Fueling Healthy Change One Step at a Time

We've all heard the sayings…."slow and steady wins the race," "life is a marathon, not a sprint," and "Rome wasn't built in a day." What are these phrases trying to tell us and how does it relate to our diabetes health?

Building and nurturing a healthy body is hard work, and swapping out unhealthy habits for healthy ones takes time and patience. The above phrases remind us to set our expectations appropriately when it comes to managing diabetes and health.

You will not wake up tomorrow with a lower A1C, but all the small steps you take today, tomorrow, and the next day will get you there eventually. It's important to connect with the journey, the tiny steps you take everyday, even more than the end goal. Here are a few tips to get you started and keep yourself on track when it comes to running your "health marathon."

It's not always about action

There any many stages of change, and action is just one of them. Before we are ready to take action, there is contemplating, planning, and visualizing. Taking the time to live in each of these stages can help fuel sustainable and successful action. Without these precursor stages, actions can be unorganized, reactive, and a waste of time. So before you shame yourself for not "doing something," let's reconsider what "doing something" can mean. Sitting in front of your computer to research gyms or healthy recipes is planning. Lying in bed and imaging what a healthy day looks like to you is visualizing. Processing with friends about what got you here and what hasn't worked in the past is contemplating. These tools should be used and celebrated throughout your journey, sprinkled in between bouts of action.

Start small and SMART

This is probably the #1 piece of advice I give to my clients: your everyday goals should be so easy it's almost laughable. What I mean is that the goals should be so small, so seemingly insignificant, that you might even question why you need it as a goal. And of course always remember to make them SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Let me tell you why....it's momentum building. Crushing goals is a hack to building confidence, momentum and motivation. Imagine you set a goal to walk 30 minutes for 7 days a week, but you miss 3 days. How will you feel? Defeated! Now imagine you set a goal to walk 15 minutes for 2 days a week and you actually do it 4 days that week. How does that feel? Amazing! Keep your goals small and SMART, make sure to track them, and celebrate every little accomplishment along the way.

Give yourself grace

You will mess up. You will have off days that make you feel like you've made no progress. You will feel defeated in this process of "getting healthier". But what happens when we expect those defeats and not attach so much emotion to them? When we allow ourselves a few missteps without judgement or shame? Failure is a part of this experience and if we expect it, maybe we can navigate the landmines without getting too derailed. Remember, when it comes to diabetes specifically, every day you are making millions of new red blood cells, cells that are pristine and not "sugared up". Every day you have an opportunity to protect those new cells from excess sugar by staying in range. The key is to wake up each morning and try again, because "trying" is doing.

You have the power to change your course, to embark and sustain a health journey. Do you believe in your self, in your ability to run your own health marathon? What would it take for you to alter your mindset, to feel your power for health change? Start with these 3 tips and take the time to connect with the positive work you are doing to improve your health. And remember first and foremost to take it slow......because Rome wasn't built in a day ;)