Now living with T2D and medically controlled, I have had to wake up and start living in the real world. I have now changed to a low carb way of eating and I do admit that it has not been easy. I'm not the greatest eater of vegetables - or at least I wasn't - and like the majority of everyone else, I loved my larger portions, of bread and rice and curries etc. However, what I will NOT say is that I am now on a diet. I am now on a life changing exercise. To me, the word diet implies a temporary change in lifestyle to lose some pounds and feel a bit better. There are multi million pound diet companies that exist because of one simple fact - diets don't last! Yes, there will always will be a percentage of people on a diet who will lose weight and keep it off but let's be honest here, it's not many. For example, my last 'diet' treated baked beans as a 'free food' and advocated eating as much of them as I wanted between meals. There are 55g of carbs in a single tin of beans! (or 51g if you go for the low sugar version.)
The only person responsible for my diabetes is staring back at me in the mirror. I have spent 50+ years shovelling the wrong kinds of food down my throat and ignoring the threats of T2D that I read about. It was always 'Someone Else's Problem', not mine.
But not any more.
Like many with T2D, I now have a chance to change myself and hopefully come off the medication, but that's a long term outlook and not a quick fix. Will I miss the old ways? Being honest, I initially thought I would, but not now. My doctor summed it up perfectly to me. He said I could either "sort this out or face the possibility of dying young, but do not believe that being given medication will allow you to carry on as before."
For me, then, there are four phases of T2D:
1. Getting my blood sugars under control
2. Sorting out my food intake to keep no.1 ok
3. Dropping my weight to where it should be
4. Just keep looking in that mirror.
The only person responsible for my diabetes is staring back at me in the mirror. I have spent 50+ years shovelling the wrong kinds of food down my throat and ignoring the threats of T2D that I read about. It was always 'Someone Else's Problem', not mine.
But not any more.
Like many with T2D, I now have a chance to change myself and hopefully come off the medication, but that's a long term outlook and not a quick fix. Will I miss the old ways? Being honest, I initially thought I would, but not now. My doctor summed it up perfectly to me. He said I could either "sort this out or face the possibility of dying young, but do not believe that being given medication will allow you to carry on as before."
For me, then, there are four phases of T2D:
1. Getting my blood sugars under control
2. Sorting out my food intake to keep no.1 ok
3. Dropping my weight to where it should be
4. Just keep looking in that mirror.
