Starting My Journey

Hello there! I don't know if you have randomly found my blog or if you followed me here from my "other" blog that I won't really talk about here. I thought about creating health related posts on the blog I've had for close to 10 years, but I realized that not everyone would be interested in reading about my road to healthier living. So here I am. I want this blog to be about sharing my struggles, my victories and everything in between. Let me break down my main health concerns so you can understand where I'm coming from.

My Weight

I would not be in this situation if I had kept my weight down. My weight issues started in Jr. High School until I lost most of the weight in college. After a period of depression, I gained it all back and then some. This became a terrible cycle of weight gain, weight loss and all the emotional ups and downs that come with it. At my highest weight, I was just shy of 300lbs. Currently I am 236lbs which is absolutely not healthy at my height of 5'5.

My Medical Conditions

Many years ago, I was diagnosed with PCOS which predisposed me to many other conditions including insulin resistance. For years I teetered on the edge of pre-diabetes and diabetes until I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2010. That means that I have been diabetic for 10 years and have not taken it seriously whatsoever--until now. I also have high blood pressure and high cholesterol which is basically a time bomb waiting to go off. My last A1C test was in early May and I was at 12%--yikes!

My Mental Health

As someone who has had many episodes of Major Depressive Disorder, taking care of my mental health is extremely important. It's very easy to fall into a cycle of despair because diabetes can be a very isolating health condition. I blame myself for all of the wrong choices I have made (wrong food choices and not leading an active lifestyle) and feel hopeless at times. Luckily, I have many wonderful people in my life who are very supportive of the changes I am currently making.

I find it a little strange that during this global pandemic, I decided to make life altering changes to address my health. Part of it could be that I realized that having all of these medical conditions makes me more vulnerable to things like COVID-19. I also turned 40 last year and I know I'm not a young kid anymore and things will only get worse if I don't make some changes. No one can force you to make changes--you have to make that decision when you are ready. I am ready.