Passion for life

Name: Caroline Potter

Age: 25 years old

Occupation: Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP), cookbook author (All American Paleo Table) and blogger at Colorful Eats

The journey so far…

I grew up in a home where my mother fed us very healthy food, so eating healthy and exercising were something I was familiar with and practised every day. I was not the types who would eat a lot of junk food, candy or soda.

I was 20 years old and in junior college when I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I was just your average college girl, studying a lot and looking forward to pursuing a career. Life seemed pretty grand and everything was just cruising along.

The diagnosis

When I came home from college during the Christmas break, I was exhausted (which I thought was from non-stop studying for finals), very skinny (which I didn't really notice) and constantly starving. Finally while out to dinner with my family, I broke down into tears because my mouth was so dry, I couldn't even talk, and dry mouth, a common symptom of Diabetes, is very painful.

Barely able to walk up a flight of stairs, I checked myself into the emergency room and was told I was in a diabetic coma with blood sugar levels of 572 mg/dL. That night in the emergency room, with my sister lying by my side, was probably one of the most confusing nights of my life. I was given the diagnosis that I had Type 1 Diabetes.

Dealing with the diagnosis

My first impression of Diabetes was Oh! I don't have Diabetes. That's for people who are older, slightly overweight and eat candies all day. But little did I know this was not the type of Diabetes I was diagnosed with. Type 1 Diabetes is not caused by eating candy bars. This is what I struggled with understanding during the initial days of my diagnosis. In fact, it wasn't for about 6 months later that I understood I had an auto-immune disease, something that was irreversible and something that I would live with for my entire life.

Impact of Diabetes

I have always been a pretty active person and even after my diagnosis I never stopped doing the things I enjoy. I know that staying active and exercising daily truly influences my health for the better.

The only thing that I always keep at theback of my mind is that I have Diabetes. I makeconsciouseffortsthatIdon'tkeepbig gaps between my meals and always ensure

that I keep snacks handy in case there is traffic or the flight has been delayed. Also, I follow a strict eating schedule throughout the day and because of this consistent pattern my blood sugar levels don't fluctuate much.

My diet

It is something that I work on daily and yes it does take time to manage this disease. I have so much energy all day that it is worth it, so I can be productive and do what I love. Having Diabetes is for life, so I can't just eat healthy for a day or a month you have to chalk out your eating pattern each day. Once I got in that routine, it wasn't as complicated. But finding a routine that worked for me was the key.

I eat grain, gluten and refined sugar free foods so I avoid foods like wheat, oats, cane sugar, etc. I pretty much just eat real, fresh foods, usually that don't come in a jar, box or package. I usually eat eggs, sautéed spinach and bacon or sausage for breakfast, along with coffee and heavy cream. For lunch I often have a salad with leftover chicken or whole milk plain yogurt with some of my homemade grain-free granola made from nuts and seeds. Dinner usually comprises some sort of grilled meat or roasted chicken, roasted sweet potatoes and a big green salad with feta cheese, olives and homemade salad dressing. Both my husband and I love treats, so I usually keep something homemade, like cookies minimally sweetened with raw honey for an after dinner treat. I always eat a snack, usually a handful of macadamia nuts or a slice of raw cheese, before I go to bed to keep my blood sugar levels stable,

My inspiration

My husband is my biggest strength. He is constantly encouraging me, reminding me to take my medicines and helping me say no to certain foods that people offer me because he knows it will make me sick. He even follows the same eating pattern as me. I truly want to be the best version of myself for my friends and family and I want to have the energy to do activities and live a good life. Once I realized that my health impacted my loved ones as well, I knew I had to eat healthy for them and for myself, because I truly do feel great. The best part is that I'm pretty self-motivated to look after myself well. Often if we are traveling or not in our normal routine, my husband will double check if I took my medicines. We both stay pretty active, exercising each day, so that is an activity that we love to do together.

Also, my parents have always been there for me, flying across the country to go to doctors' appointments and sending me lots of high quality snacks while I was in college. They have encouraged me endlessly and I know that has had an impact to how well I thrive with Diabetes. I have to say, I think it has influenced a lot of my family and friends to make better choices when it comes to the foods they eat, so that is an amazing blessing that has come from my disease.

My advice

Earlier, I would never share the fact that I had Diabetes and I was scared about opening up about my disease as I would think that people would see me differently or it would show my weakness. But when I shared my story the response that I got often brings tears to my eyes. I know for a fact that I have helped a lot of people with this disease, so I am thankful I finally did share my story!

Being diagnosed with Type 1 has opened so many doors for me and truly shaped my life passions. It has taught me to be disciplined and never ever give up, to persevere against all odds in every manner of life. The biggest joy to me is sharing my story with people and helping them through their journey. There is still so much that is unknown about Type 1 Diabetes, but my biggest encouragement to people with this disease, is never ever give up. It takes work day in and day out, but in the big scheme of life, it is absolutely worth the dedication. Living with Type 1 Diabetes has truly taught me to choose joy.

Let your situation define you for the better use what circumstances you are faced with in life to influence your decisions and make the most out of them! My diagnosis led me to pursue a career in nutrition, blogging and food photography, but I used my diagnosis to develop new passions and that is something I'm endlessly thankful for today.