It is my second holiday season as a diabetic. As I enter into it I’m still pretty bitter about being mandated to get the covid booster that almost killed me and every time I stick myself I’m reminded of this fact. I’m trying NOT to be bitter and move on but it is difficult as the holidays approach and I’m constantly checking my sugars to make sure I didn’t go overboard with all the fatty, carb filled bits of deliciousness that make the holidays so decadent.
The holidays start in October in my family. The month starts with my Mom’s birthday, Followed by mine the next week and my dad’s the week after that and Halloween to end the month. Then as you run out of Halloween candy my Sister’s birthday hits followed by Thanksgiving and on to my husbands birthday and all the holiday parties until New Years finally hits and we can all come down from our 3 months of indulgence.
So far I’m managing pretty well. I managed to get off insulin. It is hard to tell if it is just because the inflammation went down or because my diet is different with me watching my sugar and carb intake. Year 2 is proving to be harder than year 1 to stay on track. For starters, I feel better with the inflammation from my covid shot gone. It was easy to avoid the “bad” food when you honestly felt like death may be taking you at any moment and everything hurt. When you feel great it is all to easy to say “Yes” to both cake and ice cream rather than just a small taste of one or refusing it all together.
My other challenge is I got braces for the first time in my life. I just got the bottom ones on back in march but just got the top ones on in August. Now things are harder to eat. So what is easy to eat? All the soft, processed foods that I am suppose to be avoiding. What should I be eating? The protein that gets stuck in my braces and is hard to bite through and chew. I miss my snacks of mixed nuts.
It is an adjustment. So far I have only knocked off 2 brackets trying to eat. I swear the next time I go in and they take the wire off I am going to floss. I never thought I would miss flossing my teeth but I do.
I miss popcorn. I love popcorn.
Ok, enough about food. I still need to get back into exercising. It is a constant struggle. For decades getting up early to go to the gym was not a problem for me at all…but I have struggled with getting back to it since the pandemic threw me off my game. My new plan is if I can’t manage to get a full workout in I will break it up into sections. So I currently take a 15-20 min walk before work. I will be adding in a 2nd walk when I get home from work too starting November 6th…Rain or shine. If I get all wet, oh well. I’ll change into something warm and dry when I get home.
It isn’t much but it is a plan. We will need to see how it is going 3 months from now.
Working Mom - Travel Dreams 