I can't say I was shocked, because it wasn't the first time I'd had that result. But I was horrified, because it was rising from the last time I'd had it checked. I decided that if I wanted to avoid having diabetes, I needed to change my diet and my exercise.
I did both. I cut out sugar (other than fruit) completely, and I exercised quite a bit, walking upwards of 15 miles a week and also going to the gym three times a week. I lost about 10 pounds and lowered my blood sugar to the "normal" range.
I felt great. Not just about doing something that had made me healthier in the long term, but I felt good on a daily basis.
Then came the holidays. And a work obligation that took me out of town. And then I just forgot, or made other plans or changed the rules. I started ordering whatever I wanted at restaurants. Last week, I ate a bag of cotton candy, because I wanted to. I haven't tested to see where my blood sugar is, because I don't really want to know. If I had to guess, I'm probably back in the low "pre-diabetes" range.
I don't know what it is that makes me forget about my long-term health and focus solely on my immediate wants and needs. But I do know that I am typically of two different brains: Later Bill vs. Now Bill. It is clear that this is just a moment in time, and that, God willing, I may have countless more moments. And those future moments can be made better by choices I make today.
Will I go to the gym during lunch, or watch another episode of Parenthood on Netflix? Will I have fried chicken for lunch, or a bowl of low sodium soup? The right choices give me a better chance of good health later, and I am a person who HATES being sick.
Yet sometimes, I pull into Popeye's anyway, and I bring home my chicken and sit in front of the TV and watch that dreamy Peter Crouse.
I have to assume this is universal, to some extent. It's the reason perfectly intelligent people take smoke breaks. It's how a person who knows about safe sex makes the choice in a split second to not practice it. It's why someone walks into a casino and spends $100 dollars that might otherwise cover a week's worth of food.
Because Now Me (Us) overwhelms our thoughts of Future Me (Us).
It's the one time that the phrase "Life for the now" probably gets it wrong. I'm sure, in fact, that many people have used that as an excuse to screw (sometimes literally) Future Me (Us) out of, well, some of our future.
Today, I would like to remember to be mindful of Future Me. Especially when I choose what to eat, and what sort of exercise to do. Today, may I remember that Now Me has plenty of gifts, and doesn't need any more.
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