Last updated on November 26, 2023
I love Red Vines. Not Twizzlers. Not generic red licorice. Red Vines. And I miss them. I also miss gummy candies, Butterfingers, and every candy bar with peanuts or peanut butter. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Buckeyes, Abba Zaba, and peanut butter Twix bars.
Thank goodness I can still eat peanut butter.
For years I kept a tub of Red Vines on my desk, nibbling on the vines while I worked.
I hate being diabetic. It’s horrible for a sweet tooth.
Pastries were part of my life, too. I knew where every good bakery and donut shop was in the greater Pittsburgh area. Before that, I learned the shops around the Twin Cities.
Before we left Western Pennsylvania, I had to curtail my bakery habit. Thankfully, curtail doesn’t mean a complete loss of baked goods. It turns out, there is a market for “keto” baked goods.
When I was “pre-diabetic” I reduced my sugar and total carbohydrate consumption. I made sure I kept my weight down. I exercised regularly. The fear of crossing the line from pre-diabetic to Type 2 Diabetic led me to do everything I could to achieve the promised reversal of pre-diabetes.
It didn’t work. I’m diabetic despite doing all I could, from exercising even more to adopted an extreme low-carb diet.
I’ve lost a few more pounds, but I’m not going to lose any more. I ride an exercise bike 15 to 20 miles daily and walk three miles at least three times a week with my daughters. We added weights, resistance bands, and other equipment to our routines. Before leaving Pennsylvania, I also skated six hours a week during the winter.
I have a cyclist’s legs and heart rate. My resting heart rate is between 45 and 55 beats per minute. My blood pressure is good.
The diabetes diagnosis has been more traumatic than I expected. I keep wondering what I could have done better.
I’m on medication.
It’s been a long few years. Sure, it is “just diabetes” but that doesn’t mean it is easy.
I cannot eat even small amounts of some of my favorite foods without my blood sugar spiking. Rice? Nope. Bread? No way! Pasta’s obviously out, too. Fruit? Only in the smallest amounts.
No matter what I do, my morning readings are elevated. I’ve tried various tricks suggested online. I take cinnamon pills. I drink water throughout the night. I avoid caffeine. Yet, mornings are “yellow” when I use the glucose meter.
Keto diet, 90 minutes to two hours of exercise, staying hydrated. I’m doing the right things. The meter doesn’t reward the effort, though.
I’ll ride more. I’ll walk more. I’ll try my best to stay in the low-carb aisles at the grocery store.
My fear is that I won’t be able to stop the Type 2 Diabetes, that I won’t be able to stop the progression.