A techie shares his journey from being depressed about diabetes to developing a positive outlook & managing his condition.

Before I write further, let me confess that I am a foodie. I love food, and can eat anything at any time. But most of all, I loved my sweets, chocolates, milkshakes, fried items and would stock my fridge with loads of goodies.

I guess, love for food in fact runs in my family. My mother is an amazing cook and she introduced me to various Indian cuisines. And blame it on new restaurants that are sprouting in every corner of the city, I tried every international delicacy available.

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The first thing I did while travelling abroad was to find an amazing place to eat. Being a techie, I also work under constant stress.

My father is a diabetic but I never gave it any thought. One morning, I just did fasting blood sugar check at home - for fun. The number stood at 140 and it shocked me.

I went to consult my physician and he recommended a few other tests. I got regular blood tests done and my blood sugars both fasting and post-prandial had shown elevated numbers.

I repeated the tests a week later only to find my fasting blood sugar levels at 140 and postprandial at 190. Luckily, my HBA1C, which reveals the blood sugar average in the last three months was not very high. I consulted the doctor who confirmed that I am diabetic now and the reason he quoted was even more shocking. The huge amounts of stress I have been taking at the workplace played havoc with my otherwise very healthy body and I was immediately put on medications.

Being diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 34 was agonising, and I refused to accept that I would be living the rest of my life with this chronic condition. I continued eating whatever I felt like, at random hours, binged on sweets and high-calorie foods. My emotional eating didn’t help, and it worsened the condition.

I used to encounter severe fatigue, irregular sleep and cranky moods, even as the family grew quite concerned. My friends and family pitched in and started helping me to come of out depression. I took short holidays, spent more time with friends, learnt playing snooker and joined swimming classes.

And slowly and steadily, I began taking care of my health. The word ‘diabetic’ stopped scaring me and I became regular with medication. I read about diabetes, how to manage it, diet and lifestyle changes, medications, advancements in the area.

I introduced lifestyle changes - cut down on carbs, unhealthy fats and eliminated processed foods, sugars from my diet plan completely. And today, I never miss my daily walk. It keeps both my heart and soul happy, energetic and it’s a kind of ‘me time.’ Breathing exercises, Yoga can take you a long way in your health journey.

I learnt to say no to unhealthy lifestyle habits, and it makes me proud. And most importantly, I lost 12 kilograms too!

For the last one year, my fasting blood sugars have been constantly at 100 to 110 with my post-prandial being at 130. My doctor lowered the dosage of medication, I feel lighter, energetic and happier.

This whole experience has taught me a valuable lesson. Stress is not a mind thing and it is a gateway for various lifestyle-induced chronic ailments. Being positive, leading a stress-free life, healthy dietary habits and a little bit discipline are all you need for a happy life.

Walking is the best exercise. It keeps every cell in the body happy and working.

Say no to processed foods and sugars.

Staying positive is the key to battle any chronic ailment and with correct lifestyle measures in place, it is easy to handle diabetes.