It\’s a shame that people who live with diabetes face blaming and shaming for their condition. Isn\’t it hard enough to live with diabetes without the \”it\’s all your fault\” attitude from other people?

In February of last year, my A1c levels were in the prediabetes range. My sister had already had prediabetes for a year or two; and my paternal grandmother had diabetes later in life. Family predisposition?

Diabetes, I hear, is expensive to treat. I already have to spend some $80 per month on prescriptions; and I don\’t want any more! I don\’t want even oral diabetes meds; and even less do I want to become insulin dependent. That was my major motivation for getting to work to improve my diet, and shed some excess pounds. By last Fall, although I had lost weight, my A1c levels hadn\’t budged; and I began to work with a nurse practitioner and a nutritionist, so I could figure out my calorie and carb needs.

Bookworm that I am, I got a book about prediabetes as soon as I received the diagnosis; and I also bought a vegetarian cookbook for diabetes. The constant meal planning and calorie/carb counting is tedious, but I don\’t dare stop doing it. It\’s too easy to slide back into old habits if I don\’t stay right on top of it.

Naturally there are rough patches, and I had one only last week. For several days I couldn\’t seem to stop munching on \”naughty\” foods! It\’s a shame I\’m not sure why this happens. If I did, maybe I could prevent it; but I guess bad spells are normal. The important thing is to get past them and continue with \”business as usual\”.