Nearly 200 million people world-wide have diabetes. My husband, Mike, and I are among them. Mike was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2002, four years after we married and just 18 months after the birth of our first son. Last year, while pregnant with our third son, I was also diagnosed with Type 1. Instead of letting diabetes depress us, Mike and I took charge of our health as best we could. And as we worked together and saw how well we managed as a team, we decided to create “A Sweet Life” and to reach out to others in the diabetic community.

We know that diabetes is a very serious and frightening disease, but we also know that life with diabetes can be normal. It can even be sweet. Rather than think about diabetes in the negative sense of an illness, we prefer to think of it as our lifestyle. And we are determined to be healthy diabetics. We believe we are succeeding, and we hope that the information we provide through this site will help you do the same.

It’s impossible not to address the risks and complications that diabetics face, and we will deal with them here.  But the better you care for yourself, the fewer those complications will be. In fact, for some Type 2 diabetics, diet and exercise can reverse the disease. For those of us who are stuck with diabetes forever, we invite you to join us in trying to make it as painless as possible.  Diabetes won’t ever be fun, but controlling it can be satisfying. It can actually make you feel great. And we plan to talk a lot about how great you can feel with diabetes. For those of you without diabetes, here’s a tip: a balanced, natural diet like the one we follow is good for almost everyone.  So please come take a look at our recipes, follow our site, and treat yourselves to a healthy lifestyle.

By: Jessica Apple

Photograph by: Koby Mercury