We’re celebrating Divabetic’s 12th Year Anniversary of Podcasting with musical inspiration from Babyface and music from his A Closer Look album courtesy of SONY Music. Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks,Susan WeinerMS, RDN, CDCES, FADCES, and Collage Artist Tom Cocotos. Hosted by Max “Mr. Divabetic” Szadek.
Our musical inspiration, Kenneth Edmonds who is known professionally as Babyface, has written over 250 top-10 R&B and pop hits, working with the likes of Beyoncé, Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Luther Vandross, and Whitney Houston.
“The blessing of being able to write music and let music speak for itself is you let the melodies and let the lyrics and the groove talk to people instead of me talking to people,” says Babyface.
What makes Babyface so great? His ability to craft a song that touches our emotions captivates our ears and aligns every word in perfect harmony. It’s a rare gift that not many people have in music.
“I would say that I’ve been lucky. Being blessed and not really ever giving up,” says Babyface.
Thank you for allowing us to be part of your diabetes wellness journey! We’re looking forward to sharing more insight and advice on diabetes self-care from experts and peers, along with more great music in the next year!
Mr. Divabetic returns tonight in another high-spirited Divabetic mystery podcast, Gypsies, Tramps & Peas. Click HEREto listen starting at 6 PM, EST.
Your favorite diabetes advocate turned reluctant amateur sleuth, Mr. Divabetic finally takes the plunge and ventures into a new career as a healthy caterer in Coney Island. With the help of his co-workers and nosy Italian mother, he heads for Coney Island to cater his first party aboard a yacht for his former swim coach, Ted Rockow. But his nautical soiree quickly capsizes when the guest of honor is found swimming with the fishes. Was it an accident or foul play? Now Mr. Divabetic’s grilling Burlesque dancers, a lifeguard lothario, and some sequined mermaids, all intent on keeping their secrets buried deep within the sand. Can Mr. Divabetic prove Coach’s death was a murder, not an accident? Or will he end up floating out to sea?
Will he sink or swim? Tune in to find out if he can solve the murder of his former swim coach with the help of his friends, some sassy mermaids, and a cooky fortune teller. Along the way to revealing the identity of the murderer, he uncovers expert tips for diabetes self-care during the Summer months.
USA Today Best-Selling Author, Tonya Kappes, Asha Brown, Catherine Schuller, Chef Robert Lewis aka The Happy Diabetic, Seveda Williams, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDCES, MaryAnn Horst Nicolay MEd, NDTR, Mama Rose Marie, and Lorraine Brooks help the fruit suit-clad sleuth in this seaside adventure.
Divabetic Mysteries podcast features music from the original cast recording of ‘Gypsy’ courtesy of SONY Music.
Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?
Back by popular demand! The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts this free, fun Virtual Baking Party with our special guest, Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, 7 – 8:30 PM, EST on Zoom.
How did the lady in red wind up dead at the bottom of the pool on the lush estate of one of the world’s most famous writers? To solve this mystery, we have to step back in time.
SYNOPSIS
On a bright sunny morning, our happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, arrives at the resplendent Beverly Hills estate of NYT Best-Selling Author and Socialite Marjorie Melbourne Blaze. He’s here to deliver the keynote address at the Annual Heart of the Diva Gala on diabetes and women. But he soon learns that a roomful of rich and famous faces is full of way more drama than he had ever expected . . . and now murder. So can Max and our team find the killer before this red carpet event is covered in blood? Divabetic’s story of diabetes mystery and intrigue stresses why it can be deadly to blame others for your heart’s misfortunes.
FEATURING
Max “Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek, Lorraine Brooks, We Are Diabetes Founder Asha Brown, Catherine Schuller AICI, CIP, Susan Weiner MS, RD, CDCES, CDN, Chef Robert Lewis aka ‘The Happy Diabetic,’ USA Today Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDCES and Mama Rose Marie. Produced by Leisa Chester-Weir.
Language has the power to help or hinder our ability to manage diabetes. For example, choosing words that put people first instead of the stigma associated with diabetes.
“I was reluctant to say that “I was diabetic,” says Lorraine Brooks on Divabetic’s March podcast. “I wasn’t really sure I wanted anybody to particularly know. I don’t think I was embarrassed or ashamed. I just kind of felt like it was something that didn’t really concern anyone.”
Lorraine admits that switching terms made a difference. “I realized I can say, “I’m was somebody living with diabetes” instead of “being diabetic.” And just that little change of “I’m somebody with diabetes” just like “I’m somebody with brown eyes” it’s just a part of myself. It’s just another thing about me. It doesn’t have to have any judgment attached to it whatsoever to me or anyone else.”
Another word in diabetes self-care also under scrutiny is ‘control.’ Instead, the word ‘manage’ is being used more often when referring to blood sugars.
