Controlling Diabetes Is Like Taking a Road Trip

You Need to Map Your Destination

When you take a road trip you need to figure out the best way to get there right? I was going to say you need to get out the map but now we just pull out our GPS and let it guide the way. Too bad managing diabetes and weight control is not that easy!

Knowing your targets for blood sugar control is like knowing your destination for a trip. The road we travel to get to that destination may be paved with a food plan, exercise plan and maybe medication.

So once you know where you are going and you have planned your route you are ready to hit the road! Sounds easy enough right? Have you ever had directions that seemed easy but for some reason you keep going in circles and can never get there? You look at the map or plug your directions into your GPS but it takes you to a completely different place. How does that happen? In my experience it is usually because one part of the address is typed in wrong.

Trying to keep up with healthy eating and exercise for weight and diabetes control is a lot like that. You know where you are trying to end up but you seem to keep going in circles.

Have you heard the quote "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."? If you think about it that is what we often do with our diet and exercise habits. We keep buying the same food or doing the same routine and we think magically the outcome should be different. So what is the answer?

CHANGE! Change your routine. Change the way you eat. Change the way you exercise. Change whatever it takes to get on the right road that will take you to your destination.

You Will Run in to Road Blocks

A favorite saying in my state of Minnesota is that we have two seasons... winter and road construction. So if you are taking a trip in Minnesota there is a good chance you might run into detours or bad roads depending on the season.

You might run into road blocks when trying to changing your diet or exercise habits also. Family commitments, finances, job stress, illness are all common road blocks to making lifestyle changes. Don't give up. That is simply life happening. Figure out a way to get around the road blocks or take an alternate route. Get support from a group, other family members, friends, or hire a diabetes coach.

I recently ran into a road block with my 5K training... my own motivation. I lost interest when I got up to running 20-25 minutes on the treadmill and soon I just quit. At first I felt like a failure but then I realized that I was still motivated to exercise but just not THAT type of exercise. All I had to do was revise my exercise routine to be interval training with a variety of different types of exercise instead and now I am back on track.

Rumble Strips Help Keep You on the Right Path

You may or may not be familiar with rumble strips but I am talking about those bumpy strips they put on the edge of the road to keep you from going off the road or on the yellow center line to keep you from hitting oncoming vehicles. If you are about to drive into danger they definitely wake you up.

Too bad we don't have something like the speed bumps or the rumble strips at stop signs that would get our attention when we are about to eat too much!

What are the rumble strips of diabetes? What is it that lets you know when you are going the wrong direction and diabetes is getting out of control?

Doctor visits, daily blood sugar checks, calorie counts, carbohydrate counts, food records, clothes getting tighter all can be rumble strips that keep us from getting too far off course.

Are You Ready for a Diabetes Road Trip?

Decide on your destination. Map your route. Find ways to get around the roadblocks. Use your rumble strips to keep you on track.

Reach your destination!