Diabetes Blogs
Could I Belly Dance My Way Out of Prediabetes?
So in my last blog post, I discussed how I went a little nuts (cashews mostly) with the carbs. Feeling very deprived caused me to lose control when I ate even a little bit of what I wasn’t supposed to. There was no such thing as “just a taste” anymore, with my former restrained self now becoming the cookie monster who couldn’t stop.
This behavior was not going to help my prediabetes improve.
But just as I started to give up hope, life intervened in that funny way life sometimes can. It was as if the universe had come together on my behalf to show me a few subtle changes I could make.
The first was that I started noticing the high-glycemic carbs I was ingesting were definitely having a negative physical affect on me. Almost immediately, I started getting jittery and—as I gorged on ice cream or chips—entered into another numb state. I had read recently that sugar is more addictive than cocaine and I dare say it seems to be true. I literally felt like I could not stop eating the unhealthy food even if I tried. This realization made me think about sugar as more of a drug rather than a way to indulge my sweet tooth. More than ever before, I became truly mindful of consuming it. As I took note of the immense drive to eat sugar, I also took note that I never felt that unhealthy drive when I was eating a healthy diet—even when eating those healthy carbs that I had now eliminated. This made me wonder if I should really have restricted myself from all that healthy food in the first place?
Around the time I was diagnosed with prediabetes, I fell off the exercise wagon, too. My fatalistic attitude made me feel lazy about working out. But, as many of us know, exercise is vitally important to regulate blood sugar as well as alleviate stress.
For these reasons I was very happy when one friend suggested we go roller blading together; another one told me about a discounted trial month at a local yoga studio and yet another invited me to take a belly dancing class with her, something I had always longed to learn. The universe was sending me some seriously fun workout options so I responded with a resounding “YES!” to all three of them. Working out must be fun or I won't stick with it and engaging in activities with friends makes them even more appealing! I was really motivated now!
Mind Blower, Part 3
The next mind blower that impacted me was a visit from girlfriend who had moved away but was back in town visiting her father. She phoned to let me know he had just had surgery and was in need of some extra help. “What was the surgery?" I asked. Leg amputation.
I never did find out if it was diabetes related but I didn’t need to. It scared the living %$#@ out of me and made me face a grim aspect of this disease—amputation. It could happen to me! I had only thought about the unpleasantness of constant blood sugar monitoring, and possibly medication, if my problem progressed to full-on diabetes. But I never considered the dangers of amputation or death that are also associated with diabetes.
A true wake up call.
Stay tuned for my next—and final—blog post in this series to see how I take all of these events and incorporate them into my life to let prediabetes know that it is not the boss of me!
No comments yet.
Discuss/Comment
More from Alma Schneider
You may also be interested in these related articles:
