Alright everyone, shall we address the elephant in the room? Last week, Paula Deen announced that she has type 2 diabetes, and a few days after the announcement she admitted to knowing about her diagnosis for the past 3 years! Within that time she had published her cookbook, Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible — which was also voted as the “worst culinary offerings of 2011 by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.” (according to People magazine.)

While I can’t help feel bad for someone who is diagnosed with something that can ultimately be fatal, I’m also frustrated over the fact that she doesn’t plan to change her cooking style. I also can’t seem to grasp the concept of deep-frying a lasagna (which is one of her most popular recipes). A lasagna is fantastic all on it’s own, why would you want to kill the dish (and possibly yourself) by deep-frying it?! What are the stats on this dish, you are probably wondering… For one serving it is 670 calories with 47.5 grams of fat. Ouch, I think my heart just got all clogged up just by reading that.

I’m all for comfort food, in moderation of course and at appropriate times. But more than anything, I am all about taking care of myself. I may love a creamy mac and cheese side dish every once in a while from my favorite restaurant, but I’m also working out multiple times a week to stay healthy… and more importantly I am making healthy daily decisions in regard to my diet.

While watching Paula Deen on TV, viewers might not realize that she’s technically cooking those unhealthy dishes for only 30 days of filming. Whether or not her unhealthy eating habits are a daily routine or only 30 days out of the year — people don’t know! So several folks out there are probably thinking that her doughnut hamburgers are okay to eat as a meal whenever they want! Disgusting!

I have such a hard time watching people constantly stuff their face with unhealthy food. Why don’t you just spike your sweet tea with arsenic and speed up the death process a little faster?

And, on top of the Type 2 Diabetes drama, Paula is also a smoker and she has yet to give that nasty habit up — smoking when you have this disease can actually be fatal and cause heart attacks and strokes! If you have a stroke Paula, I doubt you can be a host on a cooking show.

I’m not an avid Paula Deen watcher, but I know so many people love her dearly — which is why I hope she can make some drastic changes in her private life and on TV. It would be great for the 23 million people across the U.S that have type 2 diabetes to see a cooking legend change her life and diet. Paula, that’s 23 million people, in case you didn’t see that number the first time — that’s a lot of people (and a business woman should know, a fantastic business opportunity as well!). People seem upset that she’s making money off of being a spokes person for Victoza (diabetes medicine), but if she tries to help people with a new cooking style I have no clue how anyone could be angry at her. I’d applaud her if she made some big changes!

I want to know… what are ya’lls thoughts on this current event?