What Strange Things Impact Your Blood Sugar?

What are the STRANGE things that make your blood sugar go either up or down, high or low? 🤔

In this week’s Type 1 Thursday 💙 we discuss our personal experiences, based on Adam Brown’s graphic “42 Factors that Affect Blood Glucose”🩸

Adam Brown, “42 factors that affect blood glucose” from his book “Bright Spots and Landmines”, via diatribe.org

While some of these factors may be strange ones to impact blood sugars, I, of course, thought we should take it a step further. With diabetes being such an individual condition to live with, I wanted to know what the strange things are that impact YOUR blood sugar?

I asked this on my Instagram Stories, and got some amazing replies!

We’ll stick to the same categories as Adam uses in his graphic; food 🍽️, medication 💊, activity 🤸🏼, environmental 🌿, biological 🧬, and behavioral 😄, adding our own strangest things that impact blood sugars!

Strange Food Impacts

Let’s start with food because it is such a fantastic thing! I love food so much – I love eating food, enjoying food, everything. Because diabetes is such an individual thing to live with, I wanted to know what are the “strange” foods for you that has an unexpected impact on your blood sugar? Perhaps it probably shouldn’t have an impact, but definitely does?

Starting with your replies to my Stories, the first one is (of course!) porridge, or oatmeal. It really shoots people high in terms of blood sugar, and then someone said that they come down really low afterwards. Someone else said that “it’s not that healthy because it shoots you up to so high”. This is definitely a thing and I don’t think it’s unusual. Bread was another example, as well as pasta (starting to sense a theme here!) These are also blood sugar killers for myself, and dosing the correct amount of insulin for them is really hard (plus I’m quite gluten sensitive. The gluten free versions are almost worse because they have an even higher carb count because it’s made out of corn and and rice flour instead of the wheat.). Even the more complex carbs are not that easy. While many people seem to be able to eat it without problems, so it’s not always impossible! It just means that it’s a bit more challenging and you have to find the way that works out for you.

For me personally, a strange (although not so uncommon) thing to impact blood sugars is caffeine. I really do notice when I’ve had caffeine and not. Probably the strangest one I have in my repertoire is raw cabbage. If I eat raw cabbage, it will spike me, but if it’s either cooked or treated somehow, it won’t. This is a really interesting thing to me. I have no idea why. but I’m guessing it’s because of the vitamin C in the raw version impacting the sensor reading more than tactual blood sugar. But I’m not sure if that’s true at all. The opposite seems to work for boiled carrots being a bit of a challenge. But raw for some reason works for me. I just had two smaller raw carrots without any changes in blood sugar. difference.

Also, for me recently, maltitol, the sweetener that is supposed to have zero blood sugar impact, really does spike me quite horribly. Even if things say “sugar free”, “low carb” and even “keto”, it’s not a free grab-and-go, no, no, no! I still have to look at the label and not take it for granted.

However, when I was young, we had a science experiment in school where we grew some sprouts (alfalfa?). I remember eating those and my blood sugar would actually drop. I wonder if anyone else has noticed that? I’m guessing it’s somehow related to, intestinal flora or gut flora or something like that? (If anyone else knows what’s going on there, please do share!)

Medications…

The only one I can I can really say is that some antihistamines cause a raise in blood sugars. And, of course, certain interactions, like for example, steroids make you more insulin resistant, which is not really that strange, but can be unexpected.

If you have any medications that unexpectedly raises or lowers their blood sugar do share!

Strange Activity Impacts

This one is a bit funny. Every time I vacuum my blood sugar plummets (and I know I’m not alone in this but I don’t see mentioned much)! I don’t understand what it is about it? Maybe it’s just my really vigorous, pissed off version of vacuuming that makes my blood sugar low? I always have to ask my husband to do it and I trade for something else, just so I won’t go low.

Environmental Factors

Someone commented about how cold weather makes their blood sugar go low. For me, it’s almost the opposite. Cold weather makes my blood sugar go high, whereas a warmer weather lowers it. I’m guessing for this person that sent in that comment, it’s the other way around? That’s really interesting, because sometimes you just really feel like the weather impacts your blood sugar. And you know what it really does! This is strange to me, because technically it shouldn’t. Anyway, this can, of course, be during sleep, too. If it gets too warm in the room while you sleep, or too cold your blood sugar also react according to your personal weather blood sugar reaction profile.

Strange Biological Factors

The biggest one here, of course, is stress and anxiety. I always say, and I feel like a broken record here, that it is blood sugar killer number one. It can really make or break your blood sugar levels. That’s why stress management and stress relief is so important in diabetes care for me. Stress and anxiety raise my blood sugar, no matter whether it’s a hard meeting with with a boss or for a project, or even something fun like holding a workshop or public speaking engagements, stuff like that. Or you know, it can be just family, which can be a source of stress and anxiety! Another comment is that “anxiety comes in when my blood sugar is low”. Hypo anxiety is absolutely 100% real. Dreams can really impact your blood sugar, if you have a scary dream, you can get really stressed and scared.

Something personally stress-inducing for me right now is dealing with my health insurance. They’re being the acronym of PITA, which is highly applicable to them right now! Dealing with health insurance, or diabetes admin in any way or form is a form of stress and anxiety.

“For me everything raises my blood sugar” Yeah, that’s actually very true. But also quite biological. As we only have one thing to lower our blood sugar, which is insulin, and there are four or five other hormones in our bodies that raise it. Meaning that insulin is fighting a hard fight on its own! This gets especially challenging if you then don’t, in addition, produce the insulin and have to be a pancreatic understudy. So it’s really not easy.

Someone sent in this fantastic comment in my Stories, that petting animals, because it reduces stress, really increases their insulin sensitivity. I love this because I love the reason so much!

Hormones…

It’s really interesting, and I’m only bringing it up, not because it’s that strange, because, you know, it’s biological (and logical?), BUT because there’s so many people who don’t maybe have it in the back of their minds. Periods, PMS/T – times of the month – but also time of life (puberty, pregnancy, menopause…) can also really impact blood sugars. See it as a small reminder to track your cycle quite closely. That way, you can be more proactive rather than reactive in caring for your blood sugars.

Another biological reason for strange blood sugar impact is jetlag. Your blood sugar can go up or down depending on timezones and traveling across them. And it really doesn’t seem logical at times! Unrelated (but perhaps not after all?), have you ever noticed that your vitamin D levels can impact your blood sugars, as well? If your vitamin D is too low, you can be more insulin resistant, for example. When it is in a normal range, or in a good range, then you are more sensitive (I know this has been a topic on Instagram a while ago!).

