Hello, Diabetes World
This is a journal, sort of a research journal, sort of a cookbook about living with Type 2 diabetes. It’s a place to keep my research, my experiences, my little-talks-to-myself about living with this disease. (And sometimes, I’ll put in my favorite low-carb recipes.) I am inspired by this absolutely stellar book Bright Spots and Landmines, by Adam Brown. I love this book; it’s really been an inspiration about living with diabetes in a very positive and life-affirming way. Adam’s books and blog posts in Diatribe are clear, practical and useful; still, I am not a healthy, active young man as Adam Brown clearly is. I am an overweight, over-fifty, woman with a busy, sedentary life. I need a book that will help sedentary people — and busy people — find a path to a healthy life even with diabetes as a factor, a new factor, in the struggle.
Blogging is a hobby for me. It keeps me sane. I will try to post regularly but I am a busy person. Blogging requires some creativity, and creativity requires energy. Energy requires health. My goal is to sit down and take time to write in this journal about twice a week to satisfy my need for meditation and my need to recharge (and commit to a healthy path).
What I plan to write about
I make a living doing research, so I Read. I read, frankly, a freaking ton of stuff: hundreds of books, articles, even scholarly journals. Consequently, there will be book reviews, links to articles on the Internet, recommendations about websites and who-to-follow-on-Mastodon and the like. I may, from time to time, write about the science of diabetes management, but mostly I’m approaching the topic as more of an art form. The science of diabetes management is, to my mind, mostly about medication and insulin concerns, which are a bit outside of my expertise. I will provide references.
Healthy living is a combination of art and science. That’s my focus.
Diet is critical to managing diabetes. I enjoy cooking but have not-so-much time and energy for it. I need to cook more and one thing that encourages me to cook is writing about it. Managing diabetes means that cooking is a Thing. It has to be done at least some. For me, low carb living is essential to this. I’ll be posting easy recipes from time to time.
Gadgets and things are always of interest to me. I just got a constant glucose monitoring system and it is the game-changer everyone says it is. Currently I’m struggling to remain below 180. I want to get to “tightly controlled” blood sugar levels (under 150). I am not insulin dependent (thankfully) and I want to stave that off for as long as I can. I can’t provide much in the way of advice about insulin from experience, and what little I know I get from books. When I do find good resources on insulin and diabetes management, I’ll be sure to let my readers know. I am interested in learning more about insulin pumps because I am a nerd who is curious about such things. Research on the new “artificial pancreas” is something I’m sure I’ll be studying and I’ll pass on the best stuff to this blog. I may geek out on gadgets from time to time.
Exercise is the bane of my existence. I’m hoping writing about it will help me do it more, and do it better. I know it’s a diabetes essential but man, the body is old and busted.
Lastly, this is mostly a journal about getting better, and getting better takes commitment and will, but it is also about attitude. Following the work of Adam Brown, I am resolved to writing about positivity in facing down bad health with a good attitude. I am totally indebted to Adam Brown’s work in this area, which I can’t recommend more highly.
Ciao for now! More soon. — Bebe Joyce
