10 Tips to Staying Positive and on Track When Managing Diabetes
If you’re someone living with diabetes, you know there are those days when things just feel impossible. After all, diabetes isn’t one of those diseases that gives you a break. It’s all day, every day and managing it can often feel overwhelming.
The thing is you can’t quit managing your diabetes. You can’t just throw your arms up in the air and say, “I’ve had enough,” no matter how badly you want to do it. The consequences are far too great because poorly managed diabetes can lead to serious diabetic complications, including cardiovascular disease, nerve damage, kidney disease, eye conditions, and many other serious health concerns.
However, knowing all this doesn’t make the daily finger pricks, regular blood sugar testing, pen needle or insulin injections, dietary restrictions, doctor visits, and other aspects of living with diabetes any easier. Sometimes, they all add up to one big pain in the you know what, and this can, quite understandably, lead to lapses in motivation.
To help you stay motivated and manage your diabetes effectively, we’ve put together these 10 tips. Check them out and see if they work for you.
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10 ways to stay motivated when managing diabetes
- Don’t battle the disease.
One way to stay motivated is to make sure you maintain the right perspective on diabetes management. This isn’t a war against your disease. Good diabetes management is a means to enjoying an incredibly full and fulfilling life. When you look at diabetes management as a means to an end, and that end being a more joyful, active, and engaged life it tends to take the onus off those daily requirements that can sometimes feel so tedious.
- Find your diabetes dynamic duo.
For someone who is living with diabetes, few things are more important than the support of family and friends. Our loved ones do an amazing job of helping us get through each day. Sometimes it’s hard to open up to someone who isn’t experiencing the same challenges you are when it comes to diabetes. If you find this to be true, connect with someone through a friend or diabetic support group, who’s going through the same difficult routines you are each day. It can be a big advantage to know there is someone else out there who understands what those bad days feel like, too.
- Take a breath. Take a reality check.
Look, nobody wants to live with diabetes. However, when you start feeling down in the dumps or things get to be too much, remember how fortunate you are to have access to the care and treatment you receive. There are countless people around the world living with diabetes who aren’t able to easily test their blood sugar, or get the insulin they might need, or get any quality diabetic supplies, for that matter. It’s not always easy to think positive when you’re in the thick of things, but sometimes it can help to stop, take a deep breath, and count your blessings.
- Give yourself meaningful reasons to stay motivated.
Chances are, you’re not managing your diabetes just for yourself. You’re also doing it for the friends and family you care about. So go ahead can use this is motivation to continue managing your diabetes effectively on a daily basis. In fact, write down specific reasons personal to you. Maybe you’re staying healthy to keep up with young children or grandchildren. Maybe it’s to walk your daughter down the aisle at her wedding. Maybe it’s to do all the things you’ve always wanted to do in life or visit those places you’ve always wanted to see with your family. When you write down one or two big reasons to keep on keeping on when it comes your diabetes health, they can serve as great motivation on those tough diabetes days.
- Remember to control your attitude.
Don’t discount the power of a positive attitude. Yeah, it’s not always easy to maintain one and there will certainly be times when you falter. That’s okay. But if you can work at maintaining a positive attitude most days, it really can fuel your spirit. Maybe it’s not fair that you got diabetes. But you did. Now the question is how you react to it. You may not be able to control everything about diabetes, but you can control how you approach the disease. Taking a minute to remember that you control your attitude can often be enough to get you through those dark times.
- Be kind to yourself and realize no one is perfect.
Diabetes is a pretty dynamic disease. Sometimes even doing all the right things doesn’t guarantee that your glucose meter is going to read what you want during every blood sugar test. This is not a disaster or a crime despite the fact that it might feel like one. If you’re doing your best to manage your diabetes and you still stumble, don’t be too hard on yourself. Blood sugar testing is not a measure of your effort or your intentions. It measures your glucose level. So, if things get off kilter, use the information from your blood sugar testing program to create a solution. It’s okay to promise yourself that you’ll do better. But it’s silly to blame yourself for every little misstep. Go ahead and chalk those up to being human.
- Give yourself 30 minutes to an hour every day.
Most of us are living extremely busy lives. Add the pressures of managing diabetes, and you’ve got a recipe for some serious stress and tension. This kind of anxiety can build up and, eventually, lead to feelings of hopelessness. To combat mental fatigue, be sure to take time for yourself every day and use it to do something that helps you unwind. It might be going for a brisk walk. It might be beating on a drum kit or rocking out on a guitar. Your thing could be meditation or yoga. It might even be simply curling up with the great book. Dedicating some quality time to yourself will help you better manage stress, which in turn will help you better manage your diabetes.
- Set specific goals toward your diabetes health.
Sometimes results you can actually see are the best motivation. To this end, set realistic goals that revolve around your diabetes management. It might be to walk 30 minutes each morning to gain better control of blood sugar levels. It might be a promise to cut down on carbs and sugars even over the weekend. Maybe you decide to lose 10 pounds over the next three months. The key is to set realistic goals that pose a reasonable challenge but are not impossible to achieve. When you reach these goals, not only will you feel better, but you’ll be also further motivated keep your diabetes in check.
- Never compare yourself to others.
Everyone is different and diabetics are no exception. It’s not fair to yourself, or to others, to compare your disease to theirs. If you hear bad things about how diabetes has affected someone else, you might be prone to believe that the same fate is sure to befall you. Contrarily, hearing about how well someone is managing their diabetes might make you feel like a failure for not achieving the same great results. Either way, you just might wind up frustrated enough to give up on your diabetes management program. Remember, your diabetes is yours to manage along with your physician and care team. There’s no point in comparing yourself or your individual condition to others.
- Take it one day a time.
It might sound like a cliché but when it comes to managing diabetes these are words of wisdom. While it’s important to have a doctor-prescribed diabetes treatment plan to guide you, it’s also important take things as they come. What matters most is how well you adhere to your diabetes management program today, including dietary requirements, blood sugar testing schedule, insulin and prescribed medication, and personal physical activity program. In life somedays are better than others. If today is not the best day in your diabetes management history, the good news is there’s always tomorrow.
We hope you found these tips helpful. At Diabetic Warehouse, we’re committed to helping you better manage your diabetes by keeping you informed with the latest news and tips on living with the disease. We’re also committed to saving you up to 65% on doctor-recommended diabetic supplies. Shop our huge online selection of glucose meters, test strips and lancets, insulin syringes, pen needles, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems, and infusion sets by leading manufacturers, such as Accu-Chek, One Touch, FreeStyle, Dexcom, Easy Comfort, True Metrix and many others. Enjoy free delivery to your home or office with every order. See what our satisfied customers have to say and get started now at diabeticwarehouse.org.
Diabetic Warehouse is a trusted supplier of diabetes care products and accessories. For more information and to explore a complete range of products, including glucose meters and test strips, insulin syringes, pen needles, continuous glucose monitoring systems, and more, visit www.diabeticwarehouse.org
