How to Build Habits That Stick for Better Blood Sugar Management
by Dr Paula Diab, PhD, CDCES, Diabetologist & Weight Management Specialist
The summer vacation has come to an end and its back to the grindstone again. Summer is often a relatively easy time to manage weight and health in general. We spend more time outdoors, perhaps have more vacation time to exercise and engage in healthy activities and the warmer weather makes it easier to choose crunchy salads rather than all the comfort foods of winter.
So where to now? The theme for this month is on building sustainable habits throughout the next few months so that we don’t undo all the good decisions and behaviors we have already established. Motivation is a wonderful place to start, but it’s not always enough to keep us going.
The real secret to sustainable change is turning those good intentions into habits – small actions that become part of our everyday lives, even on the days when we don’t feel particularly motivated.
Why habits beat willpower
Willpower is unreliable. It tends to be strongest when we’re rested, inspired and enthusiastic, and weakest when we’re tired, stressed or busy. We all know how easy it is to make another batch of microwave popcorn and continue lazing on the sofa over the weekend. Or that all too familiar behaviour of coming home around 4-5pm, having skipped lunch and had a busy day at work and the first thing you find is the fridge. My teenage children often complain there is nothing to eat in the fridge. What they mean is there are no quick, delicious and high-energy snacks. There are lots of vegetables and cheeses but the salad isn’t going to make itself!
This is when overcoming willpower is almost impossible. Habits work differently – the more often we repeat a behaviour, the more automatic it becomes. Try to build in healthy habits you’re your lifestyle and sustain them. Drink a glass of water after brushing your teeth or take a five-minute walk after lunch. I find that packing lunch the night before makes a tremendous difference to decision-making the following day. Once that habit feels established, you can build on it.
Focus on one change at a time
Trying to change everything at once can also become overwhelming. Instead, try to sustain healthy behaviours one at a time. Perhaps this week your focus is breakfast – try different options and see what works best for your glucose levels. The next week, concentrate on creating healthy evening meal choices – prepare meals in advance, plan for the week ahead and make sure you have the ingredients you need at home. Don’t try to change everything all at once.
And what happens when you trip up?
Everyone has days when routines go out the window. Sometimes they may be predictable but most often they just happen. This doesn’t mean failure. It simply means you need to press the reset button and carry on. Very often people feel overwhelmed at this stage and think “I’ve blown it! I’ll start again next week.” And by next week, a few more unhealthy gremlins have re-appeared.
Rather, just press reset and carry on. If you had that extra slice of cake after lunch, just recheck your glucose levels at dinner, take a little extra insulin and aim to reduce your carbs at dinner slightly. Just take a step forward and keep going. Perhaps you can go for a short walk to compensate for the extra calories or maybe you just realise that going past the candy store on the way home simply means you need to take a different route home next time!
Gradually, all these small choices you make will start to add up to something much bigger. And that is how we can adapt our lifestyles – one small sustainable habit at a time.
*Listen to episode 85 of the Think Like a Pancreas podcast, Adding Activity to your day: Better Blood Sugars via the Laundry Room, where exercise physiologist Gary Scheiner and physician Paula Diab explain the difference between activity and exercise. They explore how integrating more physical activity into daily routines can improve health, manage diabetes, and enhance overall well-being.
Keep up to date on our social media feeds throughout the month for many more practical tips, words of wisdom and myths that we will debunk!
And if none of that seems to help, reach out to us online or via the office and talk to someone who can help you build these habits.
