Friday, August 17, 2012

Fighting the Dragon

For me, diabetes has become a dragon - a large, cold yet fire breathing dragon.  As I struggle to battle that dragon, I have been researching what tools I could put in my arsenal of weapons to use against said dragon.  I have examined my life and looked at all the pits that I seem to fall into.  And I have looked at so many pages of suggestions that my eyes seem to blur at the thought of reading more.  But like St. George of old,     I am determined to destroy (or at least cage) the dragon.

Here are some of the tools that I have come up with:

1.  Add at least one fruit or vegetable to each daily meal.  I plan to keep a container of bite size veggies in the refrigerator.  Hopefully, this will make it easier to add those fruits or veggies.

2. I am realizing that I need more physical activity.  Basically, I am the Queen of Couch Potatoes (which probably accounts for my Mrs. Potato Head shape).  Since I will have to start slow, I am resolving to find ways to gradually add more activity to my daily life.  This cannot include miles of walking, jogging or stair climbing.  I'm not up to that at this point.  But I like to believe that adding a few more steps to each day will become easier each week.

3.  I love chocolate.  When under the influence of a chocolate craving, I have been known to search the kitchen pantry for a loose chocolate chip if nothing else was available.  Superman had Kryptonite, which weakened him.  I need to think of chocolate as my Kryptonite.

4.  And my last, but perhaps my best tool is to STRESS LESS. I am a natural born stresser.  If there is nothing to stress about, I stress because there is nothing to stress about!  So for the next week or so, I will write down when I stress the most, and how I can calm myself.

If you can offer any suggestions on how to battle and cage my "dragon",  please don't hesitate to offer them.  I can use all the help I can get.

2 comments:

  1. You can do this, Linda. Take it slow and don't over do. I don't need my friend sick. I think walking a few extra steps every day is a great start. It don't matter if you are walking indoor. Don't stress!

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  2. I get some extra workout dancing. Remember I use a chair in the kitchen because walking for me is with a walker or wheelchair? I turn on music that makes me move. I draw the water to wash the dishes and pull myself up to the counter like I do when I stand to balance when I do my stretching therapy exercises. Keeping myself against the counter and holding the edge, I sway and more to the music. When I get tired I sit and wash a few dishes after a bit of a rest I star moving my torso to the music. When I feel up to it again, I’ll resume standing for a few beats moving my hips. I’ll be honest; I wouldn’t want anyone to watch me, but it feels good and not exhausting. And dancing makes the dishes fun to wash too. Maybe you can adapt that for you?

    You have the right attitude to succ3eed; you redefine your methods, but never quit! And you inspire me too! :)

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