Home
You can view the current or previous issues of Diabetes Health online, in their entirety, anytime you want.
Click Here To View
See if you qualify for our free healthcare professional magazines. Click here to start your application for Pre-Diabetes Health, Diabetes Health Pharmacist and Diabetes Health Professional.
Latest Diabetes-Friendly Meal Articles
Popular Diabetes-Friendly Meal Articles
Highly Recommended Diabetes-Friendly Meal Articles
Email to a Friend
Send a link to this page to your friends and colleagues.
Diabetes Resolutions for the New Year
Tyler Stevenson
A new year means new beginnings. Traditionally, it's a time to resolve to make changes for the better in our lives. This year, I decided to write a resolution list dedicated specifically to diabetes. I hope that some of you will want to try these ideas with me.
1. Find a new snack that's low in carbohydrates and calories. I'm still in college, so my life can be hectic and my hours late. You're likely to get hungry if you stay up late, but it's important not to let your blood glucose get out of hand. Pick a healthy snack that's low in carbohydrates, like apples and peanut butter or low fat yogurt.
2. Do more cardiovascular exercise. Cardio is not only strengthening, but also an excellent way to lower blood glucose levels. A good low impact exercise is swimming: It's easy on your joints and a great workout for your entire body. Whatever exercise you choose, try hard to stay with it all year.
3. Make a schedule. Life can get busy and stressful at times, so having set times to eat and exercise really simplifies the diabetes lifestyle. In that respect, I've found that a large calendar is helpful. It allows me to make notes about the important things I need to do and to budget my time for eating and working out. It's also a constant visual reminder to keep working on my health. Of course, although writing down what needs to be done is a good start, actually doing it is what's going to keep you healthy.
4. Learn to cook at least one diabetes-friendly meal. This should be your "go to" meal, for which you know exactly how much insulin to take. My favorite meal includes baked chicken, green beans, and brown rice. If I am hungry and in a hurry, I reach for a prepackaged snack that has an exact carb count listed on the package. Taking the guess work out of bolusing for snacks and meals will lead to better blood sugar levels.
5. Search out one new tip or fact about diabetes every week. We all need to continue learning how to better control and manage our disease, so look for a weekly tip that you can apply to your everyday life. The Internet is full of them.
6. Keep your A1C between 6% and 8%. To get an overall picture of your average blood glucose level, you need to check your A1C every 90 days. There is no fooling around when it comes to this. As far as I'm concerned, keeping your A1C between 6% and 8% is the diabetes Golden Rule, and the closer to 6%, the better.
Feel free to use my list, or make up your own and share it with others. Either way, I hope you have a safe and happy new year.
Categories: A1C, Blood Glucose Levels, Bolusing, Carbohydrates, Cardiovascular Exercise, Diabetes, Diabetes, Diabetes Golden Rule, Diabetes Lifestyle, Diabetes-Friendly Meal, Resolution List
You May Also Be Interested In...
-
Diabetes Health
Diabetes Health is the essential resource for people living with diabetes- both newly diagnosed and experienced as well as the professionals who care for them. We provide balanced expert news and information on living healthfully with diabetes. Each issue includes cutting-edge editorial coverage of new products, research, treatment options, and meaningful lifestyle issues.
-
Topics
- Diabetic / Diabetes Health
- Type 1 / 1.5 Diabetes
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Blood Glucose / Sugar
- High/Low Blood Sugar / Fast Acting Glucose
- Insulin- Pumps, Pens & Syringes
- Continuous Glucose Monitors, CGM, Infusion Sets
- Type 2 Medications
- Hyperglycemia
- Hypoglycemia
Comments
This was a very insightful article! I can't wait to kick-start my new year with all of these wonderful pointers. Thanks for helping!
Keep your A1C behinds 6 !! That is our mission !!..
Tyler: I love all your resolutions. With regard to your No. 1 Resolution, for myself, I have been saying avoid snacks totally. My breakfast must be as heavy as I can handle, my lunch should be lighter, and my dinner, the lightest. Only water between meals. Strictly no soft and hard drinks. I do my daily exercise 4x/day, 1 immediately before each meal and the last one before bed. I have been finding the exercise routine I have been doing before breakfast to be the most important and most valuable because its the one that makes me very very hungry.
Bonny
Make sure that you also make it a point to visit your dentist regularly. It is a known fact that an unhealthy mouth can cause porblems with your diabetes. You always want every aspect to be healthy and most people neglect their mouths. Good Luck
Add your comments about this article below. You can add comments as a registered user or anonymously. If you choose to post anonymously your comments will be sent to our moderator for approval before they appear on this page. If you choose to post as a registered user your comments will appear instantly.
When voicing your views via the comment feature, please respect the Diabetes Health community by refraining from comments that could be considered offensive to other people. Diabetes Health reserves the right to remove comments when necessary to maintain the cordial voice of the diabetes community.
For your privacy and protection, we ask that you do not include personal details such as address or telephone number in any comments posted.
Don't have your Diabetes Health Username? Register now and add your comments to all our content.
Register...
Register your Diabetes Health Username here.
Have Your Say...