“Yes, it was liberating to use the term, manage instead of control,'” says Lorraine. “I manage my diabetes on a day-to-day basis. And sometimes, even though I’m managing it, it’s still out of control.” Lorraine adds, “So I think managing is what you’re doing if you live with this disease. It doesn’t mean you’re always going to be perfect. It just means your dealing with it to the best of your abilities.”
Hear more of Lorraine’s interview on Divabetic’s March podcast. Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, and Susan Weiner MS, RDN, CDCES, FADCES. Throughout the podcast, we will be featuring music from Prince & The New Power Generation’s Love Symbol album courtesy of SONY Music.
Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care? Join us for Divabetic’s next virtual outreach program.
Join the happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts this free, fun Virtual Mother’s Day-themed Baking Party with special guests, Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef and Divabetic Image & Style Advisor Catherine Schuller, on Thursday, April 28, 2022, 7 – 8:30 PM, EST on Zoom.
Win gifts courtesy of Arthel Neville Design FABULOUS East/West Tote, Dr.’s Remedy Enriched Nail Care gift set, Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes‘s Camper Cozy Mystery, Walden Farms Zero Calories, Zero Net Carbs Salad Dressings, and Peak 10Skin’s Save My Sole Foot Rescue Cream during Mr. Divabetic’s random drawings. You must be present at our Baking Party to enter our gift drawings to win.
Over 150 people registered for our last Divabetic Baking Party on Zoom, so don’t miss out!
On Divabetic’s March podcast, Poet Lorraine Brooks reads her latest poem, Judging and Grudging.
Judging and Grudging is about Lorraine’s recent real-life encounter with a podiatrist. “I felt she was quite offensive in her lack of knowledge and her lack of using the appropriate language,” says Lorraine. “She was making judgments about me and how I handled my diabetes.”
Judging and Grudging by Lorraine Brooks
My new podiatrist, who has never met me,
Feels it is her duty to address my diabetes,
Which does not offend me, although her comments make it clear
That she doesn’t “get” me.
She asks for my latest a1c, and the date,
And l dutifully tell her it was just last month,
that l stay on top of my bloodwork every 90 days,
And it’s been hovering around 8.
She doesn’t even look up from my feet
She shakes her head and makes that disapproving face,
While telling me l could “do better”, and l should lose weight
But in that moment, l refused to feel defeat.
I politely said, with all due respect, that statement is offensive
You have not done a history or proper exam,
You are making assumptions about who and what l am,
And your assessment of me is anything but comprehensive.
First of all, l am type 1, not 2,
I’ve had this disease for over 40 years, and yes, it is a struggle.
But l have no complications, and that includes my feet,
And now l feel l must educate you.
Everything in my life is not a result of what you see.
Every medical concern needs to be addressed objectively.
Whatever you would tell someone of average size
Is exactly what you should be telling me.
Pinched nerve? Tell me what to take, what to avoid, help me to cope.
Gastric reflux? Give me some practical advice l can use.
Don’t assume everything is about my size
Meet me where l am. Offer me hope.
Acknowledge that weight is just another statistic
That health, and well-being, are what you prescribe.
Tell me I’m ok without reservation
And examine yourselves to be more realistic.
Mr. Divabetic discusses language’s power to help or harm someone’s ability to manage their diabetes self-care with guests, Susan Weiner MS, RDN, CDCES, FADCES, and Lorraine Brooks. March’s musical inspiration is Prince and the New Power Generation. We feature songs from their Love Symbol album to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its release, courtesy of SONY Music.
Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?
Join the happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, hosts Divabetic’s upcoming free, fun Virtual Mother’s Day-themed Baking Party with special guests, Stacey Harris, aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef and Divabetic Image & Style Advisor Catherine Schuller, on Thursday, April 28, 2022, 7 – 8:30 PM, EST on Zoom.
Win gifts courtesy of Arthel Neville Design FABULOUS East/West Tote, Dr.’s Remedy Enriched Nail Care gift set, Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes‘s Camper Cozy Mystery, Walden Farms Zero Calories, Zero Net Carbs Salad Dressings, and Peak 10Skin’s Save My Sole Foot Rescue Cream during Mr. Divabetic’s random drawings. You must be present at our Baking Party to be entered in our gift drawings.
Over 150 people registered for our last Divabetic Baking Party on Zoom, so don’t miss out!
You can now enjoy our latest Divabetic Mysteries podcast, A Christmas Peril in its entirety (Episodes 1-11), on Facebook, YouTube, and BlogTalkRadio. We pack our annual mystery podcasts with diabetes and diabetes self-care information, a suspenseful mystery, and a few laughs.
Our main character, Mr. Divabetic is perfectly flawed to help us illustrate some of Divabetic’s cornerstone messages.
