One of the hardest struggles I have as a diabetic, is maintaining a healthy weight. Both my diabetes and asthma medications promote weight gain. It’s a vicious cycle. Medicine heals me and hurts me. I can’t live without the one, yet the side effects of the medications slow my metabolism to a halt. As a diabetic, I’ve discovered that diet and exercise alone, works only as long as my disease remains constant. When my disease progressed, and my A1c shot up from a low 6.2 up to a high 7.0, I had no other choice, but to go on medication. I learned the hard way, that diet and exercise is not a guarantee that one will always be successful at staying off of medication.
Diabetes is a complex disease, and it amazes me that there are those self-styled “wellness doctors,” who argue that diabetes is the patient’s fault. They’re lazy, glutinous, and even want to stay sick. Thank you very much. My best efforts did not create a miracle. My diabetes was not cured, because of some whole grain muffin worshiper and media doctor to the stars. My diet and exercise program merely delayed my need for diabetes drugs, as I denied my need for muffins.
After four-and-a-half years on my treadmill, five days a week, and a half hour a day, I was beaten by a terrible side effect of my disease – diabetic neuropathy – which is, basically, the death of the nerve cells in my feet. The neuropathy caused so much pain, I could barely stand. Staying on my treadmill was agonizing, and the weight that I had lost over those years, simply piled back on. I felt that God was punishing me, and I couldn’t figure out what I had done wrong. I had tried to be obedient, and obviously I failed.
It didn’t help that every TV anchor with a perky personality, and no medical training, suddenly became an “expert” on diabetes.
“Yes, Jeff, those pictures of fat stomachs are alarming, as well as, just gross. Tee-hee!”
“I know, Amanda (wink-wink), it’s such an abomination that people would let themselves go, like that, especially with diabetes. Everyone knows (the great deity of no one knows), that Type II diabetes can be controlled, always (by everyone), with diet and exercise. Don’t these diabetics understand that they can lose a foot or kidney function or their sight, and even their lives?!”
Ah, yes, Jeff…we do. Every day. With each breath. And yet we live our lives, thanking God for each glorious sunrise, that you, dear old Jeff, just might miss. And we sure do appreciate your condemnation and contempt for those of us struggling with our weight, as we battle a terrible disease.
And diabetes? According to Jeff, being overweight caused the diabetes. Just ask those, who only think they know, and they will fill you with humiliation and despair. But don’t give up. Don’t listen to them! They are wrong. No one knows exactly what causes diabetes. If they knew, there would be a cure. Diabetes, itself, causes weight-gain in 80% of diabetics. The other 20%? They struggle with extreme weight-loss, and it is not a blessing. It’s yet another symptom of diabetes. It you have diabetes, and you are struggling to maintain your weight, those extra pounds are not your fault! If you really DO practice secret eating, gorging with high sugared foods, well, then you have more problems than weight gain. Secret sugar-y eating can cost you your life!
Diabetes makes it difficult for the body to fight off other diseases. The flu. Asthma. Lupus. And many others. Then you have medications, which definitely promote weight gain. Prednisone. Anti-depressants. Blood pressure medications. And, the greatest offenders, diabetes medicines themselves. Feel like it’s just not worth it? Don’t listen to your negative self, especially when society already has written you off as a closet, chocolate cake eater. Don’t give up!
There are wonderful medications for diabetic neuropathy – that horrible stabbing, burning, stinging pain in your feet. They can get you back on your feet. One of the most effective for me is Metanx. Metanx is a vitamin compound, which enters the blood stream immediately, and it not only protects the nerves, it can actually heal them. Other nerve medications which help me with other neurological conditions are Lyrica, for my fibromyalgia, and Lamictal for my trigeminal neuralgia. These may, or may not, be diabetes related, but these medicines definitely help me.
I’m very aware that my extra forty pounds do not help the neuropathy in my feet; nor does my weight gain ease my osteoarthritis. So, here I am, much as you may be, overweight, in barely managed pain, needing to get on that treadmill, yet often finding it agonizing, just to place my feet down on the floor. So it irritates me to have some scrawny, salad eating, ten-mile a day runner – who desperately NEEDS a sandwich – sit in judgment on me! One day that woman will be suffering from advanced osteoporosis, due to her continuous dieting, and as she struggles to run a mile, she can shout out her disapproval of me, then! I feel angry and hurt, that there are people, who don’t even know me, and yet they judge me, as well as other diabetics, who are simply living their lives and doing the best they can.
The Apostle Paul tells us to have moderation in all things. So, let’s be moderate. Let’s eat wisely. We all know what to do, and we all know, we must get moving. If you can walk twenty minutes, WOW, good for you! That’s a great start. But, if you can only walk twenty steps, then do that ― three times a day. Move up to twenty-five steps four times a day. Little by little, a step at a time, placing your hand in the hand of God, keeping your eyes not on your goal, but on Him, you will lose your weight, a pound at a time. Your self esteem will increase, and you will no longer feel like a victim. You will feel like a champion. If other diseases find you, and you must take these steps again and again, do not give up. Keep going until God calls you home.
