Imagine hearing the words from your doctor- “Jordan, we need to talk about your blood sugars. Your labs show you have diabetes.”  This will likely come as a shock to your system. First you start trying to process what this news even means. The next thought is “How will this affect my life?” As a dietitian, I encourage my patients to see a silver lining to diabetes: it can be managed by you. You are the team leader. Seeing diabetes in this light gives you the upper hand—diabetes is largely about self-management. So now what?

Get educated! Knowledge is power. When armed with understanding, you can make changes that apply to you specifically (everyone is different!). Encourage your family to participate in learning about diabetes and how they can help you.

Gather your power:

• Meet regularly with a Diabetes Educator, an expert resource
  • Share your current lifestyle in order to identify how diabetes will impact you now, and in the long run
• Avoid unreliable websites by seeking out materials from your Diabetes Educator, physician, and pharmacist

Next, get to know your body:

• Learn how things normally work in the body
• Learn what is happening differently in your body with diabetes
• Get to know the long-term complications that you can strive to avoid

Take this power and create a support system to tackle your lifestyle changes. A support system can help you stay motivated to be active. They can be by your side while learning about nutrition labels. Your support system is as essential for motivation as it is emotional support—checking your blood sugar for the first time can be scary! Also, attend diabetes support groups to see you are not alone.

Now you are unstoppable! Go forth with confidence knowing life is good and you can manage your diabetes!