Strange Behaviour

There are a lot of things that you can do behaviorally, that may or may not help you in caring for your blood sugars! My biggest example here is being out of your normal routine and how that impacts your blood sugars. It can make it more difficult and more challenging to keep blood sugars that you are used to as normal. That can also be of course due to jetlag, or something like that, of course. But also, if you need to do something different, I’ve had two very early mornings here in the past couple of weeks, where I had to get somewhere else for a meeting, and that definitely changes my blood sugar management for that day, only because I’m out of my routine and comfort zone.

I’m loving all these fantastically weird and wonderful things that impact blood sugar levels for you guys, and for myself, as well. I hope you’ve learned something!

What did we miss?! Leave a comment and let’s chat more. 💬

Disclaimer
The only purpose of this video and website is to educate and to inform. It is no substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This video and website is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. Instead, we encourage you to discuss your options with a health care provider who specializes in treating Type 1 Diabetes.

blood sugar, impact, strange, insulin, diabetes, anxiety, stress, blood sugar levels, biological, jetlag, high, routine

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#ATTD2023 – Berlin, Germany

Advanced Treatments and Technologies for Diabetes (ATTD) is one of the world’s biggest diabetes conferences. It takes place yearly in a European city, and ATTD2023 this year it was held in Berlin, Germany (where I used to live, so I was very happy to go back!). In short, it is a fantastic roller coaster circus of people, brands, impressions, science, symposia, presentations, sessions – everything. It’s it’s a diabetes nerds little dream to go to there! Which is why I was very happy to be awarded a dedoc voices scholarship (THANK YOU very much to the dedoc team!), enabling me to join the conference. Dedoc covered my travel costs and accommodation, as well as my entry ticket to the event (so that is all clear, out in the open!). However, all the views and opinions that I’ve shared so far and about share with you now are my own, and are in no way influenced by dedoc – just to be super honest with you!


For this post, I have actually finally gathered my top five, no, actually six, takeaways from this year’s #attd2023, which took place at the end of February. I clearly needed some time to digest it all before I could put this together for you. Better late than never, right?!

1. Personalization of care 🤩


There was a huge focus on how to individualize care for the person, it was recognized both in terms of technology (considering it’s mainly a diabetes tech conference). The focus was on tech; automated insulin delivery systems, loops, CGMs, insulin pumps of different sizes, colors and shapes, kind of thing. And – the individualization of it came up in a lot of the sessions, talks, even on the on the industry floor, it was a lot of focus on how to individualize care, because we are not the same. It is so important! We are not an one-size-fits-all, whether it’s about nutrition or diabetes technology, or care in general – we’re not the same. It’s fantastic to see that the individualization part is finally being recognized after so many years of trying to get that on to the agenda.


The recognition of differences between us is great, and it goes hand in hand with the second top takeaway;

 2. Interoperability of tech 🥳

The interoperability of technology! Starting the week with the OPEN Closing conference (if you haven’t checked out the OPEN Project, do it because they are doing some fantastic work on especially DIY looping systems and how they affect people and their care!), marking the end of the four year long project and all the studies that have come out of it. Inspiring, touching and hopeful for the future!


Another aspect was shown by a company called Diabeter from the Netherlands, which I predict holds the key to the future of diabetes care. They have a fantastic concept, where the daily data from every person with diabetes within a clinic is collected and analyzed by an algorithm. Your healthcare provider can then easily contact you when YOU need it, rather than when “it’s time”. I’m interested to hear if you feel the same – let me know in a comment below.

Continuous ketone monitoring was another topic. Just like we continuously measure glucose right now, we can also measure ketones and other multibiomarkers. It basically means that the same sensor would measure several points. So it’ll be glucose, ketones and lactate in this one example presented, giving you a bigger insight into your own health and your own care. So hey, it might actually be helpful! Abbott issued a press release for their planned ketone and glucose sensor last year, although they can’t say when it will be on the market yet.

Connected pens for those who don’t want, or can’t have, an insulin pump, was also heavily discussed. Connected pens would essentially do a similar job to an automated insulin delivery thing, but of course, there you actually have to take the insulin yourself. Still, the connection to the continuous glucose monitoring system/sensor could be immensely helpful for very many!

Sort-of in the same area, there was talk about glucose targets (and how technology can improve them, hence under point 2). Current blood sugar targets were questioned; should targets remain between 3.9 and 10 mmol/l (70-180 mg/dl) or if this should actually be tightened to further optimize health.Time in tight range, meaning up to 7.8 mmol/l (140 mg/dl), was suggested in one of my favorite sessions, because it was so thought provoking! With the help CGM, there are further metrics to check in on in on your care. On the one side, there is HbA1c, which we all measure every one once in a while, at least we should! The new-kid-on-the-bloc at ATTD was really time in range – LOTS of talk about it (I think close to every session I attended) I also did hear mentioned standard deviation of blood sugar as an aspect to review as well, which is fantastic considering if you look back on my blog, there is a lengthy video about this from several years ago, so I’m happy to see this. I almost cried a little in my chair saying that.

The summary of this point is really that diabetes tech is taking over care, and there’s nothing we can do about it, whether we want to or not! I’m all for tech, I am a bionic woman with all the tech.

3. Nutrition wasn’t really a topic 🤷🏻‍♀️

Nutrition, a topic that steadily gains traction in many other areas of health, health care and medicine, wasn’t really a topic at all at this year’s four day conference. In other areas, we see a lot of talk about nutrient density, and how important it is to make sure that you get as many nutrients as possible. There was basically the one session that I found on nutrition, which I, of course, attended, bearing in mind my nutritional background.

The session spent all of it’s allotted 90 minutes on talking about how to,in the future, change the automated insulin delivery algorithms so that they can handle things like pizza, or sushi. Soon, you don’t even have to let the system know that you are eating – it will recognize it itself. The full focus was on this aspect. The only comment I heard about actual nutrition was when a dietitian from the Sheba Medical Centre in Israel said: “yes, of course, you can eat pizza as a type one diabetic, but I would prefer you to eat broccoli.” And that was basically it when it came to nutrition!

This was something that definitely caught my eye and my brain. And yet, the consensus from another session was that “elevated glucose is harmful”. The discrepancy was big here – okay, we’re leaving the blood sugars solely in the hands of technology, whereas you can do so much with lifestyle choices when it comes to improving diabetes care.

