[Type 1 Challenge] Intro and Day 1-7

I got introduced to this challenge by @katiulrich <-- she's also a diabetic

For this challenge I'll be doing a hybrid style blog posts and using @steepshot for random days.

I'll be catching up with day 1-7 so come a long for the ride :)

Nov 1

Who are you?
I'm Paulius, Paul is fine also and I'm a Lithuanian Immigrant who moved to USA in 2004. I'm currently a jr UX Designer and Founder of CBD on everything LLC where we specialize in making healthy hemp nutritional products. The first product is a Low-Carb CBD bar designed for Diabetics will be launching in January 2019.

Nov 2

How & when were you diagnosed?
My official diagnosis was in July 4th of 2010. A couple of months before I started noticing symptoms like frequent urinations, constant thirst, dry mouth, and rapid weight loss. I did what everyone does and went on Google to check the symptoms, also when I visited my best friends dad he made me check my blood sugar and the results were clear that something was wrong with me because my blood sugars were over 400. The next day I checked into the hospital.

Nov 3

What treatment: Pens or Pump?
Pens until I didn't have any insurance which made me go back to the old school needles and a vial. I didn't want the pump because I train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and seeing horrific photos of the pump getting ripped out contributed to my decision of not wearing one.

Nov 4

Blood Sugar: Glucometer or CGM?
One Drop Glucometer. I want to get a CGM because it would benefit my research and tests I do but without insurance it's a hefty price.

Nov 5

Who are your diabuddies?
I have a very few like @katiulrich because she's on steemit :)
Rob Howe because he had me on his podcast and it opened up a lot of doors and made me face my own insecurities because I never spoke about T1 to anyone, he's also a huge influencer for the T1 community!
https://www.instagram.com/robhowe21/?hl=en
Dan Cigler because we came across each others Instagram and coincidently lived in the same area and he's a Industrial Desinger so we like to talk about cool shit. https://www.instagram.com/dancigler/

Nov 6

Tribute to caregivers
Everybody that contributed in a positive way, first is all the nurses and my endocrinologist even though it has been a few years since I visited them, I've always had the best experience because of the chill environment and good conversations. All my family because they contributed a lot, I wasn't able to afford my diabetic supplies early on. Also, the people I've got to know online, I think that's the most important because having to talk to someone that can relate is more important than anything. Diabetes is a psychological war at the end and having someone that can relate to your situations and speak about them is priceless. I made a mistake for 7 years by not talking to anyone being too much in my head, DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE.

Nov 7

Diet (food, carbs,...)
My diet is an ongoing test and research for so many years but overall I would say it's low carb whole foods with carb cycling every 3-4 days depending on the physical activity of my previous days. I notice the smallest changes, especially when it comes down to mental clarity and performance. I eat a lot of red meat, salads and greens from local farms. Pretty much paleo style because it has worked for me, I reduced my insulin injections by 70% when I switched to low carb. Anybody can benefits by going low carb a few times per week or consider carb cycling.

I mentioned before all my earnings for the rest of the month are going to be donated to T1 Nation. Don't hesitate to ask questions about food, diets, training because I live this shit daily and I know anyone can benefit from my knowledge.

Catch you later
Stay gold,
-Paulius