What a Difference a Year Makes...

One year ago today, I found out I have diabetes.  Hooray for family traditions, right?  It's been a tough transition, but lots of good has come from that diagnosis.  I've learned so many things in the past year:

• I need much less food than I'd been eating.
• I can live without soda.
• I don't miss caffeine!  After making it through the withdrawal headache, I go to bed because I am tired (not just because it's late) and sleep better because of it.
• Exercise makes me feel better about myself.
• Losing 28 pounds (and counting!) makes me feel REALLY good about myself!
• If I put good food in my body, I have more energy and my digestive system doesn't get upset with me.
• 2-3 Hershey kisses can satisfy my chocolate cravings.  I don't need a whole candy bar or bag of treats.

Now, that's not to say it hasn't been without struggles!  Oh boy, have there ever been some mental battles fought!  I am a bread lover with a huge sweet tooth.  There are some days when I have had to tell a coworker, "I am NOT going to eat that last cupcake in the teacher's lounge!" or ask my husband to move the dinner rolls out of my reach.  Being accountable to someone else can be a huge help in making dietary or exercise changes.  It is HARD, my friends!  

One thing, though, that has been ever-present through these many months is God's faithfulness.  I know that when I stumble, He will forgive me and give me the strength to keep going.  When I am weak, He is strong.  Romans 8:28 tells us that in ALL things, God works for the good of those who love Him.  No matter what happens in my life, God can and will turn it around and use it for my good and the good of His kingdom!  This holds true for you, too!

As I've browsed through family pictures from recent years, I can't help but remark on how my body has changed and how much I had been deluding myself that it wasn't that bad before.  In my case, I believe God used diabetes to bring about some much-needed changes in my life.  And today, my friends, I want to tell you that if there are some changes you know you need to make for the sake of your health, DO IT NOW!  None of us are getting any younger, and the longer we let things go, the harder they are to correct.  If you need to lose weight, put down the soda, put down the chips, put down the cupcakes and get up!  Go out and walk around the neighborhood!  Take the stairs!  Take the clothes off of the treadmill and use it to walk on!  The hardest thing you have to overcome is your own brain.  Friends, join me in calling BS on our excuses and working to overcome them so we can be physically and mentally healthy!  YOU CAN DO IT!

So Many Carbs, So Frustrating to Eat...

My wonderful husband found these documents on the USDA website not long after I received my diagnosis.  They are an exhaustive list of the amount of carbs per serving of various foods.  I scoured the list, looking for anything that had a carb count in the single digits.

Not long after that, the website switched from showing the information in a .pdf file to making it into a searchable database (much less user-friendly).  Thankfully, we were able to retrieve the documents from our computer's history and save them.  If you have dietary restrictions, a searchable database is not helpful!  Anyway, here they are:

Alphabetical list of foods

List sorted by carb amounts

Land of the Midnight Sun

 

In order for you to understand some of my thinking, I need to tell you about Alaska. 

 

In July of 2013, my church sponsored a team to go on a mission trip to Alaska.  There were 17 of us in all, including me, my husband, and our 2 kids.  It was quite the undertaking and required nearly a year of planning!  It was an amazing opportunity to involve kids in doing God's work. We worked with an organization called Alaska Mission for Christ.  In the summer, they connect Alaskan churches with mission teams from the Lower 48 to head north and run a vacation Bible school.  Many churches do not have the resources & manpower needed to put on their own VBS, so these mission teams provide a vital service.  Depression, alcoholism, and suicide are all too common; the peace and hope of God's unconditional love is a much-needed message.

 

We had enough people for two mission teams.  The larger team was stationed in Anchor Point, while a smaller team headed by fishing boat across Kachemak Bay to Seldovia.  We put on the "Kingdom Rock" VBS and had around 27 kids come to hear God's word - more than we expected!

 

One of the things we emphasized to the kids every day was to be on the lookout for God sightings - anything that reminds you that God loves you and is with you.  It's impossible to be in such a beautiful place and not see the work of the Creator everywhere you look.  The mountains, the ocean, the beaches, the wildlife...it's just breathtaking.  I don't have the words to do it justice (and I'm a pretty wordy girl).  I filled my pockets with pebbles from the beaches to bring back to my friends to remind them that God's love is higher than the mountains, deeper than the oceans, and He holds you in the palm of His hand.  We also have a bowl of rocks - including a chunk of beach coal - on our coffee table to remind us of the same thing.

