Sweet tooth leaves a sour taste for new diabetic
Posted by Dennis Anderson on Jan 8th, 2007
I’ve had a Jolly Rancher lollipop sitting on my desk at work for more than a year. It’s watermelon, my favorite flavor.
It was always my last-resort afternoon sugar fix. You know, “In case of emergency, break glass.”
I’ve never needed the sucker because I’ve always had 70 cents in my pocket for a Milky Way, Snickers or a pack of vanilla frosted Zingers from the candy machine.
I threw the Jolly Rancher in the garbage today, just days after my doctor told me I have Type 2 diabetes.
No more sugar, the doctor told me, if I don’t want to be on insulin the rest of my life.
Having Type 2 diabetes, or as I call it, “the middle-aged fat man’s disease,” increases my risk for many complications, including heart disease, blindness and nerve and kidney damage, according to the American Diabetes Association.
So, out went the sucker. In its place is a jar of salted almonds, which I munch on throughout the day.
I’ve known this day was coming since I was about 8 years old. While my mom was at the kitchen table having coffee with a lady friend, I sat on the couch nearby and polished off a row of Nabisco chocolate chip cookies. As my mom’s friend was leaving, she leaned over to me as I put the last cookie in my mouth and whispered, “You know, that’s not good for you.”
“Iknomgghff,” I responded.
I’ve had a love affair with sweets for as long as I can remember. As a kid, no Saturday morning was complete without “Josie and the Pussycats” and a bowl of Cheerios with six spoonfuls of sugar, just for taste.
I was active in sports through high school (weighing in at 145 pounds on graduation day) and never had a weight problem. Then, in college, I got a job filling vending machines. That was like putting a safe cracker in charge of a bank. Hungry college guys can eat a lot of Reese’s peanut butter cups.
In the past 25 years I’ve grown in girth. Sure, I’ve dieted and exercised, losing up to 30 pounds at one point, only to put it back on, and then some. I feel Oprah’s pain.
I’ve been on medication to fight high triglycerides; before my diagnosis, two doctors had told me that I was just an Oreo away from diabetes. I didn’t heed their warnings, and didn’t change my lifestyle.
I’ve always thought I’d take charge of my weight problem sooner or later. Thinking back, subconsciously I’ve been anticipating this news. In fact, when the doctor told me last week that I was a diabetic, it was liberating.
Now, I have a mission, my wife and family’s support, and the Jolly Rancher is on the way to the landfill.
I just hope the lollipop gets there before me.
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