celebration Archives - Diabetes Counselling Online

Guest blog: To put yourself in the way of beauty

February 18, 2015 by Helen-Edwards 1 Comment

Guest blog from Georgia

I’m one of those people who gets inspired easily, and I’ve wanted to see the movie ‘Wild’ for a while now. I have this tendency to adapt to films I love or am inspired by and want to incorporate a part of them in my life.

Hence Jurassic Park > My trip to Africa, no I’m not insane and yes, I do have my own life. But I have to say as inspiring as Reese Witherspoon was in this film, I’m not prepared to hike 1000 miles through rain, heat and snow, although the scenery looked great.

I was inspired however, by this quote that was said throughout the movie “To put yourself in the way of beauty” – the more you think about it, the more powerful it gets.

There was one part of the movie (I promise; no spoiler alert) where Reese was mad at her mother for dancing around the kitchen, slamming “we have no money, our house is falling apart and we will both be paying off student loans for the rest of our lives, what do you have to dance about”.

Her response was, you can either stress about it or learn to love regardless and enjoy the beauty of life. So many times I freak out, over things out of my control and lately I have been becoming slowly more inspired by the raw beauty of life – when I walk to work I don’t look down at my phone I look up at the buildings and the people on their way to work and think of what their story may be. I love seeing people jump in and out of coffee shops getting their morning fix to get them through the day.
Because if you look around every once in a while things aren’t all that bad.

Remember how I mentioned, I was going to see a new Endocrinologist? Well I did and he was fabulous, there wasn’t a moment I felt guilty (nor should I have). Not only was it the first time I left without wanting to cry or feel I needed to change everything about my life, but it has reminded me of how well I am doing. Not often that happens, where I feel accomplished that I am doing my best. It’s a strange thing, where it’s not something you chose to have, yet it’s a constant feeling of failing and I know I am not the only one who feels like this.

I also think that to everyone out there living with diabetes and who have that constant ‘not good enough’ feeling, get rid of it, it’s not doing you any favours!

Adéu
Georgia

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Diabetes and the F word

February 13, 2015 by Helen-Edwards 5 Comments

The “F” word is common when you live with diabetes – Food, Fear, Frustration, Friendships, Fitness, Forever, Fingers, Feelings, Foresight (is always a good thing), Forgetting (to take your medication,or if you have taken it!) not Forgetting (ever, that you have diabetes), Family (you need them on your team), Forgiving yourself (never blame yourself – for anything), For goodness sake and yes, the big four letter F bomb and yes I am dropping it so apologies if you have a no swear policy – Fuck it all – that is definitely an often used word when it comes to diabetes in my house!

Do you have any to add?

Yesterday, as I was waiting out an hour or so to eat, after making my very healthy weight watchers fruit and natural yoghurt dessert and finding my levels still sitting at 14 mmol after 2 hours and a bolus, I watched my family getting on with their lives. Grabbing some food without thought. Not needing to prick their finger every 30 minutes to see if they were coming down enough to eat yet. Not deciding that maybe a pump site change was needed, again. Not worrying about whether they would now crash, or feeling totally pissed off that they couldn’t eat yet and could just look longingly at their bowl of yoghurt and kick the cat who also was looking longingly at it….The busyness of life just goes on while those of us with diabetes face our silent struggles or sometimes not so silent.

And in that moment I felt so alone.

Do you have those moments?

That is the main reason I started Diabetes Counselling Online all those years ago – to stop people like me, like you, like us – from feeling alone. It has been a long journey with ups and downs and we are still here. Diabetes Counselling Online will change again in a few months when our funding ends. But you can guarantee that we will still be here in some form with that same goal – telling stories, sharing support and hoping that we can all feel a little less alone.

If you have ever had any connection with us over the last 15 years we would love it if you can fill out our short survey below. It will help us tell our funding body what we have been doing well and not so well. Oh another F word- Funding- and Thank you (well not an F but we are so grateful to have had this funding support).

thank you sweet friends and here’s to the best F word of all – Friendship – oh and that Featured image of man’s best Friend? That’s because life should so much be a party, diabetes or not- go forward and live it lovelies

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XWF355B

Helen

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Guest post from Georgia: Fresh as a daisy!

