Healthy Coping For Diabetes

 Healthy Strategies for Diabetes Episode: Healthy Coping (1 out of 7) 

 Why healthy coping is the first self-care behavior for Type 2 diabetes and how stress, grief, and seasons can quietly disrupt blood sugar. Practical tools include journaling, short bursts of movement, joy habits, and asking your care team for support.

• seven self-care behaviors overview and focus on coping
• how to spot unhealthy coping like overeating, isolation, and rising alcohol use
• simple test for whether a behavior supports health goals
• stress and grief as drivers of cravings and glucose swings
• pattern tracking across seasons, anniversaries, and triggers
• journaling to surface themes and guide small changes
• rediscovering fun as metabolic medicine and motivation
• micro-movement, breathing, and meditation for quick resets
• leaning on faith, community, and your care team for support

Amani Nicol Wellness, our Beautifully Well program, now has an extension to support those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and our program extension for those diagnosed with prediabetes as too. Learn more: www.amaninicol.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Series Setup: Seven Behaviors
• 0:23 Why Healthy Coping Comes First
• 1:58 Spotting Unhealthy Coping Patterns
• 4:32 Stress, Grief, And Blood Sugar
• 6:16 Identify Triggers And Seasons
• 7:24 Healthy Coping Tools That Work
• 10:12 Move, Breathe, And Seek Support
• 11:30 Talk To Your Care Team
• 12:08 Program Support And Next Steps

