Do you ever feel like Type 2 diabetes controls your life? If you do, you’re going to want to keep reading…
If you open our newsletters regularly, you know that I always end my emails by saying: if you have any questions, reply to this email.
And I mean it. I reply to everyone!
So today, I wanted to share part of an interaction that I had with one of you… my readers.
In the first email, this person was asking for help with the kinds of food to eat when you have diabetes.
I truly love helping people so when I answer I always try to give advice that is useful specifically to the individual I’m speaking with.
I don’t just want to give you the “standard” answer that you can hear from anyone else… Or the answer that you can find by reading the first thing that appears on google.
So in order to be able to help this person to the best of my ability, I replied by asking to get to know them a little better. I wrote a few questions like:
What kinds of foods do you usually eat?
Describe what you ate yesterday.
What’s your morning fasting blood sugar level?
The reply I got was very short. Just one sentence to answer all my previous questions!
I was a bit surprised. I didn’t have enough information… I wanted to ask more questions! But then I thought to myself: this person must be really struggling and really needs help.
So I wrote a longer email explaining the basic eating guidelines for people living with Type 2 diabetes, and including a few examples of foods.
🥦 🍅 🍗 🥗 🥑
We had a couple more email exchanges… I was sending longer emails full of thoughtful advice. But I kept receiving one sentence replies which never addressed any of the questions or recommendations I had talked about.
This person obviously needed help. But wasn’t actually willing to take the time to prioritize the problem. It’s like they’d rather have someone else fix it.
Unfortunately, having Type 2 diabetes is not like having a broken car… you can’t just take it to the garage to get it fixed. 🚗
So here’s what my last email to this person looked like:
I have a question for you that I’d like you to truly think about: Do you really want my help? Because with this email exchange, you were given the opportunity to talk directly with a healthcare professional. Yet you have mostly ignored all my questions and suggestions. Like I said in my previous emails, you have to be willing to take the time to learn how to manage your diabetes. Learn how your body works. Learn what foods work for your body. Check your blood sugar levels in response to different foods. Commit to doing that… Prioritize your health. Because unfortunately no one else can do that for you. When you’re ready to take action, let me know. I’ll be here to answer your questions and give you the tools and the support you need along the way.
Now I have a question for you, my reader: do you want my help?
I’m sharing this story with you because I want you to know that Type 2 diabetes doesn’t have to control your life. You can control it.
When you’re ready to control it, know that if you need my help, you can always email me and ask me anything.
You can also sign up for our online course that was developed for this exact reason. These courses will give you lifetime access to all the information and tools you need to never let Type 2 diabetes control your life.
