#280 Billy Gardell Hearts Health
Scott Benner
Billy Gardell from Mike & Molly, Bob Hearts Abishola & Young Sheldon…
Billy Gardell (Mike & Molly, Bob Hearts Abishola, Young Sheldon) shares how it felt to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
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Scott Benner 0:00
Welcome to Episode 280 of the Juicebox Podcast. Today's show is sponsored by companion medical makers of the in pen. In pen is a smart insulin pen that talks to your Dexcom and its own app, giving you the functionality of an insulin pump. It'll keep track of things like insulin on board, the temperature of your insulin, all kinds of cool stuff, you really have to check it out. There are links in your show notes that Juicebox Podcast COMM But you can always go to companion medical comm to find out more. All right, we have a treat today. A special guest. I think I remember Billy gardell first from Bad Santa. I very much enjoyed Billy's work again on my name is are all a television show with Jason Lee from I think back in 2007 that I adored. After that I saw Billy again where we all did his hit television show Mike and Molly where he and Melissa McCarthy played a married couple. More recently, Billy has been on young Sheldon and today he is again starring in his own show, Bob hearts abishola, which will tell you a little bit about later. But first I'm going to talk to Billy about what it was like to be diagnosed with type two diabetes.
Billy Gardell 1:15
Everyone's always talking about the differences between type one and type two diabetes. But the one thing that's absolutely the same is how it feels to be diagnosed with a disease have to adjust your life and come to terms with what's going on. And that's what Billy is here to talk to us about today. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan.
Unknown Speaker 1:59
Okay, man, it's a billy I'm not
Unknown Speaker 2:00
gonna waste time introducing, I'll do that when you're not on the clock.
Unknown Speaker 2:03
Sure.
Billy Gardell 2:05
So I have four questions. And my first one, my first one is this. I had a health scare this year where I had some symptoms that mimic type two. And right when a doctor just put it in my head, I got home and I couldn't bring myself to eat. And and yeah, just because of the fear. And I was wondering how how that diagnosis initially impacted you? Well, it was it was really scary. You know, I've been lucky, you know, my whole life, I've really never had any trouble. And the way I found out mine was the way a lot of people would type to find out, you know, a lot of people are walking around undiagnosed. And I had gotten my checkup and my physical and we did a battery of blood tests. And my a one c came back. I think it was seven, two. And so that sent off all the alarms and whistles and I had the same exact effect man, I because I was like when I got home, I was scared to eat something. Because once they inform you, you know what type two can do to you if it's untreated. And if you let it go Can you know can really cause a lot of damage to your body. And it does scare you into thinking oh my god, I have to learn how to manage this thing. And in the meantime, you do have a panic about everything you put in your mouth at the same exact reaction. Yeah, mine was really inflamed because my daughter has type one diabetes. It's why I have this podcast. Oh, okay. I understand the impact of food on blood sugar. And I just stood in my kitchen, those my wife said she doesn't think I ate for a day and a half. Yeah, I think I think I about felt the same way. And then I got into this obsessive thing about taking a walk the minute I ate anything, you know, just trying to burn it. So my body would you know, except for the right way.
Unknown Speaker 3:51
See, I'm glad you're talking about it like this, because people have
Billy Gardell 3:54
note with type two don't usually speak really honestly about it. And I think this is what people need to hear. It's just a completely misunderstood thing. Yeah, and I think it's important to to say it and one of the reasons I joined the my type two Transformation Program was because I couldn't if I committed to that I wasn't able to deny it. Yeah, you know what I mean? The one of the reasons I got on board was not only one it's changed everything for me and really improved everything. But the other side of it was if you put a spotlight on it, you can't hide from it. And I figured, you know if I if I can do it, maybe other people will see that and they'll try to take care of it too. Because you know, I've been a big guy my whole life. I know how to play the denial game with food. You know? I can I can still waddle by a mirror and go Alex All right. A shadow that you know and and by putting the spotlight on it. I think that's what's helped me start to treat it. Yeah. Would you call that accountability? Or is it just the idea that you know, I find even this podcast which is now five years old and has like well over a million downloads and it's doing something. Thank you very much. But my point is, is that when I put it out the first time, I had this idea. And I thought, let me just say it out loud, so I can't back out of it. Yeah, that was my that was exactly how I felt. Man, I felt the same way when I decided to do this, because I just I needed to pull the curtain back, you know, so there was no place to hide from it. Because I don't think you can change or overcome anything until you first accept it. And I think that kind of helped me accept it. How long
Unknown Speaker 5:28
ago? Did this happen to you? How long ago? were you diagnosed?