January 19, 2015 by Helen-Edwards Leave a Comment

Sharing a guest blog from Georgia today

Helen

I have got motivated this week, it is 2015 – a fresh start, my fresh start. After a long (needed) break it was go time, 2015 hit me with full force of determination; I was going to make this year mine.
I started with the compulsory booking of appointments, at first hair & nails, then the medical side of things: Endocrinologist (a new one, for a new start); Podiatrist (my annual care plan appointment); Eye test (my biannually care plan appointment); blood test for my 3 monthly Hba1c and an appointment with my GP to get my referral for my new Endo.

I have a feeling, after a messy 2014 this year is going to deliver the goods, a year to achieve and work towards my goals and get my Fashion Blog well and truly off the ground and get everything (diabetes wise) in the best shape possible.

Not that it is in a bad place at the moment, I feel great but there’s always room for improvement, like my quote of the week “Always be a work in progress”, you can never stop bettering yourself.

A new Endo means a chance to have someone understand me more and to hear my side of things before looking at levels, a new set of eyes to provide me with help and support. It took a while for me to agree to find a new Endo, I was adamant that I could handle everything myself (I’m still confident I could), but it doesn’t hurt and who knows my stubborn self may learn a thing or two. I am going in to this with no qualms what so ever. After my last experience I hold no expectations to my new doctor, but hope that this time round it doesn’t end in guilty tears.

On another note, I am all about challenges – I get stressed when I have so much to do, but I never feel satisfied until my diary is full of commitments. I like being busy and I love challenging myself and investing myself in new tasks.

This year I am focusing on:
1. Getting fitter than ever
2. Having more adventures
3. Possibly undertaking an external course
4. Doing a first Aid Course
5. Expanding my/our Fashion Blog.

I advise you all to make this year your year! I turn 22 this year and I read this great article saying how your 20’s are your selfish years and your 30’s are your years to plan for the rest of your life, me being me I want to make my 20’s both of those things.

But most importantly, I am focusing on me, investing my time on those who I truly care about and who truly care about me. High school was years ago and I am feeling myself grow up and change from the person I was 3 years ago – I am still the same child who dances to One Direction around my room, and my values haven’t changed, but I have and so has my attitude – all for the better of course.

2015 baby!

Au Revoir
Georgia.

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Tis the Season

December 16, 2014 by georgia Leave a Comment

It’s a given, around Christmas time to experience a rollercoaster of emotions. For some it is the most dreaded time of the year, for others it’s the time they love most – then there are the majority who are plonked in the middle of the scale and just go along for the ride.

People are grumpier, busier, stressed, complain about money, complain about family. It’s a difficult holiday that is growing more and more materialistic each year.

One thing that people don’t express enough is the gift of giving. Sure, that’s all Christmas is – giving, giving, giving – then complaining about money. However most are not giving for the right reasons, it becomes an obligatory gift, one that lacks sentimental value and love.

So I may have spoiled my loved ones this year, to be honest I couldn’t help it and as my friend explained to me the ‘Languages of Love’ how everyone expresses their love in different ways, I was told my way was to give generously. I thought this was a beautiful thing and it got me thinking about giving and love.

At work we did a Kris Kringle, ironically me (the trainee) got the boss, go figure! I was stumped at what to get her with a $10.00 budget. Then I remembered a gift I had received for my 21^st, it was a ‘breakfast for the school’ on me in South Africa, a country that I have a love affair with.

So, this year for my Kris Kringle, I got my boss a $10.00 voucher from Oxfam so that in her name – a family will receive water for a whole month.

This year, my message to you all is if you are giving – make sure it is sent with love, it doesn’t need to be overly excessive in cost but if the meaning is there, they will see it and it will be cherished a whole lot more – I can assure you.

Another thing is, take some time to reflect on not just your life, but what is going on in the world, all the major moments we as a world have gone through, from the missing Malaysian Airlines to the sadly lost Cricketer Phillip Hughes, we as a world have had many heartaches this year and continue to do so. Think of all the families Christmas Day that will go without food and water.

It is time to start living more outside our own immediate lives, start thinking about what else is going on in the world and if there is anything you can do to help. After all we are one world, undefined by walls and should start living a more ‘community’ based life. This Christmas, wish your neighbour you never speak to a happy New Year or tip the struggling busker and give back to our world.

And if you are struggling for gift ideas, the Oxfam shop has lots of ideas where you can give two gifts at once!

