*Disclaimer: All content and information in this blog is for informational and educational purposes only. Always consult your health care provider before making any adjustments to your exercise routine or diabetes management.

Let’s be real for a second. There is so much information on the internet – which can be a beautiful thing. But it can also be really overwhelming, especially when you’re managing a minute by minute condition like type one diabetes.

When I was first diagnosed with type one diabetes (and even for years after) there were a lot of things that I read about lowering my A1C that honestly.. I didn’t feel aligned with. In turn, it pushed me into a restrictive mindset and lifestyle while simultaneously making me resent my diagnosis and my body. It took me a few years, but after much trial and error I was able to lower my A1C from a 7.1 to a 5.7 and keep it there.

Inside this blog post, I’m going to take you through the things I thought would help me lower my A1C vs what actually did.

Eating Low Carb for Better Blood Sugars

Personally, eating a low carb diet does not align with my preferences, lifestyle or food identity, but it was one of the first tips I was given for keeping my blood sugars in check. In my attempts to eat lower carb choices, I felt restricted especially as a freshman in college who was still learning her own body.

However, after a few years and my time in the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, I learned about a concept called glycemic pairing. This concept completely changed my mindset around food. Instead of feeling like I have to avoid carbohydrates, I’ve learned that I can be intentional in what I pair them with (like protein, fat and fiber) to slow down the spike and have balanced blood sugars. It taught me that I can add IN to my diet without restriction.

Detoxes for Insulin Sensitivity

A big piece of what I saw online was going through detoxes and cleanses to increase your insulin sensitivity. Although I never purchased one of these, I did fall subject to considering it. I felt like I should be following an ‘on limits’ and ‘off limits’ food list, fill my plate with veggies and start my morning with celery juice in order to have better blood sugars. 

The truth? You don’t need to buy an expensive juicer or cleansing kit. My goal of taking a root cause approach to increasing my insulin sensitivity actually came down to learning more about the hormones that cause a fight or flight response in my body, hence bringing higher blood sugars and more resistance. 

With this approach, I’ve been able to learn how to find neutrality in my environment, my relationships and my energy. Not only has this supported my blood sugars, but also my internal health as someone living with Crohns Disease.

Taking a Single Strategy to Insulin Dosing

Raise your hand if you were ever told that diabetes thrives off of routine. Sounds too familiar right? I thought that too. I thought has long as I dose before every meal, use the same carb ratio and eat the same things at the same time everyday, that I was in the clear. 

Spoiler alert: I was not in the clear.

This oversimplified explanation to diabetes management takes away the important decision making that goes into every daily scenario we face with diabetes. The best thing I ever did? Lean into this decision making and reverse engineer. 

When looking deeper into my decision making process, I had to consider: 

• What are the questions I ask myself when making a decision?
• How much space am I giving myself to make this decision?
• What fears or hurdles are coming up as I’m making these decisions and how are they impacting the outcome?
• What would I change moving forward?

Doing this allowed me to fine tune my default decision making process and optimize it, leading to more efficient and more desired outcomes in my blood sugars.

Relying On my Endocrinologist

There is no doubt that endocrinologist support is essential in diabetes care. However, it’s widely agreed on that one 20 minute appointment every three months doesn’t provide the support and accountability that is needed to make strides in our blood sugar management.

Being able to self-assess and manage my baselines such as basal rates, carb ratios, correction factors and behaviors has not only supported me outside of my physicians office, but it’s allowed me to partner with my doctor during those appointments and feel confident self-identifying patterns and trends.

Wanting to dive into pattern management and feel confident in doing it? Learn more about the Keeping it 100 Diabetes Coaching Experience and how it can support you in doing so.

Exercising Everyday

One of the very first things I was told about managing my diabetes was that exercising everyday was crucial. Yes, there are many benefits to exercise however, it also has the potential to add stress on our body. We know that stress and stress hormones increase insulin resistance, so high intensity exercise although said to improve insulin sensitivity can have the opposite effect. If you are someone who has a lot of stress at work, get a poor night of sleep or have a day of high blood sugars, high intensity workouts like weight lifting, HIIT or sprints may not be the best option for your body and blood sugars.

Instead of leaning on exercise for insulin sensitivity, I learned how to decrease the stress on my body by utilizing low intensity exercise when other stressors were high. Now, I can meet my body where it is instead of fighting against it.

Avoiding Variability in My Meals & Routine

When diagnosed at age 19, I was told that eating similar things each day, avoiding things like travel and keeping my routine the same would improve my blood sugars. More routine was supposed to equal more predictability. However, I didn’t find that to be true. Plus, it made me resentful towards my diagnosis. 

Instead of avoiding variability all together, I learned to use tools like habit anchoring to add moments of predictability and consistency into my routine.

For example, every morning when I brush my teeth I also prebolus for breakfast. This is an easy way of remembering to take my morning dose of insulin while preventing a blood sugar spike later on. This is something I can do when I’m on vacation, during the holidays and any time in between.

In our coaching practice, we believe that there can be a balance between predictability and flexibility in your life with diabetes. To hear more, listen to Keeping it 100 Radio Episode 2: What I THOUGHT Would Lower my A1C vs What Actually Did with Lissie Poyner on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.