Do you continuously think you should get your blood sugars steady and under control but struggle to stick with your plan? Perhaps you keep promising yourself to go low carb as it might really help to stop those spikes, but still you eat that piece of bread, bowl of pasta or too many chips, because well, you will start looking after yourself tomorrow? Sound familiar? Perhaps you haven't found your real reason why? Well maybe this exercise can help….
Get a piece of paper and write down WHY you’d like to get your blood sugars within a healthy range, on a consistent basis. Have a good think about why. What did you come up with? Perhaps it’s because you know it will reduce the chances of pretty scary health problems in the future? Or because you know you’ll feel better and have more energy if you weren’t on that blood sugar roller coaster ride? Or maybe because your endo told you to? Whatever your reason, write it down.
Ok, next. Again ask yourself WHY to the answer you’ve just given. Why do you want to reduce the chances of health problems in the future? Why do you want to feel better and have more energy each day? Or why do you want to please your endo so much? Have a good think to get deeper into WHY you want to have steady blood sugars on a consistent basis.
Right. Next. For a final time, again, ask yourself WHY to that last answer you’ve just given. We are really trying to dig down deep to understand what motivates you, what’s important to you, what it is that you really want and why. Why do you really want to get your blood sugars under control. Try to connect with that deeply personal reason, your real motivation. Can you see how now you are identifying your real reason for looking after your type 1 diabetes. Understanding this real reason means you are much more likely to do something about your situation if you can connect with your real reason why.
So, for example, when I did this exercise my first reason why I want steady blood sugars is to avoid those dreaded complications that come with poorly controlled blood sugars, which just fills me with fear when I think about it. Then, my next why was I don’t want complications because I want to have a strong body and the energy to live a full and fun life. Ok, well why do I want this? My third why was because I love my family so much, they mean the world to me so I want to be fit and healthy to play with my grandkids, to travel with my husband and to achieve my dreams.
You can see how I've moved from living in fear of possible complications, which is in the future, vague and difficult to really connect to, to having a strong, healthy body so I can live the life I want with the family I love. That’s my real motivation for trying my very best each day to look after myself and to keep my diabetes under control. Something real and tangible that I really connect with, that is positive and not lead purely by fear.
I hope this exercise helps you to really get in touch with your WHY. It’s never too late to start looking after yourself and to get control of your diabetes properly. Your condition doesn’t have to pre-determine your future, you can take back control and when you live in alignment with what matters most to you it becomes much easier to stick with your reason why.
If you would like guidance and support in getting your blood sugars under control and working out your real why, then book in for a free 15 minute Discovery Call with me to discuss how I can help you. Or, sign up to my 12 week Type 1 Diabetes Programme and work with me one to one.
Written by Kylie Hendrikse
Registered Nutritional Therapist and Type 1 Diabetic
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