Be present in the moment

Issues with diabetes can be something you navigate in the moment – tips to be present.

by IDS Director of Lifestyle and Nutrition, Jenny Smith

“Be present in the moment.”

Living with a chronic condition like diabetes means you are constantly navigating many things. Kind of like herding cats at times. In this New Year of 2025, think about taking a step back to really put effort into what it is that is at hand in the here and now. Diabetes will always be there…at least until AI improves our technology or a real cure is available for everyone.

Addressing issues with diabetes can be something you navigate in the moment

When a pump fails, an illness pops up, a CGM sensor has an error, or when symptoms don’t match what the value shows, these are more immediate, and we don’t want to ignore these factors. However, we can become a bit too centered on diabetes, and then all the other things in our life tend to pile up or we start to feel resentful for every moment we are not doing something other than navigating our BG.

Start with adjusting alerts on your CGM to a range that allows you to manage in the range you are targeting. If alerts are left too wide, then we most often feel an urge to keep a close watch on the trend OR we miss an opportunity to adjust and then end up in a flurry of action that is more reactive than proactive.

If a high alert is at 250, reduce it to 200 or 180. Catching a value that is high or rising means you can address this sooner or evaluate in this moment how the insulin and food you have eaten are working. Can you leave it alone and let the IOB work? Is the system you use such as an AID system working with you?

If you have your low alert set too low – you are missing the range to be able to catch the drop, especially if it is a quick drop. While our technology with AID pump systems is lovely, it isn’t 100% and we will at times have to step in to treat a drop…which is often easier to do with less carbohydrate than to treat an actual low. Think of the high and low ends of the glucose range you want to try to keep and add an alert that is somewhere around that so you can catch things and then let it go.

Adjusting the alerts to a more manageable range should allow you to close the screen on your device and not have to check it unless an alert suggests you are now set to go out of that range.

This is a hard habit to break. Many people have data visible all day – watches, screens that display the glucose data and trends, on the phone, using screens in the car. Overload of data can decrease our enjoyment of the other things we should be getting out of life.

By no means do I suggest shrugging off completely and letting it all go. Instead, finding a balance and addressing the issue right now and then moving on and letting it go. Try not to let the high BG after lunch still be in your mind at bedtime. The time has passed, and you addressed it – move on.

Another place to assist with letting go a bit on the minute-to-minute observation is looking at your data on a regular basis.

Do you look at the past week of data on a quiet Saturday morning or a Sunday evening when you have time?

If not, consider scheduling that in. This can help point out areas to address that are a trend and it helps to reduce the minute adjustments you may be making 6 times a day as you watch your BG go up and down.

The databases our technology sends data to today do have some insight graphs, while not perfect it can help to point out times of day where you are more prone to high BG or low BG. Use this as a starting place in your weekly analysis. Other people like to keep notes that they look at once weekly to make sense of. Highs you have been noticing and constantly correcting after lunch may be a trend that shows you to make an adjustment in dose, timing of insulin or strategy for covering the content of the meal in a different way. While we all adjust in the moment at times, because we know the variables can shift each day, if this is your management strategy you may be doing more work in the long run.

We have a lot to keep track of with diabetes but should be able to step away and enjoy kids’ soccer games, time at the pool, or attend a business meeting with full attention to that time. Only giving attention to diabetes when needed for food, activity, or addressing an alert.

If you feel you need assistance with defining your diabetes attention strategy, give us a call at integrated diabetes services. We live it and understand how hard it can be to take a step back when everything we have access to today seems to encourage us to give more attention.

Be present in the moment – there are so many things to enjoy outside of watching your glucose values all day long.

Back to February 2025 NewsletterSign Up For The IDS Monthly Newsletter!

Print