Stress-O-Meter

  It's hard to deny that we all live a hectic and extremely fast paced life. With juggling multiple schedules, managing work, family, pets, and life's obstacles; where does diet and exercise fit in to our day?!?! When you are stressed out; your blood sugar naturally rises. So what if you are a diabetic? Now what happens to your already elevated suagr? And.. What about dinner? Do you get to go home and cook a well balanced meal every evening? If you can do that, God bless you! For many of us, eating on the run is more frequent that most of us would admit. Eating in our car is even more common for some of us!
  So with that being said; stress, eating on the run, and food choices are a HUGE problem for everyone, especially diabetics. How do we manage a busy lifestyle, cooking healthy, and getting that 15-30 minute workout in during the week? I know my family and I have not yet mastered how to alleviate our unwarranted stress. It take a family effort to make our ship sail smoothly every day. Do you ever wake up in the morning and just wish you didn't have to immediately start stressing about the day ahead? Although there is no medicine or quick fix for living with stress; there are some recommended resources for you to read.


  Joseph P. Napora, PhD, LCSW-C wrote a great book titled: Stress-Free Diabetes.
Stress-Free Diabetes covers:

• Stress and the body and the mind
• Being emotionally smart
• Essential people skills
• Setting realistic goals
• Staying grounded and mindful
• Anticipating problems and solving them
• The importance of humor

This information was located at www.shopdiabetes.org . This book goes into detail and explains some creative way to manage stress while living successfully with diabetes.

Also, another great resource is visiting www.JDRF.org . They are my go-to site. I have supported JDRF for many years and 100% believe that they are an amazing global organization that supports diabetes research. Their site and volunteers offer so many ipportunities and resources for diabetics. I love taking on the role of delivering Bags of Hope to newly diagnosed diabetics. If you or someone you know is a newly diagnosed type 1, send them my way!!