Saturday, May 16, 2009
Nothing worth doing is ever easy...
I just have one thing to say today.... I don't think that taking care of diabetes can be any harder than trying to set up a website. Everything that is new---whether it be learning a better way to eat, or trying to get into the routine of exercise, or figuring out how to build a website...all of it takes practice and knowledge. So let's keep trying to figure this out together!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Wonderful results!!
Today one of my clients got on the scale. He used to weigh 327 pounds. Today he weighed 302 pounds!!
Another one started the year weighing 217 pounds and today was on the scale at 202 pounds!
Isn't that exciting! Now you might wonder what miracle diet are they on in order to see such great results?! The answer is simple.
Push away from the table sooner and move more.
Another one started the year weighing 217 pounds and today was on the scale at 202 pounds!
Isn't that exciting! Now you might wonder what miracle diet are they on in order to see such great results?! The answer is simple.
Push away from the table sooner and move more.
Monday, May 11, 2009
What we aim for....
Today a friend emailed me these words of inspiration...
"If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time."
Omar Epps
I was thinking about how that is appropriate for many things. For the people with diabetes, if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. Often I ask my clients, "What should your sugar be before meals?" Or even, "What was your sugar this morning?" Often times I hear, "I don't know." With that in mind, I think everyone would do better if they knew what their blood glucose goals should be..
Omar Epps
I was thinking about how that is appropriate for many things. For the people with diabetes, if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. Often I ask my clients, "What should your sugar be before meals?" Or even, "What was your sugar this morning?" Often times I hear, "I don't know." With that in mind, I think everyone would do better if they knew what their blood glucose goals should be..
A1C <7.0%*>
Preprandial (before meals) 70–130 mg/dl
Peak postprandial (2 hours after meals) <180 mg/dl
These blood glucose guidelines are mentioned in the Standards of Care by the American Diabetes Association. Aim for these!
These blood glucose guidelines are mentioned in the Standards of Care by the American Diabetes Association. Aim for these!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Mother's Day Celebration
We participated in a wonderful celebration for all the women who are mothers in one of our elderly communities today. If you can believe this, they actually kicked off the day with a class on diabetes taught by none other than me! And...the class was on nutrition! Imagine talking about what you should eat on a day when there was more food around than you could shake a stick at! None the less, of the 100 or so residents who attended the celebration, we had 25 attend the diabetes class. We talked a lot about carbohydrates, portion sizes, meal planning. There were many questions. Thankfully, this class was in the morning and the residents were fresh, awake and interested in learning. Much better than the time slot after lunch when all are fed, full and sleepy!
Now, since it was a special occasion, I took the liberty of baking two angel food pineapple cakes which is a Weight Watcher's recipe. Cutting them into 24 two inch squares made them about 20 grams of carbohydrates.
One elderly lady ate her piece and declared that it was indeed the best cake she ever had. She was soooo pleased that she asked for a second helping. Perhaps it was all of the compliments, or maybe that I know they don't get treats often, or maybe because it was Mother's Day, I gave her a second piece. But before another ten minutes went by, she asked if she could have a third piece. I grinned and carefully reminded her, "Remember what we just talked about in class today?" So she left without her extra portion. But outside where all the festivities were taking place I overheard her say, "I sure hope they have something sweet for desert!" And at the close of the program, I saw her take two more pieces of cake and put them down in her bag. So much for my teaching today.
No matter who we are and no matter what health issues we have, it is not necessarily the easiest thing to always do what is right for our health. But you know what? We should continue to try. I will continue to get up and go out and teach ways to take care of diabetes, the nutrition guidelines and the portion sizes. I will teach about monitoring and exercise. And I hope that as I do this, there will be people, who just like this little lady, might not do it right everyday, but will get up and go out and try to do it right one more time. Taking care of ourselves is a daily decision made moment to moment of each and every day. Doesn't matter if it is diabetes, or hypertension, or just trying to stay healthy...we need to keep on trying to do it right.
Now, since it was a special occasion, I took the liberty of baking two angel food pineapple cakes which is a Weight Watcher's recipe. Cutting them into 24 two inch squares made them about 20 grams of carbohydrates.
One elderly lady ate her piece and declared that it was indeed the best cake she ever had. She was soooo pleased that she asked for a second helping. Perhaps it was all of the compliments, or maybe that I know they don't get treats often, or maybe because it was Mother's Day, I gave her a second piece. But before another ten minutes went by, she asked if she could have a third piece. I grinned and carefully reminded her, "Remember what we just talked about in class today?" So she left without her extra portion. But outside where all the festivities were taking place I overheard her say, "I sure hope they have something sweet for desert!" And at the close of the program, I saw her take two more pieces of cake and put them down in her bag. So much for my teaching today.
