Years ago, (I'm not going to date myself by saying how many) at the age of seventeen, my life changed comepletely with the sound of three words. You have diabetes. I'd always been healthy. It didn't seem right that I should have something like that. I laughed when they told me.
The three words were followed quickly by go immediately to the emergency room. I spent the night hooked up to a heart monitor in Intensive Care. The ICU was the worst. You can hardly have visitors & instead of a bathroom there was a bedpan chair next to the IV. Homey. At one point I actually tried to leave. I unhooked the heart monitor first. That was a mistake. The fastest way to get a nurse to come running in the ICU is to remove evidence of your heartbeat.
I got out of the hospital a few days later. I went to diabetes classes. I learned to give myself shots, check my blood sugar levels, and eat a balanced diet. What you don't realize before you have diabetes is that it affects everything in your life. It's not just what you eat - everything can change your blood sugar. Catching a cold can make your sugar go up. Taking a walk can bring it down. Being stressed can make it just crazy. & I won't even going into how hormones mess with it. I remember being a teenage girl & going to the fridge, randomly choosing a food, and eating it without any further thought. I remember doing it, but I don't remember what it felt like. When I eat I think about the carb count, calories, fat content, amount of protein, insulin dosage, meal schedule, etc. the days of carefree snacking are long since over for me.
And that brings us to clean eating.
Eating clean makes my blood sugar much easier to control. Incorporating all those fruits & vegetables, with the natural fibers, lean proteins - it just works. Now, it won't make my life remotely like it was before I was diabetic, but it will help me manage the disease.
Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness and kidney failure in the US. It contributes to heart disease, and can lead to amputations. Long term complications are a serious thing for diabetics. Maintaining good blood sugar levels is the best way to avoid them. Clean eating helps me with that, quite a bit. That's pretty good motivation.
But I can't tell this story without saying that every day I have lived has truly been a gift from God. I'm thankful that I have diabetes, because everyday I have an opportunity to trust the LORD to care for me.
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