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Healthy strategies for those managing prediabetes and diabetes. That's going to be the next few episode drops. You want to listen out for it. There are seven self-care behaviors tied specifically to managing type 2 diabetes. And I want to take a few of my podcast episode times to run through all seven. This one for this episode is on healthy coping. If you find yourself not excited about some of the things you used to enjoy doing, perhaps you're sleeping more or not getting enough sleep. Maybe you're having one more drink, alcoholic beverage, than you normally would. Well, that all goes back to coping. And the first self-care behavior for someone managing type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes, prediabetes is how do you cope? There's no doubt that the diagnosis alone can bring an emotional burden. It could bring frustration as well. And for those that may be managing diabetes in a way that requires so much out of them throughout the day, what they have to do to manage this illness alone can cause a sense of frustration. So how do we cope? Well, I believe the first step that we should take is to think about ways that we've coped in the past and then bring that into a layer of self-awareness. Like right now, when you're not feeling yourself, you're not at your best or you're overwhelmed. How do you deal with that stress? How do you deal with the struggles? Let's talk first about some unhealthy coping skills, right? Unhealthy coping. We're all, I can tell you, we've all done it, myself included. But there are a few things that are brought out just to just pay a little more attention to when you think about some ways that you may have coped in a past and you want to turn a leaf. It brings out um overeating, right? Just grabbing those foods, maybe binge eating. If you all know my story, I love chocolate chip cookies. And when my stress is at an all-time high, I just want an ice cold Coca-Cola. But I recognize that, right? The unhealthy coping, I'll just give a real short definition to that. You can identify a coping method as unhealthy when it does not help or support you and your health goals, like the overeating or eating, uh, the emotional eating that can easily take place, especially when stress is at an all-time high, carb causing us to crave even more um sugar. Um, not enjoying the things you used to do. And that includes not spending time with family or people. Now, let's let's face it. Sometimes we enjoy our quiet time. I know I do, but sometimes we just don't want to be peopling at all times. Sometimes you just want to be in a quiet corner, a cozy place, and just enjoy uh some time to yourself. And that's great, and we need that. That's a part of self-care. But an unhealthy coping would be when we notice that we're spending a lot more time by ourselves, with ourselves, maybe even dealing with feelings of loneliness, but having an unwillingness to associate with others, although those opportunities exist. Alcohol, maybe you like your glass of wine, but you're noticing that you're drinking more. Um, you're noticing that your habits with alcohol intake has increased. And then even taking drugs, this says taking drugs, y'all. And so often we may simply think about um recreational drugs or those in our family that may have addiction concerns. But I believe we can take another layer on this and even relate it to our prescription medications. If you found that you've been prescribed, you know what you're supposed to take, the recommended dosage, but you're doing what you want to do with it. That's something to look at. And that's also a time to connect with your with your physician. Um, get some support in that. So the unhealthy coping, if you're doing it, you found it, identify what it is, and then look at some ways that you can overturn it. I mean, let's face it, stress is stress. And some of these times where we're not feeling ourselves or we're overburdened by just life in general, it could also be tied to our circumstances. I know this year alone, um, my family has endured a lot. Um, when we think about grief and a grief effect to uh blood sugar management, it is it's powerful. So when we begin to talk about healthy coping, one thing that can be helpful with identifying ways that you cope in a health, a healthier way is to identify some of your patterns. Identify maybe there are things that you do on repeat or certain times of the year where you find yourself a little more stressed, a little more tense, or maybe even a grief work, a grief period. And, you know, I identified this after losing my dad in 2017. And although we lost him in April, April can be uh one of those months that's a little can be a little tough at times, but guess what? Not as rough as football season. Isn't that something? But I had to take some time to identify, okay, already what is it about this time of the year? It's not just the fall and a change and a transition that can usually cause some um seasonal um changes, right? Seasonal effective disorder is real. But I noticed that it was football season because he was a football fanatic. And that was a trigger for me. So the reason why I bring this up is not to get you to think about how does Nick cope with grief, but most importantly, on this health and coping, in order for us to cope, health, in order for us to cope, we have to first figure out what are our patterns. And here are a couple of suggestions for healthy coping. One of them is the writing in a journal, which is why I brought up my experience with my dad. Journaling is a great coping mechanism, it can help you recall your feelings, it can help you uh reset because you've gotten it out on paper, but it can also help you identify patterns. Finding a hobby, okay, what do you do for fun? What sparks joy for you? When was the last time you dove back into a hobby that you may have set aside? And and what do you need in order to go back to that place where you're enjoying those fun things again? You know, this and finding a hobby, it might sound like a little thing, or just this thought of what do you do for fun? But as adults, I believe this is a question we should ask ourselves on a regular basis. What led me to this was some years ago, just past the pandemic, I did a corporate wellness session. It was all on self-care, and they were government employees. And I was asked to do a session on stress management. Well, when I asked the question, what do you do for fun? It was crickets. Nothing in the chat, no one came off the mute. And then I had to follow up that question with when was the last time you felt like you had fun? And wow, I'll tell you, I could have created a whole new presentation just off of that question alone. But so often as adults, and you may agree with me on this, that yeah, life puts a weight on our shoulders, life is lifing. There's so many things we have to do in our adult world, and especially if you are coping with a diabetes diagnosis, and there is an extra layer to just living life and managing life, that we can lose that inner child, that person within us that thrives off of fun, excitement, and joy. Go back and grab her, pull her out, and find a way to reignite a desire to have fun things because that is a healthier way to cope, and it's going to help us overcome some of those habits you may have already identified that are not healthy ways of coping. What else can we do is meditate, find time for quiet time. There's nothing like the pause and the stillness. And then we ask ourselves, how active are we? Now, naturally, if we're frustrated, depressed, not feeling good, I don't know how many people wake up and say, I'm just so frustrated, I can't wait to go run three miles. I don't hear that. But at the same time, exercise is a great, no-cost way, free way to build up energy and to improve our mood. Now, the 150 minutes that are recommended is evidence-based that 150 minutes of exercise activity every week can literally change your health life. But every five minutes will count. So if you are in a place or you feel the mood about to change, figure out what you can do for five or 10 minutes and keep it simple. Could it be a walk? Could it be turning on your favorite song and just dancing to it? Maybe just to be able to get up and clean up, do do a few tours, make uh do a few chores. I said tours, but cleaning up a space to tidy it up could also, you know, just boost the morale, can just boost the mood. And if you are a spiritual or religious person, perhaps you have a faith-based community and they're there for you, and you take advantage of using that community. And when I say take advantage, of course, I'm speaking of an interchange and just recognizing that you're not alone, that there are people out there that care for you, that love you, and that will support you. So this is the first self-care behavior for those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to put your managing of this illness on the right path. How are you coping? How are you doing? And then let's not forget that when it comes to healthy coping and the support that we need, we have to have these conversations. And just think about the conversations you could have uh with your primary care physician, with your healthcare team. Let them know how you're feeling, express your concerns, what's causing the frustration? Is it medication? Is it the meals? Is it uh emotions? Tell them what's frustrating you in detail and describe your feelings. One of the best ways to begin to build a bridge to coping successfully is to one, be honest with yourself about the fact that you are not feeling yourself, you are not feeling well, what's causing it, and then of course begin to align all the parts. And I say all the parts, but it's it's not a lot, but primarily that part being the support. And remember that if you are on a journey with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes and you are looking for support, that Amani Nicole Wellness, our Beautifully Well program, now has an extension to support those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. And of course, our program extension for those diagnosed with pre diabetes as well. So happy coping, happy, healthy coping. Stay tuned for the next diabetes self care behavior. And thank you again for tuning in to your girl coach Nick. This has been a beautifully well conversation.