3 Tips to Make It Easier to Handle Your Diabetes

Whether you're newly diagnosed or you've been at this for a while, you know that the types of changes that you need to make in your life to keep your diabetes under control, managed, or even reversed, are pretty big. I mean, we're talking about lifestyle changes here, changing your eating, changing your exercise, your sleep, added stress, self care, all of that. All of those are big changes!

But there's other things too, right? Things that get in the way.

The first thing is negative feelings you might have about having diabetes. There's a lot of fear. There's a lot of anger. There's hatred. There's a feeling of helplessness and guilt. So what I suggest is that you consider acceptance.

What? Yes!

What I have found in my life is the more I resist something like, no, no, no. It makes it much harder to deal with. But when I accept my situation, the way it is, actually, all of that heaviness goes away. And I feel a little freer to actually do what I need to do to take care of myself.

So consider acceptance and release the resistance.

Number two - what about support from family and friends? Sometimes this looks like they're ignoring your needs. They don't really want to listen to whatever problem you have with your diabetes, or they want to constantly tell you, "Hey, you shouldn't be eating that." "That's not good for you." "That's not good for your diabetes."

Most people don't really find this helpful. So what I suggest is that you consider setting boundaries. How do you do that?

Sometimes you need some help with it. There's some books. And there's some journaling you can do, and so on. But essentially, what you're doing is saying 'my diabetes is under my control.' 'You don't have to tell me what I should or shouldn't be eating. I know, and it's not your business. Okay?'.

If the family, for some reason, is keeping a lot of junk food in the house and a lot of sugary treats that you would love to be eating, but you know are not good for you, you can ask, and maybe have a family meeting. And say, 'please, can we at least reduce the amount of this stuff in the house? And maybe try for some healthier choices?'.

Because look, getting rid of junk food is good for everybody, not just somebody with diabetes.

Third, you may have no routine in your day. Perhaps you are working, perhaps you're not, perhaps you're retired. Whatever your situation may be, I can tell you that structure will be a very important thing for you to do, to keep your diabetes on track.

So it comes down to creating a routine for yourself. Just like I get up at this time, I brush my teeth and then I check my blood sugar and then I have my breakfast and then I go to work and do whatever I do. And then it's time for me to have lunch and so on and so forth.

And just as a note, our bodies love routine. Our bodies love it. When we go to sleep at the same time every night, it loves it. Also when we get up at the same time every morning.

It also loves very regular meals. And of course that works pretty well for someone with diabetes. And the reason is because when it's time for you to go to bed, you get sleepy and you go to bed, you go to sleep and you wake up automatically. Once you get into this routine and that routine can really support you in your health.

I hope that these tips help you. If you have questions, please sign up for a health chat here and we can talk about your diabetes. And perhaps I can answer some questions for you. Thank you so much for listening. 

Thank you.

Dr. Elaine

Schedule a health chat at: https://calendly.com/drstewart/healthchat

This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the medical advice of your doctor or healthcare provider. Please consult your healthcare provider for advice about a specific medical condition.