Emotions can influence what, when and how much a person eats. Negative emotions can affect eating, which in turn can affect diabetes.
- Feeling “bad” about a food, such as chocolate cake, can lead to feelings of guilt after eating a piece.
- Being angry because you can’t eat your favorite food may make you feel angry.
- Worrying about weight gain or other problems, you may eat too little.
Patients may feel relieved and more likely to learn and successfully follow healthy eating principles once they accept their negative feelings about diabetes and their diet.
Emotions can also help control the diabetes diet. Doing what’s good for your health is motivating and makes you feel better about your diet and yourself.
To manage your emotions effectively, you need to do:
- Master the principles of the diabetes diet. Patients may find that there is little need to give up their favorite foods, as long as they plan their regular meals or snacks wisely.
- Talk to people who adhere to the principles of the diabetes diet. Learn what foods they like and how they stick to their dietary principles.
- Try new foods and recipes. Variety of meals can prevent feelings of deprivation.
How can I cope with negative feelings about my diabetes diet?
Giving yourself permission
People often think that following the principles of the diabetes diet means giving up favorite foods. If this is a thought, try the following exercises:
- Make food list cards. Write down the foods you like and dislike, and the foods that are “not good” and “good” for diabetes.
- Check the list.
- Check the list. Are the foods that are “not good for me” very similar to the foods that are “liked”? Are the “good for me” foods similar to the “dislike” foods? If you think that only disliked foods are good for diabetes, then note that
- There are no absolute “no good” and “good” foods. All foods are appropriate for a diabetic diet.
- No need to give up your favorite foods.
- You don’t have to give up the foods you like. You can learn how to eat a balanced diet.
- Cross off the “dislikes” on your list and replace them with any of the foods on the other three lists. If there are foods on the “like” list that are high in sugar, you can eat them in small amounts, occasionally, to avoid raising your blood sugar.
Understand your emotions
Review all of your feelings about your diabetes diet as described below. You can also add other negative feelings.
- Confused;
- Fearful;
- Anger;
- feeling of deprivation or resentful resentment;
- resistance;
- Other.
In your own emotional diary, identify the object of fear, anger, or resistance.
Don’t judge “feelings”; it’s how you respond that matters.
Get rid of negative emotions
It’s not enough to find the causes of negative emotions, it’s more important to get rid of them. Patients can write down goals for fighting each negative emotion in an emotional diary.
Refer to the following methods:
- Write down your feelings and read them aloud.
- Talk to a loved one, a friend, or your diabetes doctor, and it is possible to discover that the cause of the negative feelings is not tangible.
- Join a group of people with diabetes. Most people with diabetes have negative emotions and are willing to share ways to cope.
- Seek advice. If negative emotions persist and get in the way of taking care of yourself, talk to a specialist.
- Seek advice.