That Stupid Pancreas!

Dear Diabetes,  You suck! When I think of you I think about pain and frustration. You provide me with such struggles, I can't thank you enough. You make me high and low, emotional, and you threaten my life on a daily basis. To give you credit for everything that you've thrown upon me, I went to the trouble of making a list for you.  When my stomach hurts and I don't feel like eating at all, you drop my blood sugar and force me to eat. Then after I make myself sick by eating to please you (and go high), you reward me by stabbing me with a needle to bring my blood sugar back down. I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge all the times you gave me the pleasure of waking up at 3 am to treat a low blood sugar - you've certainly helped me to appreciate sleeping in. When I go out in public, you are the reason for all of the staring, comments, and judgements that I must deal with. You are the mastermind behind the plot to keep me from enjoying three Timbits f...

Good afternoon, friends! Today is a fresh September morning -Autumn has truly arrived. And with Autumn comes Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays. Picking apples, seeing relatives, eating lots of pumpkin and apple flavoured desserts; these are all things that I enjoy.  With all the food intake that occurs on Thanksgiving, it's ideal for the dessert to be low-carb. But what if your favourite apple spice cake has 793 carbs in it? Don't fret! There is a way to lower the carbs in a recipe, and I will show you how. Just a Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down! This may be true with Mary Poppins, but sugar definitely does not help a recipe's carb count go down! Sugar is a major addend of the equation to a recipe's carb count. There are many ways to substitute sugar in a recipe, but these two are my favourite ways. 1. Maple Flakes  Decacer Maple Flakes are exactly what they sound like. Flakes of maple sugar. It works wonderfu...

Hey guys! For the first couple of months after I was diagnosed with T1D, I was very precise with how I counted my carbs. I was always using measuring cups, measuring exactly to the line, and measuring absolutely everything in sight. But now, six months later, I feel comfortable with grabbing a fist-full of cereal, no measuring required.  What changed? Why was I so obsessed with making every single measurement exactly perfect, and then I just... wasn't anymore? Perhaps I had a slight case of OCD. Maybe I gave up on being a measuring cup geek. But my best guess is that just got more comfortable with dosing, carb counting, and feeling safe with my eating decisions as I got more practice with it.  Today's post is 7 Ways to Feel More Comfortable With Carb Counting, so that you can live your life a little more care-free.  1. Make a Carb Count Book  During the first few months of living with T1D, I was always freaking out because I had lost the label wit...

Good morning! I have a question for you. Have you ever been scanning the internet looking at memes, and then you see one that isn't so funny? Well, I was looking at Pinterest memes yesterday afternoon, and I came across one that showed a math test. The question displayed was, "John had 63 chocolate bars and he ate 47 of them. What does John have now?" The answer that the student gave was,"Diabetes. John has diabetes." The opinions that I state in this post are only my opinions. They are not meant to bring others down or offend anyone, but only to educate people on the basis of Type 1 Diabetes and how some diabetics feel about diabetes-related jokes. If there are any misunderstandings please email me about it  here  .  I certainly didn't laugh when I read that. I saw dozens of other memes like that, and it bothered me very much. Of all the diseases, diabetes seems to be the butt of most food-related jokes, such as, "I'm like a diabetic in a ca...

Good afternoon. This post is about 6 Stupid Things People Say to Type 1 Diabetics, and before I start with the list, let me say this: The opinions that I state in this post are only my opinions. I am not stating my opinions to bring others down or offend anyone at all. Please do not let my opinions change or effect yours, and if there are any concerns please email me about it. I also understand that people say certain things about diabetes and supposedly "better ways to manage it" with my well-being at heart, and I'm thankful for their concern, but sometimes the information that they present is just incorrect. 1. You can't eat that, you're diabetic! Yes, I'm a diabetic. No, that doesn't stop me from eating what I want. My Grandmother's 75th birthday was yesterday, and I had more cake than my grandmother. Just because I have to take insulin for my food doesn't mean that I can't eat. This one is particularly frustrating because i...

Hey guys! This is my first blog, I'm not going to lie. When I started thinking about my what my first post was going to be about, I was kind of overwhelmed. But then I realized that I have something in common with you, my readers, that I'm not used to having in common with anyone else. I have diabetes, and so do you.  We already have a connection, which, at least in my mind, puts us on a team who's members are bound together, working as one to keep out the enemy. But we're getting a little off topic, back to the point! When I was choosing my topic for this week's blog, I wanted you to get to know me better through it. So, I'm going to be sharing a story.  I was diagnosed with diabetes on January 31 of this year. I was a little shocked, but I adjusted to my new lifestyle quickly. I subscribed to some diabetic Youtube channels, and the time would come when the Youtuber would discuss celebrating your dia-versary. It hadn't occurred to me t...