The moment I wake up, I feel like there are about 7 things I need to be doing at once before I leave my condo to go to work. Let my dog Blue out. Feed Blue. Shower. Put goopy product in my hair so it dries nice and curly. Start making breakfast. Get dressed. Answer early-morning text messages from friends and clients (there are always a few before 7:30 a.m.). Let Blue back inside. Scratch Blue's belly and say goodbye as I try to stuff 17 things into my bag.
And somewhere in there, I need to check my blood sugar and take my insulin. There are definitely days when I find myself eating breakfast in between getting dressed and drying my hair. Sometimes it's not until I'm half way out the door before I realize I forgot to take my short-acting insulin injection.
And I know, amongst all of those little daily tasks, I need to check my blood sugar before I leave my home. I know the rest of the day goes much more smoothly when I start my day with that information.
But every morning, I still have to remind myself to stop swirling and check my blood sugar. A few years ago, I may have just nixed this if I didn't really feel like checking...but then again, when do I ever feel like checking? Never: because it's not fun, but my Jiminy Cricket tells me it's so important. I want this task to be a permanent part of my morning. A regular habit.
What are your diabetes habits? Helpful or not helpful?
Do I always check before a meal? No.
Do I check before I exercise? Yes.
Do I check after I exercise? Yes.
Do I always add up my carbs really, really carefully before drawing up a dose of insulin? No, sometimes I "guesstimate."
If my blood sugar is high, do I stop and think about what happened to make it high so I can prevent it next time? Yes.
The list goes on and on! Is the goal perfection? NO. I wouldn't expect anyone to be perfect, but to at least be aware of what I'm doing that's helping me and what I'm doing that's purely self-sabotage is important to me. To be aware of my habits, like asking myself why I might skip something as important as checking my blood sugar first thing in the morning, is going to help me create better habits.
Once I become aware of my habits, and I decide what habits I'd like to add or improve, I can start practicing new ones. And like Rome, a habit wasn't built in a day, so the term "practice" is crucial. I may not perform my new habit perfectly every day, but I'm going to put a whole lot of energy towards remembering to get it done. I'll be patient. I'll leave some room for expected imperfection, and I'll be honest with myself on the days I really don't want to follow through...it's not supposed to be easy!
Changing anything, big or small, isn't easy. Whether we're talking about our habits with food, exercise, diabetes or even people! If I want to improve my eating habits, I've got to practice eating better, bite by bite. If I want to improve my relationship with a friend, I've got to practice being friendly to him, each interaction at a time. If I want to check my blood sugar in the morning, I've got to tell myself each morning, "Don't make excuses. It takes 15 seconds, just do it."
