A topic that gets me excited to talk about at the same time as it frustrates me as I talk about it is, Diabetes. People know Diabetes as , “too much sugar”, “sugar”. In reality, Diabetes is more than too much sugar. It is a diagnosis that will change your life (or it should). I was trying to decide the best way to write about Diabetes and what it will do to your body and mind if you allow it to. This will be a 2 part blog on this topic.
This brings me to the term “Law of attraction”. Have you heard of this? Of course you have! The law of attraction is you having the ability to attract into your life whatever thoughts you are focusing on. It uses the power of your mind to translate whatever is in your thoughts to then materialize those thoughts into a reality. Think of it this way, all of our thoughts turn into something. If you focus on negative thoughts, then negative things will happen. If you focus on positive thoughts and you have goals in place, then you are more apt to achieve those goals when you put your positive energy to use. We will come back to The Law of Attraction in a bit.
Now, lets get back to Diabetes. I will not talk about Type 1 diabetes in this blog, I will address Type 2 Diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes is a totally different conversation that should not be linked with Type 2. So, that being said, Type 2 diabetes is a disease of insulin resistance; your body makes insulin but you cannot use the insulin that you make. Insulin is a hormone used to help move sugar from the food you eat into your cells to be used for energy. If you cannot use your insulin to move sugar from the blood into your blood cell, then the insulin and sugar “float around” the body. This is hyperglycemia, otherwise known as “high sugar”.
So what happens when your blood sugar is high? You will feel tired, sluggish, depressed, bloated, you will be at a higher risk of infection, you will be slower to heal from an infection or from surgery. If your blood sugars are very high for long periods, you lose weight. No this is not a good weight loss program, you lose weight because you breakdown muscle. You want to burn fat, not muscle. Breaking down muscle will cause you to get weak. When your blood sugars are controlled, you will gain your weight back.
Now, what can you do now that you know you have diabetes? PREVENT complications. PREVENT other illnesses. Diabetes, high glucose levels, will cause vascular disease. This will increase your risk of heart disease, obesity, stroke, kidney disease, impotence, erectile dysfunction, wounds and ulcers, and blindness. When you hear this it should make your heart race. You are probably thinking “that will never happen to me”. You will keep doing what you are doing only to see your medical provider to be told that your blood sugars are high “that’s why your vision is blurred”. You may be overwhelmed and think “what do I do? How do I prevent these issues? What do I eat?” I will review this in Part 2 Diabetes. For now………
Back to the Law of Attraction. Your mind will play tricks on you, you will think all negative thoughts about having diabetes, high sugar, “the sugar”. I want to tell you that Diabetes is treatable; its even preventable. You can manage your Diabetes with the proper education. It will take time, but you can do it. If you let Diabetes control you, that is when you will experience all of those complications that I mentioned above. In order to prevent disease progression, you need a healthy, well balanced diet, regular activity and a way to monitor your blood sugars. I want you to change your thoughts to positive ones; you will do this, you will check your sugars, you will learn the proper foods to eat, you will learn what activity is best for you. You will have well controlled blood sugars.
Now, how will you do this? Stay tuned for Part 2 of my Diabetes series. Right now I just want you to commit to LEARNING what will work for you to manage your health. You can contact me if you want to connect and discuss how we can work together so you can achieve your goals.
You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Instant Messenger and of course my e-mail.
Please comment on your struggles with diabetes. Remember, there is someone else who is struggling with the same issue, they may be interested in the same information.
Tina Butt , Health and Wellness Coach and Healthcare Advocate
tinaqws@gmail.com