Until next time,

Georgia

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Christmas kindness and mindfulness

December 15, 2014 by Sally Leave a Comment

Christmas can be a tricky time for people with diabetes. As the dietitian for Diabetes Counselling Online I’d like to remind you all to be kind to yourself over the Christmas period and remember that diabetes is not a game of perfect – it’s what you do most of the time that makes the difference, especially as we’re doing it for the rest of our lives. In today’s blog I’d like to share some ideas by other dietitians and offer a few tips that will hopefully help you to be mindful of your wellbeing this Christmas/New Year period.

As we all have different types of diabetes, using different or no medications, and with so many variations in our day to day lives, I encourage you to check with your health professional before making any changes to your usual routine. These tips are meant as a guideline, so please use good sense in applying them.

Let’s start with a couple of previous Diabetes Counselling Online blogs I’ve written on food for Christmas.

A fresh look at the Christmas meal reminds us that we can choose to provide foods that although Christmassy, do not need to be laden with fat, salt and sugar.

Colours of Christmas – enjoying the festive foods with no regrets helps us to understand about shopping for Christmas treats, and a whole lot more including these great Christmassy food comparisons that help make your choices more mindful.

Did you know that:

A cupful of halved fresh apricots (155g) has only 10g carb (half a serve) and 265kJ/64 calories.
A cupful of cherries without seeds (145g) has 15.8g carb (one serve) and 363kJ/87 calories.
A cupful of strawberries with no stems (150g) has only 6g carb (possibly not worth counting!) and 162kJ/39 calories.
A scoop of low-fat vanilla icecream (50g) has 11.4g of low-GI carb and 258kJ/62 calories.

Compared with:

1 small slice of a Christmas fruit pudding (50g) has 30.4g carb (2 serves) and 785jK/188 calories (plus loads of saturated fat and sodium)
1 small fruit mince pie (40g) has 26.8g carb (2 serves) and 802kJ/192 calories (plus loads of fat and sodium too)

Dietitian Christmas articles

Speaking of being mindful, these next few blogs are written by Accredited Practising Dietitians (APDs) that focus on choices (not diabetes choices, but healthier choices) and there are some great tips in them that I’d like to share with you.

First up, I love these mantras by APD Deb Blakley from this article in The Scoop on Nutrition. Deb reminds us that we should enjoy ourselves at Christmas. Deb says it’s all about good food and good company. Her mantras are very sensible to ensure that we remain kind to ourselves and to others.

The Australian Healthy Food Guide magazine has also shared a few Christmassy articles to help us to maintain our health while we enjoy the Christmas celebrations. This one by APD Caitlin Reid provides 21 tips to stay healthy over the festive season. That’s a lot of tips! Have a read as even if only one or two mean something to you, then you’ll be in a better place.

This one by APD Zoe Wilson is entitled ‘Surviving the Silly Season’. In it Zoe offers 3 quick tips to help you make it through to the New Year without regrets.

And the last of the Australian Healthy Food Guide blogs is by APD Brooke Longfield who talks about managing alcoholic intake which we know adds empty calories as well as disrupting our diabetes management. Brooke has some very helpful ideas here.

Last but not least is a blog by APD Megan McClintock. I have to say this is my favourite one because its focus is on kindness and mindfulness which is something that can be so powerful when we’re managing a chronic health condition such as diabetes. Megan shows us which questions we should be asking ourselves and reminds us that there’s no point feeling guilt or being negative with our thoughts about food. She also provides 6 very practical tips to help.

Wow! That was a BIG read. I hope you found some tips in there that mean something to you and will help you to be kind to yourself and others. In summary it’s about choosing what you have at home and enjoying it mindfully without beating yourself up, and balancing your extra food enjoyment at Christmas with plenty of activity which has benefits of it’s own. Our main focus should be being kind to ourselves and others, enjoying the social aspects of being with family and friends and using any time off to recharge our batteries for a good start to the new year.

Wishing you and your families a wonderfully happy Christmas filled with love and laughter. Sally

Sally is the Social Media Dietitian with Diabetes Counselling Online, owner of her private practice (Marchini Nutrition), and has had type 1 diabetes for close to 40 years and coeliac disease for many years too. You can access a linked list of all Sally’s Diabetes Counselling Online blogs here.

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