I have made a pledge today in relation to my Diabetes. I pledge to walk 15 minutes after each meal. That's it. I am not setting a goal about pace, length, or process- only duration. 15 minutes. I want to get into this habit to help break into other, better, habits.
I read something online today, and I immediately stopped to reflect:
"When you have diabetes, food is hard. Food is math. Food is guilt."
As a Type 2, this is so very accurate. Food is hard. What will set off my sugar levels? What has hidden sugars? What carbs will kill me later on? Am I eating too much fat? Too little protein? Too much starch? And with those questions comes the next reality: Food is MATH. Hello, world, there's a reason why I teach ENGLISH!! I've been using the phone app "My Fitness Pal" and I do have to admit that it's been eye opening. Certain foods are so much worse than I realized. One of my biggest realizations is that I often would drink my calories in my Starbucks yummy drinks. Since I'm working at home this year, it's been easy to cut out, but boy did that cause some raised eyebrows!
But the biggest of these is that "food is guilt."
When I was first diagnosed as a T2, my first thought was, "Great. I am a statistic. I'm a fat-American statistic. I did this to myself." I covered myself in guilt for what I could have changed and what I should have done differently. Living in the past doesn't help and doesn't change anything. Instead, it's important to keep moving forward. I can't change the fact that I'm here. But I can make better and healthier choices in the future to change where I'll BE.
So, if you're anything like me, Cut The Guilt out of your Diet. Stop beating yourself up.
And today, World Diabetes Day, make one small change to your lifestyle to better yourself. You can get some ideas for what to cut out here: http://www.diabeticconnect.com/diabetes-awareness-month
Thanks :)
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