No matter who we are and no matter what health issues we have, it is not necessarily the easiest thing to always do what is right for our health. But you know what? We should continue to try. I will continue to get up and go out and teach ways to take care of diabetes, the nutrition guidelines and the portion sizes. I will teach about monitoring and exercise. And I hope that as I do this, there will be people, who just like this little lady, might not do it right everyday, but will get up and go out and try to do it right one more time. Taking care of ourselves is a daily decision made moment to moment of each and every day. Doesn't matter if it is diabetes, or hypertension, or just trying to stay healthy...we need to keep on trying to do it right.
Exercise...the right way
Hi. I have many job titles that I work under each day, but that of being a certified diabetes educator is probably my favorite and certainly my most rewarding. Through this blog, I intend to bring real life stories that I encounter each day through the people I meet in our communities. My hope is that some things may help others for one reason or another to do better with their health, particularly if they have diabetes.
I work with senior residents who live in independent living facilities. Working with them could include things like providing home health, helping with insurance questions, getting them different services they could use, answering health questions and teaching what I can about different disease processes.
Sometimes as an educator, I teach. Sometimes as an educator, I show. Sometimes as an educator, I do. At one facilitiy, I have talked incessantly about the need to eat healthier and the need to move more. However, I noted that many of my residents were not doing much about either. As far as the eating healthier, sometimes it is a matter of income for them. I understand that. So, I decided that I would try to get them more motivated to move more...and I started a walking club. We walk two times a week from 8am until 9am. Each person who walks does so at his or her own pace. So people are strung out around the property walking briskly, or slowly, or with a walker. Some people will go only a short distance and others will walk 16 laps around the property.
One gentleman whom I will call "Bob", who has diabetes, was walking with us. Turns out that another gentleman who walks daily was chiding "Bob" to walk faster and keep up with him. I suggested to both men that it was not safe to do so. Each should walk at a moderate, comfortable pace. So, the one slowed down but continued to walk several laps. I asked "Bob" if he had checked his blood glucose before he began walking. He responded, "No, I am going to check it at the clinic when I get done walking." I told him that was not the safe way to walk. He needed, as anyone who has diabetes does, to know what his sugar was before exercising. "Bob" continued on in front of me.
Later at the clinic, "Bob" stopped in to have his sugar checked. My medical assistant called me over to see the blood glucose reading. 53! I sat "Bob" down and gave him a 1/2 cup of coca cola. I then had him sit there for 15 minutes so the coke would have time to digest. After 15 minutes, we checked his sugar again and it had come up to 116!. I then took the time to explain to all the folks in the clinic and the walkers how important it is to know what your sugar is before you attempt exercise. Since exercise is known for bringing blood glucose levels down, we don't want to start exercising with a low sugar and end up in hypoglycemia. "Bob" now sees quite clearly the importance of knowing what his sugar level is. And all of the walkers were also reminded that they should have hard candy or glucose tablets in their pockets when exercising just in case their sugar levels drops while they are out. I continue to talk with them, but I believe this concrete example taught them first hand the value of the lesson.
I work with senior residents who live in independent living facilities. Working with them could include things like providing home health, helping with insurance questions, getting them different services they could use, answering health questions and teaching what I can about different disease processes.
Sometimes as an educator, I teach. Sometimes as an educator, I show. Sometimes as an educator, I do. At one facilitiy, I have talked incessantly about the need to eat healthier and the need to move more. However, I noted that many of my residents were not doing much about either. As far as the eating healthier, sometimes it is a matter of income for them. I understand that. So, I decided that I would try to get them more motivated to move more...and I started a walking club. We walk two times a week from 8am until 9am. Each person who walks does so at his or her own pace. So people are strung out around the property walking briskly, or slowly, or with a walker. Some people will go only a short distance and others will walk 16 laps around the property.
One gentleman whom I will call "Bob", who has diabetes, was walking with us. Turns out that another gentleman who walks daily was chiding "Bob" to walk faster and keep up with him. I suggested to both men that it was not safe to do so. Each should walk at a moderate, comfortable pace. So, the one slowed down but continued to walk several laps. I asked "Bob" if he had checked his blood glucose before he began walking. He responded, "No, I am going to check it at the clinic when I get done walking." I told him that was not the safe way to walk. He needed, as anyone who has diabetes does, to know what his sugar was before exercising. "Bob" continued on in front of me.
Later at the clinic, "Bob" stopped in to have his sugar checked. My medical assistant called me over to see the blood glucose reading. 53! I sat "Bob" down and gave him a 1/2 cup of coca cola. I then had him sit there for 15 minutes so the coke would have time to digest. After 15 minutes, we checked his sugar again and it had come up to 116!. I then took the time to explain to all the folks in the clinic and the walkers how important it is to know what your sugar is before you attempt exercise. Since exercise is known for bringing blood glucose levels down, we don't want to start exercising with a low sugar and end up in hypoglycemia. "Bob" now sees quite clearly the importance of knowing what his sugar level is. And all of the walkers were also reminded that they should have hard candy or glucose tablets in their pockets when exercising just in case their sugar levels drops while they are out. I continue to talk with them, but I believe this concrete example taught them first hand the value of the lesson.
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