Billy Gardell 5:31
I want to say it was about 15 months, about 15 months ago, I found out it's really new for you, then well, yeah, I mean, but I don't know how long they once he was, you know, out of control. Before that, it just, that's when I got the blood tests back and realized it was seven, two. So I don't know how long I've been walking around with it beforehand, you know, but I gotta say, since doing the my tape to transformation stuff, you know, the combination of exercise, diet and medication, that I feel a lot completely different. Like, I used to be way more lethargic. And, you know, sometimes my vision would be a little bit blurry. And you know, or sometimes you just find yourself, you know, falling half asleep midday. And so that stuff has gone away. And I'm very grateful for that. You know, I interviewed Anthony Anderson once and his he spoke about when he was growing up how his father had problems like that, and they just really didn't do anything about it like something like blurred vision that you would think would make stand you up and go, I gotta go to a doctor and find out what this is. Yeah, well, I think your first reaction is just I must be tired. That's not it, you know, there's something much more heavy going on. Absolutely. So I guess the next thing I want to understand is, once you're acclimated to the idea, I have type two diabetes, what were the first number of steps you took to try to improve things for yourself? Well, the first step I took was, you know, making a plan with my doctor, and, and deciding which medication was going to be right for me, and how did you start changing diet and exercise. And then I was through my agent and a friend, they told me about this program that might try to transformation and we were contacted by them and and once I understood what they were trying to do, and research the program a little bit found out it was right for me, man, I just I dived in. And then you know, I'm a big believer that I'm one of those guys that if I can do it, anybody can do it. Yeah. You know what I mean? If I can, if I can try to pull this together, then I think anybody can and, you know, if you can inspire someone to change something for the better in their life, you know, that's a good thing. I believe you will I I've seen just what the podcast does for people living with type one. And I think that that one of the first things people need is a sense of community, and an idea that somebody else understands what's happening. Like it's not just happening to you. Right and and, and, and I think opening your mouth and talking about it, it cuts the fear down, because then you're able to address it.
Scott Benner 8:08
Well, I'm a huge proponent of what you're doing. Because as somebody who's been no of course is I've been in the diabetes me for so long. What I've seen is, like I said, community helps people with type one, there's a huge community around type one, but it's hard to get a type two community going. And sometimes I think that's just because people don't want to put the label on themselves that they have type two diabetes, did you think about that before us started?
Billy Gardell 8:31
You know, man, I I'm at a place in my life where I just want to be around as long as I can be here for my son, and as long as I can annoy my wife. So that was that was motivating enough for me to go, you know, I gotta, I gotta accept that this is real. I think you know, the things you don't accept is the things that kill you. And I imagine you don't have to worry about work because you're like a Chuck Lorre player now at this point. So it's like old time along the way, man. I tell you, man, I the fact that I'm in another Chuck Lorre show is, I mean, one time is hitting the lottery. I don't know what you would call this. I'm starting to feel like that Irish guy goes out in the woods and gets hit by lightning every time. I said to my wife, I was like, you know, Billy's gonna come on the podcast. And she's like, Oh, he's on mom. I'm like, No, I think you're thinking of another show. And she goes, No, I think he's a mom to
Unknown Speaker 9:22
know they're just film right across the street from us.
Unknown Speaker 9:24
So then this went through a whole conversation where I'm like, I think you're thinking of the guy from The Three Stooges movie and
Scott Benner 9:32
right, so we're going back and forth the living room and having this like conversation. I'm like, Kelly, you're wrong. So we whip it up and we look and she goes, Oh, you're right. I was like, I know it. Is. It made me think of if you ever heard Kevin Smith speak he's like everyone always calls me Kevin James it mean it gave me the same feeling.
Unknown Speaker 9:51
Anyway,
Unknown Speaker 9:53
I so I want to understand the the web series a little bit is it Where can I watch it First of all, and what's its intent You can go to my type two transformation calm. And it lays out an option for you to have a tool for every part of treating diabetes, type two diabetes, there's an exercise program that's specifically designed and it has three levels, there's an easy, intermediate and hard, you kind of work your way up through that. So you can start anywhere, you don't have to be an athlete to start, you know what I mean, you can, there's simple exercises that get you moving and to get you into you build your strength, and then you move to the next level. There, we have a chef on there showing different kinds of diabetes friendly recipes that actually taste good, because, you know, when when you think you got to eat healthy, everything's chicken and broccoli, and then you snap it. So this is a bunch of wonderful options on how to cook flavorful, healthy foods, that, that help keep your type two diabetes under control, then there's the medication aspect of it, all the information is on the mind type two transformation website. And then we even had life coaches come in about shifting that thinking about accepting this thing, and about understanding that this is something it's a disease and has to be managed and the acceptance of that. So showing that journey, I think, like I said, My hopes are, that someone will watch it and go, who was who was thinking, you know what, I'm just going to ignore this, someone sees me doing it and goes, you know, what, if he put himself out there, then I can go investigate this with with with my physician.
