Ready, steady, go!

Lots of people have asked me since I started this wellness journey in October 2023 what advice I received after I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I thought that I would just put down some of the areas that helped me in the beginning and what information I found useful as I started all of this. 

Like I have mentioned in another post getting diagnosed was quite a shock, but thinking about it now, perhaps it shouldn’t have been. I was clearly overweight with back problems and constant fatigue. I had put this down to other issues such as a demanding job, family concerns and the usual busy lifestyle that we all seem to lead these days. So, when I was told that I needed to reduce my sugar levels considerably, my first thought was where do I start? I was referred by my doctor to the diabetic nurse in the practice and my first advice to anyone would be to go to that meeting. There they will advise you about your options going forward. How do I lose the weight? What sugar level am I aiming for? What are my medications exactly? Go through anything you are concerned about with them. 

One thing I did straight away was to read about the condition. Make sure that you just read from a reliable source and not rely on Dr Google to give you the scare stories, of which there are many! My recommended site is the Diabetes UK website whose strategy is to be “focused on curing and preventing diabetes, as well as helping people to live well and longer with the condition”https://www.diabetes.org.uk  Read as much as you can from that site as it is a wealth of information. It is from there that I decided to embark on a low carb eating programme, which I am still on today. Not no-carb you notice, as I don’t believe that cutting out any food group is the right thing to do.

The path has been a challenging one and you have to be committed and determined and really have a focus in mind. Obviously, your long-term health is a major focus but have something else that drives you. Mine was, unashamedly, getting into smaller size clothing and finally wearing dresses that I could buy from the rack in a standard clothes store. A bit vain, yes, I admit it but it certainly helped me focus when it came to whether I should have that toasted teacake or not!

So, I’d love to know, what were your questions initially when it came to starting off on a wellness journey?

Are you in the initial stages when you feel a bit like a rabbit in headlights?

Follow me and keep checking back to find out what I did and didn’t eat and what mistakes I made along the way!