What Gets Me Fired Up With Diabetes - Food Police

For #DBlogWeek I want to share on the first topic: What gets me fired up?

The food police.

I love eating. I am a huge fan of all types of food. I try my best to eat right, to follow what is considered a good diabetic diet. Low carb, low sodium, low saturated fat…these are the standard normal elements of a diabetic meal plan, along with fiber to help reduce BG spikes and reduce the net carbs, protein, healthy fats, and so forth. Do I stick to this? Um…do YOU? Is your diabetes management perfect? Didn’t think so. So if we are all in this together, and if everybody should have their own unique management plan, then why does every diabetic want to tell me what I can or can’t eat?

Type 1 or type 2, diabetes is absolutely a disease that requires personal, individual planning. Diabetes is frequently lumped together as one big problem that is caused by eating crappy. Sure, we all eat horrible things, but that didn’t cause my diabetes. And yes, there are foods that we should absolutely avoid, but occasional indulgence is not going to ruin me. And yet, when I surf through all of the noise and misconceptions about the diabetic lifestyle and diet, I find a distressingly high number of diabetics defining “the diabetic diet” as if we are all on the same meal plan:

• No potatoes
•  No white bread
•  No sugar
•  No artificial sweeteners
• No pasta
• No rice
• No FRUIT (srsly?)
• No wheat
• No GMO
• No fast food
• No sodium
• No fat
• No food…….

Welcome to veggie town...but only if the plants you consume don’t include corn, peas, or other starchy choices. As a food lover I am not going that route. And, even though I eat a good amount of the above list, my A1C is great, my daily BG results are generally good, I’m in great physical shape, and I’m not feeing deprived. What a great balance for me. Why would another diabetic try so hard to define a plan that we should all be following? What works for you may not work for me. Here is what I have come to understand as truly great advice:

• Count your carbs
• Don’t over-indulge
• Don’t deprive yourself
• Eat plenty of the obviously good choices
• Above all, moderation is key.

My Diabetes Burnout Clarification

After receiving feedback on my last post and rereading, I realize that the content of My Diabetes Burnout seemed a little dark and real-time. The truth of it is, I'm not in a dark place, I'm not in the thick of burnout, and I'm not crying for help. In fact, I think right now I am doing as well as I have ever done, aside from when I was newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and followed everything to the letter, including eating a separate meal from everyone else, more or less.

To be clear, I want to explain where I was coming from on this subject. I went to my diabetes physician yesterday. I found out that I am doing pretty well. I'm certainly doing better than I was when I left my last physician and started seeing this new one. I've increased my number of blood tests per day, which provides better data on how I am doing with the routine; turns out I could be doing better, but I am not doing bad. In fact, he told me that if I'd throw just one more test per day in, I can easily have my A1C right where it needs to be when I see him in a few months.

The other thing that got me thinking about burnout is my job. I work at Alliance Health Networks, specifically on Diabetic Connect. All day every day I read articles about better diabetes care and engage in discussions on the site about the frustrations and difficulties that people face while dealing with this endless process of staying alive with a chronic illness. My heart goes out to them because I have been there. I have definitely been there.

These factors caused me to really think about it yesterday. I thought about my family, my enjoyment of life, and the dark pits from which I have crawled time and time again. I am so thankful for where I currently am with my diabetes patient journey, and I hope I can continue to avoid the burnout. I know some people who are currently struggling with their journey, be it with diabetes or any of life's unfair trials. I sincerely hope that they can find some motivation, whether through my words here, or through the resources I share, to press forward and find peace and joy in life's adventure.

My Diabetes Burnout

The hardest part about living with diabetes is finding and maintaining the give-a-crap. Have you ever done something so long...a job, a sport, a band...that you can't stand to do it anymore? I mean, by the time you've had the last of it, you just want to burn bridges, throw it in the garbage, or would rather die than do it again. Well, same thing here, except, if I do any of the first two, the third is the result. That reality catches up and causes a realization of just how big of an exaggeration "I'd rather die" is.

Type 1 diabetes means my body does not produce any insulin, which is a natural chemical produced in the pancreas that removes excess glucose from the body. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder; it is not caused by eating too much sugar or anything like that, nor is it curable or avoidable. I'm stuck with it. For life...or at least until a reasonable, affordable cure is discovered. Managing this disease takes a lot of attention and structure; doing it right includes frequent blood testing, meal planning, carb-counting, medical supply buying, dosing, stabbing, and that's just the common stuff. There is so much to learn, know, and remember. It's an endless cyclone of "do this" and "don't do that." It's no wonder a distracted, busy, self-destructive individual like me can burnout. Currently, I am doing quite well. But the burnout described above is something that comes and goes.

The burn out is not a thing where now and then I forget to do something, or I went through a rough patch and stopped altogether. It's much bigger and more extensive. I have turned off my insulin pump to make it stop telling me it is empty. I have canceled checkups. I have eaten whatever I want whenever I want. I have ignored my doctor many times. I have gone an entire year without testing my blood sugar even once. I have had an A1C of 10.5. I have experienced blood sugar readings of over 500 many times. Sometimes I wonder how I have survived this long.

For a diabetic, or person with diabetes (some people are super sensitive about which term is used), burnout leads to serious complications, including death. It is imperative that we find ways to maintain or regain motivation. To avoid diabetes burnout, I recommend spending some time on Diabetic Connect.

My Diabetic Life

My pancreas sucks. Most people have a fine pancreas. It does what it is meant to do, making digestive enzymes and what not…but unlike most people’s pancreas, MINE decided, 15 years ago, that it was done with one very crucial function: making insulin.
It’s a sad tale, 18 year old high school student loses a ridiculous amount of weight, most of his vision, and any degree of motivation or stamina to even walk. Then a doctor tells him, “you’ve got the diabeedis,” and sends him across the street to the ER, dragged only by his poor little mother, and thrown in a wheelchair at the entrance to be admitted mere minutes before comatose takes over. Luckily the boy wakes up. And when he does, he begins the short road to recovery and starts a new life as a regular dude with an affinity for needles, granted continued existence on a day to day basis, like a temporary worker who continues to work on the project as long as he completes all required tasks in a very timely manner.
It’s not all that dire really. Sad sad beginnings I suppose, but it did not take long to compromise with the disease and establish a middle ground where I do things somewhat my way and my body does things somewhat his way. The real challenge here is the continued effort of eating better, testing my blood more frequently, ensuring proper diabetes management. It’s no easy task, especially for one such as me who has let things slide over the years. But I am still in good health and have both of my feet and my vision is good (knock on wood). I am trying to find new ways to motivate myself to improve, even if only for my wife and kids’ sake.