The Sweet Diabetic

My Diabetes And The Apostle Paul

The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 ESV ...

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I often feel this way with diabetes. Many believe the Apostle Paul perhaps had a speech impediment, was hard of hearing and or had bad eyesight. Whatever it was, he kept sincerely asking God to take it away from him. He pleaded and pleaded and God taught him that he needed to rest in His grace and live with it.

 

If you are anything like me, you've been on your knees so many times asking for your diabetes to be healed that you have callouses. Obviously, God can heal absolutely anything He chooses to. So, why are some of us left out?

 

There are people who have told me that I could heal myself if I just checked my emotions. I was even told I had anger issues and was passive aggressive … because I didn't have the power to heal myself. I'm human. I know that was said to hurt me, but it did cause some inner reflection. I pray for God to heal me each and every day. I don't throw a fit with God. I do get frustrated with myself on a regular basis because “I” can't fix it.

 

Perhaps that's the real problem.

 

God needs all the glory. He is the great “I am”, not this chick.

 

Perhaps, like the Apostle Paul, I wouldn't be doing what God wants me do without this diabetic thorn in my side. I wouldn't be reaching out to others who feel the same pain of affliction as I do if I didn't have this struggle. Perhaps He needs me to reach that one person that needs help and He wants me to be his helper. Perhaps without diabetes, I would never connect with that person. Maybe it's you or the next person who reads this post after you. Who knows?

 

I have to realize that this dis-ease in my life is much bigger than my wants.

 

As much as I don't want diabetes to be my purpose in life, what if it is?

 

I try to eat right.

For the most part, I do what my doctor tells me to do.

I meditate every day to try and keep my frustration on the lowest possible threshold.

Many times I fail.

 

Is God making His power known through me by my weaknesses?

 

I have been saying out loud to God everyday in recent weeks that His grace is sufficient for me.

 

Normally, I am not an angry person. However last week it welled in me at fever pitch until it spilled over into a couple of friendships. I believe it was God giving me a final push to end my consulting with people who believe in Him in principle but not in His salvation. I believe I was being pulled from the path He wants me walking, my purpose. I was letting it happen. I have been feeling I should let go for some time. It was only through this anger, that I have no doubt was spot on, that I was able to take the action I didn't have the bravery to do before. God gave me a strong intuition and it rarely fails me.

 

Today, after taking that action and through many tears of release, that anger is gone. Poof.

 

I'm not the holy person of God, the Apostle Paul was. No, far, far, far from it. I think God knocked me over the head with my rarely felt emotion of anger to get me to do what I had to do so he could bring to pass some of the other prayers I've been praying. A cure for diabetes would be a plus … but maybe he needs to reach others through me.

 

Maybe I need to live like His grace is sufficient for me by surrendering. Maybe that is the place my miracle will come from.

 

Stranger things have happened.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 Sherry Stoll lives on a farm in Northwest Missouri with her husband, pets, and farm animals.  She's been writing about her personal journey with diabetes since 2007.  You can read more of her story at her blog, The Sweet Diabetic .  She also writes a blog about life on the farm, her love of crafting and essential oils at Sherry Stoll Living .

What Is Your Attitude About Diabetes ?

Today I went to Web MD to see if I could find a reason for why I've been so overly tired this week. After answering a series of questions, the site suggested the highest probability was that it was something viral. That kind of surprised me because I always assume that anything wrong with me is diabetes related. Always.

 

That made we realize that I've defined my whole life as diabetic. All roads lead to diabetes in my mind. I'm thinking that it's a habit that I need to turn around. I've given this condition too much power over my life. I know that Web MD is not the same as consulting a doctor, but it really made me think about my attitude about my health.

 

Intuitively I really feel that there is a mind/body connection regarding my health. People have always referred to me as “sweet”. I've even been called “too sweet”. Well, now my whole life revolves around sugar. Isn't that ironic? I'm thinking maybe not. I happen to believe that thoughts become things. Maybe I believed I was too sweet and so I became that.

 

I keep going back to my favorite book by Louise L Hay, You Can Heal Your Life. She tells us that what we believe about ourselves is what we create. If I keep thinking, “Has the diabetes caused this? Or “How's this going to affect my diabetes?”, I can be pretty sure that if I blame it on it, I'm creating that result. Sometimes our thinking is so ingrained in us that we don't really realize we're doing it. Think about it though. If we change our thoughts we can change our circumstances. We can create a better result.

 

I'm going to start saying this affirmation to myself every day.

 

“I love and approve of myself. My blood sugar always hovers around 140 or below. I feel rested. I have energy to do everything I want to do. Joy fills my heart. Success follows me at every turn. And so it is.”

 

What is your attitude about diabetes?

