But, what if I like to sprint marathons?
The truth is I have never run a marathon, but I would imagine sprinting 26.2 miles is not the best strategy. Such a long distance requires pacing to prevent burnout.
When I was initially diagnosed with diabetes I didn’t fully appreciate how my day-to-day life would change. At my first Endocrinologist appointment the doctor gave me terrible advice , “you need to eat low carb”. What does that even mean? I never once looked at a nutrition label or counted calories, let alone macro nutrients like carbs. I followed up asking her several questions trying to figure out what this all meant. I even gave examples of some healthy meal ideas. Her response, “I wouldn’t recommend an apple with peanut butter as a snack”. WHAT! In this moment I became even more overwhelmed, confused, emotional, and drained. There are tons of issues with what this doctor told me, most notably is that it directly led to me restricting all carbs. I left the doctors office determined to learn and change everything I previously thought about healthy eating. My blood sugar levels were regularly over 450, with an A1C of 14+%. I needed to take control and get sh*t done. I went into full perfectionist mode, full sprint ahead. I completely turned over my pantry, good-bye to my favorite cereals, Swedish fish and my favorite hungover greasy snacks. I immediately cut back on my alcohol intake and removed nearly all carbs from my diet. I could do this, this will be easy, whatever it takes to help my body. As I look back on this time now I am reminded of how it would be nearly impossible to keep up this limited bland diet. I have never been a diet fanatic, so why was I starting now? This isn’t a diet, it is my life!!!!!
Sure, the low-carb diet helped bring down my blood sugar levels BUT my body was now missing important nutrients. For the first time in my life I was “afraid” to eat certain foods because I didn’t know how my blood sugars would react. By not trying and testing foods I was doing more harm than good. It wasn’t until I switched doctors and started talking to more diabetes experts that I learned that there is a way to eat tons of carbs with stable blood sugar levels. I am still only at the beginning of this journey. In the last few weeks I have had to remind myself to be kinder and more forgiving on this marathon called life.
This is hard work. Give yourself credit! There will be highs and lows (quite literally ha!), just remember to have fun along the way.
Be kind to yourself.
-mn
my diabetes diary 