I had the occasion to meet some very interesting people while on vacation last week.  When I explained what I did, a few of them replied with phrases like “How come people don’t just follow the rules?”, “Diabetes is a lifestyle choice.”, “People obviously aren’t informed or they would change their behavior.”  As you can imagine, those statements didn’t fly with me.  If it were only that easy, we would all be doing it perfectly – right?  I believe each of us does the best we can with the tools we have.  Every choice is towards pleasure and away from pain.  With constant criticism playing in your brain, at some point you begin to agree that you aren’t “good” and seek soothing measures from distractions such as food, alcohol, electronics or whatever that might look like for you.  It is from a place of compassion and support that others can lift you up, so that the choices towards pleasure start aligning with better health.  A little (non-judgmental) support and understanding from your friends and family will go a lot further than wagging fingers.