Last week I had an interesting conversation with an old friend over zoom. We were catching up after having disconnected for a few years… An hour into our call, she shared with me the health struggles of her partner who had recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, a year before his 40th birthday. 😔
She mentioned how surprised they both were to hear about the diagnosis. He had gained a little bit of weight during the last year, given that -like most people- he was now working from home… and moving less… and snacking more often. But they didn’t think he would develop T2D at such a young age!
I started to say that T2D was unfortunately starting to appear at younger and younger ages, and that one of the biggest causes was poor eating habits. She interrupted me and said right away that she agreed. After hearing the diagnosis and getting over the initial shock, they took a hard look at their lifestyle.
They quickly realized that what they thought was “healthy” eating behaviours actually wasn’t:
- drinking fruit juices and kombucha (all packed with sugar);
- ordering take-out on most weekdays;
- adding condiments, sauces or store-bought salad dressings to all their meals;
- eating too many highly processed foods for snacks;
- drinking (beer or wine) at home too frequently.
My friend ended up saying that in a sense they were both grateful for that wake up call.
After realizing they weren’t necessarily leading a healthy life like they thought they were, they both decided to make changes to their lifestyle habits.
And although she didn’t have T2D, she encouraged him by joining him on all the lifestyle habit changes he was making. He was able to lower his A1c and stop using medication (Metformin) after 6 months. And she said she hadn’t felt this good (healthy + full of energy) since her teenage years!!
How amazing is that? ❤️
We hear so many sad stories about people with Type 2 diabetes so I wanted to share a more positive one with you all today. I know it can be hard to be positive when your health issues impact your everyday life… Very often we just want to complain, give up, and delve into negativity. But finding gratitude in moments of hardship can be a lifesaver.
Do YOU practise gratitude?
What are you most grateful for at the moment?
