Mindfulness and diabetes go hand in hand. The actual definition = a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique. Your mind is a powerful tool and one I hope you use in your daily diabetes management.
The past couple of months have been an absolute whirlwind of events leading up to the Grand Opening of my baby, Dreamer Concepts: A Community Art Space. My close friends and family, for the most part, know how to handle me in times of utter chaos by subtlety bringing or offering to bring me food. I often refuse for some odd reason because I’m kind of a meal planning nazi, but after hearing the the word, “hangry” more than once I throw in the towel and allow others to help me.
This new adventure brought on something I had never consciously recognized until meeting Ryan Fightmaster. In a conversation earlier in the week, I mentioned I didn’t have to give a single unit of insulin throughout the day while still consuming plenty of food (fruit, veggies, protein and a few carbs here and there). I immediately think of my hormones. I won’t freak you out by talking about my period, but this is a huge factor as to when my blood sugar starts to go crazy. I contribute the constant low to the insane amount of adrenaline and not taking a moment to actually slow my mind or body down for more than 4 minutes. I literally ate while walking around delegating tasks.
I received the Type 1 diagnosis 15 years ago. Since, announcements about an artificial pancreas, pancreas transplants, and various stem cell developments, have disappointed. I understand that these have all been important developments. I get that we’re getting somewhere. Yes, the future is bright. How about today? Still filled with diabetes. It’s been easier to casually follow the research without getting invested, attempting to appreciate what’s happening in research. (more…)
It’s 38 minutes until kickoff for the biggest game of the year in college football, the Red River Rivalry. Most of us began celebrating this glorious game day weekend last night and are now regretting that last glass of wine, but the adrenaline kicks in so I scrape myself together with thoughts of OU dominating Texas. First item up – BLOODY MARY.
As a T1D, a moment doesn’t go by where I don’t think about what I’m putting into my body and how it’s going to effect me. Bloody Marys are pretty standard, vodka and bloody mary mix, salted rim and something pickled. Well, I’ve put a healthy spin on this delicious beverage.
High blood sugar sucks. Really though, it changes who you are. You become angrier. Patience has no meaning anymore. The idea of a nap rules over everything else in the world. Things that you love, my example would be cycling, sound detestable. Someone could ask me to go cycling and I’d want to respond with “I hate bicycles!”.
Okay, I know you get it. So how do we still function as human beings while high? I have a few hacks that I’ve learned via trial by fire over the 15 #blessed years of my life:
1) Repeat “Life is impermanent. How you feel now, will soon change.”
– Just reminding myself that all will be okay again is reassuring. It’s easy for us to believe that our current struggle will last forever but it’s just not reality. It always gets better. (more…)
I spent 12 days in Children’s Hospital and was lucky to have met a few fellow sick kids. One in particular humbles me to this day. John woke up every morning and blasted Thriller on his record player. I didn’t mind waking up to that song, but God it was early. John was a permanent resident because his parents abandoned him due to his condition and insane medical bills. I am not sure how long he had been there, but his room was a bedroom, not a hospital room and the nurses treated him like a son.
I have no idea what was wrong with him, but he was in a wheelchair and had a number of tubes coming out of every part of this body. I was pissed about the one IV – ridiculous. I couldn’t help staring at the hole in his neck and he explained at some point in me stalking him that it was the only way he could breath. The tube and the snotty nose were pretty appalling, but it didn’t keep me from visiting him every day. (more…)
I recently posted on Facebook, that I had a new addiction – KALE! You wouldn’t believe the outpouring of kale dietary comments, recipes and products. I decided to start a new series of posts – my addiction to kale. I will continue to post new and exciting discoveries with this leafy green as I feed my healthy addiction. We will begin with kale chips. Who doesn’t love a nice salty chip, but this one won’t leave you feeling guilty.
Ingredients:
Bunch/Bushel or whatever it is called of kale (any color)
I’ll admit that I could be more without diabetes. Not acknowledging that, to be blunt, is ignorant. Don’t mistake me, I subscribe to the power of positive thinking, knowing that it improves the quality of each moment. However, I will not use that methodology to convince myself that my life is better with the disease.
Diabetes is a grind, never ceasing. Yet, it’s forged who we are. Most of us will give it responsibility for great things in our lives. Still though, deep down, on occasion or daily, we ask the question, “Could we be more without it?” Being content knowing that we could, that’s the Zen in diabetes. (more…)
I stumbled across an article that actually offended me last night, Ten (Quick and Easy) Toddler Lunch Ideas. I’m not a dietician, but feel confident stating that dried cranberries, potato chips, crackers, cheddar cheese, and a fruit burst do not add up to even a remotely healthily lunch. I can’t imagine how horrible a child would feel after eating this for lunch.
While working on this post, I happen to catch a few minutes of The Doctors, where they were discussing a controversial campaign to combat childhood obesity.
The episode featured a powerful public awareness video campaign created by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. The video shows an obese 30-something-year-old man being rushed to an emergency room after having a heart attack. It then flashes back through the past 30 years showing the man eating fast food and candy and sitting on the couch playing video games. The video flashes forward to the ER again, and the tagline on the screen reads: “Your child’s future doesn’t have to look like this.” The Doctors say the “Rewind the Future” video might seem harsh to some, but parents need to understand its strong message: Unhealthy food choices that start as children can have deadly consequences.
The Doctors share a few alarming statistics and food swap ideas: (more…)
