Changing your life, one step at a time…
In the spring of 2002, I went for a check-up through work, and was shocked to learn that I had extremely high blood sugar. I had diabetes. Right then and there, my life changed. I knew what diabetes was, but I never thought it was something I would have to deal with.
In other words, I didn't 
know much or anything about diabetes, so when my doctor told me that I had diabetes and informed me about the possible consequences, I had trouble taking it in, understanding it, and accepting it.
I heard people say that diabetes is not such a dangerous disease, I heard many say that it is a "healthy" disease because you just have to learn and live healthy, I was very confused, so the years passed while I "learned" to live with diabetes or I thought I did, because I tried to live healthy as I was told, eat right, but yes not well enough with the exercise.
Lived with diabetes for a long time. and for years it went well, I thought, felt that I had good control. The years passed, and I felt that everything was fine, none of the gloomy predictions about serious consequences came true!
In the summer/autumn of 2013, a change occurred, I started having some health challenges, was often "a little" sick, exhausted, tired, had high blood pressure, heart fibrillation, the following year my health situation just got worse and worse, my doctor sent me to the hospital for more tests, the results were not pleasant reading, my body struggled with a lot of inflammation, bad kidneys and strange liver values, problems with numbness in my legs, in the fall of 2014 I was sick.
It was the beginning of a lifestyle change, I finally understood that diabetes is NOT a "healthy" disease but a serious disease that can result in serious health consequences and in the worst case scenario take your life.
I started by learning about diabetes and what you should do to live with the disease, focused at the beginning to learning a lot about diet, slowly I started a lifestyle change, which included a completely new diet and a lot of exercise, to get the body in shape and build it up to be able to live with diabetes.
I am not a doctor or dietitian but extremely curious to learn, acquire knowledge, have a burning desire to understand why, to find answers.
I believe that when you have knowledge, when you know the fact, you can do something about things, the body is complex and fragile, small changes in blood sugar can have serious consequences, but with the right knowledge about things you can learn and live a normal life with diabetes..
In the summer of 2015 I was admitted urgently and operated for a serious gallbladder inflammation that had spread, the doctor said that this was most likely a consequence of the disease challenges that I had had and had for the last two years, a result of diabetes that had gotten out of control.
When I had recovered from the surgery, I really started to change my lifestyle, 100% focus on proper diet, physical and mental exercise.
September 2016, a little 40 kg lighter, in good physical and mental shape and new results from the doctor, which now show completely normal and very good values, sleep normally, have gotten rid of all medicine, except for insulin, but have greatly reduced insulin consumption by 2/3, no longer use fast-acting insulin, and have a long-term blood sugar that is completely normal.In the spring of 2017 I was back in the hospital for another big check-up, this time it was nice to be there, 36 kg lighter in 2 years, my health had changed dramatically, I was healthy again, but yes I had a few permanent health challenges, my pancreas has almost stopped producing insulin, so I am 100% dependent on taking insulin daily, but other than that I am healthy and in better shape than I have ever been in my life.
Winter 2017/ 2018, a little 50 kg lighter, still in good shape, my health is good and stable, I am still active, exercise regularly, vary my training more now, walk, run, spin, cross-country skiing and slalom. I am true to my lifestyle decision, eat and live healthy, but enjoy life, under myself a little extra, have learned the balance between living healthy and enjoying life.
March 2020 Yes, this will probably be both a month and a year that we will all remember, Covid19 Corona hit the world, a pandemic that no one thought would hit us, but it did, unfortunately it turned out that with diabetes, asthma and a severely reduced immune system, I was in the high-risk group and received a message from my doctor to go into isolation, at the time I thought, like many others, that this can't last that long, today March 2021, a year later and the world is still struggling with the pandemic and we are still a long way from having it under control.
March 2021
Yes, I am still in isolation and have been for a year now, but with exercise, a sensible diet and a healthy lifestyle I have managed to stay healthy and active, but it is in times like these, but again I understand that diabetes and the accompanying diseases that often accompany it are not a "healthy" disease but something that must be taken seriously.
NOTE!!!
Eating foods that are low in carbohydrates, a "low-carb diet" does not necessarily mean that those with diabetes can stop taking insulin, or that because you start eating low-carb foods you will lose weight and get rid of any health challenges, it requires a permanent lifestyle change, I still go to the doctor for check-ups at least 4 times a year, I have to take insulin daily, but my quality of life has improved a lot.
