The American Association of Diabetes Educators created the 7 self-care behaviors to help people better manage their diabetes. While self management is difficult, these steps help break down the process and show clear areas where goals need to be made. 1. Healthy Eating One of the most important steps to take to start better managing your diabetes is making smart food choices. By adhering to healthy eating habits, you can better maintain a healthy weight and optimal blood glucose level which makes managing your diabetes easier. Start by taking a look at our MyPlate blog post from last week to get started! Learn how to make the right changes in your diet–check out diabetes education classes and food education classes to become familiar with looking at nutritional facts and knowing how they effect you. 2. Being Active Regular physical activity is important to maintain for everyone, with or without diabetes. When trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle to better manage diabetes, staying active is a key component. This is especially important when trying to reduce the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes. Check out these easy ways to start getting active. 3. Monitoring The best way to track your personal progress is by monitoring your daily blood glucose levels, A1C, cholesterol, and weight. These numbers are all ways to measure progress in managing your diabetes. Log into My Diabetes Home and use the myNumbers tool to track these numbers online. This tool makes it easy to share your progress with your doctor! 4. Taking Medication Taking medications is a vital component in keeping your diabetes manageable. Adhering to medication instructions in crucial when managing your diabetes, since your medications can help maintain your optimal numbers as well as keep medical costs down. Use the myMedSimple tab on My Diabetes Home or the MedSimple app to help you manage your medications. With refill and dose reminders, MedSimple will help you stay on track! 5. Problem Solving Given that everyone’s diabetes is unique, you’ll likely have to have to know how to deal with different problems in many situations. Speak with a diabetes educator to make a plan about how you will deal with any future problems calmly and safely. 6. Reducing Risk To reduce any unnecessary risks in dealing with diabetes, be sure to take the proper precautions. This includes, but is not limited to, quitting smoking, knowing the facts about your medications, and getting regular eye, dental, and foot exams. 7. Healthy Coping Diabetes can be a challenging disease to deal with, as it is a progressive disease. Speak with diabetes educators or a psychologist to learn the best ways to deal with your frustrations and keep your body and mind on a positive path.
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