I Avoided Type 2 Diabetes Complications By Bouncing Back From My Emotional Eating Cycle (And How You Can Do The Same)
I’ve been struggling with emotional eating my whole life. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found myself in the kitchen at 2 AM slowly eating my way through pasta, or a pint of ice cream in front of the TV.
My name is Jonathan, and I’m a 53-year-old father of three.
For years, I would come home from work, stand in front of the fridge with no idea what I was looking for, and then eat everything in sight.
I ate when I was upset or bored or whatever. Then I’d feel guilty about eating so much food and get depressed. All while blaming my wife for not making me feel better.
Then everyone would tell me how good it was for me to be eating healthy food instead of junk food all the time… but truthfully? They weren’t helpful at all!
And then, my emotional eating problem got even worse…
I’ve been working in the construction industry for over 30 years. But two years ago, I fell off a ladder and broke both my legs. I was out of work for six months until I got back on my feet, and it took me another year to fully recover.
Meantime, my overeating habit got even worse as a way to cope with all of these emotions — and caused additional stress on my body.
The weight piled on quickly; before long, all the clothes in my closet didn’t fit anymore. And all of this made it harder for me to exercise and take care of myself the way that I needed to.
The whole time this was happening, my wife was the only one working, struggling to provide for the family — which meant that neither one of us was able to take care of our kids the way we wanted to.
Not only did that put a strain on our marriage, but it also made me feel like less of a man—like there was no way I could provide for my family anymore.
My wife kept telling me that she loved me no matter what size I was, but deep down inside I know there was a problem.
It wasn’t until I started having trouble breathing that my doctor diagnosed me with type 2 diabetes—which meant that my weight was at least partially responsible for my health issues.
The doctor said it was a manageable condition but she also told me, that if I continued to eat the way I did, it would get worse—and fast.
While this wasn’t a total surprise — my family has a history of diabetes and my mother had been diagnosed with it when she was only 46 — I was devastated.
I couldn’t imagine what life would be like if I couldn’t enjoy the foods I loved anymore. And even though I knew better than to eat as much sugar as I did—it was one of the main reasons why my blood sugar levels were so high—it didn’t stop me from doing it anyway.
I was scared and confused about what was happening to my body. I didn’t know how to manage my emotions or what foods were best for me—and I certainly didn’t know how to lose weight.
It was hard to believe: there I was, over 50 years old—and now I had a disease? What did this mean for me? Would it be harder to lose weight now? Should I just give up on trying to live a healthy lifestyle?
I was terrified. My wife and kids were scared too—we all knew that with type 2 diabetes, it would be difficult for me to keep up with them and our lives. They would have to take care of me instead of me being able to take care of them.
It wasn’t long before my emotions began affecting my life. I would get angry at dinner—and then eat as much food as possible because it made me feel better about myself.
I felt like crap, but I didn’t know how to change things.
The worst part was that nothing worked even though I was trying so hard to lose weight!
I tried so many different diets: Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers—the list goes on! But nothing worked for me.
It was hard enough to find a diet and even harder to maintain it. As soon as I’d lose some weight, something would happen in my life that would throw me off course—and all of my progress would disappear overnight.
It got to the point where I didn’t want to go out anymore because of how uncomfortable my clothes made me feel;
That’s when my wife took matters into her hand and found me one of the best therapists, hoping to find a solution for my emotional eating problem.
Sea Of Change
While my therapist was able to help me understand how my emotional eating related to my stress, low-self esteem, and depression, changing my behavior to manage my type 2 diabetes was a different story.
I needed a personalized diet plan that would work. A plan that would guide me through my biggest issues and help me understand the core of my both problems – diabetes and emotional eating.
Also, from experience, I knew how important it was to be able to document my recovery progress to keep track of everything and maintain a healthy diet.
That’s when she introduced me to Klinio – an app that claimed it would help me manage my diabetes and break free from overeating habits using a personalized diet plan created by the professional nutritionists.
I can honestly say that it has been life-changing for me!
It all started with an initial quiz, asking probing questions regarding the nature of my overeating problem and a few routine questions about my condition. My therapist convinced me to answer them honestly and give it a try.
I was skeptical at first because I had tried so many diet plans before that didn’t work. But after using Klinio for six months, I can’t believe how much my life has changed since I started using Klinio.
The app works so well at helping me keep track of how much sugar is in my bloodstream and what kinds of foods are best suited for me right now (so I can make better choices).
I lost 40 pounds—and now I have so much more energy than ever before!
My belly fat went down from 82 inches to 68 inches! That made me very happy because I knew didn’t want to be overweight anymore.
After six months of using Klinio, my blood sugar levels dropped down to the normal range (120 mg/dl) and I was able to lower my insulin dosage by 50%.
And that has made all the difference in my life as a father and husband.
Finally, I feel like I’m not constantly worrying about being a failure, and I hope never to feel that way again.
And to think, it all started with a simple quiz!
Click below to take the Klino App initial quiz, and your personalized diet plan will be ready in a matter of minutes.
After that, it’s only a matter of choosing to give it a whirl.
If you’re in a situation like mine, struggling to keep a healthy diet and manage type 2 diabetes, there’s so much to gain and so little to lose by trying.
Select your diabetes type and create your plan: