The following is an excerpt from “The Diabetic and The Dietitian: How to Help Your Husband Defeat Diabetes.”
You’ve just received the news: your husband has been diagnosed with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Or maybe he already has diabetes and has been ignoring it. Either way, you’re worried about him and your future together . . . and rightfully so. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. If left untreated, diabetes can cause kidney failure, nerve damage, heart disease, gum disease, erectile dysfunction, blindness, and depression.
Suddenly the dream of a long, loving life and happy retirement together filled with traveling and visits from grandkids is fading to black. Nagging, begging, bribing, and hiding the chips haven’t worked. You feel isolated and alone. Not sure what to do or where to turn for trustworthy information and support. His doctor (who he ignores) is there for him, but who’s helping you?
Hi, I’m Michael, the diabetic. My wife, Ellen, is the dietitian. She’s also a food psychologist and all-around great human being who helped me defeat diabetes. When I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, we discovered that there were no books or reference materials available to specifically help wives deal with and help their husbands defeat this common condition. We wrote The Diabetic and The Dietitian: How to Help Your Husband Defeat Diabetes Without Losing Your Mind or Marriage together to help you!
We know his diabetes is affecting the whole family . . . especially you. We are here to support you and provide expert advice to help your man in easy, simple-to-understand language. The Diabetic and The Dietitian is designed to provide the psychological support and insight you need, something all those MD-written diabetic books never address. Reading those jargon-filled medical texts, you’d think that wives don’t exist. Well, you do exist, and you are the key to your husband’s recovery. Not his doctor . . . you! His doctor can’t reverse diabetes, but believe it or not, you can . . . and we’re going to show you exactly how. Ellen did it for me, and we can help you do it with your husband too!
Yes, your partner can defeat diabetes . . . just like I did. But he’s going to need your help to take control of his health and maintain a long, healthy life. I would not have defeated diabetes without the love and support of my amazing wife and the life-saving strategies she designed and implemented for me. Not only do I feel better and have more energy than I’ve had in years, defeating diabetes is a shared victory that strengthened our marriage and brought us closer together.
I know what you’re thinking: “Of course he could do it. He’s married to a medical professional.” True. And that’s one of the reasons why we wrote The Diabetic and the Dietitian—to share the nutrition science and psychological strategies Ellen developed to bring my A1C down from 7.8 to 6.3 in less than a year. I lost 25 pounds and lowered my blood glucose levels naturally. I am now diabetes-free . . . and will stay that way by using the amazingly effective psychological techniques and dietary strategies we share in The Diabetic and the Dietitian.
We understand what you and your husband are going through because we’ve lived it . . . and beat it. And beating diabetes is not as hard as you think.
Let’s face it, wives keep the family healthy and do most of the food shopping, cooking, and cleanup. (According to a Labor Department survey, on an average day, women do more than 2 times the amount of food preparation and cleanup as men do.) Whether this is good or bad, fair or unfair, feminist or regressive, doesn’t matter. All we are interested in is helping you get him, and keep him, healthy again.
The Diabetic and the Dietitian will not only help you understand what diabetes is; more importantly, through Michael’s experience, we explain what your husband is going through emotionally due to his diagnosis. Men don’t usually talk about these things, even to their wives. So, Michael has invaluable insights and advice to share about how men react emotionally and how you can channel these emotions in a positive way to turn diabetic depression into motivation to live a full, fantastic, diabetes-free life.
Now here’s the big secret we don’t want to tell the boys. By working together to reverse his diabetes, you’re going to lose weight, feel great, and boost your own health too! Commit to our easy program and you’ll both feel better than you have in years.
Diabetes is a wake-up call. If he doesn’t answer it, his future—to put it politely—is grim. But by reading our book, you’ll take the first important step on his road to recovery.
Diabetes is sneaky. Even though Michael was exercising and his diet was relatively healthy (he’s married to a dietitian, after all), the natural biological changes that occur with aging make it easy for diabetes to slither into your system. It just takes an extra pound or two per year and suddenly you’re 20, 30, 40 pounds overweight. The doc is talking about blood sugar, insulin, needles and threatening that if you don’t take a bunch of powerful drugs with negative side effects you could get kidney damage, cataracts, glaucoma, heart disease, stroke, nerve damage, and foot problems that could lead to amputations . . . Amputations? What the . . .
Just like Michael did, your husband probably watched doc’s mouth move in disbelief. One scary fact after another poured out as hubby thought to himself, “What is he talking about? Diabetes? Me? No way. I’m just a little overweight. I lift weights, shoot hoops with the guys, and eat broccoli, low-fat potato chips, and only drink beer on game days. (Okay, you can always find a game on ESPN, but still!) Doc must have gotten my blood test mixed up with some 400-pound coach potato watching Law and Order reruns all day.”
As Michael drove home the day he got his diagnosis, he was upset, confused, and thinking . . . my life is over. I’m getting . . . no, I am old. No more fun, all my favorite foods . . . gone. Rabbit grub and cardboard cuisine forever. How did this happen? Will I have to inject myself? Prick myself multiple times per day to monitor my blood sugar? Will I lose my eyesight or need to go on dialysis from kidney damage? Taking care of diabetes is expensive. How are we going to pay the medical bills? How many years is diabetes going to take from my life? Will I ever be able to eat cheesecake again? What did I do to deserve this?
It’s hard for diabetic men to accept, not just your mate. But you both need to understand—diabetes is not the end; it’s just a new challenge that, with a little creativity and determination, can be defeated without resorting to expensive medications, draconian diets, or soul-crushing workouts. He’s still going to get tasty, fun, filling food. In fact, continuing to eat the foods he loves while introducing new, healthier options is a key element in reversing diabetes. He can still drink beer, wine, or a cocktail, and you’re going to help him adjust his diet to accommodate these calories. You don’t have to let diabetes leach the fun out of life.
The transition the two of you are going through (yes, it’s a transition . . . and a challenge for both of you) doesn’t mean the end of fun or good food. You can still have a long, loving, fun life together filled with vitality and romance. You two can and will travel, eat out, and enjoy life.
The beauty of diabetes (if one can say there is beauty in a disease) is he really can heal himself . . . and it’s not that hard! With several dietary tweaks, a little exercise, and some mindful eating, you and your husband, working together, will defeat diabetes.
We did! And just as Ellen promised, it was easier than Michael thought. His diabetes diagnosis isn’t a death sentence. In fact, this diagnosis just saved his life.
Let’s get started on saving that life—and helping you cope with the changes he’s going through—right now!
Photo Credit: Dr. Ellen Albertson, Vidmir Raic (Pixabay) and Josh Willink (Pexels)