I'm so happy. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a wonderful wife. I have the two greatest kids in the world. My diabetes is completely under control. I look good (if I do say so myself), I feel good, things are... well, good.
Last year - not so much. I mean, I had the same wife and the same kids, but the looking and feeling - not so much.
I had just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I felt like crap. I tipped the scales at 254 pounds. And to be honest, I looked like ten pounds of sausage in a five pound casing. But the thing that bothered me the most was that I was diagnosed with diabetes right before Thanksgiving.
There are two things in the world that I love to do more than anything else: eat and hunt. Thanksgiving is the greatest day in the world for guys like me. I would eat like I was going to the electric chair, and the next morning I would leave with my father and my cousin and head to the mountains of Pennsylvania for a week of deer hunting.
And now what was I to do? I mean - I could still eat and hunt, but not like I wanted to. I wanted turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, rolls and butter, way too much alcohol, and top it all off with pumpkin pie! When we go hunting, we really enjoy cooking bacon and egg sandwiches on top of the mountain at lunchtime on our scouting days. And now that was all behind me, right?
Wrong.
Living with diabetes is all about choices. Make the right choices, and put in the necessary work, and its really fairly easy to control.
Take Thanksgiving dinner for example. Now I know that we should watch our portions, and eat only the right things, and for the most part, I do. But come on now. We're talking about Thanksgiving! Here's what I do. I'll have my turkey, my mashed potatoes (did I say gravy?), my sweet potatoes, stuffing, a roll and butter, a drink or two, and I'll top it all off with pumpkin pie! The difference between the way I eat now, and the way I used to eat, is that tomorrow I'll have one plateful. I'm not going to measure anything. And don't get it wrong - I'm going to eat too much. Remember though - IT'S ONE DAY. You're A1C is measured over ninety days. Tomorrow isn't going to hurt you one bit. As long as you remember one of Uncle Bob's rules - DON'T BE STUPID!
Don't eat yourself into a diabetic coma. Exercise some restraint. Enjoy a healthy portion of whatever it is you see on that table tomorrow. If you like it - eat it. Don't deprive yourself. On Friday, just get back to doing the right things again.
Try this. Tomorrow is your day off. Don't exercise at all. Eat as I have described. And DON'T CHECK YOUR BLOOD SUGAR. On Friday, get back on schedule. Make sure you eat properly, and hit the gym or whatever it is that you do for exercise. Friday night before dinner, check your sugar. I'll bet you see no significant difference, and most importantly, you will have treated yourself, and satiated the need we all have to splurge every now and then.
I'm still having my bacon and egg sandwiches too (just whole grain bread please).
