Diabetes diagnosis can feel like a devastating experience, but adapting to the disease can make life a little easier. If you’re ready to take control of your blood sugar levels and start improving your health, next we’ll cover how to get started.
The health care team
Diabetes management requires the involvement of many people.
In addition to consulting with a doctor or nurse, patients can also seek help from:
- Diabetes educators
- Dieticians or nutritionists
- Pharmacists
- Endocrinologists
- Podiatrist
- Dentist
- Psychiatrist or therapist
Personal involvement
While the healthcare team is critical, the patient is the most important member of it. Patients get information and motivation from the healthcare team.
Patients should be proactive about their health and ask more questions. Learn about the efficacy of medications and the proper way to take them. Practice good health habits as recommended by your doctor. Know your glycated hemoglobin level and what it means.
Lose weight
Being overweight is one of the main reasons for the diabetes epidemic. Fat can cling to muscles and vital organs, such as the liver and pancreas, which in turn can lead to serious complications. However, patients do not need to reach a certain target weight before achieving a positive outcome.
Any degree of weight loss is beneficial. But this does not mean that patients should stop after losing a few kilograms. Even just a little weight loss can be very helpful to patients. Weight loss can reverse many of the physical changes caused by diabetes.
Losing excess fat from the waist and abdomen is crucial, and patients should be aware of their waistline. “People with a typical ‘apple-shaped’ body are often men in their 40s and 50s. This group is at higher risk for cardiovascular disease.
Actively stick to it
Implement a workable goal plan to achieve lasting change.
To lose weight, patients should try to exercise three times a week for 30 to 60 minutes a day. But the benefits of exercise go beyond that.
Regular exercise helps:
- Lower blood sugar.
- Strengthen heart health.
- Lower blood pressure.
- Increases insulin efficiency in the body.
Patients are more likely to stick with exercise if they can find something they enjoy. Exercise should not be an ordeal. If you want to swim, go swimming. If you want to dance, then go dance. These are all exercises. You can also find a partner to work with to help you stick with your exercise program.
Focus on your diet
If diet changes are putting you off, remember that your goal is to achieve a healthy balance, not “perfection. Often you need to avoid concentrated sugar. It’s not that you can’t eat cake, just not the roses on it.
Get plenty of fiber by eating plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Keep track of the carbohydrates you consume so you can avoid overconsumption and stay away from sugary drinks.
Also stay away from trans fatty acids. Get more protein, 25% of each meal, through fish, chicken, dairy, or vegetables.
Veggies do help improve health, and nuts are good too. Always have fruit in the house and be careful if you want to eat sweets, not to deprive the patient of them, but to avoid overdoing it.”
The more family members who join a healthy meal plan, the more it helps with adherence. Many times, people try to make diet changes alone, which is actually hard to do. It’s hard to do it by eating different meals with your partner and kids, so let your family join in together.
It’s a good idea to consult a dietitian. Everyone’s body is different, and a dietitian will create a diet plan for you, rather than just copying other people’s recipes.
Stress relief
Muscles are often in a state of readiness to fight or stay out of danger. When insulin is not working properly, the process of releasing energy from muscles fills the blood with glucose.
Stress can cause an increase in blood sugar, raise blood pressure, and increase the likelihood of heart disease.
If you usually relieve stress by smoking, you must break the habit. Smoking not only harms your lungs, it also causes your blood vessels to narrow. If you have diabetes, smoke, and have high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, smoking is a ticking time bomb in your body that can be life-threatening.
Here are a few ways to relieve stress in a healthy way:
- Do breathing exercises.
- Tighten your muscles and then relax.
- Walk or jog.
- Stretch.
- Take up a new hobby.
- Replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
Be sure to stay happy. It’s a whole new way of life, so make sure you enjoy the change.