How do you feel about your body image living with diabetes, afraid you'll be wearing stretchy leggings for life?
Women diagnosed with diabetes have a lot to juggle while keeping a positive mindset. A challenge at any age but during midlife you also see changes in your body, this diagnosis may have come from out of nowhere. You gained weight, can't sleep, confused about food...you've hit a wall trying to unpack it all and get back to feel vital again.
But... There's that but, right? There's the "Oh my gosh. Things are shifting with my body." And what do I do about it, right?
Busy women diagnosed with diabetes are trying to juggle life, work, family...all the things. The symptoms of a diabetes diagnosis, elevated blood sugar and weight gain paired with hormonal changes are normal, but there can be solutions to reverse this.
So, what is really going on and how do you find a solution to feel hopeful, both physically and emotionally?
Let's begin with what is good right now.
Thankfully you are in this stage of life where you should have more time for yourself. The kids have left home, and it is time to start focusing on you and your health.
When my daughter left the nest a couple of years ago, I was going through menopause, a life-changing time for me. And I noticed and felt my body had shifted. Most important, was how I was feeling. My energy dipped and my insulin needs increased, restless sleep and of course my hormone levels were dropping.
So, with type 1 diabetes, managing blood sugar and my weight suddenly got more difficult. My waistline was expanding, and I didn't understand why, and I needed to figure this out.
I got the full panel blood tests done to gather the facts, see what was out of balance. I found out I had a few vitamins/mineral levels were low and was the root cause of the physical and emotional changes I felt. I decided to boost my diet and added in the supplements to boost my low levels.
After a little bit of time and patience, these steps helped me get my hormones back in balance and even a trimmer waistline.
If this is what's happening with you, and ready to uncover why you're feeling unsettled with your body image and just not your-self.
Start with step one and gather the facts around what is really going on with your health. And gather the facts around what is really going on with your health., and gather the facts around what is really going on with your health.
You won't know why you're feeling different or what the solution can be until you gather all the information first. Let your doctor know how you're feeling and request blood work to check your vitamin, hormone and insulin levels, to dig into what is really happening.
Next step, when you and your doctor uncover the root cause, you can focus on one healthy practice at a time. Time to shift out of this funk, make a plan to take action, tweak a few things and add in supplements if necessary.
This may be a perfect opportunity to work with a health coach like myself, who will support you to create a sustainable plan and get away from those stretchy waistbands!
Simply start with drinking more water, mindful of your sleep, and what is on your dinner plate. All of this will affect how you function, your energy, blood sugar and how you are feeling about your health and your body image.
Finally, remember as a giving and loving woman, it's your time to take care of you, regain your vitality to feel desirable and beautiful again.
The numbers do matter.
But remember to also focus on all the amazing things that you can continue to do no matter what that number on the scale or glucometer happens to be.
What is most important is loving you, to help make the process of managing diabetes so much easier and even more beautiful.
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