Healthy New Me

Submitted on Feb 24, 2021 by HIVstigmafighter

You may wonder why I chose this title? And why I believe this will be my 2021 slogan?

As I shared in Rollercoaster, as a long term diabetes survivor, I have been dealing with many health challenges alongside HIV during the difficult year 2020. Most of that year I also suffered heavy menstruation, related to drops in my iron level and anemia. Because of this I could not exercise regularly, losing confidence when doing simple things like walking or cycling. Sometimes I thought I was about to have a heart attack!

So I gave up the only sport I really enjoyed before Corona came into our world. Do you know what it is? WALKING. Before these health issues I would walk 5 to 7 km daily and 15 km once per week. I liked walking, being in the nature, smelling fresh air and giving me inspiration.

I became really unhappy about my health and I started fantasizing about walking on the road again and wishing that I got rid of the extra weight gained. And on top of that, my diabetes became worse and I needed to increase my medication which was already a lot.

When they told me that I would finally be helped with my bleeding problem, I could not wait to get on the operation table to get control over my life back. Before I entered surgery on 19/11/2020, I promised myself that if I would come back safely and start walking everyday the moment I would be allowed to exercise again.

So, the day after I got the green light from the hospital, I kept my promise and started walking again. I set myself two goals: 1) Get rid of the extra diabetes tablets and 2) reduce weight so I can fit my wedding dress again. Every single day since the green light, I walked at least 10 km and I increased it to at least 15 km per day during the weekends!

Two weeks into my push to regain my health and confidence, I got my first check-up with my diabetes doctor since my surgery. She was very surprised when the results came in, asking me "What did you do to make your diabetes go down so quickly?" I said "walking 10-15 km everyday". So she told me that I could immediately reduce the number of tablets and that if I would continue to improve, I could even take less.

I was so happy to see the immediate positive result of my hard work and that I am already on my way to achieve my first goal. I can't wait for the day I am ready to find my wedding dress and start trying if it fits!

Achieving these positive results, makes me more motivated than ever! I am losing my weight, I am gaining more energy, my sex is great, and my husband is happy.