How to Rid Oneself of Diabetes through Healthy Dieting
Concrete Experience

I started my health and nutrition program study after I began reading more health literature. I had seen my father’s health erode as a result of poor dieting and lack of exercise. He suffers from diabetes and is convinced it is not related to his lack of dieting or exercise, but the literature I had read convinced me otherwise. Davis (2008) showed that natives in the Marshall Islands developed diabetes when they moved away from their natural, organic diets and began consuming pre-packaged, fast foods. He initiated a program that returned them to a lifestyle of living off the land and sea, which gave them exercise and a healthy, organic diet. Their diabetes disappeared (Davis, 2008). Bray, Nielsen and Popkin (2004) and Malik et al. (2010) also have shown a link between consumption of high-fructose corn syrup, soda pop and the onset of diabetes. So for me it was a matter of reading the literature and seeing my father drink 3 cans of Mt. Dew every day along with all the fast food he ate. I knew that I did not want to go down that path so I started focusing on my own health, nutrition and exercise regimens. That was about a year ago.

My goals and objectives in starting a health and nutrition program were to eat organic, avoid unnecessary sugar—especially high fructose corny syrup—and to get involved in a low-impact exercise workout routine. To achieve these goals I began with a simple survey of the items in my fridge and cupboard and found far too much candy and pre-packaged foods. I looked at my after school and work activities and they consisted of me sitting at a computer or watching television. My goals were to change up these eating and exercising habits.

I did not keep any journals, not formally speaking, nor was I evaluated in any way. However, I am good at holding myself accountable and always have been, so I was not worried on that front. The challenge was to find out how to replace my unhealthy habits with healthy ones. I needed to know what options I had. To know this, I turned to the Internet. I had refrained from going to the grocery and I was used to ordering on DoorDash—and I saw that one of the filter options for selecting foods to eat was a “healthy” option. I selected this and a list of restaurants I had never been to came up. I selected the I Love Juice Bar and ordered a bowl of overnight oats. The overnight oats were delicious and so I looked up the recipe online and decided that this was the type of meal I would prepare myself for brunch each day—no more donuts. The overnight oats recipe consisted of almond milk, almond butter, oats, blueberries (I replaced this with apples cut up), honey, and cacao nibs. I have been enjoying overnight oats each day for a year and I can honestly say that my digestion has improved, I sleep better at night, and I feel that I have lost weight since I am not loading myself up with carbs and sugary food snacks.

The main resources I used to learn about what foods to eat and what low impact exercises to do were the Internet and health-conscious friends. A lot of good information is available through social media, and it can all be verified by searching on Google Scholar for scholarly resources, which I did to find that information on diabetes and diet. The study by Davis (2008) on the Marshall Islands was particularly impactful for me.

Observations and Reflections

The reason I decided to learn about health and nutrition was that I saw my father’s health declining and I wanted to prevent myself from going down the same path. My hope in learning was to establish a foundation of knowledge that I could use to make life changes. I learned the value of having a simple, organic diet; and I also learned what a difference low impact exercise can have. I feel so much healthier since I have gotten away from sugary drinks and snacks and since I have begun going on hikes around the neighborhood. I love reconnecting with nature, so this is an added bonus.

My pre-conceived ideas were that eating healthy would be boring and mundane. I thought (wrongly) that healthy food was tasteless and bland. I also wrongly imagined that exercise would be dull and uninspiring. I imagined exercise to be something like walking a treadmill in the basement. But getting out in nature and hiking nearby trails and eating good food made from scratch using locally sourced ingredients or organic food items really has opened my eyes to how flavorful and delicious food can be. I have had no urge to revisit fast food since I have gotten into the habit of eating right.

This study was enjoyable from start to finish primarily because I was genuinely interested in learning the material. In a lot of research that is mandatory the subject is not always personally interesting because one does not see how it applies to one’s life. However, with this study I was able to...…whenever I go someplace new. I like to cook for friends and have people over to try the meals I have been working on. Most of my friends enjoy the food journey I am on, and others have started going on hikes with me. I enjoy hiking with friends now just as much as I enjoy cooking for myself and for friends. It is amazing how something as simple as focusing on nutrition and exercise can actually enhance one’s social life, but it certainly has for me. That is one added and unexpected benefit of this study.

The ways that I share my knowledge about health with others is to get them involved first hand in what I am doing. I do not think that it does a great deal of good to simply talk about eating right and exercising. People listen but they do not always go home and implement what they have heard. It is much better to get them involved. So I invite friends over for a home-cooked meal using good, healthy ingredients. I invite them to go hiking with me and it is a fun way to reconnect with friends, catch up and get in touch with nature while getting exercise.

What could be done to help others be more responsible in regard to health and nutrition is to keep speaking what I have learned and keep pushing myself to learn more. It is not the easiest thing to always remember what one has learned but if one is constantly pushing oneself to learn more and to keep continuing one’s education it helps one to stay ready to talk about what needs to be discussed with others. It keeps the memory fresh and one is able to quickly and easily recall the information that may be what others need to hear to kick start a new motivation. However, as with me, I feel that until one senses the personal impact that health literacy has one is not going to listen. I did not start paying attention until my father’s diabetes diagnosis and his onset of health issues. It was this that began to wake me up to the reality of eating right and getting exercise. Today’s world is so upside down in that regard. People sit at desks for most hours of the day and are used to eating fast food. It is a cultural problem that really needs to be addressed. So helping to create the right culture for people to live by takes effort and example. It requires being a leader and being willing to promote the kind of cultural change that people can buy…