Every year, my workplace does this lunchtime walking event for the staff. I work at a large place with over a thousand employees. We walk around the premises and stop at booths of different local services, and get freebies. It takes about an hour - is a leisurely walk, and we get goodies. At the last stop, we were greeted by our insurance provider's booth. We had to answer a few questions, and then based on the answers, we got either a pedometer or a resistance band. I got the pedometer. And other goodies:
I got a bag from the local university, a pen, CDs of music from the Oregon Bach Festival, a bottle of water, a Thai Sweet Chilli Kind Bar (so excited to try this), an orange, fruit strip, travel sized deodorant (men's, so gave to D.), a workbook/guide for setting better health goals, and of course the pedometer. It isn't fancy, but it was free!
In other good news, I got a call yesterday from the endocrinologist's office. They had a cancellation, and would I like to come in for an afternoon appointment? I did some shuffling with my schedule, and was able to make it. I had been grumbling at the universe about how long the wait was to see an endocrinologist in this town if you had a new diagnosis of diabetes. (More of the "ask and you shall receive" thing at work.)
The meeting with the endocrinologist went well. I'm supposed to go in and do a fasting blood test, lipid panel, and a few other things. He recommended insulin, but I asked to wait for a couple of months and try to do this through diet and exercise. He said that was fine. I have till August to use willpower and metformin to stay on track. Then, we'll see. He also set me up with a blood glucose monitor and some test strips to start out with. Looking at my numbers on them was scary - especially since I was not taking my metformin or making good food choices yesterday. I'm still struggling to make good food choices. But the glucose monitor shows sobering evidence, and after last night's binge, I resolved this morning to get myself back on track.
Last night, we went over to help one of my best friends move some stuff. She is a sweetheart. She was diagnosed with Type I diabetes a couple of years ago as an adult. She struggled so much at the beginning to accept the diagnosis, and then to work with it. She decided that she did not want to give up anything, and has just learned how much of whatever it is she wants to eat works for her body, and lives a healthful, happy and un-deprived life. She is an inspiration! She also got a lab and trained it to be her diabetes alert dog. He alerts her to her highs and lows. And is super cute to boot! Anyway, we helped move boxes and furniture for about 2 hours. Was quite a workout!
1 comments:
I'm so glad you were able to get in with the endocrinologist! Sounds like you have a good friend to keep in close contact with while you navigate this new territory. She's right... don't think about it in all or nothing terms... you can still eat what you want, just be mindful of how much and how it affects how you feel (as well as your blood sugar). In therapy, I learned that I was very much an "all or nothing" type of person, and that thinking led to a lot of binges. Same with attributing my poor choices to something as mysterious as "willpower"--my nutritionist basically said, "Why are you giving this mysterious notion of willpower so much power over your choices? YOU get to decide what you eat; if you want that ice cream, go for it--acknowledge that you made that choice, ENJOY IT, and move on." Just some food for thought ;) (pun intended)
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