Heavenly Father, forgive me every time I have given up. Grant me the strength to keep going, in spite of depression, in spite of disease, in spite of the judgment of others. Grant me the grace to understand that to struggle is to be blessed with a walk that reflects the one that my Savior took up Calvary’s hill. Struggling beneath the weight of His Cross, placed there by my sins, He has forgiven me, and made me pleasing in Thy sight. You, my Lord, have never given up on me. May I never give up on myself. And may my life, and my struggle, be a glory unto You and to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
With love,
Jaye Lewis
www.entertainingangels.org
www.entertainingangelsencouragingwords.blogspot.com
http://www.jayelewisliliesofthefield.blogspot.com/
www.jayelewisdiabetesdiary.blogspot.com
Diabetes is a complex disease, and it amazes me that there are those self-styled “wellness doctors,” who argue that diabetes is the patient’s fault. They’re lazy, glutinous, and even want to stay sick. Thank you very much. My best efforts did not create a miracle. My diabetes was not cured, because of some whole grain muffin worshiper and media doctor to the stars. My diet and exercise program merely delayed my need for diabetes drugs, as I denied my need for muffins.
After four-and-a-half years on my treadmill, five days a week, and a half hour a day, I was beaten by a terrible side effect of my disease – diabetic neuropathy – which is, basically, the death of the nerve cells in my feet. The neuropathy caused so much pain, I could barely stand. Staying on my treadmill was agonizing, and the weight that I had lost over those years, simply piled back on. I felt that God was punishing me, and I couldn’t figure out what I had done wrong. I had tried to be obedient, and obviously I failed.
It didn’t help that every TV anchor with a perky personality, and no medical training, suddenly became an “expert” on diabetes.
“Yes, Jeff, those pictures of fat stomachs are alarming, as well as, just gross. Tee-hee!”
“I know, Amanda (wink-wink), it’s such an abomination that people would let themselves go, like that, especially with diabetes. Everyone knows (the great deity of no one knows), that Type II diabetes can be controlled, always (by everyone), with diet and exercise. Don’t these diabetics understand that they can lose a foot or kidney function or their sight, and even their lives?!”
Ah, yes, Jeff…we do. Every day. With each breath. And yet we live our lives, thanking God for each glorious sunrise, that you, dear old Jeff, just might miss. And we sure do appreciate your condemnation and contempt for those of us struggling with our weight, as we battle a terrible disease.
And diabetes? According to Jeff, being overweight caused the diabetes. Just ask those, who only think they know, and they will fill you with humiliation and despair. But don’t give up. Don’t listen to them! They are wrong. No one knows exactly what causes diabetes. If they knew, there would be a cure. Diabetes, itself, causes weight-gain in 80% of diabetics. The other 20%? They struggle with extreme weight-loss, and it is not a blessing. It’s yet another symptom of diabetes. It you have diabetes, and you are struggling to maintain your weight, those extra pounds are not your fault! If you really DO practice secret eating, gorging with high sugared foods, well, then you have more problems than weight gain. Secret sugar-y eating can cost you your life!
Diabetes makes it difficult for the body to fight off other diseases. The flu. Asthma. Lupus. And many others. Then you have medications, which definitely promote weight gain. Prednisone. Anti-depressants. Blood pressure medications. And, the greatest offenders, diabetes medicines themselves. Feel like it’s just not worth it? Don’t listen to your negative self, especially when society already has written you off as a closet, chocolate cake eater. Don’t give up!
There are wonderful medications for diabetic neuropathy – that horrible stabbing, burning, stinging pain in your feet. They can get you back on your feet. One of the most effective for me is Metanx. Metanx is a vitamin compound, which enters the blood stream immediately, and it not only protects the nerves, it can actually heal them. Other nerve medications which help me with other neurological conditions are Lyrica, for my fibromyalgia, and Lamictal for my trigeminal neuralgia. These may, or may not, be diabetes related, but these medicines definitely help me.
I’m very aware that my extra forty pounds do not help the neuropathy in my feet; nor does my weight gain ease my osteoarthritis. So, here I am, much as you may be, overweight, in barely managed pain, needing to get on that treadmill, yet often finding it agonizing, just to place my feet down on the floor. So it irritates me to have some scrawny, salad eating, ten-mile a day runner – who desperately NEEDS a sandwich – sit in judgment on me! One day that woman will be suffering from advanced osteoporosis, due to her continuous dieting, and as she struggles to run a mile, she can shout out her disapproval of me, then! I feel angry and hurt, that there are people, who don’t even know me, and yet they judge me, as well as other diabetics, who are simply living their lives and doing the best they can.
The Apostle Paul tells us to have moderation in all things. So, let’s be moderate. Let’s eat wisely. We all know what to do, and we all know, we must get moving. If you can walk twenty minutes, WOW, good for you! That’s a great start. But, if you can only walk twenty steps, then do that ― three times a day. Move up to twenty-five steps four times a day. Little by little, a step at a time, placing your hand in the hand of God, keeping your eyes not on your goal, but on Him, you will lose your weight, a pound at a time. Your self esteem will increase, and you will no longer feel like a victim. You will feel like a champion. If other diseases find you, and you must take these steps again and again, do not give up. Keep going until God calls you home.
Heavenly Father, forgive me every time I have given up. Grant me the strength to keep going, in spite of depression, in spite of disease, in spite of the judgment of others. Grant me the grace to understand that to struggle is to be blessed with a walk that reflects the one that my Savior took up Calvary’s hill. Struggling beneath the weight of His Cross, placed there by my sins, He has forgiven me, and made me pleasing in Thy sight. You, my Lord, have never given up on me. May I never give up on myself. And may my life, and my struggle, be a glory unto You and to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
With love,
Jaye Lewis
www.entertainingangels.org
www.entertainingangelsencouragingwords.blogspot.com
http://www.jayelewisliliesofthefield.blogspot.com/
www.jayelewisdiabetesdiary.blogspot.com