4. Increased focus on sex-specific diabetes issues  🙌🏼

With International Women’s Day having been just around the corner, point number 4 is very interesting and well timed!

There was a clearly increased focus on sex specific diabetes issues. Let’s just cut to the chase – diabetes is different for women. Our hormone profile is one of the key operators in making this the case. Every stage of the time of the month is different, and that can impact blood sugar’s a lot, meaning changes are required in diabetes care, too. Further, different times in our lives, such as puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and menopause, have different outcomes and impacts on diabetes care, as well.

Two fellow dedoc voices presented on this during ATTD – Laura presented her masters thesis, a systematic review and meta analysis on T1D and menstruation, and Dawn presented her research into looping during menopause. So interesting, and so proud to see it coming from the community!

It was good to see this particular topic highlighted, as there has been very little focus on it before. Yes, we ABSOLUTELY need more research, we need more holistic research into women and diabetes. But this is a great start.

5. The patient voice is getting louder 📣

I’m happy to say that the patient voice is getting louder!

While I had a lot of mixed interactions during ATTD 2023, with some being clear that the patient presence and voice wasn’t that appreciated (🥴), I did notice that there were a lot of more focus on the patient voice in the scientific sessions and the symposia. For example, one of the chairs of ATTD, Professor Battelino, said during the dedoc symposium “we are listening”. This was a huge testament to that we are being heard more than we have before. Also, Professor Garg, the 2023 recipient of the ATTD-Lilly Insulin Centennial Award, actually thanked his patients for teaching him about diabetes. I thought that was really beautiful. And I can’t wait to see more healthcare professionals adopt a similar point of view when it comes to their patients. Because we do have a lot of expertise! We live with this 24/7 365 every second of every day, and why not listen to us and hear what we’re going through and maybe learn from it too?

6. Innovation is found within the community (rather than the big players)🚨

Innovation within the diabetes space really lies within the community rather than the big players.

The big diabetes companies were magnificent to see on the exhibition floor; bright (blinding?) displays, fantastic coffee, presentations and select influencers. And also their technology and solutions on offer. All good! But there wasn’t much innovation there – they seemed to live on the same technology and offering the same, or very similar things as they have done the past five years. All of them are focusing on loops, and different automated insulin delivery systems. Even the newest sensors weren’t out to test, just view through a glass box.

Actually, the innovation lies within the diabetes community. There were a whole startup/tech corner on the exhibition floor, with several smaller players, yet much more impressive and agile in what they are offering. Everything from little syringes for either children or when you pump fails, cheaper insulin pumps, thermometer solutions to ensure that your insulin is being stored correctly. Several app solutions for carb counting, gamifications, exercise, diabetic foot, and help to analyse all this diabetes related data we have. There are so many great ideas!

Many of these are working on the interoperability of technology, which wasn\t a topic at all for the big companies. They want to keep theirs, well, theirs. So fingers crossed that more and more people can can take part of their of what these innovators have to offer.

Dedoc & the #dedocvoices

For a long time, people with diabetes were not really welcome at these big diabetes conferences, they were not really encouraged to join (heck, we’re probably still aren’t really encouraged to join, yet there we are 😇). The conferences are still mainly focused at health care professionals of different kinds.

HOWEVER, through the dedoc voices program, you can apply for scholarships to go to these big diabetes events. This is amazing because this is where the patient voice and our voices are so sorely needed. While in some sessions and interactions they’re perhaps not as appreciated as in others, it is still very worth it to be there and hear the new stuff from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. Truly, dedocs hashtag #nothingaboutuswithoutus is so SPOT ON!

Next time they have a call for applications for the dedoc voices program you’ll find it by following @dedoc_org. They are a fantastic team behind it! Apply for the next one because you are going to leave being so inspired, so happy, feeling amazing having rejoinined the community after these few hard years that we’ve had. So I highly recommend!

What is covered in the scholarship:
– travel costs/flights
– hotel accommodation
– entrance to the conference

What’s the catch? None, beyond that you have to promise to #payitforward with the things you learn, see and experience at the conference to your community, whether online or in real life. The ultimate bonus is that you get to network with all these big companies, big names within diabetes, tell them how it is living with diabetes, and you get to enjoy the fantastic community that we are all part of.

Question – would you want to join such a big diabetes conference? What is your favorite takeaway? Leave me a comment below!

I have saved all my Instagram Stories in a Stories Highlight on my profile, so you can see it all there!

And also, I wanted to highlight a fantastic summary post that I saw by my friend Michelle, where she has shared her top 10 takeaways from the same event.

Ps. I know. It’s been A WHILE. The last few years have been heavy, both collectively and personally. In the interest of preserving my mental health, I had to reprioritize. But now I feel like it’s time to get back. And I’m very happy that it now is the time.

Disclaimer
The only purpose of this video and website is to educate and to inform. It is no substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This video and website is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. Instead, we encourage you to discuss your options with a health care provider who specializes in treating Type 1 Diabetes.

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My EASD2020 Summary

Last week, I was fortunate enough to be able participate in EASD2020, through a scholarship from #dedocvoices The point of dedoc and dedocvoices is to give patients the chance to hear the new information and science from the source, as well as ask questions, under the motto of “Nothing about us, without us”, and I couldn’t agree more! What an amazing group to be part of, check them out and apply to join future conferences!

I’ve summarized my main take aways (although you may have seen some on social media throughout the event, too! (see below), trends, and, perhaps most intriguingly, my main questions and/or concerns…

Below is a short summary, in case a 16 minute video is too long! 😉

EASD2020 Summary – Hanna Boëthius

+ Surprisingly much talk about ketones, ketones as fuel & ketosis.
+ Epigenetics role in diabetes complications
+ Genetic subtypes of diabetes becoming more prevalent to be considered in the future.
+ Talk of health literacy, communication, individualised, personalisation, beyond medicine, integrated diabetes care, lifestyle, EDUCATION!
+ Loved getting to know new people, companies, tools, solutions.

Questions…
– Patient perspective and expertise not acknowledged much.
– Conventional loops still can’t do anything for me at this point.
– Time-in-Range was all the rage. I find that goals are too high? Average user A1c is 8.1% of a specific pump…?
– PWD’s can’t even reach those: “TIR 60% is great 3.9-10 mmol/l (70-180 mg/dl)” “Mild hyperglycaemia, between 10-13.9 mmol/l (180-252 mg/dl)” Is it education, not the treatment, that is lacking?
– I’m a BIG believer in healthy, happy, normal blood sugars for all PWD! Where do these oranges come from? If a healthy person had a blood sugar closer to 10/180, they would be diabetic, and not healthy!

