Diabetes Freedom
As a diabetic, there’s no question that you need to live your life in a slightly different manner than the average population does. You have an added concern about managing your blood glucose levels effectively. If this concern is not addressed, it’s highly probable that you will develop further health problems in the future.
Diabetics can also be at risk for additional health concerns besides the fluctuating blood glucose levels, so it is important to know how to adjust your lifestyle in order to stay healthy in the years to come.
To help make life easier for you and ensure you’re taking care of your needs, there are a few ‘tools’ you’ll want to have in your toolkit. By getting these in place, you can be sure that you’re on the right track moving forward. These tools will give you the ability to maintain maximum control over your blood glucose levels at all times.
Let’s go over what these tools are so you can incorporate them into your routine as soon as you can.
1. A Food Scale
A food scale is an absolute must for anyone who’s battling with diabetes. The reason a food scale is so critical is that it’s going to help you know precisely how many carbs you’re eating each day, giving you complete control.
While you can simply choose to ‘eyeball’ your carbohydrate intake, just realize that most people are not so accurate at doing this and there’s a very good chance you will make mistakes.
For the diabetic, these mistakes could be costly. Get a food scale. Get accuracy. Get control. It’s a great piece of advice to follow.
2. A ‘Go-To’ Food For Increasing Blood Glucose, If Needed
Another thing every diabetic should have in their tool kit is their go-to food to help bring their blood glucose levels up if they fall too low. Everyone has one of these – for some, it’s something as simple as a packet of honey. For others, it’s a few crackers, a banana, or a small container of fruit juice.
These foods should be carbohydrates that are quickly absorbable. In those times of need, these foods will help prevent the consequences of a serious blood sugar crash.
Ideally, you won’t ever reach that low point where you need these things to help you out, but in case you do, it can be very critical.
3. A Scale Or Tape Measure
One of the key things any diabetic should do to help control their condition is to keep their body weight in check. Sadly, many diabetics don’t take this seriously enough and are still fighting those extra pounds.
Regular weigh-ins can help keep you more aware of what your body weight is doing. Then you can determine if you need to make any changes. Do realize, however, that in some cases, body weight scales don’t tell the whole picture.
If you’ve also been working out, you may notice that you’re gaining lean muscle mass, in which case, the scale may actually go up. If that’s one of your goals and you’re training to achieve it, you should also consider investing in a simple tape measure. Take note of your measurements so that you can keep track of any size changes.
Since muscle is denser than fat tissue, often those who are losing body fat are actually seeing the scale go up and their measurements go down. This is due to losing fat and building muscle at the same time, which can happen in those who are new to the gym.
4. Five Great Protein Recipes
There’s no question, the cornerstone of any diabetic’s diet should be protein. You simply can’t lose when you have protein in your diet plan. It helps with weight control, helps with blood glucose levels, and helps with hunger. It’s the foundation of any good meal.
Many people often fall short with their protein intake, however, because they just don’t like how protein tastes. Nonsense. There are so many different recipes out there that there’s no reason you can’t find five or so go-to options to keep your body satisfied.
If you have these on hand to turn to time and time again, you know you’ll always be eating well.
5. A Step Counter
Finally, while this tool isn’t what I’d consider mandatory, it’s a great tool to have if you really want to ensure you’re doing everything possible to stay on the right track. A step counter will track how many steps you’re taking during the day and keep you motivated to continue moving regularly.
Few things help you manage your blood sugar level more than regular physical activity, and walking most certainly counts as regular physical activity.
Too many people get caught up in thinking they have to go to the gym to ‘make it count’, but that isn’t the case at all. You can definitely gain good control by walking 30 minutes or more each day.
And this doesn’t even have to happen all at one time. You might do 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the afternoon and 10 minutes in the evening. The nice thing about the step counter is that it’s cumulative over the course of the day, so you can see how your steps are adding up and how they compare to the number of steps you took the day prior.
If the number of steps is higher than you had previously been walking, you’re definitely winning.
So, there you have the most important things to remember about getting prepared to manage diabetes. If you have these tools in your toolkit, there’s no reason you can’t be feeling great and keeping those blood glucose levels in check.