Q. I don’t know how I am going to pay $150.00 this month for my diabetic medications. My nutritionist said if I lost weight, even 20 pounds I might not have to take them. I just don’t have the motivation or quite frankly, the interest. I guess I will work more to get the money. Do you think I am nuts?
A. I don’t think you are nuts, maybe stubborn. You have been presented with such a great opportunity to turn your health around but I don’t think you get it.
You can take medication and continue eating a very unhealthy diet and increase your work hours. That is your choice. What is scary about that choice is the future of your health.
Countless people are living a life of disease instead of health. Every addict knows what I am talking about. How many people have been told they are literally killing themselves with food, drugs, alcohol, etc. Smart people, making dumb–often life threatening choices.
What will it take to get your attention? A heart attack, an infection that does not respond to medication, the news that you now have to take insulin.
Why is movement so unappealing but paying $150 with your tight income something you will do? Why is working another shift to buy medicine your choice instead of putting on tennis shoes and walking in your neighborhood?
There are incentives to staying overweight and not taking care of yourself. This is Brooke’s story:
35 years old married, mother of 2 children….one special needs. Current weight……at least 300 pounds (she would not tell me exact number). Calls my office to ask when her next appointment is scheduled. I could tell she was eating but I asked anyway. “Brooke, are you eating? Yes I am.”
Brooke had gone to her Fat Lady Store (as she called it) and they had a special. (How did I know this was not going to be good?) The “special” of the day was “purchase $50.00 worth of clothes and get a coupon…….wait for it…………FOR A FREE PIE!!!!!!!
Now in case you don’t know what food addicts do with a pie, let me tell you. They eat the whole pie!!!!! They do not cut a piece……why bother with a piece.
So Marilyn you have some decisions to make, some very important ones. There will always be a pie, big plate of nachos, pizza, bowl of ice cream but you only have this life. Don’t let your stubbornness take quality years off of your life.
Vicki L Mayfield, M.Ed., R.N., LMFT Marriage and Family Therapy Oklahoma City
If you would like to send a question to Vicki, email us at news@okcnursingtimes.com