Scott Benner 11:29
So let's hit on a couple of those things. Because food habits are huge, right? Like, sometimes you think you know what I mean? Like, you figure it Look, type two, part of it has to be, you know, I'm sure it's genetic, and, but it's also exercise, and it's food, and it's all that stuff that got you there. So the point is, your brain works one way around food, and then all of a sudden, somebody tells you, they can't do this anymore. That doesn't mean you just flip a switch. And because you would have done that 30 years ago, if that was possible.
Unknown Speaker 11:55
Absolutely. You know, I you know, I've gotten away with being a big guy my whole life, you know, but you cannot run a fact, and you cannot run a number. And, and the shift in food, you know, I came from a house where it was like, you know, we had a bad day, let's see, we had a good day. Let's see. So, you know, and I'm also from that generation where it was like finish your plate, right? people starving and other parts of the world, finish your plate. And, and that's, you know, that's wiring, you can't undo, you know, 30 years of wiring and two weeks. So it's a gradual progression, I still don't do it perfectly, but I'm getting better at it every day. Because, again, accepting it and dealing with it. And like I said, The thing I like about this program is you go online, and anything you need is there the tools for cooking tools for exercising information about medication, and and then about, you know, the shift in your brain that you have to make because I have always had an unhealthy relationship with food. You know, I've got you know, pizza is not a reward and Apple is and it takes time to learn that when you're a big guy, you know, people who have never struggled with their weight, don't quite understand that. They just want to tell you this data, seaweed chip, what doesn't work that way, how long? How long did it take you before eating in that way didn't leave you hungry? You know, I'm still not perfect at it. But I would say probably the better part of the year, you know, and I still mess up once in a while. And again, it's it's about progress, not perfection. So, you know, I know to get right back on my horse, like whereas before, you know, if I was trying to watch my food, and I had a bad meal, well, then I was having a bad meal for three months, and then finally getting started again. And now I've just kind of learned that if you do mess up, okay, you know, you lose one game, but you maybe win the series, so you get back on it for the rest of the week. You know,
Scott Benner 13:45
I taught myself um, I'm not a lean person. And I taught myself I used the baked potato fast at Penn jillette talks about sometimes. I don't know if you've ever worked on it. So he just you just eat these baked potatoes, as many as you want. It doesn't matter and what you learn over the first couple days or what I learned was first of all, I don't really like baked potatoes. I like butter and salt.
Unknown Speaker 14:07
And the the mass
Unknown Speaker 14:08
of potatoes with nothing on it
Billy Gardell 14:11
yet. Yeah, nothing. It's terrible. And so, so you eat it. I'm Irish and that doesn't sound good. fills you up. And it's got enough nutrients in it. So I do this thing one time and I lose 15 pounds in like seven days. Wow, it was insane. And I and but I I walked away from it thinking, you know, by the third day, you're like, I don't want a potato. And I'm not really that hungry. Yeah. And it rewired sort of my taste buds. It was really interesting. I found when I really cut out eating sugar and white flour and stuff like that, like once you get off it takes a week or two to really adjust to that. But once you get off and you start to feel better, you don't feel as bloated. You don't feel as swollen or lethargic. And then you you realize what that stuff's done to your body. Yeah, it's And then once once you have that moment, I think it helps put a little wind in your sails. I agree. How was it? Or I guess, how often do you test your blood sugar? And are you considering a continuous glucose monitor? I do I do every day just because I like to see where my number is and make sure that I'm, you know, that's a that's a, that's a wonderful thing to be able to check your blood sugar every day. Because you can, you can realize, okay, well, what did I yes, should have made it go up like, and it's funny, because everybody's different, everybody's gonna have a different reaction to everything, like, pasta doesn't really mess with me, but I just stay off of it. Because I don't want it to trigger another kind of carb. But like, you know, you learn, okay, I can have an apple and not too much happens. But if I have a banana, my numbers go up. So you kind of It's a neat way to learn how to track what it is that affects your blood. And that way you can try to keep your numbers consistent. Yep, I'll tell you, if you ever interested there's something called the Dexcom g six. It's a continuous glucose monitor, you'd wear it and you would see your blood sugar direction and speed. Constant. Oh, wow. It's really cool. You'll see it on your phone, what they call Dexcom g six, it's a continuous glucose monitor. My daughter wears one. It's how we manage her insulin. It's fantastic. So important, man. And and like I said, being able to check those numbers every day is it's vital. You know, it's like checking the temperature gauge in your car.
Scott Benner 16:19
Yeah. So I have one last question for you. And then yeah, I know you're on a short timeframe here. The idea of sharing with your spouse. So I know a person who was diagnosed with type two diabetes, and didn't tell their spouse for a decade, thought him thought it made him look weak, was embarrassed that this whole kind of thing. And sometimes people want the support of a spouse and sometimes they don't. I was wondering how you're integrating your family into what you're doing?
