The Cost of Proving a Point

Here comes the dreaded saying, “…but you can’t eat that”! All of our responses and thoughts are probably quite similar. Of course we can. Yeah I can eat that piece of cake with 100+ grams of carbs. Yeah I can eat 6 slices of pizza.

There is no doubt that these foods are delicious. And there is no doubt that we can eat these foods. But at what cost? The after effects of these foods are, in my honest opinion, not worth proving the point that we CAN eat them. Especially because in these situations, it is spontaneous. Perhaps a pre-bolus isn’t allowed time-wise.

Is it worth the 100+ mg/dl blood sugar spike just to prove to some uninformed person that we can in fact eat these foods that aren’t even healthy to begin with? Or does it make more sense to educate and make rational decisions?

For example, my response typically goes along the lines of, why yes I CAN eat that, but right now I am choosing not to. In addition, I add that I tend to stay away from those type of foods as they aren’t good for anyone anyway. I want to feel good, and by eating that, I won’t feel my best.

But a few years ago, I used to just scarf down XYZ that someone didn’t think I could eat, just to prove to them that I could. To shut them up. To make them feel ashamed for saying that to me. But in the end, I was only hurting myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to condemn anyone who does eat foods that are typically seen as “non-diabetic friendly”. I am simply trying to say that it is not always worth it to prove this stigma wrong by hurting ourselves. This is the perfect time to say, “yes I can, but no thanks“.

The power of choice and the power of language matter.