There is something I don’t do now that I used to do. I used to “take care of myself” by diving into a pint of ice cream. Ice cream consumption as a form of self-care may not make sense to everybody, but for me the pleasure was intense and the results were reliable. The downside was that I could never figure out exactly how much insulin to take to cover the ice cream. Plus, once I started eating ice cream, I always ate more than I planned to. Diabetics walk a thin line every day. You want to be sure to take enough insulin to get your sugar down because over time high sugars lead to a long list of horrible problems like blindness and foot amputation. But on the other hand you don’t want to take too much insulin and have your blood sugar go too low, because you can wind up with the debilitating hypoglycemic responses of shaking, sweating, dizziness, intense carb cravings, and even passing out.

I had to find healthier sources of pleasure. I had to replace old ways of taking care of myself with new ways that didn’t have such bad consequences.

First I had to set several ground rules for myself. If I follow them, I know I will be safe. However, if I give in to the urge to buy some ice cream “just this once,” I slip up, overeat, and wind up with blood sugar problems. So here are my rules: