Someone sent me this question on Instagram recently, but it’s not the first time I’ve been asked something along these lines, so I thought we needed to put it in a blog post.
“How would you do a "reset" for diabetes? I've been high for so long now and it seems whatever I do, I can't get my sugar down and feel at a loss as to what to do and how to tackle this.”
Here is my 3 part response to this question:
- Get clear on what your goal is and act accordingly.
AKA, is your goal to see better numbers for a week? Or long term?Let's break down the word reset… the idea of a reset is to break the pattern that I'm currently in as quickly as possible so I can feel better, immediately see results, and then feel like I am set up for this trajectory of better blood sugars and a new life with diabetes.So, typically a diabetes “reset” looks like cutting out an entire food group, but I don’t recommend doing that because that will only provide temporary results. We need to dig deeper into what is at the root for needing a reset in the first place because the goal is for you to NOT to feel like you need to reset.If you find that every Monday, it's time to reset… that's exhausting. You're on this hamster wheel of resetting. So, if that’s the case for you - perhaps you need to think of this as an overhaul instead - as in “I'm going to change how I'm showing up for my diabetes.”Can you get into observation mode for a week or even 3 days to start to notice what’s going on? Start to see any patterns that are arising? THAT information is going to point you in the direction of where you need to focus, what you can put your energy towards “resetting.”
- Instead of thinking what you can take out, think of what you can ADD IN.I used to go straight to cutting things out of my life when I was trying to get control of my numbers, but switching to the approach of adding in has been the biggest game changer for me. Some ideas for what to ADD IN:
- Reflections around a specific meal time pattern
- Looking at your rates and ratios
- Intentional movement
- Mindset work around how you respond when your numbers are high
- Education around nutrition and glycemic index or insulin timing
- Tracking your menstrual cycle and identifying patterns connected to your hormones
Pro tip: The Diabetic Health Journal can be a great tool for collecting information on your patterns, or create a note in your phone to use as a log!
- Remember: it’s never just one thing.
We often think that there's just this one thing with diabetes, like, “oh, if I could just figure out xyz” then everything's going to be solved. And what the reframe really is for so many people, time and time again (and what happened for me as well), is the acceptance that it's bigger than just the one thing. And the one thing is usually on the surface and what we have to tackle is the things that are highly specific to you and your body that are beneath the surface with your patterns, with your habits, with your mindsets, with your beliefs. And that's when the real change happens.
If you’re looking for structure or a bit of a kick start, check out our Nutrition and Blood Sugar Guide for 7 days of intentional blood sugar strategies and an easy to follow meal plan made for T1Ds.
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