New Year's Resolutions for a life with Diabetes!

New Year’s Day is coming up! There are a lot of goals we can set for ourselves with diabetes, but if we try to focus on too many at once, it’s seriously overwhelming. If you’re having trouble deciding or thinking of where you’d like to start, I wanted to offer a few suggestions!

You don’t have to focus on them all, instead, pick one (or two, if you’re looking for a challenge!). Write it down. Post it to your mirror. Set yourself a reminder every morning on your cell phone, whatever works for you! Remember, continually working towards something is the road to succeeding. You can’t expect to get it perfectly all the time, but the best you can do is to TRY and work hard and don’t give up!


1. Check your blood sugar every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to bed. These are two of the important times to check and often, I think, the easiest to times to not bother. Knowing your morning blood sugar is so important because how you deal with that number can impact the rest of your day. If you wake up and your blood sugar is over 200, but you didn’t check it, that number is going to likely stay high or get higher throughout the day until you finally check. The same goes for bedtime. You’re about to turn yourself off for 6 to 8 hours, but your diabetes is still on! So you want to make sure you’re in range at night so you can sleep well, safely and feel good in the morning.

2. Exercise regularly. If you don’t have this in your schedule yet, there’s nothing to it but to do it! No room for excuses. Find the time. Make the time. And go! Maybe you’ll only put in 30 minutes every other day at first---that is GREAT. Don’t let weight-loss goals get in your way, if you feel like you’re not making progress, be patient! No matter what you weigh, exercise is crucial for a person with diabetes. You will increase your insulin sensitivity, gain better glucose control and have more energy. This is not a temporary goal; this is a life-long goal!

3. Write it all down! Okay, I should be doing this one-definitely. If you’ve haven’t been in the habit of writing down your blood sugars and you’re looking for better control, this is a great way to start. Why? Because you’re going to force yourself to become really aware of what’s going on. It’s easy to forget that we had a 300 high blood sugar every other afternoon when we don’t have to see it on paper. Write your numbers down, discuss it with your doc, and figure out what kinds of changes you can make for better control.

4. Healthy eating! Is having a bowl of ice cream every night after dinner a regular habit? There’s no way to change those habits then to simply go day-by-day and tell yourself, “Nope, not tonight!” Start by reducing your carbs and learning better how to count carbohydrates, watch portion control and focus on healthier foods. Would I expect you to eat perfectly all the time in order to make this a successful resolution? NO! But you’re going to make an effort as much as you can. Do your best and be patient. Bad habits are hard to break and new ones are hard to develop.