Daily Life with Diabetes

Being completely honest I’ve been pondering over what to cover in my next blog for almost two weeks now. There‘s been no light bulb moments, revelations or topics that have screamed out to me. That got me thinking that the reason for this is that after 14 years, it’s just part of my daily life. The highs and lows are my norm. Dealing with the daily struggles is just part of my routine. I’m probably not selling you the want to read on, but if you do I hope you can translate this into something relevant to your life. I’m of the personal opinion that being Type 1 Diabetic hasn‘t held me back in life at any point. I’ve ran a Marathon and dieted and trained extremely hard to compete in bodybuilding competitions three times so far. Neither of these accomplishments were unaffected by being diabetic but is a goal even worthwhile without challenges?! Everybody faces challenges every day in life. Some we run from and some we run to. Some we have absolutely no option but to tackle and overcome. I mostly forget that I have this obstacle and it’s usually my Mum and Husband that remind me of the obvious. This usually happens when I’m overly fatigued, struggling to recover, or generally run down. All of which are a regular occurrence and are exacerbated by my active lifestyle and choice of physically and mentally demanding hobbies. I detest being told or made to slow down because I’m diabetic but it happens and that’s just something I have to live with and manage. It won’t ever stop me being the best version of me or fulfilling my goals though. Chose your path, negotiate your obstacles, and arrive at your destination no matter how long it takes you. With every failure and false start comes knowledge and a greater understanding of oneself. This said I was caught out with a hypo (low blood sugar) last month. Hypos happen now and then, sometimes for no apparent reason. I can generally feel them coming on and predict when they’re most likely to 

occur. During the thousands of fitness classes I’ve taught over the years I’ve only been caught unawares twice. The second of which was in the midst of teaching two back to back Pilates classes. It caught me completely by surprise and no amount of dextrose tablets helped. So I literally stood on the spot with 35 participants looking at me and drew a blank. I couldn’t string a sentence together so basically abandoned the class in a flood of tears. What a bloody idiot I felt like. The class were absolutely brilliant and extremely supportive and understanding, but I felt such a fool. What embarrassed me the most was what people would think of me. Would they think I was reckless with my health? Would they think I was irresponsible and should have prevented such a situation? Would they lose respect for me in my profession? The answer to all of the above was inevitably NO, but to me those were real concerns.

My take home message is never to be defined by your obstacles, and give them respect. Resenting challenges will only hold you back as will ignoring them. Take ownership of your life, your situation, and play with the hand your dealt with. Wishing for a better hand of cards won’t change your path or the outcome.❤️💙