Type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes may change your life, but with a few simple tools, you'll learn how to easily manage your condition. Everyday life with diabetes may involve testing your blood glucose levels and monitoring the highs and lows of your diabetes, but you can do this. You can manage your diabetes.
Our Daily Living Center will show you how to manage your diabetes in your everyday life, including managing diabetes when you travel, at work, at school, and on vacation, as well as the emotional sides of the condition.
With diabetes, daily routines—such as working, eating, and exercising—take special preparation. Learning how to plan for these everyday tasks can help lower your blood glucose levels and drastically reduce your risk of diabetes complications.
This article covers everyday life with type 1 diabetes, and everyday life with type 2 diabetes.
A day in the life of someone with type 1 diabetes involves working toward blood glucose level goals. You can do this by balancing what you eat with the amount of insulin you take.
However, exercise is something you can do to boost your overall health and well-being. Check out our Exercise Center, which shows you how to get started, as well as various exercise options.
To help you stay on track with your blood glucose level goals, you should work with your diabetes treatment team, which typically involves a doctor, endocrinologist, registered dietitian, and certified diabetes educator.
Your treatment team can help you deal with some of the challenges you may encounter with diabetes, such as how to deal with special events and holidays, or how to manage your diabetes on vacation.
Managing everyday life with type 2 diabetes is somewhat different than managing everyday life with type 1 diabetes.
Some people with type 2 diabetes may need to lose weight to get their condition under control. With the guidance of a registered dietitian or certified diabetes educator, you'll learn how to lose weight in healthy ways.
Also, other positive changes, such as exercising more, eating healthier foods, and quitting smoking (if you need to) can have significant effects on your overall health.
To help you stay committed to your health, we spell out important exercise tips in our Exercise Center.
Although at times it may seem difficult to manage your diabetes, it's definitely worth it. Incorporating even small changes, such as walking for 30 minutes every day or eating more vegetables can help you control your condition.
For example, when you're going out to dinner, most restaurant menus these days have a variety of healthy, delicious choices for you to select from. Grilled lemon chicken, with a side of broccoli, and brown rice is an excellent dinner choice when you're at a restaurant.
Or, if you prefer to cook at home, check out our Diabetic Recipes Center for recipes that are bursting with flavor.
Incorporating a few daily lifestyle changes can help you deal with diabetes in your everyday life. To help you stay on top of your type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes, be sure to schedule regular checkups with your doctor.
Everyday life. American Diabetes Association Web site. http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/parents-and-kids/everyday-life. Accessed March 8, 2011.
Frequently asked questions. Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Web site. http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=103442. Accessed March 8, 2011.