It All Hangs In The Balance

I'm no doctor or nurse. In fact, I'm not a trained health professional at all. And I know that each body is different. Some of us are older than others. We represent different genders and body types. Some of us jump out of planes for fun. And some of us can't get out of bed. It's complicated. But I hope that, if I communicate anything at all in these posts, one of the principal messages that comes across is that balance is key to managing diabetes.

When I was diagnosed with our shared condition in February of 2008, all I heard was, "Here's a list of everything you ever loved about food and drink that you can't ever eat or drink again" (a list four feet long) "and here's a list of what you can eat and drink from this point forward" (a list that fit tidily on one page of a 4" x 6" notebook). New information was coming at me so fast, I couldn't possibly catch it all, let alone understand it. So I got some of it confused. And I got some of it wrong. And I missed some of it altogether. Not to mention brushing some of it aside until later -- years later, actually -- because it was complicated and my brains were already stir-fried.

Learning how to manage diabetes (like learning anything else) is a process. You don't learn how to read in an afternoon. You don't learn how to drive from a book. You don't learn how to play tennis by buying a racket. You don't learn how to make a marriage or build a business overnight (partly because they keep unfolding and you have to adjust). Babies don't come with operating instructions. And you don't learn everything you'll ever need to know about diabetes from the diabetic nurse educator or dietitian you meet when you're diagnosed (assuming you get to meet one).

So how in the hell do we figure it all out?

It might surprise you to know that there's no magic one-size-fits-all answer to that question. That's why so many of us run when we hear the word "diabetes." We duck our head, look over our shoulder, and hustle to the buffet line as if we can stay one step ahead of the Diabetes Monster by just moving fast enough. But the reality is that this choice is right up there with jumping off a bridge -- only slower. It shortens your life. It breaks other people's hearts. And it's unnecessary, no matter how it feels at the time.

What do I do without? Sweet tea, huge gooey desserts, all-you-can-eat specials, and elevators. But now that I've learned how to balance my diet and my exercise, I'm enjoying such pleasures as rich coffee drinks, bagels with cream cheese and fresh sliced strawberries, granola, cookies, and chocolate --  every day. I talk about this in my book, Your Life Isn't Over ~ It May Have Just Begun! But some of it, I learned just recently when I made the decision to stop eating meat. As I went in this new direction, I thought only of what I was going to lose, not yet realizing that the increased fiber in my diet from all the beans I was going to eat was going to affect the way my body processes carbohydrates. Who knew?

So yes, I'm not eating meat any more, but the whole wheat bagels and Bear Naked Honey Almond soft baked granola mentioned above are recent additions to my menu and happy ones at that. I had missed them both greatly.

What am I trying to say here today? That nobody enjoys playing tennis until they get good at it. That being behind the wheel of a car can be frightening until you get the hang of it. And that being a parent (especially a mother) can sometimes be a head butt. Everything is a process and nothing is always fun. But if you stick with it, managing your diabetes will become easier and, with balance, your life will get better than you ever thought possible. I know because mine has.