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Speaker 1I appreciate every single one of you for continuing to listen every single week , showing up for these conversations , these topics . I really hope that you are getting value out of this podcast . Send me an email , shoot me a message on Instagram , facebook and let me know how you are enjoying these topics and conversations , and send me some topics that you'd love to hear . What would you love to hear me talk about ? What are maybe some things that you are struggling with ? Or maybe there's some really cool things that you're doing in your diabetes management that you would love to share . I would love to tell your story . So just reach out to me and I'd love to connect with you .
Speaker 1So this is going to be a solo episode today . I got some really good guests coming on in the next couple of weeks , but I wanted to leave you guys with this topic of diabetes goals 2024 diabetes goals . Have you set some ? What are they ? We're going to talk about this because I think this is an important piece at the beginning of 2024 . We just left 2023 in the rearview mirror and a lot of times we put together resolutions . I'm going to explain why I don't like the word resolution , why I don't like resolutions , and we're going to talk about goal setting and that might not be super sexy , but that's okay because this is an important topic and I hope that when I give you my perspective on goals and how I think about goals and things I want to accomplish , not just in the podcast or in my diabetes manager , but also in life that hopefully that will spark some thought processes for you to set some real good diabetes goals . So let's get into this . First , I want to talk to you about this thought process of resolution , because we all make these resolutions for at the beginning of each year and if you look at the stats the last time I look at the statistics of how many people actually stick with their resolution , either throughout the whole entire year or even up to 90 days I think the the stat is like less than 25% and that makes me really sad because Whether you're doing a fitness goal , whether you have a fitness resolution , whether you have a diabetes resolution , whether you have a personal resolution or maybe a career resolution , something that you want to achieve over the next 90 days or over this whole entire year .
Speaker 1The problem with this concept of resolution is that we're not hyper focused on that resolution with exact intention . There's too much of a start and stop date , and I know you've probably listened to me talk about diets and how I don't like the word diet because it only has a start and stop date . This is no different right when you make a resolution or when you make a goal . Yes , it's going to have a start and stop date , no matter what the goal is , because you're focused on one specific outcome for that specific goal . But you need to make sure that you are making that goal or that resolution with intention . What is the intention or the why behind that goal , behind that resolution ? That's a very important thing .
Speaker 1Now , why do we make goals ? Why do we make resolutions at the beginning of each year ? Why do we make goals at all at any point of the year ? Why is that important ? Well , it's really important because goals can give us clarity , it can give us direction , it can give us motivation towards something that we want to accomplish , whether it's again fitness , whether it's diabetes related , whatever it is . It gives us clarity , direction and motivation to actually do that thing that we want to accomplish , instead of me just waking up and following the societal norms every single year and say I'm going to go to the gym , I'm going to go to the gym and I'm going to get in shape . That's what everyone does , right ?
Speaker 1I have a resolution for myself that I want to exercise more and have more intention around exercise . I'm a coach . I know how important exercise is for the body , for our blood sugars , for diabetes , but I still , at the end of the day , only exercise two or three days a week . But when I'm actually exercising , those two or three days have real intention to them . I'm working hard in a specific manner towards being the person that I want to be . However , with that specific intention of that two or three days , it's not a priority in the back of my head , and I used to love exercise . I used to be a three sport athlete in college , where I would play football in the fall as a varsity sport and then I'd play intramural sports all winter long . I'd play intramural sports all spring and I'd be in the gym , exercising with my buddies every single day , and it was the most amazing therapeutic thing I was doing in my life . At that time , going to class was definitely not therapeutic , and I'm telling you this story because it's important to have intention behind things that you do in your life .
Speaker 1Now let's look at diabetes , because when we think about diabetes , you hear me talking about all time . Intention is important the why behind something that you're doing , the why behind your blood sugars and looking at your CGM graphs and your data , and understanding how to look at that data and interpret it and understand what was going on . When your blood sugars spiked three hours ago , what did you do ? Was it food related ? Was it stress related ? Are you sick ? Do you have a bad sight ? I mean , there's so many things that could be happening in that scenario and that situation , but understanding that , the intention behind looking at that CGM data , the intention behind understanding why your blood sugars are out of whack , is important . I know that pizza spikes my blood sugar . If I don't hold their exact right strategy to combat those blood sugars , I know that's going to happen . So if I'm laxadaisical with that strategy , then I'm going to have high blood sugars , and I have no one to blame for those high blood sugars than myself . It's really freaking hard . Are you picking yourself up and like learning from that and figuring out some other strategy ? It's the same thing with any type of blood sugar regulation that's going on in your life . So that's a big rant .
Speaker 1But going back to this thought process of diabetes goals , what is your diabetes goal and are you making that goal with intention ? So when I sat down and looked at my 2024 diabetes goals , the first thing I thought about is probably the first thing if you have done this exercise that you thought about and I want to lower my A1C to under 6.0 . Because that's a good goal for me . That's a goal that I have for myself , but that's not where I should be starting . What are the things that are going to do ? Help me in a positive way , bring that down . Well , it's being more strategic and being and having more intention behind some of the things that I do every single day with my diabetes management .
Speaker 1Just got through the holidays . I'll tell you that this holiday season was one of the I don't want to say worst , but it was not great on my blood sugars . And it wasn't great in my blood sugars because I was so Burnt out . I'm so burnt out with everything that's going on in my life Not burnt out on diabetes , but I'm burnt . I was burnt out on everything that's going on in my life the podcast being a dad getting up at four o'clock , 4 30 every single day and going to the gym and Training clients from 5 30 am To 1 pm and then leaving the gym and then doing work for my Diabetes online coaching brand , and just it was just became a lot . So I decided that over the holidays , I was going to just be laxadaisical not laxadaisical with my management . I still was pre-bolsing , I still was working Hard to continue to not have insulin or should blood sugar spikes , but they happened and they happened in a ways that they haven't happened in a while and that and I think that those that's okay . That is okay if that happens to you at any point in the year .
Speaker 1Now that I've gotten through the holidays , now it's time to buckle that back down and get back to the things that I do very , very well , which is being intense , intentional and asking myself why and focusing on what really works for me . That's what I'm going to now start doing , going into this new year and ultimately being able to be hyper focused on those things Is how I'm going to lower my a1c Down under 6.0 . On a personal level , I'm really pumped to start teaching my girls about diabetes , and I say that because I Think family is so important to us . It provides us emotional support . Again , if you've heard me talk anything about support , emotional support from our friends or family members , of people really really close to us , is very important because they can . They can provide that promotional support for us every single day . They don't provide the same support as the diabetes community does , but they still provide a big time support and I'm excited to start teaching my daughters About diabetes . I'm excited for them to start taking part in my diabetes management and learning how I manage my diabetes . So , if God forbid , they ever diagnosed we already have built the foundations for their education . They're learning . Those are my big diabetes goals
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Speaker 1The a1c is a byproduct of everything that you do day by day . If you are someone that is hyper focused on that number , I'm not saying that you are wrong by doing that , because you are not . What I am saying . If you can learn to shift your thought process , to being able to look at the things that you do every day Trends , whatever they might be . Look at your CGM data . If you don't , if you're not on a CGM , get on one , please , please , get on one . I do not care which one you go on there . I think there's three or four Different types of continuous glucose monitors out there , but it doesn't matter to me , because that data is very , very powerful and it helps you develop the management style that you you want .
Speaker 1So much goes into that A1C number and I don't want you to feel like you have to be hyper-focused , in a positive way or a negative way , on that number . If your A1C is over seven , if it's at nine , eight , ten , eleven , twelve , I don't care where it is . First off , you can get it to where you want to be . You have to ask yourself where you want it to be and then go from there . Secondly , if it is a higher A1C , do not let anybody tell you that you are not in a good space or you're non-compliant . That's not the case . All you need is some more education to develop your own strategy , which is what I'm here for , which other the diabetes community is here to help you for or help you with . That is our goal . Do not be hyper-focused on what the number says . Be hyper-focused on how to lower the number . That's what this is about . I hope this aligns with some of your thought processes . I hope this . Hopefully , you can take this information and start thinking about what you want to accomplish in 2024 .
Speaker 1I think it's an important thing to make some diabetes goals . The duration of them , no matter what it is . If it's A1C , cool . If it is A1C and that's your ultimate goal is to lower your A1C , great . We have to work backwards from there and figure out how we're going to do that . If you have a high A1C and you want to lower your A1C , the things that you're doing right now are getting in your way . The things that you're doing right now need to be improved upon in terms of your management style , because what you're doing right now is probably not working . It might be Maybe you're on the right track right now and your A1C is dropping already . That's great . But if you're not , then we need to take a step back and figure what isn't working and how can we ultimately improve the things that aren't working . Do you know how to improve the things that aren't working ? Because at the end of the day .
Speaker 1We know we shouldn't eat processed food and tons of sugar and a bunch of carbohydrates in one sitting . We know that we should pre-bolus . We know we should count carbs and be as specific and intentional with that carb counting as possible , as accurate as possible . We know we should do those things . But if you're someone that's constantly on the go if you're maybe a nurse or a doctor that's that constantly is on the go and you don't have tons of time to eat and you're not getting enough calories or whatever it might be if you're a young athlete and you can't figure out practice or competition , those are things that might sound crazy but those are things that you have to constantly fail at and try new things to figure it out . Because I can tell you I can tell you why I think this could help . But until we actually get in this situation and try to work through that , we don't know if that's gonna work or not .
Speaker 1If someone's going low , if a young athlete is going low during practice , my first thought process would be what are you eating before ? How much insulin is typically on board before ? Are you taking insulin before ? Do we need to totally disconnect ourselves from our insulin pump or from any basil that's going on . Do we need to turn off basil during practice or competition ? Those are the first places I would start with , but that might not be it . It might be you just need to be a little bit higher , because you're bottling out by the time practice or competition's over . It could be something simple as that .
Speaker 1So there's things that we can do to think through . Why are you going low ? Why are you going high ? Why are you not constantly steady in your blood sugars ? There's things that we can talk through , but unfortunately , I really believe that the more failures that we have , the more data that we have in front of us to learn . Okay , well , that didn't work this time , so now I'm going to do try this . Oh , that actually worked . Cool , let me try it next time . Oh , you know what , next time it didn't work . That happens .
Speaker 1So constantly trying to evolve what we're doing is so important , and having goals helps with that evolution , because we're ultimately working towards something instead of just living with diabetes . If you want to lower A1C , you know how to do it . You know how to do it . Now it's just time to put the effort and energy into it and focus on failing and succeeding , failing and improving , failing and improving . That is , ultimately , how I figured this condition out . Now you are in a great spot Because you have people like myself , like the podcast , like other coaches , like other people in the diabetes community , the medical systems getting better with being an interpret data . You are in a great position Then I was when I was first diagnosed because all I had was me and you have all this , this Humongous
community .
Speaker 1You have this big , freaking community , huge community to lean on . So lean on us . I hope this is Really resonating with you . If you haven't had a chance , make sure you go back and watch my conversation diabetes real talk with my good colleague and friend , matt Vannevek from FTF warrior . You can just go to my Instagram page . It should be Diabetes real talk , episode 17 . I believe 17 , and you know here what his words to , on what his , the way he thinks about goals . You know we had a really good conversation about on this topic . So go back , listen to that , watch it , share it . Share this episode with somebody . Thank you so much for listening and I will see you next week .