DIEt. *cue axe murderer music*

            For the past week since my last blog, my mind has been elsewhere. Writing, the one year anniversary of the death of a loved one, some more writing, you get the point. My brain has been all over the place so when it came time to update the Kelswitch again, I was at a loss for what to write about. It seemed that all my creative juices were being dominated by Blood Shadows. Until a topic leapt at me from out of nowhere, as it usually does.

            My grandfather was diabetic and lost his leg from it. My dad is diabetic and every day is a struggle to deal with it. My best friend who might as well be a brother to me is diabetic, and his went undetected for so long it almost killed him. I wish I was exaggerating on that. Some diabetes can be prevented, some can’t. A favorite writer of mine, the one whose cats I am always talking about, Yasmine Galenorn was borderline diabetic. Her husband is already diabetic and his wasn’t preventable. Bear’s grandmother raised an excellent point about it though. She said someone once told her there is no such thing as borderline diabetic, you either are or you aren’t. She decided she wasn’t and changed her diet. Yasmine Galenorn decided she wasn’t and changed her diet. Even with diabetes that isn’t preventable, to my understanding it can still be controlled with diet and exercise. And therein the Kelswitch found its topic for the week. The dirty word of DIET! *cue axe murder music*

            Because of the society we live in, diet is without doubt a dirty word. We hear “diet” and we think of diet soda, which is usually nasty, living without our favorite sweets, not eating anything we actually like, and exercising until we’re about to collapse in the center of our living room. It’s not pleasant associations. Many would say that the best way to start change is to start with yourself, change your state of mind.

            I probably annoy my friends the way I talk about Yasmine Galenorn but there is a woman who worked her ass off, gave up many foods that most of us would happily let take us to our graves, and she is seeing results. I admire her and I want my best friend and my dad to understand it can be done. You can get your body under control again. She is low-carb and allergic to many, many things, but she has found ways to have food she enjoys and that she can safely eat. It’s not all dreary end of the world. Her diet is just the way of life for her and it’s okay.

            Truth be told, we all have a diet. It’s not necessarily a healthy one, but we all have a way that we eat and no matter how we might try to convince ourselves otherwise, we do control it. It takes your hand to pick up the food and put it in your mouth. It takes the conscious decision when you order a chocolate chip waffle at the Waffle House at one o’clock in the morning. We call the shots in our lives and the sooner we own that, the sooner we take ownership of our lives in general.