Here are my daily take away posts, for more details:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFaAFH8h89g/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFces27h9dB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFfKAfQhG45/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFhvDYRh7sT/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFkgK1oBM99/

👉🏼What do you think? And what are your goal ranges for Time in Range? 👈🏼

Disclaimer
The only purpose of this video and website is to educate and to inform. It is no substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This video and website is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. Instead, we encourage you to discuss your options with a health care provider who specializes in treating Type 1 Diabetes.

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The Three Pillars of Diabetes Control

To control diabetes goes far beyond HbA1c’s. and looking beyond an A1C value is crucial!

The magical equation is: 👉🏼CONTROL = HbA1c + Time In Range + Standard Deviation 👈🏼

It really does matter HOW you achieve your A1C.

In this week’s #type1thursday, I talk all about the three pillars of diabetes control, what they are, what to look out for and how to refocus your efforts (if needed!).

Remember this video is not meant to discourage anyone or make you or anyone else feel guilty. It’s to highlight the flaws of information that we are given. Also, hopefully, it can act as a bit of motivation to take the best care of ourselves as we can!

The Three Pillars of Diabetes Control – Hanna Boëthius – Type 1 Thursday

Diabetes Control

HbA1c is currently the “gold standard” used to assess diabetes therapy and it reflects average blood glucose levels over a 8 – 12 week period. In turn, it can help to see the long-term risk of complications from high blood sugar. The test is a direct result of how well diabetes is managed. Sure, there are limitations, fluctuations are not shown, like having lots of lows or spiking high, but overall care is clearly visible.

Time in Range, in a single number, shows a lot about how blood glucose levels might vary throughout a day or over time. Time-in-range can also be understood as “hours per day” spent in-range. For example, 50% time-in-your-range means 12 hours per day spent in-range. This is easiest shown with a CGM, although it can be calculated manually, as well.

Standard Deviation measures the fluctuation of blood sugars. The smaller the value, the healthier it is. If SD is high, it’s not great for health, and you probably know it as roller coaster blood sugars. Whereas with a low SD, your blood sugar isn’t changing much throughout the day, which feels better!

Remember, the magical equation for better diabetes control is: 👉🏼CONTROL = HbA1c + Time In Range + Standard Deviation 👈🏼

Do you know your Standard Deviation, right now? If you feel comfortable with it, please let me know in the comments and let’s discuss your way to better control there (if needed!)

Disclaimer

The only purpose of this video and website is to educate and to inform. It is no substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This video and website is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. Instead, we encourage you to discuss your options with a health care provider who specializes in treating Type 1 Diabetes.

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Type 1 Thursday – Medication

Are you taking the right medication, or medications, to manage your diabetes?

We often just “take what we’re prescribed” in terms of medications. But is this always the best strategy? Is there anything you can do as a patient to influence your medication?

In this week’s Type 1 Thursday, this is exactly what I’m talking about, how we as patients can get more of an insight and clue into what we’re actually given, and should be taking.

Type 1 Thursday – Medication – Hanna Boëthius

Are you taking the medication you need to manage your diabetes as well as you can? Is there anything you should perhaps check with your health care professional? Let us know in a comment below!

Transcription

If you prefer to read this information, please find a text version below:

I can’t wait to discuss today’s very important, but this may be my shortest Thursday ever. The topic today is medication and although this is a super important thing when managing your diabetes, I am unfortunately not a medical professional. Ergo I am not allowed to give you any advice on this. (This is why this might be my shortest type on Thursday, ever.) But what I will give you are some general tips and tricks of what you can do and what you should look out for and when it comes to medication and your diabetes management, whether this is Type 1 or Type 2, it doesn’t really matter. Most of us need to, unfortunately, be on medication anyway, Type 1’s, of course, forever and ever until the day we die, we need to be on insulin, at least, if not other medications. Type 2’s can get away with not being medicated, in some cases. But in case you are, then this could be something for you as well.

The first thing to really make sure that you have is a great cooperation with your healthcare professional, because they, in comparison to me, can give you advice on medication, and medical issues in your management. I can only give you results, tell you things that I’ve done and that has worked for myself and that I know from other people’s experience, nothing else (glad we got that covered!) With your healthcare professional, you need to find out whether or not your medications are actually what you need. In many cases that I know of, are actually not given the correct medication, which they find out in hindsight. This is where you really have to speak up as a patient and tell your health care provider, whether that’s an endocrinologist, or CDE, or nurse or nurse practitioner – whatever you prefer to go to. You have to have an open conversation with them in terms of how you feel, how it’s affecting you, how it’s affecting your lifestyle, your energy and what your blood glucose values are, if you live with diabetes. This can both relate to the amount of a medicine that you’re already taking, or a type of medication that you’re taking. Do have someone that you can really trust on your team so that you can get the help that you need in terms of medication.

This medication, as I touched upon a little bit before, needs to fit into your lifestyle, as well. If it doesn’t fit you to feel sluggish, not energetic slow and just generally crappy, then definitely speak up, do something about it! There’s always, always, always something that you can do to feel better, as I usually say. And there’s most often another medication that you can try instead. Make sure that you get what is right for you for your lifestyle, for your body type, for everything that can have a an influence.

Let’s go more into insulin. Have you been given the correct types of insulin, for example? There are many types of insulin, of different efficacies, and how long they last in the body. How long insulin works in your body is very individual. For me, for example, my short acting insulin, that I’m on all the time through my insulin pump, last quite short in my body, it’s only two hours. That being said, the same insulin can last a lot longer in someone else’s body, even up to four or five hours. That’s something that you have to find out. Do you have the right type of long acting insulin, for example, for your life, for your diabetes, for the way that you want to feel? There are many different types of long acting insulin, and they have different aspects and attributions to them. Check out if you may be need to change yours or try another one for a while. In most cases you can try if you want and then go back to your normal routine if it doesn’t work out for you. I think, as patients, it’s very important that we have that choice. There are also different types of short acting insulins, rapid acting ones, which you need to find out which one works the best for you. We also have, for example, regular insulin, which covers, for example, protein very well. It can be a great tool to use if you are willing to try it. It doesn’t act like the other insulins, so don’t expect it. But it can be very helpful in certain cases, especially with a more protein rich way of eating.

