day or two.  There are other things I do when injuries come up and one is called DDP Yoga.  Look it up on google and see for yourself what it does and how it’s really different from other yoga classes.  No chanting, just ass kicking exercises.  Like DDP says, “It ain’t your mama’s yoga”.  The good thing about DDP yoga is that it still kicks your ass while being easy on your joints.  If you can’t do it all right away don’t worry just keep doing it.  Start out with walking and vary your speeds from time to time.  Once again I don’t know your physical condition I’m just writing about what works for me but always consult your doctor before starting a new program!

Now to address my weight issue.  I started this journey back in January and I weighed around 325.  That’s 110lbs over where I should be and I knew that would have to be addressed as well as my blood sugars.  Well what I outlined in the above paragraph should tell you everything you need to lose weight.  First you MUST EAT BREAKFAST! I never knew how important that was until recently and I’m 47!  It starts your metabolism out on the right foot by getting it activated to burn calories.  If you skip breakfast your metabolism slows down and causes you to store what you do eat into fat because it thought you were starving it.  I use a shake mix from naturalnews.com and a shake mix from Peoples Chemist (Shane’s website).  I prefer the one from natural news because it tastes better, has better texture and costs a bit less.  Here is what I use:  http://store.naturalnews.com/Action-Whey-with-BioCysteine3-Chocolate_p_664.html

Second exercise is a must in order to release weight, add muscle and get your metabolism up to speed!  Interval training is walking at a brisk pace and then doing a 3/4 speed sprint for 15 seconds or so.  What this does is tell your body that it’s in “fight or flight” mode and gets your adrenal system going.  That burns fat folks no doubt in my mind!  Then you go back to walking again to cool down.  I do this three or four times around my “track” which is on top of the hill where we live.  It has natural inclines on both ends of the circle so depending on how hard I want the workout to be I switch sides.  I also do some push ups (from my knees) but I have to be careful here as I have pins holding my shoulder together.  Once again consult your doctor.  Hindu squats are simply doing squats and focusing on breathing.

So how much weight have I lost since my diagnosis in April?  I’m not sure but I can tell you that I’ve gone from a waist size of 48 to a 42 today!  I use my clothes as a measuring stick as I learned that from Dr. Atkins years ago when I was on his strict diet.  He said use your clothes not the scale as the scale can vary 4 or 5 lbs depending on what you’ve eaten or drank even the night before.  I will use the scale again when I see my doctor in about a month.  From January to April I had gone from 325 down to 289 and that was just from being more active and not drinking so much beer! Ok I still have a few beers now and then (maybe once a month?)  but a FEW, not 15 or more like before.  Diabetics need to watch out for booze for too LOW of a blood sugar count which is ironic isn’t it?  Plus if you are taking drugs to lower blood sugars adding booze to the mix can make it dangerously low!  I had a friend who is type 1 diabetic and sometimes “falls out” from booze because his sugars get too low.  I do not recommend this!  Two or three beers (preferably a organic micro brew) won’t hurt once in awhile for me anyway.  If I were taking the metformin I couldn’t drink at all because of the extra liver damage this could cause.  Once again be careful and talk to your doctor before you start saucing it up!  The bottom line for me is that I know my old lifestyle is gone and good riddance!  In fact as I’ve looked back on things I shake my head and wonder how I got through it all.  The human body can take massive amounts of abuse and still function but I’m done playing around.

Oh and what did I do for my prostrate?  Two things.  First I read “Over the Counter Natural Cures” and found out what it was and what brings it on. Second I bought some good quality Saw Palmetto and Pumpkin Seed Oil tablets.  They WORKED!  I now pee normally again and with good flow lol!  I know that sounds goofy but it’s the truth!  When your prostrate enlarges it reduces flow and causes you to leak or dribble and makes you pee more often.  This has all been without drugs just the supplements I mentioned.  I always used to laugh about that stuff until it happened to me.  I did notice that I’ll have to take those for a lifetime because when I stopped the issues came back.  But it’s cheap (I pay about 20.00 every two months for supplements) and definitely cheaper than surgery (which causes Mr. Happy to stop working).  So if you have issues with your prostrate get some Saw Palmetto and Pumpkin Seed Oil!

That’s it for today but I wanted to get this website started and off the ground!  I will be updating this blog daily (well not weekends or holidays) so you can see my progress AND so I can keep myself accountable.  This site is about living to win NOW, not tomorrow or next year but NOW!  This daily health blog will be one of those ways I will do that and hopefully empowering others to do the same.  Pictures will be coming as well as embarrassing as those may be :(.  Remember your health is number f(((ing ONE!  Without your health your money and quality of life will all go away so don’t fool around with it, LIVE TO WIN NOW!

John Sandstrom (aka Johnny Storm)