You’ve been warned!
Just eat the real thing.
I know that this may be an unpopular opinion.
However, devouring TONS of sugar-free foods normally means consuming a ton of sugar alcohols, which can lead to being on the porcelain throne for who knows how long.
Why?
Most sugar-free foods cause MASSIVE indigestion, and wreck your stomach and cause massive diarrhea.
They also taste pretty odd with significant aftertastes, so why eat them?
Those sugar alcohols also wipe out your good gut bacteria, and this can be detrimental to your immune system.
Gut bacteria is huge in the diabetes and auto-immune world, so it’s definitely not in your best interest to have the good ones wiped out.
It is also important to remember that some sugar-free foods actually do also contain carbs.
The phrase “sugar-free” is often misunderstood as a “free” pass.
Labeling a food sugar-free does...
The phrase diabetes and exercise either sounds like a match made in heaven or a nightmare.
Exercise can seem SUPER daunting for people living with diabetes.
However, it is important to remember that exercising is one of the best ways to keep your body healthy.
Sometimes you may feel as though you so much as LOOK at a treadmill and experience low blood sugars.
You start to get into the zone with a warm-up and then ‘your blood sugar tanks.
Now what?
You are consuming calories you don’t want to be eating when you’re supposed to be burning them!
You’re frustrated while wasting time, effort, and energy.
One way to avoid that is to avoid having insulin on board before your workout.
This can mean using a temporary basal or suspending your pump.
The less insulin on board you have, the less likely there is to be blood sugar volatility in advance.
This can be absolutely critical if applied the right way to your diabetes.
Another way to...
Getting mad at your blood sugar doesn’t help anything…even though you wish it would.
I’ve been here before and I’m sure you have as well. You look at your Dexcom.
You’re 250.
You correct.
Nothing happens.
You correct again.
You start cursing.
Stubborn high! Nothing happens.
You’re waiting.
Nothing happens.
You dose again.
“Treating blood sugar spikes is so fun”, said no one ever.
Nothing happens.
Then suddenly, it's like Wylie Coyote running off the side of a cliff and looking down: The bottom falls out.
Now, your blood sugar is TANKING and you're cursing as you drink a juice box.
SO MUCH RAGE IN THE BRAIN.
Instead of rage bolusing for periods of hyperglycemia, just be patient.
Rage bolusing is going to make your tank and then overcorrect.
Instead of cursing, which is more stressful than anything else, just let it be.
Stress = Higher blood sugar levels..
Skip that blood sugar rollercoaster - it’s a lousy, exhausting...
On your way to an A1c of 7.0 if you start at 9.5.
In order to get there, you have to pass through 8.0. Sure, 8 isn’t where you want to be.
But it’s a stop on the destination.
A lot of people will see their A1c higher and IMMEDIATELY compare to what they see on social media.
They see all the flat Dexcom lines and wonder “why not me?” The FIRST step to getting where you want to be with your blood sugar levels…
Is bringing your A1c down a little.
9.5 to 9.4.
9.4 to 9.3.
If you want to lose weight and drop 30lbs, you first have to drop 3lbs.
If you’re going to get to a 7.0 A1c from a 9.5, you have to first get to 9, then to 8, etc.
Enjoy the journey.
Enjoy the process.
That is where the beauty of everything is.
Quite frankly: that is how you get to the final destination. You take little, single steps every single day.
Suddenly, you’ll look up, and think...
Close your eyes for a second and image this:
You are sitting at your table in a restaurant and there is something on the menu you’ve always wanted to try. Maybe it's chicken alfredo from an authentic Italian restaurant or an epic Chinese dish. Maybe it's your ultimate comfort food.
Your food arrives and you're ready to assess.
You dose.
Your blood sugar stays amazing.
Not just right afterwards, but also hours and hours later into the night. How awesome does that feel?!
Once upon a time, you may have been nervous to consume that food.
Once upon a time, it was out of your comfort zone to even TRY that food.
I would bet that somewhere along the way you were given a list titled “Diabetes Food to Eat” “Blood Sugar Foods.”
But, what happened?
You said, “Hey, I’m gonna figure out how to do this so my blood sugars can be amazing while I enjoy foods that I love.”
