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<\/p>\n
I felt perfectly healthy the day I popped into the doctor\u2019s office for some routine bloodwork. I was living my best life, managing a women\u2019s gym and teaching the weight loss and weight management class. <\/p>\n
There was no reason to suspect anything was wrong, so when my doctor called saying she wanted to talk about my results, I was surprised. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou have diabetes,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
My jaw dropped. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
I was shocked. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust tell me what I have to do to avoid the needle,\u201d I said. <\/p>\n
By \u201cthe needle\u201d I meant insulin therapy. <\/p>\n
My mom had been living with diabetes for 10 years at the time, and I had been closely watching how she was handling \u2014 and sometimes not handling \u2014 her own diabetes journey. I wanted to be more attentive and less resistant when it came to how I managed the disease in my own life. <\/p>\n
Like my mother, I had Type 2 diabetes, meaning that the condition had developed over time and was related to my body\u2019s abnormal response to glucose, as opposed to being the result of a genetic cause, as is generally the case with Type 1 diabetes. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re already doing what you need to do,\u201d the doctor said. <\/p>\n
Uh, really? Now I was puzzled. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe way you serve your clients,\u201d she said. \u201cYou need to serve yourself the same way.\u201d <\/p>\n
Then I understood what she meant. At the gym, I was my clients\u2019 biggest cheerleader, and though I did certain exercises and routines with them during their daily workouts, I was mostly the club manager. What the doctor was saying was that I needed to be as committed to the workouts for myself as they were. <\/p>\n
\u201cI will see you in three months,\u201d the doctor said. \u201cAnd in that time I want you to have two goals: Bring your A1C down and bring your weight down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next time I met with my group of ladies at the gym, I approached them less as a coach and more as a peer. To some extent, I felt that I had to represent my real self to my clients \u2014 and that real self was now a woman with diabetes. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want you to know that when you show up for weight management class, I\u2019m right here with you \u2014 and here\u2019s why,\u201d I said, then shared my diagnosis. <\/p>\n
I poured my all into that workout and after class, a few clients came up to me and shared that they too had diabetes, but hadn\u2019t told anybody. Sadly, society often looks upon those with diabetes as living an out-of-control life and just needing to cut their sugar, which causes embarrassment and inner struggle for many with diabetes. <\/p>\n
I gave my best effort to participate in all my workouts and overhaul my diet to make it more diabetes-friendly. I cut out all white carbs, increased my intake of green veggies, and reduced my protein to only lean chicken and fish. Lo and behold, when I went back to the doctor three months later, I\u2019d managed to bring my A1c down from 8.2 to 6.7 (the goal is to get it below 7 for most adults with diabetes) and I\u2019d lost weight as well. <\/p>\n
But this wasn\u2019t a one-off battle. I would need to continue to focus on getting in shape and managing my diet every day. I was up for the challenge, but admittedly was thrown a bit of a curveball when my siblings and I took my mother on a 80th birthday cruise together. <\/p>\n
You know the kind of cruise I\u2019m talking about. The all-you-can-eat kind? Yes. This would be quite the test indeed.<\/p>\n
How would my mother and I navigate all those delicious dinners and desserts? Those buckets of breakfast pastries? I had to figure out some kind of strategy for us or we were both going to get off that boat heavier \u2014 and less healthy. <\/p>\n
I decided to make it a game. My mom and I would pick our meals ahead of sitting down at the buffets, so we wouldn\u2019t fall victim to any last-minute temptations. We would take the stairs to go up to the dining area and then take the elevator down as a reward. We exercised a couple of times in the gym, and if we were seduced by that hunk of cheesecake, we\u2019d scheme a solution. <\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, Mom, see that cheesecake? Here\u2019s what we\u2019ll do. If you want it, just cut all of the other carbs off your plate,\u201d I\u2019d say. \u201cAnd then, you and I will get a small slice and split it.\u201d <\/p>\n
My mom and I not only had a fantastic time on that cruise, we actually each lost five pounds. <\/p>\n
Then the holiday season came. This meant not only a joyous time with family and friends, but, well, a joyous time with food. I easily could have been in over my head. But I knew by then that it was all a matter of being prepared, being firm but gentle with myself and rewarding myself for good behavior \u2014 within reason.<\/p>\n
I implemented the same plan I\u2019d used when I was on that cruise ship. I decided on what I would have ahead of time. Additionally, I brought my own dishes \u2014 something I knew would be healthy for me to eat and others would enjoy, too. This is a win-win because you\u2019ll be setting yourself up for success while also pleasing the host of your event. <\/p>\n
When it came time to eat, I compromised with myself, just as I had on the cruise ship. So much of enjoying food is about pacing yourself and not feeling denied. <\/p>\n
There was one particular Christmas party where the temptations were incredible. Every kind of food you could imagine was available. And the desserts? Forget about it. It was difficult not to go wild, but again: Strategizing, pacing and rewarding myself is how I got through. If you\u2019re dying for a piece of pumpkin pie or apple crumble, you just take the tiniest bite and then walk away. <\/p>\n
With every bite I take or don\u2019t take, I know that I\u2019m taking control and responsibility for my health \u2014 for my life. And I remember that those of us living with diabetes have hope that we didn\u2019t have 20 or even 10 years ago, thanks to advancements in science, research and medication. <\/p>\n
If this is your first holiday season living with diabetes, you may feel lost or confused and like you don\u2019t know where to begin, or like this is the end of enjoying food. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the end. <\/p>\n
You just need to be a little more thoughtful about how you\u2019ll enjoy it, and remember that you\u2019re not denying yourself by saying no \u2014 you\u2019re rewarding yourself with smart decisions you\u2019ll feel good about later. <\/p>\n