The End of Diabetes: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Diabetes

The new year is upon us, and with that comes fresh starts, new beginnings, and for many people, resolutions!

To tell the truth, we realize that most resolutions fail. January is the time for new gym memberships and healthy meals, but come springtime motivations begin to slump. By the end of the year, a mere 8% will have kept up with their resolutions.

Here are a few ideas that might facilitate you succeed. Set smaller, more attainable goals. Resolutions are also easier to accomplish if they are specific and measurable. “Eat more vegetables” is much tougher to stick with than “eat plant-based dinners twice a week.” You’re also more likely to succeed if you make yourself accountable for your actions by sharing your goals with others, whether that’s family or a community of strangers on the internet.

Here are five ideas for New Year’s resolutions, including a few that don’t require ongoing commitment.

Join the diabetes online community

There are hundreds of online communities for women and men with diabetes to talk, vent, and advocate each other. Our own Diabetes Daily forums are a big place to start.

A simple search in the Facebook search bar will also give you a huge number of groups you can join, many devoted to extremely specific topics. If you want assist with any aspect of life with diabetes – whether it’s low-carb baking or mountaineering –  chances are there’s a group for you, full of welcoming and supportive people.

The more you engage with a community, the more support you’ll feel, and the more accountable you’ll feel to others. That’ll give you a kick in the pants and help you enhanced achieve your health and lifestyle goals.

The community support is out there, so just begin searching and you’ll quickly find you are not alone. Set yourself an easy goal: join one or two communities in January, and then see what happens next.

Eat more real food

There’s exactly one thing that almost each diet guru, whether vegan or “carnivore,” high-carb or low-carb, agrees on. Ultra-processed food has got to go.

If you want to make positive improvements in your diabetes management (not to mention your weight and overall health), then you ought to cut out the ultra-processed foods. Diets rich in ultra-processed foods are nutritionally meager, and these foods are carefully engineered to decrease the feeling of fullness, increasing the desire to continue eating. This can lead to overconsumption of calories, excessive weight gain, and insulin resistance.

One of the easiest-to-implement diabetes management strategies is to eat whole foods as much as possible. This means natural, minimally processed foods like fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish.

Set yourself achievable goals, and base your goals on the diet you’re actually eating now. If you usually have two healthy home-cooked dinners per week, try and make it three or four this year. If you have a processed snack every afternoon, try and swap it for an unprocessed snack. You’re more likely to succeed if your intention is both modest and measurable.

Get serious about your glucagon rescue plans.

It’s the one diabetes medication you hope you never have to use. January is a fine time to make sure that your glucagon rescue medication is ready to go when you need it.

If you have type 1 diabetes, or have struggled with hypoglycemia, already know that you should have a glucagon rescue kit near you at all times: at home, at work, and on the go. You also know that the people around you – family, friends, coworkers – should know where your glucagon is, and how and when to use it.

For most of us, even if we’re following these best practices, it’s probably been over a year since we persist made sure everything’s in order. When’s the last time you instructed a new coworker on your glucagon? And is your glucagon rescue kit still good? These kits do expire, as often as annually.

By the way … if you still think of glucagon as that awkward red kit that requires fussy pre-mixing, we’ve got great news! There are now several new pre-mixed versions that are much easier to use, including pre-filled syringes and nasal spray.

Take care of your glucagon rescue plan in January, and you’ll set yourself for a year of success.

Pump some iron

We bet you’ve made cardio exercise resolutions in the past that you didn’t stick with. Switch things up this year with a modest but achievable weight-lifting aim.

Resistance training definitely isn’t just about building muscles: it also helps with depression and weight loss, and is now recommended to almost everyone, no matter their size or age. It’s also particularly good for people with diabetes, because it helps improve insulin sensitivity and glycemic control.

Joining a gym is great, but you can lift weights at home too with a simple dumbbell set or even bodyweight exercises, like push-ups. You can also complete an effective workout much more quickly than a jog or bike ride. A minor time commitment can create big benefits.

Consider lifting weights just twice a week: you should look better, feel better, and enjoy comprehensive health benefits.

Volunteer for diabetes

One of the best ways to stay mindful about your diabetes is to devote yourself to helping others with the same condition. Help yourself by helping others.

Organizations like JDRF and ADA in the United States make it easy to help out – they host many events, drives, and meetups that you can partake in. Sometimes volunteering just means meeting and chatting with someone that’s trying to become aware of more about diabetes.

It can also give you a self of purpose, pride, and accomplishment. Unsurprisingly, volunteering is linked to reduced depression – mostly because it is such a good way to make new connections, but perhaps also because volunteering makes you happier too. You’ve also got something that most other volunteers don’t have – an understanding of diabetes! – so consider offering your support and experience to one of the many nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping people with diabetes.

Again, set a modest and measurable goal – even if you only volunteer once or twice a year, you’ll be helping yourself and others.

Diabetes Daily

The End of Diabetes: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Diabetes