And certainly, for those of us who don't take insulin injections or one of the sulfonylureas we can set our goal even lower.

That's because we have to understand the different between normal and optimal. For example, two-thirds of all American adults are overweight. Thus it has become normal in our culture to be overweight. Likewise, the average American gets little exercise, and that is also normal. We know that being a chubby couch potato isn't optimal.

"I'm going to aim to be in the lower end of the normal A1C range," my favorite CDE tells me, "because that is what I believe is optimal for human health." And now that I know my A1C is in the normal range I am still going to do my best to bring it down as much as possible. Are you?