Mary Van Doorn was only 21 years old when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. She had no symptoms at the time, and her diagnosis was discovered during a routine blood test during a physical exam. Van Doorn tells Yahoo Life that her diagnosis felt “random” given that she felt fine. So she “basically pretended that I didn’t hear anything that [the doctor] said.”
Van Doorn married shortly after his diagnosis. “I felt really guilty that I was putting my health problems on my new future husband,” she says. “I cried a lot … and then I did nothing.”
Van Doorn received medication, but she only took it “sometimes.” Nor did she regularly go to medical appointments. “I really didn’t get a lot of education or support or anything like that,” she says. “When you’re 21, you think, ‘I don’t need anyone’s help. I am invincible. Nothing bad is going to happen to me. So I didn’t really do much to help myself. “
Van Doorn’s marriage ended after the birth of their son. “My life imploded,” she says. “You sort of picked up the pieces and the last thing you’re thinking about, at least for me, was good, ‘Let me make sure I’m eating healthy.'”
But Van Doorn says her mindset began to change when she met her now husband. “It makes a big difference when you have the kind of support that makes you want to be a better person,” she says.
It was not until he had his daughter that Van Doorn decided to take action for his children. “It was probably close to my highest weight,” she explains. “She wanted them to have a childhood that they remember where they remember their mother, not just watching them play, but also playing with them.”
Big changes
Van Doorn signed up for the zumba classes. “I started in the back of the room and couldn’t keep up with anything,” she says. But eventually she became more confident and even decided to get certified to become a Zumba teacher. “At that point I had lost, like 85 to 100 pounds,” she says. Van Doorn also started training for a 10-mile race.
But when he returned to his doctor, he learned that his blood sugar levels were high, indicating that his diabetes was not under control. His cholesterol was also “soaring,” he adds. “You will have a heart attack if you don’t fix this,” recalls his doctor saying.
Van Doorn was confused. “At the time of my trip, I was a fitness instructor. I was a certified personal trainer. I had done a triathlon, ”she says. But, she learned, her diet also needed to change. “I wasn’t referring to how I thought about food and how I thought of myself and the mindset it takes to live with this disease.”
Van Doorn says she decided to “take responsibility” and that meant acknowledging that she struggled with “food problems,” including binge eating. Now, she says it is “very simple” with what she eats. “I tend to eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day, usually because I don’t like to cook.” This can include having sunny side eggs, low carb bread, and cheese in the morning, followed by tuna salad with cucumbers and mixed berries for lunch.
A new way of support.
Van Doorn decided to create Sugar Mama Strong, a women’s diabetes support group that now has more than 4,100 members on Facebook. “I thought, ‘I need a positive place where I can share about my experiences, where people will be, I understand you. I support you. See you, ‘”she says.
Van Doorn started the group with his mother, who also has diabetes and some friends, and would do a “daily responsibility post,” where she and others would share their blood sugar levels. “I need that responsibility. And I know that other women need it too, ”she explains. “And it has become such a positive space in my world.”
Sugar Mama Strong has grown, and a community subgroup called Sugar Mama Strong Fitness & Wellness now has a training library led by Van Doorn. “I have women in the group who have serious complications from diabetes; they can do it,” she says. “The goal is to make physical fitness accessible to everyone.”
Van Doorn hopes that her support group can help other women as much as she does. “There are many sources and people who downplay what it is like to live with type 2 diabetes,” she says. “We should empower people, we should love people, we should support them and celebrate every little change they make because it is difficult.”
