Busy Life

I am a 45-year-old female and found out that I have diabetes three weeks ago. Find out was a surprise for me and has completely change my life.

Diabetes runs in my family and I took care of myself by watching my diet and exercising but as the doctor put it, in my case it wasn’t a matter of having diabetes but more of when will I get it. It was unavoidable.

I work in construction and did not recognized the signs, but that is more of saying that I wasn’t paying attention to my body. You see, I’m an engineer who will always place priority on my career than my well being. I thought that exercising an hour a day and watching what I ate (when I did) will do it without realizing that I was contributing more to my condition. Long hours at work, poor meal planning and added stress finally caught up with me.

When the doctor gave the news, I went through the entire roller coaster of feelings – the same day! But instead of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to take this new challenge head on. I won’t say that it has been easy to be out in the field checking my construction projects and look at the watch to see if I have to check my sugar! But it is providing me an opportunity to educate those that work with me on living with this condition.

I was very organized prior to the diagnosis and have used that to my advantage to plan and organized my days, from meals and snacks to exercise. Prior to the diagnosis, I was swimming half a mile in the morning and the afternoon. One of the ladies that swims in the same pool is a tri-athlete and had been talking to me about joining the group and compete next year. My visit to the doctor was with the intent to find out if I was fit to start training! Needless to say my dreams to become a tri-athlete are on hold for now. However, knowing that exercise and weight control are a big part of diabetes management, I’ve gotten more inspired to really do it. After my diagnosis, I got a mountain bike and now included an additional 30 minutes of biking to my exercise regime.

I was at the doctor’s office last week and is very proud of my attitude. He told me not to give up on my tri-athlete dreams but just take some time off to understand my body and adjust to the incorporating more exercise.

So for now, 2010 triathlon is out for me, but with this change in lifestyle, my long hours at work are changing to time to relax and exercise and look forward to new challenges to make new dream come true!