Violet’s Journey with Diabetes“I was angry with myself, because I knew what to do, and I did not. So since diabetes is a preventivedisease, I did not do what I needed to do to avoid it.”“I would come home on the days that I didn’t exercise and I would sit on my couch and just stare atthe television, and I would have projects that I need to do and so much stuff that I was just like, “Yes,I know I need to do those,” but I had no desire to do them.”“I had bouts of depression and so with that how do I get over, how do I manage the depression? Andat that time didn’t share that I was depressed, and still deal with the work and diabetes.”“My first step in managing was to start with the physical aspect that comes with diabetes that can helpyou eliminate your diabetes, and I chose that because I like exercising, and I figured I’d probably beable to get a more return on my investment quicker, and it did.”“The physical activity, as I said, was-- gave me an awesome return on my investment, because notonly did it help me decrease the insulin, it gave me mobility back. It also help me lose weight, but notso much as pounds, but inches. And people were telling me, "Oh, my goodness! You've lost weight!"And I was like, "Thank you! But the scale is not saying that." But I could still feel it in my clothes. So itgave me that internal push, you know, that said, "Okay, keep on this path, because it is good foryou."”“So pray on it, think about it, choose a path. Okay, one path is really, really easy. You don't have todo anything. The other path is you need to-- and you can take it slow.”“Look at you-- because this is your body saying, "Hey, you're not taking care of me anyway," so howcan you take care of you so you could be the better you? There's just so much out there for you. Soembrace it, and do something about it.”
Watch this clip to learn how to recognize the common situations or events that might prevent you from achieving your healthy lifestyle goals, and how your diabetes care team can help.
Keeping Motivated and Rewarding Your Diabetes Self-Care Progress
Find out how getting feedback on your progress and treating yourself to occasional rewards can motivate you to continue working toward your healthy lifestyle goals.
