My new life with Diabetes type 2

Well it's been an interesting 4 months....I was diagnosed with Diabetes type 2 on January 6, 2009.....the day time stood still lol.....I can laugh about it now but I wasn't then....I was in shock...but during that moment of shock and awe, I finally found that I was finally there....finally at the point where I needed to be to dedicate myself to take positive actions to change my life style from sedentary to active....

My friends will tell you how I cocooned myself in the week after diagnosis. I needed to regroup and understand what I had and get over beating myself up for doing this to myself....what a grieving process I had...that this was self inflicted....my father was diagnosed in his 70's and loser me at 47!! that was a huge wake up call....combined with the fact that my regular doctor was not the one to "break the news" to me but a young intern who did not know me from Adam and there was no relationship and I was a patient who needed to know that my blood sugar was much too high and if I wanted to continue to live I needed to change NOW....that's where time stood still and I had to wrap all this information around my brain and it was too late for denial.

So after my diva moments where I cried and mentally beat myself up I decided to research this disease. While I was researching I continued to peruse my usual haunts on the web where I ran across a thread with information on diabetes while traveling to the Caribbean....(I still have to enjoy life lol) So I decided to pm the poster...Oncearound and that turned out to be the best decision I ever did......He gave me the most useful, positive, enriching information and he made it user friendly....my hero....my Yoda lol.

So here goes...a quick synopsis of what I accomplished in 4 months and where I stand presently...

January 6th 2009 I was told that my fasting blood sugar was 19...

I spent about 4-5 days sulking about all of this...lol....then decided to take action....

Met my Yoda and learned the most valuable information I could ever get from any Doctor.

I started to walk....1.6km the first walk...I thought i was going to die. I had weight to lose and a heart to get healthy. I had let myself go and had major poundage to lose lol

On my second walk I ran into my neighbor Priscilla, who I've been admiring for the past 4 years walking past my house twice a day...everyday...and I wanted to know where she got her passion from....so I finally asked her...and she told me after her stroke is when she started to walk....I was amazed...I also told her that she was my inspiration.

Then something strange happened...almost X Files strange lol....I got hooked to walking!! YEAH...Queen of the Couch Potatoes got hooked to walking....so I started walking every day....1.6km turned to 3.5 km then when my neighbor Veronica asked if she could walk with me well 3.5 turned to 5km then to 7 and even 9km!! Couple of days I was positive I was going to die right there and then...lol but i made it back home. Veronica was so gracious...she's mega top shape woman - tall and slim built and she would slow her pace down to mine and never said a word....our walks sometimes took 2 hrs...lol but there was a stretch where she had to work a whole two weeks and when she finally was able to walk with me she couldn't get over how much faster I walked....

Now on to the bonus of walking! ...not only do i feel great and alive and positive .....not only is walking my new drug lol....the bonus part is I've lost 40lbs!! something I thought i would never be able to do.

With my new eating habits...no white sugar, no white flour, no white pasta, no butter and lots of whole grain and nuts and good proteins and fruits and vegetables I feel like a million bucks! Portion control and keeping hydrated with at least 12 glasses of water is key.

My family is benefiting from all this new found energy I've acquired...my hubby Frank is walking with me on weekends and on his days off....I'm able and willing to go on bike rides with my boys...I'm feeling alive and very well and having a fabulously supportive family is key.