When was the last time you did some basal testing? When was the last time you did a proper basal test to check your basal insulin? Whether that comes from a pump, or long acting insulin is accurately dosed for you, your life, and your diabetes. For example, someone maybe more insulin sensitive at times of the day or more insulin resistant at other points of the day. We have to make sure that the basal insulin is the correct amount for you. This is best done with through fasting and you check your blood sugar every hour throughout a 24 hour time period, this can be split up in different days, as well. Anyway, I’ll get to that in a different chapter in a couple of weeks time. Basal testing is very important to figure out if you’re doing the right thing with the insulin.

Another thing is to pre bolus. Do you need to pre bolus for your meals? Maybe check it out, if you feel comfortable with it, you can try around a little bit with pre bolusing before meals, and see if you get better blood sugar results through that.

Other, not directly diabetes related medications, that you may or may not be prescribed. Again, you have to work with your healthcare provider and see what can be maybe improved, maybe added, maybe taken away. Being diabetic, one of the milder complications can be high blood pressure. Maybe you are on blood pressure medication already, maybe you need to be on one? Maybe you need to be an ACE inhibitor, which has been shown to sometimes protect the kidneys from damage, for example. And it’s a statin really necessary in your specific case? Discuss with your doctor, and bring papers, bring your research along and they usually try to accommodate, or, rather, should try to accommodate you. But it doesn’t mean that everyone does, of course. A medication like Metformin, for example, maybe it could be beneficial for you? Maybe you don’t need it anymore?

Again, you have to have an open dialogue with your healthcare provider. That’s my main point when it comes to medications. I can give you ideas of things to think of and bring forward to your doctor, but I cannot give you advice on exactly how to do it.

Are you taking the medication you need to manage your diabetes as well as you can? Is there anything you should perhaps check with your health care professional? Let us know in a comment below!

Ps. Do you want to learn from amazing medical professionals at Europe’s healthiest event? Join us in Mallorca, Spain in November at The Low Carb Universe 2019!

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Type 1 Thursday – Injections vs Insulin Pump?

Today’s topic is MDI (multiple daily injections) vs insulin pump – which is better?

This comes after a question I got on an Instagram post, where I was asked if it’s necessary to use a pump as a Type 1 Diabetic?

My short answer is DEFINITELY NO! If you achieve great results and reach your goals, it doesn’t matter what kind of insulin delivery system you use. The main point is that you have normal, healthy, happy blood sugars.

Watch the video (or read the transcription below, if that’s more your thing) to find out my pros and cons of MDI and insulin pumps.

I want this to be a conversation starter, so why don’t you let me know YOUR pros and cons in a comment below? And, what do you use to deliver insulin? Let me know!

Transcription

The age old question for most people living with insulin dependent diabetes, is the question I recently got on my Instagram post.

The question was about whether it is necessary to use an insulin pump, or if multiple daily injections, either though a pen or syringe is better for diabetic?

This is very difficult to answer straight off the bat, because this is a highly individual topic. In my opinion, the short answer is that it doesn’t really matter what you use to deliver the insulin, that you do need as a Type 1 Diabetic, as long as you do. If your diabetes is well managed with maybe a completely crazy version of either MDI or insulin pump or whatever, then hey, that’s fantastic. You found what works for you, and that is great.

Today, I wanted to have a conversation starter with you, which we can happily continue in the comments below. I wanted to outline my pros and cons for both MDI, which is multiple daily injections, you deliver your insulin by injecting yourself every so often with both basal and bolus insolence. And also pros and cons for the insulin pump that I’ve noticed for the past couple of years. Maybe this can help you make up your mind, maybe there you find out something that you want to try, and if you do, please let me know in a comment.

My own story in regards to my insulin delivery method has been a little bit jumpy. Well, I was actually flat out refusing to have an insulin pump for so many years. I had had diabetes for 27 years before I finally agreed with my diabetes nurse that now I was ready to try. And this despite health care professionals suggesting an insulin pump to me, for the majority of my upbringing, (well, maybe not in the 80s. They weren’t super common back then.) since they have become more common, they have been suggest to me every once in a while, and I’ve always refused. Because, and this was the biggest con for me the insulin pump back then, was that there’s something always attached to me. I was afraid that I would feel sicker than I have to be. And I was afraid that I’d be constantly reminded of that I am maybe not as chronically healthy as I would like myself to be or as other people may be. (I am, however, chronically awesome!)

So I was very, very hesitant and very afraid of getting myself my first insulin pump. I opted for a tubeless patch pump, which then changed into a tubed pump, about one and a half years ago, I took the step towards a tubed pump for a variety of reasons, which we can happily discuss, and maybe a little bit later. I’ve done multiple daily injections for a lot longer than I have lived with an insulin pump constantly attached to my body.

I wanted to outline few pros and cons of them each.

So let’s start with MDI, as that’s where I actually have most of my personal experience. I want to start with the pros. This is a biggie for me, and for very many other people who live with diabetes, the freedom factor you have with multiple daily injections. You don’t have anything attached to your body, unless you’re wearing a CGM, but they are a lot smaller and maybe you don’t want two things connected to your body at all times.

Hand with this goes also that it makes the illness more invisible. Because you don’t have a pager looking thing stuck to your hip or your clothes somewhere. It becomes a very much more visible illness to live with, with an insulin pump.

If you do multiple daily injections, you can also take a lot more different types of insulin, because different insulins act in differently during different times. For example, as Dr. Bernstein always recommends, is that you take regular insulin, or R insulin, to cover protein, and the protein spike that comes a few hours after you eat a lot of protein. This is easier to do if you are on MDI then having to remember to also have another shot when you’re on an insulin pump. You can also then take fast acting insulin, to which you have to correct high blood sugar or for covering for carbs. Finally, you can choose which long acting insulin that you combine this with in a way more flexible way. When it comes to types of insulin that you take, you can find a routine and a regime that works for you. And for your diabetes, to manage it properly.

MDI can also be seen as being a bit simpler, you take an injection and you’re done. Instead of having to care about every time you remove a piece of clothing or something that the tubing gets stuck or you snag the the infusion set… If you get the benefits and reach your goals with MDI, then why not stay with that?

I think it can also be argued that MDI is cheaper than being on the pump. With the pump comes very many things that you have to pay for, such as rent of the pump, for example. I have to pay rent every month for having my pump. All the supplies for it also cost a lot. It’s not just the insulin that costs! With MDI, either you use syringes that are reasonably cheap, or you have insulin pens that most people with diabetes actually get for free.

