Change Can Be Good.....

A few years ago, I found out I was diabetic.  Yep, 35 years old and the genetic genes of my father's side caught up with me.  I decided to do all that I could to fight having complications for a very long time.  I attended a Diabetic Education Class.  The instructors taught me to shop differently, cook differently, and definitely eat differently.  I began to walk on my treadmill and be more active with my children.   I turned my life upside down...but I also lost twenty pounds of weight that I'd held onto since having my children.  


In my struggle to eat differently, I realized I didn't want to pass this diabetic gene on to my children if I could help it.  So, my new diabetic lifestyle went full circle!  The whole family needed to get on board.  Thankfully, my husband is a great support.  And we all made some healthy changes for our lives.  


My family has joined me in eating more vegetables, and less sweets.  We eat whole wheat bread, choose organic fruit when we can, and have cut out sodas.  We eat "colorful" fruits and vegetables to give our bodies wonderful health benefits.  When we aren't very happy about eating that veggie, we support each other by reminding that it's going to benefit our body by keeping fighting diseases, building our immune system, and giving us strong muscles!   (The boys love the strong muscle thing....they're in Martial Arts. Good muscles and strength are a big deal to them!)


Sometimes we cheat.  We have to eat cake or a cookie now and then!  But we shoot for eating our best 85% of the time.  It doesn't sound like that would be too difficult, but when lives get hectic, it can be a struggle.  We're improving and doing our best day by day!  


I remind my guys that a few simple, but good choices now will hopefully help them avoid pricking their finger daily for glucose samples like Mom does. 


We try to live by these simple tidbits at our house:


*  If it needs SUN to grow, it's probably a good food choice.  (Snicker bars do not grow in a garden!)  
*  Food items with just a few ingredients at the grocery store are better than the ones with a long list of huge words that you can't pronounce (which are likely chemicals and preservatives). 
*  Drink water! (Add lemon or lime slices if you're bored with plain water.  Green Tea is good too). 
*  Make it all homemade.  Even a cake is better for you if it's made from scratch.  Pre-packaged has too many preservatives, trans/saturated fat in it.
*  Eat veggies!  Fresh, frozen, canned.  Whatever.  Just eat them.  Veggies should be the main part of the meal with the meat and bread as smaller sides.  
*  Exercise is good!  (This one is a big one for me.  I'd rather be creating a fascinating new ornament  than working up a sweat!)  


Well, there you have it.  Diabetes is not what I had in mind for this time of my life.  It did get my attention though.  It made me re-evaluate my priorities.  Once my diabetes was under control, I felt better.  I pushed myself to take off the first pounds that I had been hanging onto.  I still am working toward the perfect hour-glass figure, but I'm a work in progress!  Change has helped me, and I have faith that the changes we've made as a family will benefit my children's future health, too.