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Sherry

 

 

 

Other Blogs By Sherry:

http://sherrystollliving.blogspot.com/

http://www.thesweetdiabetic.com

 

 

See Sherry's Handcrafted Items:

http://www.sherrycreates.com

 

Sherry Has Jewelry:

http://www.sherryhasjewelry.kitsylane.com

 

Young Living Essential Oils

Sherry Stoll, Distributor 607119

https://www.youngliving.org/sherry23331

The Leptin Diet

Leptin is a protein hormone and its primary purpose is to monitor fat levels and signal your brain when you're full when eating. When leptin levels are out of whack, this can disrupt your metabolism. The Leptin diet works to help help keep hormone balance. .

The main claim of the Leptin diet is that it claims you will utilize the same amount of energy from a smaller amount of food as you would from a larger amount.

Although the Leptin diet has been touted as a great way to manage Type 2 diabetes, it is universal enough so it can be utilized by anyone… even those who do not need to lose weight.

The Leptin diet consists of five simple rules

1. Never eat after dinner. 

2. Eat only three meals per day. 

3. When you eat, don’t eat large meals. 

4. Make sure breakfast includes protein. 

5. Reduce your carb intake. 

While the Leptin diet might not be for everyone, it offers an additional method for helping control Type 2 diabetes.

There's more information on The Leptin Diet at http://diabetes-living.com/articles/the-leptin-diet/

***

My thought is that eating less makes less food to metabolize, so there's less room for higher spikes in our blood sugar. So, I don't this is a “breakthrough” kind of diet. It's more of a common sense attitude toward eating. I have personally found that the less I obsess about food, the better I do.

I have had a love/hat relationship with food my entire life. I'm certain it's gotten me on this diabetic path that I'm on. It does no good to beat myself up it, but sometimes I still do. I do think this Leptin Diet has some good basic guidelines. I've learned the hard way not to hang my hat on any one diet. Weight loss is a lot like diabetes as there is no cookie cutter approach.

I take Byetta as part of my arsenal of diabetes medication and I think it works like this diet does to tell me I'm full with less food. The difference is that it works in my brain to do that.

Please be sure to discuss any plans you have to change your diet with your doctory. How, what and when you eat will affect your blood sugar.

Be well.

Sherry

Other Blogs By Sherry:

http://awesomelimitlessthinking.blogspot.com/

http://sherrystollliving.blogspot.com/

http://www.writersguidelinesforyou.com/

http://www.thesweetdiabetic.com

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/blog/SherryCreates

 

See Sherry's Handcrafted Items:

http://www.sherrycreates.com

 

Sherry Has Jewelry:

http://www.sherryhasjewelry.kitsylane.com

Baked Jalapeno Poppers Recipe

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

40 10

Publish Date: January 17, 2013

•  

  10 jalapeno peppers

• 3 / 4 cup KinniKinnick Foods Bread Crumbs Panko Style

• 1 / 8 teaspoon Swanson Organic 100% Certified Organic Paprika (Ground)

• 1 / 8 teaspoon Swanson Organic 100% Certified Organic Garlic Powder

• 1 / 8 teaspoon Swanson Organic Certified Organic Chili Powder (Ground)

• Swanson Ultra Himalayan Crystal Salt, to taste

• Simply Organic Black Pepper, to taste

•  

  5 ounces light cream cheese

•  

  2 ounces low fat cheddar cheese, shredded

• 3 tablespoons Swanson Organic 100% Certified Organic Chives

• 1 / 4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour

• 4 1 / 4 teaspoons Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer

•  

  6 tablespoons warm water

•  

  non-stick cooking spray

Wash and dry peppers. Wearing gloves, cut a slit in the peppers about ¾ of the way from base to stem. Scoop out the seeds and membranes. In a bowl, combine panko crumbs, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper, using a spoon to make sure the seasoning doesn’t fall to the bottom of the bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, chives and sharp cheddar cheese in a bowl. Using a small spoon or spatula, fill peppers with the cheese mixture.

Dredge peppers in flour. Mix Ener-G Egg Replacer with the warm water. Dip peppers into the egg replacement, then coat with panko mixture.

Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. You can also spray the peppers with a little cooking spray. Place the jalapenos on the pan. Bake at 350° F for 20–25 minutes, until golden and cheese oozes out. Serve immediately.

Makes 10 servings. Serving size 1.0 jalapeno popper.

Nutritional Breakdown (per serving):

 

Calories 85, Protein 4 g, Fat 1 g, Saturated Fat 0.7 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Monounsaturated Fat 0.2 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 0.05 g, Carbohydrates 15 g, Fiber 1.5 g, Sodium 297 mg

My Byetta Transformation

I've been using Byetta since March of this year.  I was at my breaking point because I just couldn't seem to lose weight and my blood sugar was getting away from me.  I asked my doctor if there was something I could take that would help me lose weight.  I had been fighting the idea of

“We need to amputate your great toe on your left foot.”