1. He’s resilient. Minor obstacles like a disastrous recipe or big problems like getting mixed up in murder investigations don’t deter his dreams of becoming the Next Food Network Star.
2. Healthy food doesn’t taste terrible. Unfortunately, Mr. Divabetic hasn’t figured out how to make one of his culinary creations taste good yet, but he has learned from his mistakes.
3. He doesn’t have all the answers, and that’s okay. Instead, he solves problems with the help of a team of friendly, upbeat certified diabetes care and education specialists, friends, and family members.
4. He doesn’t take himself too seriously. Instead, he rolls with the punches and punchlines and keeps his eye on the prize.
Divabetic Mysteries are a team effort that takes almost a year to produce. Each podcast is performed live on-air without interruption.
We have a blast from the initial story outline and first read-through to endless scriptwriting and fact-checking sessions and the final live broadcast! Of course, performing a 60-minute play without interruption is a bit nerve-racking and stressful for our cast of diabetes advocates, educators, authors, musicians, and poets.
Everyone’s afraid to make a mistake or even cough! But it’s also exhilarating to challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. We might not be trained actors, but we sure do like pretending to them for an hour!
Our story was inspired by Kevin Houdeshell’s tragic true-life story. Thanks to the Houdeshell family for their advocacy efforts on behalf of the Emergency Insulin Act of 2019 and the emergency prescription refill legislation. Known as Kevin’s or Howdy’s Law, it allows pharmacists to dispense an emergency supply of a chronic maintenance medication if the doctor cannot be reached – a common-sense act that could save a life.
Starring Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek, USA Best Selling Author Tonya Kappes, Mama Rose Marie, Patricia Addie Gentle, Terri Seidman, MaryAnn Nicolay, Trisha Artman, Catherine Schuller, Chef Robert Lewis, Seveda Williams, and Wendy Radford. Special thanks to the Houdeshell family, and Pharmacist Mandy Reece. Original music by Ivan Hampden Jr., Celine Dion’s vocals courtesy of SONY Music. Produced by Leisa Chester Weir. Video by Joe Hackney from Pixabay.
In the spirit of Scrooge’s awakening at the end of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, we encourage you to honor Christmas in your heart by living in the Past, The Present, and the Future. Try to embrace the Spirits of all Three and the lessons that they teach.
Have you ever thought about the language we use when talking and writing about overweight and obesity and people living with obesity?
If the rash of criticism directed at superstar Lizzo is any indication, we have a long way to go before society embraces and supports people of different proportions and sizes.
We’re tackling this topic and more on Divabetic’s upcoming podcast scheduled for Tuesday, March 15, 2022, with guests Susan Weiner MS, RDN, CDCES, FADCES, and Poet Lorraine Brooks. We will be featuring music from Prince and the New Power Generation’s Love Symbol album courtesy of SONY Music. Please join us!
We love Lizzo‘s attitude about herself and her music. She has no patience for fat-shaming and neither do we! Her body-positive, self-love anthems are part of our workout playlist.
I feel like [being] fat is the worst thing people can say about me at this point,” Lizzo shared on Apple Music’s The Zane Lowe Show. “This is the biggest insecurity. It’s like, ‘How dare a pop star be fat?’ I had to own that.” She added, “I feel like other people who were put on that pedestal, or who become pop stars, probably have other insecurities or have other flaws, but they can hide it behind a veneer of being sexy and being marketable.”
Unfortunately, it’s all too common to see and hear obesity talked about negatively, which risks reinforcing stereotypes, simplifying the causes of obesity, and contributing to weight stigma. Currently, obesity is commonly described in the media and society with negative images of people living with obesity and weight stigmas.
“There’s still so many people who suffer from being marginalized systemically,” she says. “Meanwhile, there’s a plus-size Black girl at the Grammys. But plus-size Black women are still not getting the treatment they deserve in hospitals and from doctors and at work.”
We’re talking about the power of language used in diabetes care with musical inspiration from Prince on Divabetic’s podcast scheduled for Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at 6 PM, EST.
Words have the power to elevate or tear down someone’s perception of themselves and their diabetes health.
For decades, much of the language around diabetes has been focused on adverse outcomes and laden with judgment and blame without considering individual needs, beliefs, and choices.
On the other hand, encouraging and collaborative messages can enhance health outcomes.
In 1992, Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable, infamous “Love Symbol.” He wrote: “It’s all about thinking in new ways, tuning in 2 a new free-quency.” It derives from a combination of the symbols for both males and females.
He adopted the symbol as a tool for contract negotiations with his record label. According to Rolling Stone, Warner Bros. wanted Prince to slow down the pace of releasing new music for fear of flooding the market. Unwilling to consent to their request, Prince actually increased his rate.