Also, from a very, from very superficial point of view, because sometimes you need to be that, too. On MDI, you can wear anything, and you won’t see any devices poking or sticking out, or being in the way, or there’s a seam or there’s something that is just obstructing either the pump or the tubing. With MDI, you are freer in that way too.

I would conclude that with the main point of the pros of MDI is freedom.

The cons of MDI! I find it in hindsight, it is quite inconvenient to be on MDI for myself. I can only speak for myself here! But every time I had to correct, every time it’s time for the the basal shot, I had to pull up my shirt, or pull down my pants… For me, it became quite inconvenient, because I had to inject myself about 10 times a day, before I swapped to the pump. That was a big sales argument for me, to be honest, not having to pierce myself with a needle 10 times a day, only do it once every three days, that sounded like heaven! That’s why I went for it, actually. You also have to remember to take your basal insulin at the right time. It became a huge effort for me to try to remember when and how and how much, which dose at this time of day…

What else I see as a con for MDI, in my opinion, is that you have a lot more to carry along with you when you leave the house. An insulin pump is always on you. So that’s it for the insulin thing. Then you need a blood sugar meter, maybe some glucose tabs and that’s fine. That’s a lot easier to carry then two types of pens and the pen needles and blah, blah, blah, for me it becomes a lot more carrying along. That being said, for most people is not a problem.

Another, slightly inconvenient part of MDI, is that you have to expose body parts. Usually this is not a problem at all, whether you’re female, male, whatever. But – imagine what is it really, really cold, and you have to like take up your shirt, and you feel that icy wind against your skin. Then you also have to inject yourself. I don’t miss that at all. I really do enjoy the fact that for example, if I am out and about around town or something, I can just take up my insulin pump, I can look like I’m texting (or whatever ignorant people choose to believe). That’s how easily I’ve saved my life with more insulin if that’s what I need, or turned down the basal if that’s what I need. But it becomes a little bit inconvenient for me to expose body parts here and there, especially when I’m out and about.

The importance of rotating sites becomes very, very big on MDI, because we all have those favorite spots that we like to inject ourselves in. And that’s fine. But you do have to rotate your sites! I noticed for myself, that it is a lot easier for me to rotate pump sites than it was to rotate injection sites. It even got so bad that no one could touch my upper thighs for a while because I had just injected so much long acting insulin into them.

For the MDI cons, in conclusion, inconvenient to me.

Let’s move over to the pros of the insulin pump. So the absolute highlight for being on an insulin pump for me is that it is very, very flexible. I can be very flexible with my basal rate, for example. If I notice that I’m trending upwards, I can change it, I can add on a bit of temporary basal to see if that’s the problem. And also with the bolus, you have the different bolus profiles. Instead of, as I was talking about in MDI, you can use different insulins for this, you use the same insulin the whole time, just in different profiles, so to speak. For me, it’s a lot easier to just remember that I have one tool to work with and I can do different things with this same one thing.

My second favorite pump benefit, it is micro-bolusing. I can take bolus’ in the size of 0.1 unit, for example. If I really want to, I can do a 0.05 bolus on some pumps, making it much more precise. This is not possible on MDI, because there you have the minimum is half a unit. So it depends a little bit on how tight you want to steer your diabetes ship. I really like the fact that I can really micro manage my blood sugars, to a certain extent, not overly so of course, because that becomes ridiculous on all other levels. But it is very nice that I can do a micro bolus every now and then. When I see the CGM trending up, I’m like, oh, let’s try with 0.X units and see if it comes a little bit down. If not, then I have to redo and recalculate. But it is a good check for me to see what’s wrong.

As I mentioned before, it is very easy to handle when you are on the go. You can even take care of your health and blood sugar during a business meeting (I have done that many times before), and when you’re out with friends, if you are in a busy street. Or imagine, for example, it’s rush hour at the farmers market and you feel or you get a notification for your CGM that your blood sugar is a little bit high, you would like to correct but you can’t really find a quiet corner. With an insulin pump, it’s a lot easier because you just click a few buttons and you’re done. You’ve taken care of the situation and you can move on with your day.

To a certain extent, I also find that it’s more efficient for me to treat and manage my diabetes with an insulin pump. I don’t use nearly half of the insulin as I do before. I also don’t spend as much time managing my diabetes as I did with MDI. Also, of course, if you are a data nerd, you have a lot of data to take care of and see and have insights and analyze and see trends. And the ever so important tech integration, more and more pumps now do integrate with a CGM, so that you can get both things at in the same device. And also, the looping possibilities that are coming up now that are very, very exciting to everyone who lives with diabetes.

The cons of insulin pumps (yes, yes, they are. There are cons with these ones too, it’s not all just roses and happy flower dances.)

I already mentioned one of them, which is that this is something that you always have attached to your body. And that can be very draining, both emotionally and physically and mentally, for some. It’s not always easy to always be connected in that way.

The tubing does, if you have a tubed pump, get caught on stuff like door handles, and other things, clothing, everything. It’s not really the most maybe smooth thing in the world to live with, you do have to watch out and make sure that your tubing is inside of your clothing, preferably, so that you don’t snag it somewhere.

I find that using an insulin pump produces a lot more trash than MDI. I’m not really happy about that, but as it is a lot easier for me to manage my diabetes with the help of an insulin pump, I keep with it, and I hope that the insulin pump provider companies will at some point really reconsider their recycling policies, so that you can maybe even send that stuff back so that they can take care of it. And not to mention Dexcom, please get your act together! But that’s another video. 😉

One problem with insulin pumps is that if it for some reason, malfunctions, and that can be the site malfunctions, the battery runs out, or the insulin goes bad or the machine get some sort of hiccup. If it somehow malfunctions, you don’t get any insulin at all and that can become dangerous quite quickly. That is one of the bigger cons for an insulin pump.

For me, airport security, or generally when you travel, insulin pumps can sometimes get a little bit interesting. They will want to swipe them for explosives. For certain airports, I do have to take more time into consideration when I travel through there because they just don’t know really what it is yet. It is unfortunately becoming more and more common, meaning it is less of a problem. But sometimes I could happily maybe be on MDI for a trip!

What do you have to add in terms of pros and cons for MDI and pros and cons for insulin pump? What do you use it to deliver insulin?

Please let me know in a comment below. I will be happy to chat with you there.

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Swedish LCHF Cruise 2016

Wow, where do I even start?

After an amazingly interesting, fun and touching 24 hours on the Baltic Sea, there are so many impressions to take in.

All the fantastic people I’ve met and that have inspired me. The success stories. All the incredible speakers. The community. The energy. The happiness.