 “We need to amputate your great toe on your left foot.”

 

I remember thinking it's not so great is you need to take it off, but that was my reality just a week into my diabetes diagnosis. My world changed in that moment.

 

I get a lot of questions about my toe amputation. So as the 5^th anniversary of that event approaches, I thought I would try to answer some of those questions in this post.

 

Did I blame myself?

Yes, I did. I hated myself for months, maybe longer. I found many ways to blame myself. I went through all those coulda, woulda, shoulda thoughts. But, I've come to a place of forgiveness. The past is over and I say this affirmation to help myself let go of the inner resistance I have toward it …

 

I release all patterns within me that created diabetes. I love and approve of myself. All is well in my world.

 

None of us created diabetes on purpose. None of us set out to lose a toe. Not you. Not me. We have to move forward and realize that no one is perfect.

 

How long did it take to heal?

 

For me, it was a long time. My foot was sore for many, many months. When my toe was amputated, they did not stitch it closed because the staph infection had started to travel into my foot. They did not want to trap anything in there.

 

I had the wound vac but I quickly learned that I was allergic to the adhesive tape used to hold it on. So, I had to go to wet/dry dressings stuffed into the crater that was where my toe was. Yes, it did hurt. The nerves in my foot were alive and it hurt like heck when the bandages were changed. My husband helped me do that because I was just unable to look at it for a while.

 

After that healed, I was left with soreness on the fleshy part of my foot under where my big toe was. It felt like a really deep bruise. That took quite some time to heal. I would say at least a year for all the tenderness to be completely gone.

 

What about orthopedic shoes?

 

I tried them and hated them. I got a pair of tennis shoes and the orthopedic inserts to go in them. About $300 later, they hurt my feet and I was afraid to wear them because a blister was where my whole roller coaster started. Fear won out on that one. I started wearing Crocs. I found that on www.Crocs.com website, they have a collection called Rx that are actually made with us in mind. They have never caused me any problems. They keep coming out with new Crocs styles and I have some to wear for just about any occasion. I don't wear the inserts because I get such a great fit with the Crocs. I've found that I love wearing spa socks with them.

 

Do you have trouble walking?

 

No, not really. The only time I have trouble is on uneven ground. I get a little off balance. If bending forward, I find that it's hard to stop that forward momentum sometimes. Your body eventually relearns your new center of balance. It's kind of like being a bull rider. With practice their bodies remember how to stay on the bull and it becomes second nature. I've found my body has done the same.

 

If you didn't know I was missing a toe, you would never guess I didn't have one.

 

What about physical therapy?

 

I never had any physical therapy. It never came up really.

 

What about a prosthetic toe?

 

I've never had one of those either, and to be truthful, I've never researched it.

 

 

Life without a toe is doable. It definitely was a wake up call for me. I went from a blister, to a staph infection, to a diabetes diagnosis, to a toe amputation in 7 days. The main thing I want to say to you is to not blame yourself like I did. Stressing over it does not make anything better. What's done is done. Find a doctor your trust. That's been the most important thing for me.

 

If you have anymore questions, please don't hesitate to ask. That's the whole reason I do this blog. I want to help others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never Give Up!

If you are like me, sometimes when diabetes has a mind of its own you would just like to throw your hands up in the air and quit.  I don't do it and I hope you don't either.  Here are some encouraging words from Joel Osteen that I have found helpful and I hope you will too.

Using Coriander Essential Oil To Balance Blood Sugar

If you read my blog very often, you know of my dislike of prescription medication.  As a result, I'm always looking for alternatives ... that are safe.  I've been using therapeutic grade essential oils for over 10 years.   Recently, I have discovered that Coriander Essential Oil can help to balance blood sugar.

Here's a video explaining how it works.

Paula Deen Takes Victoza For Type 2 Diabetes. So What Is It?

If you are like me, when you heard Paula Deen was a Type 2 Diabetic, you Googled her perscription ... Victoza.  I thought it sounded very hopeful until I read the "Important Safety Information".  Personally, I would have a long discussion with my doctor before taking it.  Laboratory tests have shown that Victoza can cause thyroid cancer.

Here is the product information from http://www.Victoza.com .  Please make an informed decision on any diabetes medication you choose to take.  You must be your own advocate.

Sherry

My Not So Merry Season Of Metformin

My Not So Merry Season Of Metformin

 

It's been awhile since my last post, but I've been going through a not so merry season with Metformin. I'm writing about it because I suspect many of you may have or are going through the same thing with no idea of the cause.