I can personally vouch for the whole “yo-yo diet” statement. You diet to lose a bunch of weight, but when you stop dieting and go back to your old ways, guess what happens?
That’s why they recommend lifestyle changes. These just become part of your daily routine – you just make it your way of life.
This post however is not about dieting.
I often feel like managing my diabetes is a lot of work. Made up of a bunch of little tasks and challenges, events and reactions, planning and counting, counting and calculating.
I often get burned out. I get tired of all the counting and calculating, the planning, the reacting to events that always happen at the wrong time (is there ever a good time for a problem or low BG?). I get frustrated. Why do I have to count out 12 chips or weigh out my 2 ounces of noodles (who came up with these “serving” sizes anyways?). Why do I have to start planning for my lunchtime basketball the night before?! I could go on and on about what frustrates me.
That is the way it is. These are the things I must do to take care of myself. This goes on forever and ever – there is no end in sight.
But you see, my mindset is all wrong. I can’t look at these things as “work” or “tasks” or “interruptions”. This is my lifestyle. Do you see where I’m going with this?
Part of my inspiration comes from Ryan Bruner. Ryan has a zillion things going on at any given time, and his diabetes management is just part of his lifestyle. I had an e-mail conversation with him many years ago regarding his Logbook DM palm pilot software (which is great by the way).
I’m not exactly sure how it came up, but I asked him how the heck he has “spare” time to work on this project with all the other stuff he has going on? I mentioned that for me, just trying to manage my diabetes felt like a full-time job! Part of his reply has really stuck with me since then. It was how his diabetes management was just part of his life – he didn’t really give it any additional thought. He does what he needs to, and that’s just that! Really no additional thought about it. He works on this other stuff the way anyone else would handle their hobby or project or whatever else they wanted to do.
It is his lifestyle.
That is what I’m working on. First step for me is to identify habits that are not good for me (fast food breakfasts for example), and work to replace them with habits that are beneficial.
I’ve taken on the mindset that managing my son’s diabetes is just a part of our lives like brushing our teeth or getting dressed. If I thought of life before his diagnoses and how relatively carefree life was, I’d go stark raving mad.
But, you’ve been going through this for 25 yrs while I’ve had the “privilege” for only 3 yrs.
I think you are doing great just by looking for a way to cope rather than throwing your hands up and saying “F it!” I think, by reading your blog, that you are doing a fantastic job taking care of your diabetes. Plus, you don’t have any complications…you must be doing something right.
Good luck with the changes Scott. What we do in our lifestyle is so important in the long term, but it sure is tough to make changes sometimes. But do remember that for some, managing d is a bit easier or a bit harder than for others. If it were easy for everyone then it wouldn’t be known as a challenge or unpredictable. You can only do your best, and your best should always be good enough.