Each of us have...
I was a freshman in high school in a computer class when I heard a specific Ludacris song for the first time.
The entire song was meaningful, but one lyric in particular stopped me in my tracks.
“It’s not the hand that you're dealt but how you’re playing ya cards.”
This lyric has stuck with me ever since because of how it relates to diabetes and life. It’s amazing how a few words rocked me to my CORE then, and they still do today.
Mental health awareness has been a huge topic of conversation in recent years. In my humble opinion, mental health surrounding life with diabetes is not talked about enough.
We all know living with Type 1 diabetes can be tricky, sucks, and none of us asked for it.
How’s that for candid?
But, at the end of the day, it doesn’t have to slow you down from what you want to do. There are professional athletes with diabetes.
There are musicians with diabetes.
Actors and actresses who are well known for living with...
It’s no secret that your diabetes tech is likely to show at the beach.
Almost EVERY time I go, people always come up and ask me what my insulin pump is.
Or what my Dexcom is.
Or why I have oddly shaped tape on my body.
Or (fill in the blank with everything imaginable)
While I was in college, a kid came up to me and thought my pump was a video game.
I told him it was an automatic tattoo maker, since it left a nice tan line.
He fell for it.
Most of the time, I simply just say what it is: it’s my insulin pump for my diabetes.
This statement always seems to be taken as an invitation by other people to start listing all the stereotypical statements about diabetes:
“Well you don’t look like you have diabetes.”
“Wait, you’re not fat.”
“Only old people get diabetes.”
What does diabetes even look like?!
A friendly PSA: there is no definition.
I know many who would agree with me in suggesting that more people were aware of terms...
Build some muscle.
Improve body composition.
Increase insulin sensitivity.
Get that AWESOME endorphin rush afterwards where you feel like you can conquer ANYTHING.
Maybe you’ve got some more too that I didn’t list.
But here’s a fun fact you PROBABLY didn’t realize you knew:
Higher blood sugars make it harder to build muscle.
High blood sugars, as you know, make EVERY process in your body a bit more difficult.
But during or after a workout?
It can make building strength considerably tougher than it has to be.
If you’re not able to absorb your nutrition at the rate your body needs, well, you’re running in quicksand while everyone else is running on perfectly manicured grass.
Don’t be that person.
It is IMPERATIVE you get those blood sugars on POINT to make the most of your workouts.
And of course, to feel, look, and be your best.
If you’re finding workout blood...
JDRF would be a cinnamon farm.
Events would be doing lines of cinnamon as a group.
The “cinnamon challenge” would have been figured out years ago.
Worrying about your blood sugar control would be a thing of the past.
Cinnamon does not cure diabetes.
Please do not search “cinnamon diabetes cure” on the internet (Unless you want some massive entertainment and don't take it seriously).
If something this simple existed, the world of diabetes would look a whole lot different.
Despite having diabetes, you don’t have to feel stuck where you are.
While there may not be a simple spice to cure diabetes once and for all, we certainly have a plethora of things to help manage it.
From the incredible discovery of insulin in the 1920s to the widely available diabetes technology we have at our fingertips daily today, we have an incredible amount of resources and help to manage today’s diabetes.
Along with many other things,...
Diabetes is sometimes like those games at the fair where you can win a giant animal if you throw a ring on the bottle or shoot the ball in the hoop.
You pay the $5 and try so hard and you STILL fail no matter what you try.
It LOOKS so easy but blood sugars can be difficult.
You have a stubborn high blood sugar and try to get it down.
It doesn’t budge.
You try again and again.
Your mindset is starting to tank...
It is so damn frustrating when you feel like you’ve tried everything.
You try the insulin.
You try the walk.
You try the water.
You pray to the heavens above.
It works sometimes, but not ALL the time.
The frustration mounts.
Diabetes often feels rigged, where the bottle top is slightly larger than the ring and that hoop is definitely not regulation size.
So how do you breakthrough?
1. KEEP EFFING GOING. Giving up is the fastest way to constantly live in the frustration of the blood sugars. Even if it doesn't work perfectly, use the data you have...
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