The second half of the year is usually buzzing with so many festivals and the year ends up with most of us attending at least 1-2 weddings in our circle. This gives us many reasons to indulge in our favourite foods. As a caregiver to people having diabetes in the family sometimes it becomes really difficult for me to handle the emotional aspect in these situations, and I also have to let go sometimes. Nevertheless, I ensure that these momentary distractions don’t have a huge impact on my family.
As shared with you previously that there are people with diabetes on both my family side as well as in-laws, I read a lot, follow videos to keep a tab and most importantly keep in touch with my doctor to understand latest developments in this field. During one such occasion I became familiar with the concept of Continuous Glucose Monitoring and I had brought FreeStyle Libre for my mother. This has really helped us and the physician understand her glucose fluctuations and make necessary lifestyle changes.
Recently, I was a part of the discussion about effective Diabetes Management through diet, exercise, and glucose monitoring #LivingFullyWithDiabetes. This was a very insightful and information conversation where a doctor and nutritionist shared about their experiences in Diabetes Management.
Every conversation with such experienced people from the field is a learning. Trust me, there were so many instances during the discussion when I was just nodding my head in agreement and there were so many interesting tips which I picked up. I share a few key takeaways with all.
Control what you can:
- A simple exercise routine gives a kickstart to your day and helps lower blood glucose levels and burn calories.
- Before stepping out for some work ensure you have eaten something like low carbohydrate food item or high-fibre snack. It’s advisable to carry some fruits, nuts or other healthy snacks as hunger pangs can be very tough for a person with diabetes. My father has the habit of carrying some roasted chana to munch upon while my mother likes to carry some nuts.
- To ensure that your blood glucose doesn’t fluctuate avoid skipping meals or pattern suggested by your doctor & nutritionist.
Be Flexible but Careful:
- Like I said festivals, marriages and happy times are incomplete without good food. It’s also a terrifying time as a caregiver because sometimes you must be harsh and sometimes you let go.
- While at it we can chose from what’s the best in hand. Pick up stuff which is healthier than others like high fibre food stuff, natural drinks instead of sugary or aerated drinks, fruits instead of desserts and handpicking your favourite food items.
- Again, on some occasions it a tough decision. There was one point which the nutritionist shared which became a learning. She shared two things – your brain takes at least 20 mins to process the food you are eating and secondly, that you don’t have to eat everything to be happy. She said check out all the options you have in hand and select the one which will give you most happiness, take your time and a small portion of that will suffice to satiate your heart.
Never let go of your monitoring guard:
Monitoring is the key and your best friend to give a glimpse of what’s happening to the patient as a caregiver. Never ever let your guard down in this case. For occasions when you feel that the monitoring levels need to be increased like festive occasions or even a medical situation, trust your Continuous glucose monitoring device, it will help you keep a regular tab on the glucose fluctuations, and you can take quick actions.
It was also discussed during the Facebook session, how monitoring has come a long way in the last few decades in diabetes and how we are lucky enough to have tools which enable to keep a regular check on our patient and take appropriate actions in terms of diet and medication.
Effective diabetes management lies in proper monitoring anytime and always is my mantra which gets reinforced in every discussion.
You can read more about Continuous Glucose Monitoring here.
To buy FreeStyle Libre, check this.
This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Make a Wish Box
************************************************************************************ Image: Pixabay Disclaimer: The information mentioned in this document is only suggestive/for patient education and shall not be considered as a substitute for doctor’s advice or recommendations from Abbott. Please consult your doctor for more information. Any photos displayed are for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted in such photos is a model. This content was created as a part of a collaboration, however, it has been made sure that the content is helpful and provides value to the reader. ************************************************************************************