When You Can See The Problem, Acceptance Is The Solution.
Learn why diet culture and diabetes stigma can trap you in an endless cycle of fixing concerning diet, nutrition, and health, which robs you of the precious gift of being.
“I don’t know what to do,” Samatha explained during our nutrition appointment. She was trying to accept her recent diagnosis of prediabetes. Despite changing her diet and increasing her activity, the A1C value remained steady. “I feel better. I am enjoying going to the gym after work. I don’t understand why my blood sugar hasn’t changed.”
“It’s frustrating.”
“It is frustrating!” Her tone told me how hard it was. “I am struggling to come to terms with this diagnosis.” Samatha continued. “I am angry, frustrated, and sad simultaneously.”
“This is hard to accept, and you’re grieving.” Her reply, “I am.” hovered between us.
Seeing a bigger pattern
Being diagnosed with prediabetes is seen as a problem, so it makes sense to try to fix it. The wish is to learn more about prediabetes and to make changes to prevent or slow the progression of diabetes. When presented in this way, you can see that having prediabetes is something outside of you. You don’t “have it” because you are fixing “it.” It isn’t only prediabetes that we are trying to ‘fix.’ It is everything - from eyebrows to your toes - this need to “fix” things has been normalized.
The unseen consequence of ‘fixing’ is becoming trapped in an endless cycle of doing and never being. You can’t be yourself, and you can’t rest because there is always something about you or your life that is ‘wrong’ or needs some improvement.’
When you can see the problem, acceptance is the solution.
Your ability to see the problem is worth celebrating. Go you! Great job! Yeah!
Yet knowing what is wrong is only half the problem. The other half is fixing the problem. In this weird situation, the problem is fixing, so how do you fix the problem of fixing?
The solution to this problem isn’t more fixing because this will only re-energize the cycle of fixing. If you are like many of my clients, you’re exhausted and lack the brain space to solve this riddle.
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