Esther’s Story

So here’s the thing. I was overweight before I got pregnant. And I didn’t care.  I didn’t care AND I didn’t care. My husband had started counting calories and losing weight and then started the Body by Vi 90-Day Challenge and lost 40 pounds and I very sportively rolled my eyes.  I knew I should care about his efforts to be healthier but I had what the psychologists call a “bad attitude” about weight loss.

When I got pregnant I was the heaviest I’d ever been at 178 pounds. Between my weight, my genes and my poor eating habits I got gestational diabetes in my last trimester.  Turned out, the best way to give oneself diabetes was to eat a large meal once a day like a sumo wrestler. And that’s exactly what I was doing!  I would have useless snacks all day like granola bars and then eat a huge dinner.

A lot of people don’t understand what diabetes is. Without getting too scientific (my degrees are Psychology and Theology, not Biology) basically what happens is your pancreas can’t make enough insulin to dissolve the sugar in your blood. If the sugar sits in your blood and doesn’t get broken down, it can’t get feed your muscles. Your body will feed your organs first and your less important body parts like hands and feet, second. Which is why diabetics have poor circulation and sometimes lose their hands or feet.

My blood sugar was singing through my brain keeping me awake alllllll the time. My hands fell asleep for three solid months. I couldn’t even make a fist to shake at the world in my frustration. It was absolutely terrifying. I got really depressed. I was envisioning myself on this super strict diet with no hands and weighing 600 pounds and sitting in a wheel chair. I was angry that I had to follow a diet and scared that I would end up without hands. I’m very attached to my hands. I’m sure you can relate.

So what changed my attitude? My son did. They told me that I had now passed on a propensity for diabetes to him. My precious son that hadn’t even had a chance to eat chocolate cake was now in a bracket for ‘at risk’ children. I embarked on a journey marked with resolution and a large helping of humble pie. I started using the Body By Vi 90-Day Challenge to lose weight immediately after having my son and I’m down 71 total pounds. I went from a size 14 to a size 4/6 and I feel better than I ever have!

Bottom line. Diabetes is manageable. You don’t go get a disease so you can manage it; you avoid it at all costs! There’s no final piece of chocolate, no last bowl of cereal that puts you over the edge. Which is why it’s hard to know when you’ve gone too far in not dieting or taking care of yourself. I found the line when I met my son. I found a reason to live. Find your reason and it will take you beyond what you ever thought possible for your life. Pounds melt away, depression evaporates and hope, no longer deferred catapults you into a fuller, better life.