Hi, I’m Karene. I’ll be your weekly blogger to discuss all kinds of issues regarding health and wellness. I’m really excited to share with you information and personal views on physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. I believe the only way we can change our lives is to be educated using the oldest and most recent information, so I hope I can bring that to you. By oldest I mean from the Bible. This and the most recent; the latest insights into modern health.
First, I want to tell you a little bit about myself. I’m a registered nurse with my background in labor and delivery and pediatrics. I’m married with one child and another one on the way. I’m also a newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic, so my diet and all around physical health has become a major concern in my life. Right now the passions in my life are my family. I am a full time mommy, and taking care of my little girl is the joy of my days! My hobbies include hiking and scrap booking, even though these days I don’t have much time for either. My husband says I should add exercising to my list of hobbies since I am kind of a gym junky, ha ha!
Okay, so now that you have an idea about me, lets start talking about our health. Where to begin? I think it all starts by admitting we have some changes to make. Whether it is to eat a better diet, to begin an exercise program, or maybe to simply add daily devotions into your routine, it all requires us to make a change. And lets face the facts; change is hard! Last time I had to make a big change was in August when I found out I had diabetes. Wow, was that a shock! If you saw me you’d never think I was the type of person to have diabetes, but here I am hooked up to an insulin pump.
Sometimes I’m so amazed at the journey of life. It always has a way of throwing something unexpected at us. But, when I found out I had diabetes I really didn’t have much of a choice in the changes that needed to be made. I had to change my diet if I wanted to get better. So, cold turkey I gave up most refined sugar and processed foods. I was already a vegetarian, but I actually found that to be a challenge.
Most people don’t realize that when vegetarians take meat out of their diets, they tend to replace it with starchy, high carb foods like rice, potatoes, pasta, and bread. So, for a diabetic vegetarian, it becomes a challenge to pick the right types of carbs and combine it with a good source of protein, like nuts and soy products. Let me tell you, when you’re used to just eating whatever you want and then have to start counting carbs, it’s a huge change and not an easy one. So, if you have the option to make your change, it’s better to start sooner than later, and not wait until you are diagnosed with a disease that will devastate your life and the lives of your friends and family. So lets get radical, and make the change before it’s to late.
As I close my first blog, let me give you a little slice of life. If you’re tuning in to improve your diet and overall eating habits, or you just simply eat to live or live to eat, my recommendation is a fabulous book called The Calorie King, calorie, fat & carbohydrate counter, by Allan Borushek. My endocrinologist was the first person to recommend this book to me after I was diagnosed with diabetes. And let me tell you, this book has become my food Bible and I can’t go anywhere with out it. It has every type of food you can imagine in it along with 200 restaurant listings. Also, it includes exercise, diabetes, fat and cholesterol guides and sample diet plans just to name a few of the extras. Trust me I could not live without this book. It has changed my life. In fact I can almost say it has given me my life back. So if you find yourself in a local bookstore, check it out and make the decision for yourself.
By better educating ourselves with the issues that we face today on health and wellness, we can begin to make improvements in the way we live and how we interact with those around us. I hope you will find this blog insightful, educational, and uplifting as you make your way along your own healthful journey.
