by IDS Director of Intensive Diabetes Management, Tavia Vital
T1D Spring Reflections – what we can and can’t control
Things We Cannot Control:
- What our glucose does 100% of the time
- Exactly how many units of insulin are needed to achieve healthy glucose ranges overall
- Genetics
- The weather
- Other people´s attitudes
- How a spouse, significant other, or young adult in our life manages their health
- What may (or may not!) have triggered T1D in our lives or our children´s lives
- Any moment of the past
Things in Our Control: Things We Can Influence:
- Working to have an overall positive, grateful, or hopeful attitude
- Willingness to try new things
- Perseverance to try again when things do not go as planned
- Ability to laugh at our mistakes or errors
- Ability to learn from repeated patterns (what happens after I eat cheesecake, or ski, or have a low glucose, and what I will try next time to improve my
- glucose outcomes, or my safety, or maintain my safety while increasing my enjoyment, or my health)
- Getting regular physical activity (aerobic and strength training)
- Eating veggies often
- Not smoking (or smoking less, for some people)
- Drinking less alcohol (or not drinking too much alcohol, too often)
- Drinking enough water most days
- Following a regular sleep hygiene routine
- Getting and using initial or ongoing mental health support, tools, and resources
- Getting regular checkups, screening tests, exams, and blood tests
- Asking questions about our health, risks, benefits, medications, and therapy options
- How much power other people’s attitudes or comments are allowed to influence our day/life
I am 100% sure there are more items we could add to this list. What would you like to add? Leave a comment below!
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4 Responses
Nice thoughts, James! Thank you for reading the article and thank you for sharing your thoughts!
We can teach find an exercise that is some, or lot of joy or pleasure, in the effort. As example, I use an elliptical exercise machine, at my senior center, listen to music at the time, or talk to a person beside me. When i walk at my local outdoor park , I might walk with local friend, listen to music, or use phone camera for nature hobby pictures.
We can each design a custom total amount of carbs per meal, based on recreation or work needs, and only eat that approximate total carbs per meal.
We each can make a custom list of actions we can take, to help improve, if we have sugar high, or low!
Jim Harless.