I’ve been reading The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes by Gretchen Becker. [Amazon Link] I wholeheartedly recommend this read. I came across a passage today that I thought would be nice to share with anyone that’s struggling with some of the sacrifices that we have to make.
These are Becker’s words, not mine:
The Sacrifices Are Worth It
Keeping your BG levels down will not be easy. I know. I’ve been there. But I think the sacrifices are worth it.
If you’re tempted to eat a big slice of thick chocolate cake with super-sweet icing, ask yourself, “Which is more important to me? About 30 seconds of pleasure from this sweet dessert or having good enough vision in 10 years that I can see my first grandchild celebrate her first birthday?”
If the guys are going out for pizza and beer and you know pizza and beer make your BG levels go sky-high, ask yourself, “Which would I rather do? Have pizza and beer with the guys or order grilled chicken so I won’t have to spend the day in the dialysis center when my son is getting his PhD from Harvard?”
As Sophie C. said, “I still miss my old habits of eating massive quantities of whatever tasted good, but not as much as I would miss spending time with my husband instead of pushing up daises!”
Could any piece of cheesecake taste so good that it’s worth the risk of having a stroke in a few years? Well, OK, yes, there are times it probably might. No one is perfect. Being diabetic doesn’t mean you have to totally give up all these treats forever. The trick is to remember the stakes and limit the damage from the occasional dietary indiscretions.
How many times have you been on a diet, blown the diet with a small lapse, and then figured, “Oh what the heck. I had one taste of blueberry pie so I’ve blown the diet. Might as well eat the whole thing, with whipped cream. Tomorrow I’ll be really, really good.”
That logic doesn’t work when you’re diabetic. Smaller indiscretions mean smaller increases in BG levels. If the temptation is overwhelming, there’s no need to eat a whole pie. Have a taste instead.
It’s too bad to have to use a negative motivation–fear–to stick with your program. But let’s face it, fear is a powerful motivation. You have probably been trying other motivations for getting into better shape for years, and they haven’t worked. Now you’ve got diabetes. This is different. This is serious. It’s not a question of starting on a healthy diet next week, or maybe next month, or three months from now when Christmas is over. We have the evidence now. The longer your BG stays high, the greater the chance that you will develop some complications.