Diabetes Management: Lifestyle and Everyday routine to manage blood sugar levels or How to manage diabetes for life? 

Wondering how to manage diabetes or Do you know that lifestyle routine affects the sugar level?

Here is an article that contains all the information on how you can easily manage your blood sugar level by inducing little changes in your daily lifestyle. 

Small changes in your lifestyle can make big differences in your overall health. 

Diabetes can affect all parts of the body. It is very significant for a diabetic person to keep a check on their blood sugar levels. You must start treating diabetes early so that you don’t have to work harder later to stay fit & healthy. Managing diabetes will help you prevent having some serious health complications. Plus learning how to control diabetes saves time & money and reduces hospitals visit.

Here are 7 lifestyle changes that can help you to in Diabetes Management:-

Choose healthy diet 

For better living, a healthy meal plan is a must for all. A diabetic person needs to be well informed about the food & drinks that affect the blood sugar levels. There are factors like what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, etc that are important to manage & control the sugar levels.

Such changes in the diet plan seem hard in the beginning but with small changes and through the help of a professional doctor, you can easily have a balanced & healthy diet plan.

Things to do:

  • Carb Counting: Carbohydrates affect a person’s blood sugar level. So, one should follow a meal plan to keep their sugar levels steady. Just track the carb intake & count the carb grams and adjust the insulin dose accordingly. 
  • Portion Control: In diabetes, it is significant to know the amount of food you are eating at a time. Through portion control, you can avoid eating too many carbohydrates and calories. You can measure portion size by plate method or hands or measuring cups and all.
  • Balanced Meal Plan: Have a healthy & balanced diet plan that is low in carbohydrates & calories and rich in nutrients & proteins. Include nonstarchy vegetables, fruits, and refined grains, and avoid eating sugary & highly processed food.
    Consult a doctor or a dietitian to know the food type to eat to have a balanced eating plan that controls the blood sugar and helps in weight management.
  • Avoid Sugary Drinks: Sugary drinks are not only high in calories but also significantly increase blood sugar levels. Avoid the consumption of regular soda, sugary energy drinks, fruit drinks, soft drinks, etc. Many research has shown that people who consume a high amount of sugary drinks/sweetened drinks are at higher risk of developing/having diabetes.
  • You can track your diet with Mobile apps : Healthify Me

Have A Exercise Routine

Exercise not only helps to manage blood sugar levels but also other chronic diseases. There are many other benefits of exercise for diabetes patients like it increases insulin sensitivity which makes the body use insulin more effectively, reduces stress & blood pressure, and improves HbA1c in type 2 diabetic patients. 

Things to do:

  • Get your doctor’s approval: Consult your doctor before beginning the exercise routine. They will advise you about your exercise program and workout types that suits your physical ability/physical fitness level. Plus they will check whether your meal plan and medications or insulin intake require any change or not.
  • Have an exercise plan: Take the help of your doctor and prepare an exercise plan. In your everyday schedule include 20-25 minutes of physical activity. It is not important to perform high-intensity exercises. You can include moderate-intensity physical activity in your fitness plan like walking, swimming, dancing, bicycling, playing some sports, etc.
  • Exercise schedule: It is better if you exercise at the same time every day so that you get to know the results & impact of physical activity on sugar levels. Talk to a doctor to know the best time to work out.
  • Monitor your blood sugar level: Low blood sugar levels can cause serious problems sometimes. Insulin and medications lower the blood sugar level, so make sure to check your blood sugar levels before, after, and during the workout. Once you know the sugar levels it gets easy as you know whether you need a snack or not.
  • Remember to carry carbs: Exercises lowers blood sugar levels. Always carry in small portions some carbohydrates snacks or fruit drinks or glucose tablets etc so that you can have them when the sugar level gets low.
  • Hydrate: Dehydration can spike your blood sugar level therefore drink lots of water before, after, and during your workout routine.
  • Make a habit: Every day make it a habit to exercise, eat & have medicines at the same time to avoid blood sugar fluctuations. Also, it is advisable to maintain a record of exercises, meals & medications.

Don’t Ignore Diabetes Medications

Medication is one of the most important parts of diabetes treatment that keeps the blood sugar levels stable apart from a healthy diet, exercise, and all. Diabetes medications work only when you take them at the right time and keep track of all the medications. You can have severe complications if you are not taking your prescribed medication regularly or rationing medications.

Things to do:

  • Safely store insulin: Insulin is effective & safe only when they are stored properly with care. Store insulin at the required temperature as they are sensitive to temperature. Before using insulin check its expiration date.
  • Share your medications concerns with your doctor: Have a word with your doctor if you have any problems regarding medication like your medication is showing any negative effects or the medication causes a drop in blood sugar level, etc.
  • Know your medicines: You need to be extra careful when having some new medications as sometimes diabetes drugs don’t go well with other medicines (like blood pressure, thyroid, etc). Consult your doctor before starting any new medicines to ensure that the diabetes drugs work properly.

