**Note: I do not intend to appear judgmental about anyone by writing this post. It’s strictly about me and what’s right for me.**
Yesterday, I was visiting with a friend who had just come from watching over a diabetic friend who had been having an insulin reaction. She told me that her friend was diagnosed as a diabetic at the age of eight and now, over 40 years later, this is just one of the challenges she has been confronted with in living with this disease. The concern in her eyes and voice was obvious.
While walking Rabi downtown this morning, as we always do, we saw an employee of Conoco-Phillips making her way in to work. This extraordinarily heavy woman was on one of those walker devices that also contains a seat. She was sitting in the seat and moving her way up the sidewalk using her legs. She had to stop and rest after going a little way.
How are these two incidents related? They made me stop and pay attention.
David and I stopped eating flour and sugar regularly back in November of 2009. I had started to notice that including these items in my diet, made my joints hurt. First my knees, then my hips, then my hands. David noticed that his nose would get big and red.
When we stopped eating flour and sugar, I immediately felt better and David’s nose started looking normal. We both lost weight.
I’ve been working really hard these past few weeks trying to get everything thrown out and packed up. My diet has slid. When it’s 106 degrees and you’re loading a dumpster with garbage, a cold beer sure does taste good. There were times when I just wasn’t that hungry or didn’t want to fix something myself and I’d grab a sandwich out.
So on top of all of the over use stress on my body from the pure physicality of what I was doing, I also wasn’t fueling myself for optimal performance.
I started thinking about this last night hearing about my friend’s friend and again this a.m. when I saw the heavy woman on the walker. Now, I don’t know for sure why the woman this a.m. was so heavy she had to use that walker. But what I do know is that if I put myself in her shoes, I’m that heavy because I’ve eaten wrong and hurt my joints to a point where I’m severally overweight and unable to walk on my own. I don’t want to be that woman.
My friend’s friend has no options. She’s had to live with a lifelong diagnosis of diabetes and as much as she lives right, exercises, eats right, she still isn’t completely in control.
I AM in control. I only have to keep the sugar and flour out of my diet and I feel great, my weight decreases, and I sleep better. So why don’t I do this? Well, I am definitely more convinced than ever that I will be on top of it from now on.
I am going to be a grandma in March. I want to be able to get down on the floor and play with my grandkids. I don’t want achy joints to be what stops me. 🙂