 

Anyway, I thought my purpose in going to Alaska was to teach kids about God's love for them.  That was true, but it wasn't until later that I found out there was more to the story.  You see, while I was teaching them, God was also using that time to prepare me to lean on Him when I came home and received my diagnosis.  In the months since that trip, I can see Him at work in my life:  I have lost 25 pounds, I put better foods - and a smaller quantity - in my body, I have increased my endurance to be able to run a 5K without stopping, my skin has improved, especially on my hands & feet, I sleep better since I no longer have a Pepsi/caffeine addiction...  I know there are other benefits that aren't coming to mind right now!  Through this diagnosis, God has guided me to make the changes I've needed to make for a long time now, and He's been there for me to lean on every step of the way. 

 

If you are reading this - if you are dealing with the same kinds of issues I am dealing with - I want you to know that there is always hope.  Trust in the Lord; he will never fail you.  To quote a favorite line from my pastor:  "Jesus has been where you are, and he is where you are going."  Amen and amen!

Good News and Bad News

The bad news...I found out about my diagnosis on August 2, 2013, the day after we returned from a mission trip to Alaska.  I had my yearly checkup scheduled for a week or so later, and my doctor had wanted me to get a fasting blood test the year before due to my family history.  I found the lab slip when I was cleaning out a basket of papers before our trip and realized I needed to get it done!  I went in for the test the day before we left and didn't give it any further thought.

When we got home after being gone for 2 weeks, our answering machine was full of messages from my doctor asking me to call him.  Then, when the pile of vacation mail was delivered the next day, there was a letter from him telling me my fasting blood sugar was 308, which did not warrant further testing.  Diabetes was here.

But, here's the good news: Romans 8:28 tells us "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." This is my favorite Bible verse; it has gotten me through a lot of rough times. Diabetes is a stinky diagnosis, but I know that God can and will use it to bring about good things.  He already has!  I have lost 20 pounds and my blood sugar is right where it needs to be.  He is so faithful!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Family tradition

My mother has Type 2 diabetes, and so did her mother before her.  My father has it as well, but I'm not aware of a family history behind his.

I don't know much about my grandmother's diabetes, but she was a tiny woman who did not eat much at all.  My grandfather would often sneak her Hershey bars - even after she moved into a nursing home - and I remember my mother and her sisters being absolutely furious that he would do such a thing.

My mother and her siblings are all large people...unfortunately, I tend to take after her side of the family.  They do not eat well, nor do they always take good care of their health.  My aunt has also been diagnosed with diabetes and suffers from neuropathy in her feet.  My mother does not work and leads a sedentary lifestyle; she also suffers from back pain and is unable to walk more than a short distance without needing to stop and rest.  She bought a nice treadmill and it sits unused in a bedroom.

My mother was diagnosed in the fall of 1999 and has been putting on weight ever since.  It shocks me to look at pictures from my daughter's first birthday party a decade ago and compare that to how she looks today.  My mother, who has never been big on fruits & veggies, has not really changed her diet since the diagnosis.  Knowing what I know now, I don't know how she doesn't have more related health problems (or, maybe she does and hasn't told me...we are not on good terms at the moment).  My kids have come back from overnight visits and told me that Grandma ate a bunch of candy, or downed a bag of Lay's chips.  Reminds me of my grandmother's Hershey bar binges!

I've known for a while that I needed to lose weight so I wouldn't go down that same road.  I want better for myself and my family.  I tried out a great Bible study called Thin Within; I didn't give it my best shot and not much changed.  It wasn't until my diagnosis that I got serious about eating better, exercising, and getting weight off.  From my mother, I have learned what NOT to do when you have high blood sugar.  Diabetes is one family tradition that I don't want to pass on.

Maybe I'll just get a wheel...

I love inappropriate/gallows humor.  I also love 30 Rock, and this clip cracks me up every time!

Complex carbohydrates

This gave me a chuckle in the early days of figuring out diabetes (sent to me by my fabulous sister-in-law, Michelle)!