The Curious Diabetic: Why this blog?
Have you ever…
been frustrated by the up-and-downs of your glucose?
wondered whether you could or couldn't eat this or that food, not knowing how your body would react?
been concerned with doing sports, fearing a low blood-sugar level?
been confused about what food to eat in order to reduce your insulin and achieve more stable blood glucose levels?
been looking for somebody else going through your same troubles?
If you did, you and me, The Curious Diabetic, have plenty of stuff to share! Welcome to my blog!
A curious diabetic doing his favourite thing (left), and posing with One Piece’s Monkey D. Luffy (right).
My need for this
Long story short: I needed a public space to reflect on my life as a diabetic.
I can’t quite count the number of times I’ve searched for answers, experiences, tips and tricks from others without finding anything. So I thought: instead of just looking for that information invane, let me create it!
The life of a type 1 diabetic is not easy. We’re constantly entangled into a vortex of concerns, doubts, uncertainty, maybe even fear sometimes. How many times I’ve pondered questions like:
Nice restaurant! But can I even order something and keep a decent blood sugar level?
Why is my blood glucose always high, despite all that insulin?
I had a cheat meal. A very calorie-sugar-guilt heavy cheat meal. What now? More insulin? Self flagellation? Is it even ok to eat a cake as a diabetic?
…And for the love of God, can my blood glucose not be a rollercoaster for a while?
…and on and on and on.
I also can’t quantify the amount of information I consume about diet, nutrition, exercise and all that. There are a lot of podcasts, videos and articles out there, and passive consumption without elaboration only causes tons of precious knowledge to be lost in the noise. Not to mention how overwhelming it gets!
Some random food pictures 😁
Our need for this
Given my own concerns, fears and doubts and the vast landscape of resources available on the internet to deal with them, building a little space to link the two was a natural and necessary step to take at some point.
Diabetes is a beast we need to tame on a daily basis and it can quickly become a source of immense stress. Even more so when we feel alone in the struggle.
Personally, I try to fully embrace my condition by making conscious choices that can enforce a happy conviviality.
But sometimes I just really need to find somebody walking a similar path, perhaps sharing some of the same doubts as me. I find that encouraging, and those preoccupations become much smaller when tackled together with others!
The aim
So here we are, slowing it down a bit, taking the time to think it through and enrich each others through our experiences.
I trust in the power of writing to unveil hidden patterns and in the power of sharing to find courage and clarity.
I will thus document my journey: the food I eat, the sports I do, my processes, the choices I make and their underlying reasons, my experiments, the resources I rely on, the interesting contents I come across…all of it!
Hopefully this will inspire others to share as well, and make this small blog a hub for discussing, sharing, finding some comfort when things get tough and a place to cheer when things go well.
Once again, welcome! Let’s figure some stuff out!
