The BIG Kahuna

For almost twenty years I?ve been helping clients develop a brand identity. I?ve also fixed some pretty messed up brand identities. You see brand identity is who you want to be, but brand image is how everyone else perceives you. Most of the time we see a gap between the brand identity and brand image.?

Back to me and my diabetes. My personal brand identity is that of an outgoing, spontaneous, risk taking, witty SOB. My brand image is a big, fat, slothy, overweight, unhealthy guy. My brand identity and brand image don?t align!?

At the time of this article I am 41 years old. I am an overweight male, 230lbs with Type 2 Diabetes. My primary care physician has prescribed Actos for my condition. I don?t want to take it, so I?m finally fighting back.?For years my Doc told me to lose weight?I didn?t listen. But when he actually wrote a script I decided it was time for change (talk about the barn door being open huh?).

So here?s what I have to do:?

1. Make a plan (a dull pencil is better than a sharp mind)
2. Put it in writing (weekly food consumption and exercise)
3. Lose Weight
4. Exercise
5. Take the right supplements

1. Make a plan: ?I decided like any good branding or business plan to do some research. That?s what I recommend to my clients so that?s what I did. I did extensive research on what vitamins/supplements lower blood sugar. What are the best supplements to take to help combat diabetes? This is what I?ve learned:?

A. Cinnamon: Huh? Really? Yup, that?s what they say. Take a cinnamon supplement. So I ordered Planetary Herbals Full Spectrum Cinnamon Extract, 200 mg.

???B. Diachrome-?is a patented combination of chromium picolinate and biotin (a B vitamin). Diachrome acts as an insulin sensitizer which means that it has been clinically demonstrated to enhance your body?s response to insulin. This, in turn, helps maintain your blood sugar control and helps promote healthy cholesterol control.

C. Nature Made? Diabetes Health Pack 60 – scientifically formulated to supply nutritional support for people with diabetes. The Diabetes Health Pack provides essential nutrients that may be lacking due to the strain diabetes can often put on the body?s health.

D. Celestial Seasonings Authentic Green Tea - Black and green tea represent a potentially inexpensive, nontoxic, and, in fact, pleasurable [blood-sugar-lowering] agent. The researchers recommend that tea — black and green — should be studied for an antidiabetes effect in humans.

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E. CoQ10 – CoQ10 may be of slight benefit in diabetics. It helps improve the function of endothelial cells lining blood vessels and may slightly help with blood sugar control.?

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2. Meal/Exercise Plan (similar to the tactical branding plans I develop for my clients): sheet which tracks the following:?

1. Breakfast, Morning Snack, Lunch, Afternoon Snack, Dinner, Evening Snack
2. Calories and Carbs for each meal
3. Total weight lost for week and running totals
4. Exercise, times and calories

Very Low Calorie Diet:?

1. Breakfast: I have coffee with Splenda and Coffee Mate and 1 hard boiled egg. ?Total Calories ? 140, total Carbs ? 6. Drink water.
2. Morning Snack: I have 1 serving of peanuts. Total Calories ? 170, total Carbs ? 5. Drink water.
3. Lunch or Dinner: I have a Myoplex Carb reduced shake. Total Calories ? 140, total Carbs ? 3 or Shirataki Noodles, no calories, no Carbs. Put it with calorie/carb free pasta sauce and you have yourself one great meal. Plus the water soluble fiber is great for diabetes. Drink water.
4. Mid Afternoon Snack: 1 can of chicken. Total Calories ? 130, total Carbs ? 0. Drink water.
5. Dinner/Lunch: Any piece of meat that can fit in the palm of my hand, plus one serving of green veggies. Drink water.
6. Evening Snack: Another Myoplex Carb reduced shake. Total Calories ? 140, total Carbs ? 3. Drink water.

I?m trying to maintain a calorie intake less than 1100 per day with around 20 Carbs per day. Doing this should reduce weight significantly and rapidly. Once I get to my ideal weight I will change the diet to better reflect a 2300 calorie diet per day.?

3. Exercise?

1. This is tough because I?m so out of shape. I?ve decided to walk at a speed of 3mph for 30 minutes. This burns about 150 calories per workout. As I get better I will increase the speed and duration.

So I?ve had two successful days. I feel somewhat hungry but I?m doing well. Drinking the water helps fill you up and the Myoplex shakes have 25 grams of protein. I?ve had two successful days on the treadmill. ?To keep consistent I write everything down in my meal planner.

I will post follow up once a week to monitor my weight. My beginning weight is 230; I?m a very tall 5?9.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 at 7:48 pm and is filed under Branding News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.