To attend the world’s largest LCHF cruise was a very intensive experience, filled with many emotions, meetings and laughter. New lessons were mixed with reminders of how things are  and how they should be.

The LCHF cruise of 2016 started with all of us checking in at the Tallink Silja Line terminal building in Stockholm, Sweden. We were heading to Turku, Finland, where we’d turn around and go back, meaning a total travel time of 23 hours.

As soon as we got onboard the “Galaxy” dinner was served in the form of a special LCHF buffet, where everyone could find great and healthy food that they liked. With 600 participants, this could not have been done in a better way.

With our stomachs full and our mood happy, we went to one of the ship’s bar areas, where we mingled with old and new friends, enjoying the company thoroughly. We didn’t stay all too long, because the following day was going to be very intense.

The lectures started promptly at 9am the following morning, just after we had left Turku, Finland, to head back to Stockholm, Sweden. After a lovely and inspiring welcome speech by the organisers Karin Eldh, Margareta Lundström and Bo Zackrisson, it was time for our first speaker, Sweden’s own DietDoctor, Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt.

He told us about the “Food revolution”, and the explosion of type 2 diabetes currently underway in the world. Even if you’ve heard Dr. Eenfeldt speak before, he has an amazing ability to update his presentations to the newest information available. He’s a great speaker and has a very easy way of speaking and teaching the world the information it needs to hear.

Ann Fernholm, author of “My Sweet Heart”, was next on stage, and brought with her an incredibly interesting topic; children and food. How can we change our children’s food habits so that fast food doesn’t become a usual part of their diet? What should babies eat? I’m certain there were many parents in the audience wishing they had known all of this when their children were really small! Ann also spoke about “Kostfonden”, which aims to coordinate impartial research into the effect of food on different illnesses. Their previous project was/is about IBS and food, and their next will be about type 1 diabetes and the role of food, something that touched me very deeply.

After a quick coffee break (with heavy cream and/or coconut oil!) it was time to hear Ralf Sundberg speak. His presentation was about sponsorships within research studies, and how the result of these are therefore often very biased. He also touched upon the cholesterol myths we’ve been told for the past few decades and how these are used to make us take more medications. It was interesting to see how the results of the studies that the cholesterol guidelines are based on came about.

It was time for lunch, which we ate at one of the ship’s restaurants. Instead of dessert we listened to the journalist Henrik Ennart, who spoke about the research behind his book called “The Blue Food”. He has visited so called “Blue Zones” in the world, where inhabitants live to be older than the average, often over 100 years. These zones can be found on Sardinia, or in Greece, for example. Mr. Ennart presented his findings in terms of commonalities between these places, as well as the differences. The food was not the same everywhere, for example, whereas the fact that they ate clean food that they had grown themselves, was.

The funniest speech of the cruise was held by Nisse Simonson. He has an amazing energy and ability to make serious facts into something funny. He spoke about the impact of sugar, the role of sugar and how to live a long, healthy life. After concluding his talk with Peggy Lee’s “Is that all there is?” he almost received standing ovations.

After Mr. Simonson we had to make a choice between a lecture bloc called “If I can do it, you can too!” or “We want to know more”.

The first one was 3 of Sweden’s biggest weight loss success stories. Lindha Vikström, Johan Falk and My Klasson shared their inspiring and touching personal stories of how low carb and LCHF has helped them half their weights that didn’t leave anyone unphased. These three are the definition of determined weightloss heroes!

The second set of lectures were Mats Humble and the duo Karl Hultén and Cecilia Nisbeth Nilsson who shared about their expertise. Mats Humble spoke about the most important, and most forgotten, vitamin of them all, vitamin D. He provided a lot of facts and insights, I think many left the lecture with an urgent notion of the need for vitamin D. Ms. Nilsson and Mr. Hultén presented their “Autoimmune Cookbook”, the first of its kind on the Swedish market, and showed us the theory and delicious recipes from their book.

After the last speakers had been applauded off the stage, we met at the BUffet restaurant where it was time for a snack, some coffee and lots of good byes, as well as trying to find and talk to the last few ones we hadn’t managed to find yet.

A HUGE thank you to the organizers of the Scandinavian LCHF Cruise, it was amazingly well organized and incredibly interesting. It was fantastic to meet all the great people and listen to enriching presentations. Next year I’ll definitely be there again!

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Diabetes Lies

How do you feel when you find out that someone has been lying to you?

You feel cheated, stupid and end up having trust issues.

It doesn’t even have to be full-on lying, it can also be a few mis-truths, or not telling you the whole story so that you can’t put things into context.

For 26 years I believed a lot of things about diabetes that I now know are untrue. For 26 out of 30 years I believed that I knew less than my doctors, that I couldn’t trust my instincts and that I was just doing it all wrong.

And all along my mother has said that “you’re always your own best doctor”. Boy, oh boy is she right! But when you’re told, repeatedly by people who “know better” that this isn’t the case and that you should really be doing it their way, which is usually straight out of a medical textbook, you start losing faith in your own thinking, reasoning and ways. What about what works for YOU as an individual? We both know that diabetes is a very individual disease and there are as many options to manage it well as there are people who have it.

It wasn’t until I was finally brave enough to look my own health in the eye and decide to take it into my own hands that I noticed that I truly had the power to change my own health destiny. This was an incredibly difficult step to take, not to mention scary.

I had been told for far too long, and far too many times, that what I was about to do I would probably die from. Straight away. This was clearly a blatant lie, I’m still here and I’m doing better health-wise than ever.

But what I’m really here to do now is to stop the lies. Stop the untruths that are clearly ruining more people’s lives than they have to. They’ve had their time on stage, it’s time for the truth.

Do you ever feel like there has to be more to it than just “eat like everyone else and take more insulin”?

Have you lost a little hope to ever get diabetes more controlled?

Diabetes can often put you in a life or death situation. Sometimes more often than you’re willing to give it credit for. This is why it’s so important to stop being lied to, to trust your gut feeling and to realize that more insulin isn’t automatically the only answer there is for you to control diabetes better.

I know what it’s like to being close to giving up completely, just do what the doctors tell you (because-they-know-best) and deep down wonder “why me?”. To play a game of Russian roulette with your life at stake – every day. It sucks. It feels so hopeless and there’s no end in sight. At the same time, you don’t have the energy to do anything about it, either. Mainly due to your fluctuating blood sugars, where curves closely resemble something like a roller coaster. You’re stuck in a well, looking for the rope you need to get out.

