Thread: Acceptance

Originally Posted by Barb

Claire, always there with the common sense, thank you!

I have had a pretty stern talk to myself today. I have been sliding down a slippery slope for too long. Well, no more. I have to get serious with myself and I'm going to. Out with the bad habits and in with the good.
I have to get past this mental; block that says type 2 is a disaster; it doesn't have to be if i deal with it now. I need to keep coming back to these threads for advice and support and I will.

Thats the spirit !! When im feeling blue, i sit n think ... bloody el Claire theirs ppl out there sooo much worse off than yerself .. get yer ass into gear and stop thinking the worst .. (it usually works afters a days sulking )

The problem I find it's that there's so much stigma attached to being type 2 in the media and broader society that you feel embarrassed and ashamed to suffer from it. Then of course you see people a LOT bigger than yourself who don't have diabetes and resent that too. Like everything in life there are good days and bad days, but we just have to keep plugging away, it's our only option.

I agree with you Ross, it is a feeling of 'oh well, it's your fault, you ate too much, now you are a drain on the NHS' - an attitude we see on an almost daily basis via the media. My understanding is that it is gene influenced first and foremost and that lots of other things can cause type 2 such as medicines (steroids), stress, low birth weight and yes, for some excessive weight gain. However, there are plenty of thin type 2's out there, so it cannot possibly be entirely weight related. However, I think the media loves a bit of 'fat bashing' and us cuddly type 2's are a very easy target.

There's a lot of great advice in here, so maybe I can give you a little story that will help you feel better. My grandmother has diabetes, and she's always told me that she doesn't worry about a small candy bar here, or a bite of cake there. Her motto is that as long as you're taking care of yourself 90% of the time it's okay to lapse the other 10%. "Sometimes," she says, "It's just not worth living if you can't have that chocolate." So be careful, be healthy, and be forgiving of yourself if you have to bend the rules in a rare instance.