The Love Symbol meant so much to him that he continued to use it long after changing his stage name back to Prince when his contract with Warner Bros. finally expired.
Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDCES. Throughout the podcast, we will be featuring music from Prince & The New Power Generation’s Love Symbol album courtesy of SONY Music.
We prefer the word fortunate rather than lucky. Lucky sounds like you have no part in it. It’s the luck of the draw or the random stop of the wheel on a slot machine. Fortunate seems more appreciative as well as more participatory.
Think about it. If you blame yourself for all the negative things that happen in your diabetes life, then should you take responsibility for the good things that happen too?
Recently, I was speaking with one of my favorite diabetes educators, Janis Roszler LMFT, RD, LD/N, CDCES, FAND PhD. She mentioned that humans are much more conditioned to recall negative experiences than positive ones in life. This has something to do with our body’s need to keep us safe from harm.
Janis told me that we have to practice emphasizing compliments, positive things, and the good moments that happen in our lives.
So if you’re beating yourself up about unexpected high and low blood sugars, weight gains, and/or experiencing a diabetes health-related complication – stop! Instead, take a minute a remind yourself about something positive that happened in your day. Take a deep breath, reset yourself, so you’re setting yourself up for a more nurturing outcome.
There’s a chance in everything we do—and don’t do. But we also believe that good fortune favors an open mind. At some level, we create our lives and what we bring into it—at least most of it. So we’d like to encourage you to practice gratefulness. And we wish you good fortune. Happy Thanksgiving!
We’re talking about diabetic macular edema with musical inspiration from Maxwell.
Along with fellow musicians D’Angelo and Erykah Badu, Maxwell has been credited with helping to shape what has been termed the “neo-soul” movement that rose to prominence during the late 1990s
Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) is an accumulation of fluid in the macula-part of the retina that controls our most detailed vision abilities due to leaking blood vessels. In order to develop DME, you must first have diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetic retinopathy is caused by damage to the blood vessels in the tissue at the back of the eye (retina). Poorly controlled blood sugar is a risk factor. Early symptoms include floaters, blurriness, dark areas of vision, and difficulty perceiving colors. Blindness can occur.
Guests include singer Alfa Anderson, Diabetic Macular Edema patient Maryanne Kass, Artist Bryce Chisholm, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach, Poet Lorraine Brooks, and Mama Rose Marie. Throughout the podcast, we will be featuring selected songs from several of Maxwell’s albums courtesy of SONY Music.
Thank you to our special guest Stacey Harris aka ‘The Diabetic Pastry Chef’ for joining us for last night’s Divabetic Zoom program. It was our largest virtual program to date! Over 50 people enjoyed watching Stacey demonstrate her popular Sugar-Free Pumpkin Muffin Recipe, share expert baking tips, and answer questions about making over traditional dessert recipes with less sugar and carbohydrate but still packed with great flavor!
One lucky guest, Fran C. from New York City, won a fantastic Splenda Gift Basket.
Don’t miss Divabetic’s Annual Mystery Podcast, ‘A Christmas Peril’, on Thursday, September 30, 2021, 6 PM, EST.
The Holidays are full of surprises— especially after Mr. Divabetic gets a new job as the pastry chef at the St. Nicholas Nursing Home nestled in a cozy Christmas Village. But adjusting to life in a Christmas Village is not all sugarplums and candy canes. Especially when a cantankerous resident, a real-life Ebenezer Scrooge, named Mr. Pincher almost dies——shortly after eating one of Max’s peanut butter swirl brownies. Despite all of the ingredients for danger, Mr. Divabetic along with our team of amateur sleuths and his overly protective mother — set out to find the real culprit in the hopes that his name isn’t on a lethal naughty list.
Our story was inspired by Kevin Houdeshell’s tragic true-life story. Thanks to the Houdeshell family for their advocacy efforts on behalf of the Emergency Insulin Act of 2019 and the emergency prescription refill legislation. Known as Kevin’s or Howdy’s Law, it allows pharmacists to dispense an emergency supply of a chronic maintenance medication if the doctor cannot be reached – a common-sense act that could save a life.
Starring Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek, USA Best Selling Author Tonya Kappes, Mama Rose Marie, Patricia Addie Gentle, Terri Seidman, MaryAnn Nicolay, Trisha Artman, Catherine Schuller, Chef Robert Lewis, Seveda Williams, and Wendy Radford. Special thanks to the Houdeshell family, and Pharmacist Mandy Reece. Original music by Ivan Hampden Jr., Celine Dion’s vocals courtesy of SONY Music. Produced by Leisa Chester Weir.
In the spirit of Scrooge’s awakening at the end of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, we encourage you to honor Christmas in your heart by living in the Past, The Present, and the Future. Try to embrace the Spirits of all Three and the lessons that they teach.