In order for you to actually get out, and here comes the major suckage, you have to take responsibility for your situation AND your own health. You need to look your own health in the eye and show it who is boss. Plainly put, it’s about going from not giving a shit to giving tons of shits.

But you can only get there if and when you know the true facts. The real things that will help you feel better, be healthier, happier and more blood sugar stable. The information that takes you off the roller coaster and puts you in the spinning tea cups, if you will.

Diabetes will never be completely at bay, especially not if you have Type 1. But with a few changes of food, simple tricks and lifehacks it can get so much better.

You just have to realize how to make the shift of going from doing-it-by-the-book-but-it-doesn’t-work to ah-this-is-awesome. With this shift, you choose to be healthy and happy.

A great first step could be to join the webinar I’m hosting on Monday, 13th July 2015, where I’ll be talking about 5 major lies your doctor tells you about diabetes. This is your chance to learn how to help yourself to a better life with diabetes. It’s not hopeless, if I can do it, so can you.

Sign up for the webinar here.

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LCHF Pancake Recipe

Do you remember when you were little and your mom would make you these amazing, perfectly fried pancakes?

Well, I do. And I’ve been missing them a little since I cut out grains from my diet, a good few years ago now.

Throughout the years, I’ve been trying one low carb pancake recipe after the other, but they never quite get to where I would like them.

They’re either too soggy, too thick (I much prefer crepes to american style pancakes!), taste too much like nuts, don’t contain enough fat, or, frankly, are too complicated to make with ingredients that you have to really go on a hunt for.

Call me the Goldilocks of Pancakes if you will, but finding an easy, yummy, healthy, low carb pancake recipe has not been easy. I might as well have gone out for that hunt of those ingredients no human has in their pantry ever.

I’ve recently given up a bit on searching for The Pancake Recipe. Too much milk products isn’t an option, neither are fake ingredients. Or combinations of ingredients that give them a funky flavor. No, thanks!

Until now.

I’ve quite frankly completely stumbled upon what might just be The Complete Pancake Lovers Awesome Recipe For Low Carb High Fat Pancakes!

I was first alerted to this recipe through a fantastic Facebook group I’m in, and thought it sounded a little weird, to be honest. “Egg and cream cheese, that’s it?! They’ll never keep together and the’ll taste like, well eggs and cream cheese. Perhaps sometime when I have n o t h i n g else at home.” my mind started blabbering.

That day was the other day (although we had tons of other yummy food at home). Turns out, they hold together just fine, almost better than “normal” pancakes. And the taste… I bet you anything no one would realize they’re not “normal” pancakes if I served them these. They taste exactly like I remember pancakes tasting!

 

lchf_pancakes

Yummy LCHF Pancakes

 

This recipe is from the wonderful blog I Breathe I’m Hungry, where you can find the recipe in all its glory and originality.

This is my version:

Real LCHF Pancakes

Makes: Four pancakes/crepes

You’ll need

  • 2 oz (60 grams) cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon xylitol (or sweetener of your choice) (this can also be completely skipped, they’ll still be awesome)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (because who doesn’t love cinnamon?!)

Do this

  1. Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth
  2. Let rest for 2 minutes
  3. Pour some batter into a hot pan with some melted butter. Cook for 2 minutes until golden, flip and cook 1 minute on the other side.
  4. Serve with some fresh berries, cinnamon, sweetener if you want, lemon, almond butter, butter, bacon… The world’s your oyster and the sky’s the limit!

 

lchf_pancake

LCHF Pancakes with Raspberries, Coconut cream and Cinnamon

 

Approx nutrition info per batch:

344 calories
29g fat
2.5g net carbs
17g protein

Enjoy these amazing pancakes!

Hope they can become a staple in your food routine, it’s always nice with new inspiration.

Do you have a favorite pancake recipe you want to share with me? Comment below!

 

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Making Lists

Do you have to make shopping lists when you go grocery shopping, just so you won’t forget half of what you went out to get in the first place?

Or, have you ever underestimated the power of a to do list, and missed to call that one person you really had to speak to?

No? It’s just me then.

This is of course a super simplistic way of looking at it, but the main message stays the same: unless you write down what you want, it will be difficult for you to get it. Or get there.

How do you keep track of everything that needs to be done?

For me, it’s definitely the easiest to make a list out of it.

Until what needs to be done becomes a routine, it’s very difficult to remember all the things that require your attention. (Not least if you’re handling something like diabetes.)

And, if there’s something outside of yourself that you want and you don’t formulate clearly what it is, how will other people ever know how to give it to you? And also, how do you get a crystal clear view of exactly it is you want?

Before going on last month’s Low Carb Cruise, I felt a bit nervous about it. First of all, it’s a long trip and secondly, I was about to be in the same room as so many of my Heroes!

I talked to a brilliant friend of mine about it, and she told me to write a list of the people I wanted to talk to during the cruise.

“This is so silly”, I thought to myself, “what’s the use of a list?!”

But, as the excellent friend she is, she pushed me to do it anyway. And am I glad I did!

Lo-and-behold, when I found my list again a few days after we had gotten onto dry land again (but my body was clearly still on the ship, everything was swaying), I had accomplished Every. Single. Thing. on that list! I had talked to all the people I wanted to talk to, and a good few more!

This close-to-obsessive list writing of course doesn’t just apply to rather mundane things, like grocery shopping, or super exciting things, like making sure you grab the chance to talk to your heroes. It’s also absolutely useful for everyday things, like what to bring on your holiday, or things like where you want to be in a year from now, what you’d like your A1c to be and what kind of tools you want and need to simplify your life. For example. Not to mention the good old to do list!

Lists don’t have to be exclusively used for practical things, you can very well use them for things like your emotions and actions to. In that case it’s called a to be list.

What do you want to be like today? How would you like to act in certain situations? And, how do you want to feel?

If you know what (or who) makes you feel good, why don’t you ask for it?

And how do you formulate said wishes, thoughts, questions and desired actions? If you leave it at just a thought, you most likely will forget it. If you see it on and off it’s easier to focus on it. You and I both know that any goal you have is so much easier to reach if you know what you want and you state it clearly, making you focus on it.

Remember that goals like “one day I’d love to be able to go skydiving” just won’t cut it either. It’s too general! Your goal needs to be a SMART one, Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. The one about skydiving then becomes “In 3 months I want to have the appointment booked for skydiving, providing my doctor says it’s ok at least 2 weeks before”

Then the challenge is just how to get there.

What do you make lists of?

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