Giving Up

At the left you see what I would love to be able to give up - my daily habit. Hard earned through years of excess and lack of discipline. Pills and injections, none of it performance enhancing, either. At least the drug companies profit from my past and genetic predisposition to diabetes.

To truly give this stuff up, if it is possible to get totally off of all of it, except the non-prescription supplements, is a reversal of the past. Just say no ? That, my friends is the biggest obstacle I face. To change eating habits learned and reinforced over a lifetime is one tall hurdle, one that needs constant vigilance and support.

Everyday life doesn't always agree with my plan of attack. My family is typical in that they mean well, but don't always realize the implications of their well meaning but misguided actions. You just can't eat out or party all the time. There is very little a diabetic can enjoy at McDonalds or Burger King. Fast food= slow death. Time must be made for exercise almost every day. The daily regimen must be planned and followed. At this point, it isn't working that great for me.

With all the information out there, you'd think it would be easy. Unless those close to you take an active roll, failure may be unavoidable. If you're loved one had lung cancer, would you push cigarettes on them? How about drugs? Same deal. A quick survey of our pantry showed nothing but pasta and packaged garbage. None of which I shopped for. Cheap, high carb crap that would never get into my shopping cart. Let's face it, eating well is not inexpensive. But health care for diabetics cost much, much more. I'm lucky to have good insurance, but many aren't so lucky.

I'm going to have to give up many things we enjoy to get the weight and blood sugar down. Being constantly surrounded by temptation is getting the best of me, especially at the campground where it's a constant eating and drinking fest. And none of it healthy, believe me. I'm lucky that I can take off on my bike and ride, but being anti-social is not my style. Less time spent there is the short term solution. Long term is changing our family's understanding of diabetes and getting them on board with what needs to be done to get us all healthy. I will be a long row to hoe. But I think I can do it!