Most likely you were newly diagnosed with diabetes… What next? During the 30 minutes session that you had with your doctor, you found out that this is a chronic disorder, that you need to change your diet, exercise, take your pills and that’s it! Stepping out of the office suddenly you feel a huge burden on your shoulders… You don’t see the sun shining anymore, nor the laughing children running around! Someone is selling hotdogs and you wonder: Can I eat that from now on?
Going home you start googling diabetes and you discover that there are several types: 1 and 2, the most common ones. What’s the difference? Then you keep on reading and realize the outcomes of this disease: that can be really overwhelming! Why you? How did this happen? How come you didn’t feel it before? What now?? You might start blaming yourself, get something to eat to comfort your mind but in the end you feel guilty again! And there is so much information everywhere… So many diets… Some people say you should follow keto, others might say that Mediterranean is the best choice, or maybe paleo is the better? What about those unwanted outcomes: blindness, strokes, limb amputation, dementia, neuropathy, digestive problems, incontinence, heart issues, kidney failure etc? That’s too much a person can take!
You might feel lonely and misunderstood, but you’re not! Every 10th person in this world is a diabetic! That means that if you go to a party of 30 invites, there are 3 diabetic people there! If you go to a 400 invites wedding, there will be around 40 diabetic persons! If you go to a 10’000 people event, 1’000 are diabetics! 1 in 3 Americans is pre-diabetic and 90% of them do not even know it; 25% of them will develop diabetes within 3 to 5 years! You are not alone! Trust me, you can fight this back! You can live a normal life if you work together with your medical team, take your medication and, most importantly, embrace a healthy diet!
Me and my mom, we’ve been through a lot together and I am here to tell you that, if we did it, you can do it too! No, you will not heal as diabetes will always be just around the corner if you go back to your old habits. Diabetes is about braking patterns, making new choices, replacing your old habits with new ones, replacing your favorite food with new favorite foods. Diabetes is about living healthy, eating healthy. That is why I call it “sweet enemy and friend”. You can reverse it, keep it under control so you won’t have to deal with its unwanted outcomes. You will see that, if you act now, if you don’t ignore it, diabetes can really become your “sweet friend” who will teach you how to live a healthy life! Your body will be forever grateful!