Managing Illness and Diabetes

When you get sick it gets difficult to manage blood sugar. Our Bodies get stressed out when we fall ill. To fight stress & sickness body releases hormones. The hormones when released at higher levels can cause an increase in blood sugar levels. So, one should be well prepared to properly manage & control diabetes levels when falling sick. 

Things to do:

  • Be prepared: Reach out to your healthcare team so that they can help you know what to do and how to plan for sick days. The sick day plan will inform you about important things like when to check your blood sugar and ketone levels, changes required in your diet plan & medicines intake, what medicines to take for illness, etc.
  • Don’t skip your medication and diet plan: Keep taking the same diabetes medicine and meal plan unless the doctor advises any changes. Follow the same insulin routine and regularly check the ketones levels.  Also in your diet plan, you should include light foods that are easy to digest.
  • Prevent dehydration: Make sure to stay hydrated. Your doctor can recommend the amount of water & type of drinks that you must intake to help cope with both the illness and the sugar levels.
  • Keep a record: Write down your blood sugar levels, illness symptoms (fever, vomiting, etc), what and when you had your food & drink, etc. If you have been sick for a long time then track your weight too.

Safe Alcohol Consumption

Alcohol drinking can make the blood sugar level rise or fall. But having diabetes does not mean you cannot have drinks. One can drink only when are well aware of how much and what drinks to have so that they can drink safely and manage their blood sugar level.

Heavy drinking can increase diabetic complications and cause severe health conditions.

Things to do:

  • Check with your doctor: If your blood sugar levels are under control then you can drink occasionally. It is best if you consult your doctor to know whether alcohol drinking is safe for you and to know the right amount of alcohol consumption for your body.
    On a day a man should not have more than two drinks and a woman should not have more than one alcoholic drink. (One drink=12 ounce of beer, 5 ounces of a wine glass, and 1and half ounces of liquor).
  • Have some food along with drink: To prevent low blood sugar levels, have some snacks or meals rich in carbs along with your drink. If you are on insulin or take medicines then don’t have an alcoholic drink on empty stomach.
  • Choose the right drinks: Make sure to drink the right alcoholic beverages. Instead of heavy alcoholic drinks, consume dry wine or light beers and all. Avoid sugary alcohol drinks like sweet wine, cordial, etc. In your liquor, you must add water, diet soft drinks, or club soda. 
  • Check your sugar levels before sleeping: Alcohol can affect the blood sugar level for up to 12 hours. If you had a drink in the evening then check your sugar level before going to bed. In case the blood sugar level is low, then have a snack.

Diabetes and Mensuration & Menopause Mensuration

Before and during mensuration many women experience high blood sugar levels. Many women who have type 2 diabetes are at higher risk of having an unpredictable or irregular mensural cycle.

Things to do:

  • Monitor the blood sugar levels: Often in older women before and during menopause, there are hormonal changes that cause irritation, dizziness, etc. These hormonal changes also affect blood sugar levels. Many times people confuse menopause symptoms with high or low blood sugar levels. So, the safest and the only way to clear the doubt is by frequently checking the blood sugar levels. You must also talk to your doctor regarding how regularly sugar levels should be tested.
  • Adjust your treatment plan: If before or during a period you experience very high blood sugar levels then you must consult your doctor regarding the insulin doses & diabetic medications plus the change in diet plan.
  • Keep track of blood glucose numbers: Due to mensuration, there can be fluctuations in blood sugar levels. So, keep a proper record of sugar levels from month to month.

Manage and Eliminate Stress

When a person is stressed the body releases various stress hormones like Adrenaline, Cortisol, Norepinephrine, etc. Due to these hormones insulin does not work properly and leads to a rise in blood sugar. It is very crucial for a diabetic patient to learn how to cope with stressful situations. If the stress is not managed properly then it can cause a rise in blood sugar levels & increase the risk of diabetes complications and the overall health (physical, mental & emotional).

Things to do:

  • Look after yourself: It very important to be kind to yourself. Be aware of the impact of stress on diabetes and learn how to cope with stressful situations. Your daily routine must include physical workout, relaxation & rest time, and other fun activities that can help relieve stress. 
  • Talk to others: You must talk about your stress condition to others and get help. Go out and approach a professional therapist or physiologist who will provide you with coping strategies & skills that reduces stress.
  • Assessing stress and its impact: It’s important to understand & determine how stress is affecting your blood sugar levels. Rate your stress level from 1to10 when you feel stressed mentally and take note of the number. Then check your blood sugar level. Continue this stress assessment for a couple of weeks and observe the emerged pattern. If there is a continued rise in blood sugar levels then it means stress is severely affecting your sugar levels.

Don’t forget to take better care of yourself and make better health decisions.

If you want more detailed information about how to manage blood sugar levels easily then you can contact us anytime. Dr Ambrish Dixit is a specialized endocrinologist who has extensive knowledge and experience.

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