Unknown Speaker 16:48
Well, you know, I immediately told my wife, you know, we've been to we've been together 20 years from now I've been married 18. So there's nothing we don't talk about. You know, but I can understand that kind of mentality where you think, Oh, it's weak. But you know, what I've found is I've gotten a little bit older is, you know, being tough and hiding something that's wrong with you does not make you tough, it makes you suffer. I think that real strength is saying, you know, I need help. I don't know how to do this. Can you help me? I agree. And and my wife was incredibly responsive. She got rid of everything that tasted good in the house the next day. I said to my wife one day, I was like, I know you think that candy looks nice in that bowl at Christmas time. But could you please not put it in there? There's more Hershey's Kisses. You can put a hand chopping machine in front of it. I'm still going Oh, see, you and I might be the same person. Just like I'm looking at it. I'm like, I'll take one. Look how small it is. I've never even one of anything. It's like when you see on the side of a package of cookies serving size Three, two weeks, three, three cookies. You don't deserve to have.
Unknown Speaker 17:56
Those cookies aren't meant for you damn it.
Unknown Speaker 18:00
Oh my gosh.
Unknown Speaker 18:02
If I can take one more second from her. Yeah, you have a new TV show. And I was wondering if you could take Tell me a little bit about it. Sure. It's called Bob hearts abishola. It's on CBS Monday nights at 837 30 Central. And Chuck Lorre show. And it's very kind show, which I think people are thirsty for these days. And it's a sweet little story about a guy who owns a compression sock factory and a business and has a heart attack because of the stress of his own business. And when he wakes up, there's a nurse there abishola and she's Nigerian descent. He's got this strong kind presence that Bob has kind of taken by and he decides in that moment, even though they're very different that you know what, I'm just going to see if this woman will give me a chance. And I think it's something we can read for nice. Do you do you chase after her with the same stuff you bug your wife with?
Unknown Speaker 18:58
Now, you
Billy Gardell 19:00
know, I think all the married writers kind of contribute to that. So I think we all kind of have that collaboration as writers, the writing is so good on this shows, you don't really have to add anything you know, you just wait for the scripts to come really cool. Well, congratulations. It's a It's amazing. Thank you, man. I've seen a recent picture of you. You obviously are on the right track. Would you mind sharing with people? How much weight Have you lost since you were diagnosed? You know what, man, I haven't been watching the scale. So I know that I've taken a chunk down. I used to be the guy that was on the scale every single day and I haven't looked in about seven months. That's amazing. I gotta tell you, it's kind of freeing. I'm just looking and I'm moving better and my clothes are fitting better. And that's what I've been going on. I'm almost at the point now where I'm superstitious to do it. Look at that. Yeah, I mean, just as a person who just sees you obviously through a screen, and it's obvious to me. Yeah, and that's, I like seeing it that way rather than going I went up to I went down three, I went up four I went down. So I kind of got away from that and just started doing what I was supposed to do. seeing the results, like you said, seeing it on camera or seeing it in the mirror, you're like, Okay, alright, that feels better. That looks better. Let me just keep going. It's a healthy attitude. Would you say your mindset is completely changed around your health in the last year? I would say it's on its way. And I'm really glad because I, I'm a stubborn guy, you know. So it's, it's been nice to have this change happened. Very cool. Give me the web address one more time for the series. It's my type two transformation.com.
Unknown Speaker 20:28
Really, thank you so much for coming on and doing this. I really appreciate you taking
Scott Benner 20:30
Thank you, my man, keep doing what you're doing and my best your daughter and I appreciate it. Take care. Okay. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, that was televisions Billy gardell. Billy, by the way, also does a lot of stand up. You can find out more about his tour schedule at Billy gardella.com. It's ga r d e Ll Billy gardella.com. And to find out more about my type two transformation, just go to my type two transformation. com Please remember that the podcast does not exist without the sponsors. And today's episode was sponsored by companion medical makers of the in pen. Those of you using multiple daily injections or just one of those regular old dumb pens, you should upgrade to a smart pen. I think you'll find that in pen is very affordable and will add a level of control to your life. That is probably so far alluded to companion medical comm check out the pen.
You know I have a little music left here. So let me say I really enjoyed hearing someone's perspective about type two diabetes today. I genuinely believe that type two does not have a bright enough light shined on it. And that there are so many people living with it or living undiagnosed. The information really needs to get out there. So if you know somebody with type two diabetes, share this episode with them. Maybe hearing Billy share so openly about what it's like to have tight to will help someone else to not be so scared to share to ask a doctor to ask a friend or family member for help something to reach out to feel like a sense of community where there may be isn't one
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