Healthy lifestyle in modern culture | Simple — does not mean easy | About patterns | An example of habits in schedule
The rules for compensation are quite simple (apart from the part with the calculations that people with “mathematical anxiety” are so afraid of). Each person with newly diagnosed diabetes underwent a special extra-course at the hospital. The remaining knowledge was drawn from the printed literature, online sources, the experience of new “sweet” acquaintances and their own trial and error. And that’s strange. If all the advice comes down to simple things, then why is sugar control so hard? Any thoughts on this?
Healthy lifestyle in modern culture
Thousands of television projects, print and online publications are dedicated to a healthy lifestyle. But, unfortunately, this does not mean more healthy people exist. On the contrary, statistics show how rapidly some diseases are turning into epidemics. Diabetes is said to be “conquering the world.” In this case, the main share of the increase in the incidence of diabetes falls on type 2 diabetes. The main reasons include a change in diet, a sedentary lifestyle, stress and the environment.
Modern people are very knowledgeable about the rules of a healthy lifestyle. True, knowledge alone is not enough. But it’s much more difficult to act.
It is always easier to eat as you want and without restrictions. It is always easier to hide behind employment, so as not to exercise.
The lifestyle can lead to perfect compensation but it is very difficult.
This comes from the fact that a healthy lifestyle is work. And man is weak and lazy.
And, as in the joke, diabetics are also people! The lifestyle that leads to perfect compensation is very difficult. Only in our case the consequences are visible immediately.
Adherence to certain rules of nutrition and sports is perceived by others as a feat. And the need for self-control is like a punishment. The phrase “poor thing, you’re not allowed to eat this” is familiar when someone finds out that you have diabetes? Yes, this is only confirmation.
The doctor should remember that simple — does not mean easy
But in the doctor’s office, understanding is more difficult to find. The endocrinologist is sure that there is nothing easier than 6-10 daily measurements of sugar, a few injections of basal and bolus insulin, a calculator for food and anxiety about the risks of hypoglycemia. Most doctors would be happy to seat their patients on an eternal post — for the best sugars and the prevention of gastrointestinal diseases at once.
If your doctor is not like that, my sincere congratulations!
The patient needs to try, but the doctor must remember that in front of him is the same person as himself.
About patterns
It should be noted that actions do not work for everyone the same. They do not work with the same accuracy even for one person. External and internal factors that we cannot influence are to blame: changes in the hormones, inflammatory reactions, stresses, the quality of the insulin preparation, ambient temperature, individual reaction to products, etc. From the point of view of science, this is a curious question to study, but the usual diabetics no time to do research. There is still REAL LIFE! When you are going to a meeting or an exam, an unpredictable surge in sugar is the last thing you expect.
An ideal solution to reduce the unpredictability of diabetes is to work out patterns. If you adjust your schedule to a specific schedule and try to adhere to it as much as possible, you will be able to reduce the number of unpleasant surprises.
The habit of living according to a certain schedule is associated not only with the time of basal insulin administration (we are talking about multiple injections of insulin, but the use of an insulin pump gives much more flexibility), but also with meals at certain hours.
An example of habits in schedule
Sarah Robinson, a blogger at Ontrackdiabetes, gave an example of habits in her schedule that remain unchanged and help her keep sugar under control:
1. Rise / breakfast:
I get up around 5:30 all week. At 5:45, measuring the level of glycemia and administering the first dose of Novolog (quick-acting insulin aspart) per unit, which I prescribed a little closer to 6. For breakfast, about 45 grams of carbohydrates (not including coffee or carbohydrates from multivitamins) are consumed. Breakfast always includes oatmeal. Oatmeal does not pall, because I use various mixtures to supplement: flax or chia seeds, blueberries or banana slices and 1 tbsp. peanut butter. I have already had such a diet for 3 months and the menu has not yet become boring, so who knows how long it will last.
2. Low-carb lunch:
I believe that it is of great importance to me to keep the lowest carbohydrate content in the morning snack for several reasons — stressful work and the tendency to snack during the day. Both habits revolve around my sugars and change day by day. Therefore, I try to ensure that lunch contains no more than 45-50 grams of carbohydrates to compensate for this effect.
3. 30 minutes after dinner, I always have the required physical exercises. This is convenient given my work schedule. Exercise helps relieve stress, improving your well-being.
4. The time of administration of night insulin.
I always, always, always give an injection between 9:30 and 10:30. Even on weekends when I go out to a cafe or somewhere else. I think that insulin injection at the same time goes hand in hand with the morning dose. Better be the cycle of insulin than the cycle of life.
Such simple habits help Sarah avoid the unpredictability of sugars and keep diabetes under greater control. You can consider this all as a routine, but the fact is that the final acquisition is much more expensive than the effort. The introduction of certain patterns is tiring, but helps to avoid serious troubles, maintain health and improve the quality of life in general.
Tips for a healthy lifestyle and better diabetes compensation are often painfully commonplace. The only problem is that adhering to even simple tips every day is much more difficult than it seems at first glance. The quality of self-control consists of many factors. Some we really cannot influence. But following simple tips can make a big difference.
What does each of us need to do? Admit to ourselves where we could try a little better and inculcate simple but effective habits.