Do Not Let Diabetes Control You: Part 2

Welcome back!!! To recap a little, the Law of Attraction, simply put means that you have the ability to allow your thought affect your actions. How does this play into effect when you are told you have Diabetes? You can run from the diagnosis and pretend you do not have it, you can ignore it until you have to pay attention, or you can embrace it and work with it. Lets do the latter!!

Embrace Diabetes, control it, DO NOT allow it to control you! How can you do this? How will you manage your Diabetes?

In the last Blog, I explained what high sugar was and symptoms you would feel. Lets talk about the treatment of Diabetes.

Before we dig into the treatment, I found interesting stats. If you like statistics, here you go:

Diabetes affects an estimated 29.1 million people in the United States and is the 7th leading cause of death. (HealthyPeople.com) Having the Diagnosis of Diabetes:

• Increased mortality rate 1.8 times compared to persons without diabetes
• Increased risk of heart attack by 1.8 times
• The leading cause of kidney failure, lower limb amputations, and adult-onset blindness

Knowing that your diabetes places you at risk of multiple life threatening disease as stated above, you should ask yourself “How can I treat my diabetes to prevent getting these complications?” “What can I do different?”

The treatment of diabetes is prevention! Prevent the actual disease process to begin with, but since you have it, now you need to prevent the vascular disease and subsequent complications that is hovering over you. So, let’s talk about ways to prevent high blood sugars and subsequent complications of the disease.

Diet: do you know how many people ask, What do I eat now? The best way to answer this is…… Everybody is different. What works for one will not work for another. you want to have the appropriate serving size with each snack and meal. Generally speaking there is no actual DIET for a diabetic, only a well balanced healthy eating plan and it is individualized to each person according to personal preferences, access to foods, and other possible barriers to making a change:

• healthy eating patterns- 3 meals, 2 snacks a day
• controlled portions
• according to the ADA, meals should consist of 15% protein, 55% complex carbohydrates, 30% healthy fats .
• fresh fruit, vegetables
• limited processed foods
• no pop or sugary beverages such as fruit juice
• limit alcohol intake

Everything in moderation! You do not have to give anything up, you need to pay attention to what is good for your body and what is not. What does your body need for energy and health and what it can do without.

Remember, if you eat large amounts or consume foods that are high in carbohydrates, your blood will have too much sugar which will lead to the complications as we discussed.

Exercise: You do not need to go to the gym and “kill” yourself in a workout, this can actually be more harmful than good for you. You need to be active more hours in a day than you are not. Get yourself a fitbit or other tracker to keep track of your steps. It is recommended to get 10,000 steps in 24 hours. Physical exercise when your HR is elevated for at least 20 minutes will maintain your health, anything more than 20 minutes will increase your chance of weight loss, lower your BP, and lower your cholesterol.

Regular visits to healthcare provider: With a diagnosis of Diabetes, in order to prevent vascular complications, there are several things that need to be monitored:

• Opthalmology for vision check and retina scan to make sure you are not developing retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in a diabetic
• Blood work- cholesterol levels, A1C(3 month average glucose), MRU(urine for protein), kidney function
• Podiatry- monitor for numbness(neuropathy), nail trim

Dietician– Don’t try to do this alone. There is a lot of information available on the internet etc… It is important that you meet with someone that can educate you the right way and the recommendations can be geared to you, not in general terms. If one way does not work, the dietitian will make sure you try it a different way until you find what works for you. A dietitian will also make sure you are getting the appropriate nutrition to keep you healthy.

Therapist/counselor/coach for chronic disease management– having a diagnosis of chronic disease and having to manage a chronic disease can be overwhelming and stressful. It can trigger anxiety and depression. Having someone to work with you on changing your mindset to a positive one will help you accomplish the work that is needed to control your diabetes.

Learn as much as you can about Diabetes, including available treatments, therapies, and lifestyle choices. If you are proactive in managing your Diabetes, then you are in control. This means, you are not letting Diabetes control you!

Tina Butt, Health and Wellness Coach and Healthcare Advocate

tinaqws@gmail.com

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