How a consistent schedule benefits diabetes management
Starting each Thursday, I will be sharing a quick tip that will help you on your diabetes journey.
This week’s tip is about keeping a consistent schedule.
It’s important to keep your body consistent, which may include everything from what time you eat to when you sleep. You can help your body to regulate the body’s hormones and blood sugar levels by creating a regular routine and rhythm.
People with diabetes can benefit greatly from daily exercise.
These are just a few benefits:
Maintains a healthy body weight
Reduces the risk of heart disease
Improves blood glucose management and blood flow
Improves mood overall
Boosts sleep quality
Improves your ability to cope with depression, anxiety, and stress
To ensure you are exercising safely, speak with your doctor before starting any new exercise routine so they can help you choose appropriate activities and set blood glucose targets.
Sound Off: How do you exercise? Do you have a routine that works for you? Do you face any obstacles to exercising? Comment below to share your experience.
It’s easy for us to be concerned about the future with chronic illness. However, we must keep in mind that there is so much life left in us. It may not be the ideal life that we’ve imagined, but it is still life. So instead of worrying about the how our conditions might affect us in the future, let’s just focus on today. Do what you can today.
I’m excited to announce that illustrations for my first published book, My Diabetic Mama are completed and the images are absolutely gorgeous!
The next steps are editing and proofreading. That process should take no more than a few weeks. In the meantime, we will start our official webpage for our book as well as some pre-ordering information. My plan is to debut the book later this summer.
My Diabetic Mama is a children’s book featuring 8-year-old Mac, whose mom has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, along with his family, that supports his newly diagnosed mom adjust to new lifestyle changes. This book is recommended for elementary school students in grades 2-5. This book will cover a basic definition of diabetes, the two major types of diabetes (type 1 and 2) and general symptoms of high and low blood sugar levels.
For more updates, follow my blog or my social media pages:
How I’m using the PURE stress management method this week.
This week will be an extremely busy for me personally. Therefore, I will only be blogging for a couple of days this week.
A few days ago, I wrote about an upcoming youth entrepreneur event that my organization has been planning this month. The event is this Saturday and we are in full preparation and promotional mode.
We’ve managed to score a radio interview, which one of the youth entrepreneurs and I did yesterday, and an upcoming TV interview on Wednesday. Other than that, we are creating signs, decorations, swag bags and certificates all week long.
So instead of being superwoman and doing it all, this week I have implemented the PURE stress management method and decided to focus on making this youth entrepreneur event successful. I will only blog today and tomorrow. Then return with to my normal blog posting schedule on Monday.
This will help me not get so overwhelmed and will have some extra time to rest when I can.
It’s important to practice what I share with you because if I don’t, then everything that I’ve been sharing with you would be just meaningless advice.
So continue to prioritize your health first so you can be able to focus on the things that matter to you. And as my good friend always says:
Why a lack of self-care can be detrimental for the woman who does itall
Healthline recently surveyed over 1500 Americans with type 2 diabetes about their day-to-day experiences of living with their condition. The results were published in their latest article, called “The State of Type 2 Diabetes.” Participants were asked how they managed their conditions, if they can afford health care and lifestyle changes and how their diagnosis change their perceptions of themselves and their future.
According to the results, many Americans are having difficulty coping with the demands of managing diabetes along with careers and families. In addition, the survey results also concluded that 70% of the women that responded are more likely than men to put the needs of others before themselves despite living with a chronic illness, and face more challenges with balancing self-care with other responsibilities.
Ladies, does this sound familiar?
This is the definition of the Superwoman syndrome. This happens when a woman stretches herself too thin and neglects herself because she’s trying to do it all.
I tend to visualize this concept as if we’re eating at a buffet. Imagine yourself piling food that you like on your plate. Now you already have enough food on your plate. However, you want an extra piece of chicken. You can’t fit anything else on that plate. Instead of getting the extra piece of chicken after you’ve finished your meal, you decided to get chicken anyway and placing it on top of your full plate. As a result, your plate is overflowing, making a mess.
As women and caretakers, we already have a lot on our proverbial plates. We have homes to manage, families to take care of, businesses to run, and/or jobs to do. When we don’t take the time to properly care for ourselves, our plates will overflow, causing stress, exhaustion, burnouts and breakdowns. Stressful situations and environments are major risk factors for many illnesses, including type 2 diabetes. If you’re already diagnosed with diabetes, then the additional stressful demands of playing superwoman will make it extremely difficult to manage our conditions, causing us to experience more health complications.
Ladies, we need to surrender our capes and take better care of ourselves!
If we want to continue to live a healthy life while managing diabetes, then we have to learn to prioritize our health because nobody else will do it for you. Surrendering our capes is not a sign of weakness, but of great strength. When we surrender, we are implying that we can no longer go on like business as usual. We give up the notion that we can do all and be all for everyone. Surrendering gives us a sense of peace and relief. Surrendering our capes is not a form of selfishness but an act of love and respect for ourselves. It doesn’t mean that we stop caring for people and helping others. We’re properly caring for the bodies and minds that we’ve been given so we can be a blessing to others. Don’t allow anyone to make you feel guilty for prioritizing yourself by taking care of your health first.
Superwoman,
Make that doctor’s appointment.
Get your A1C checked.
Have your eyes and feet checked.
Meet with that dietitian.
Go talk to that therapist.
Attend that support group meeting.
Prioritize and set your boundaries.
Ask for help.
Learn to say NO!
Superwoman, free yourself, surrender your cape and put your health first!
Is this future guideline a true win for all diabetics patients on Medicare?
Last Friday, the American Diabetes Association posted a late night announcement regarding a major change from the Center for Medicare Services regarding the current guidelines for for a continuous glucose monitor
This is the post in it’s entirety:
“Medicare has permanently eliminated the 4 times-a-day testing requirement to qualify for a CGM. This long-time barrier to CGM access will be permanently removed on July 18, 2021! The removal of this criterion has been an effort long-led by the ADA, on which we have been actively engaged with CMS.
PWD on Medicare will now be able to more easily access this critical piece of technology, leading to better diabetes management and better health outcomes. A big win for the diabetes community!”
It definitely sounds like fantastic news for diabetic patients! But what does it mean diabetic patients on Medicare can now go to their nearest pharmacy and get that CGM, right?
Not so fast.
While talking with a fellow diabetic support friend later that night, he enlightened me that this news is only one piece of a large puzzle.
Take a look at the following snapshot of the future CGM qualification guidelines below:
According to the future guidelines, even though the 4 times a day blood glucose monitoring will no longer be valid, the patient will still need to “be insulin treated with multiple daily administrations of insulin or a continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion pump.”
In short, in order for a diabetic patient on Medicare to qualify for a CGM, the patient not only has to be insulin-dependent, but the patient will have to take insulin three or more times a day.
This is not a win for all type 2 diabetics. As my friend expressed, the new guideline places a huge barrier for type 2 diabetics who are non-insulin dependent. Unfortunately, if you are a type 2 diabetic on Medicare, you will not qualify for a continuous glucose monitor.
There’s still a ton of work to be done in order for all diabetic patients can have equal access to the medicine and equipment without going through hoops and loops. This is a step in the right direction, and,for what it’s worth, this small step is still worth celebrating.
But tomorrow, it’s time your armor and fight again.
