Dietary control is one fundamental lever to help you stay within the zone of good glucose control. Everymouthful you eat and every beverage you sip has the potential to influence your blood sugar level. So, eating rightfor good blood sugar control is not a sprint but more like running a marathon. Sustained mindful eating will help youstay on course with your diet plan and beat any bad blood sugar blues

Here are some tips to win in the long haul.

• Will to Win.
  A healthy life lived well is an important goal for everyone. Having diabetes does not have to stymie that. Every successful marathon runner will tell you that the battle is more in the mind than the body. Once you have set your heart and mind on living a fulfilled life despite diabetes, you can summon your will to achieve. Identify what will help you succeed and endure – it could be assembling a great healthcare team that listens, guides, and encourages; a diabetes support group that constantly shares and motivates; family and friends that understand and support your long-term glycemic goal. When it comes to changing and sustaining your diet, it will require your full attention. From planning the menu, shopping, cooking, eating meals and snacks at home, and eating out – stay in control but lean in on all the support you can get.

• Know the Plan.
  Your diet plan is unique. Stay on course once you have worked it out with your Dietitian and it has been fine-tuned to deliver to your blood glucose goal. Learn about the timing of meals and snacks and how that needs to be coordinated with your prescribed medications. Know the food types and portions at each eating occasion and the equivalent swaps. Plan how to bring the diet strategies to life at home, at work, and when you eat out.

• Prepare for Disruptions.
  Life is unpredictable. When it comes to eating occasions, it is even more so. Your planned pre-packed meal may need to be abandoned for a sudden invitation to lunch from your boss. Work deadlines may overwrite your preparations for a home-cooked dinner. Sometimes the problem could just be you – for example, you planned only to eat one side (cheek) of a ripe mango, but, looking at the generous portion before you, your resistance crumbles, and you indulge; your mom prepares your favorite dish and hovers around you to see you enjoy and, you give in.

• Understand Why.
  Adhering to your diet or goofing off the plan may have deep-rooted reasons beyond just the food availability or the disruptions caused by the occasions or people around you. Are you overeating because you are bored, sad, or alone? Are you indulging because you hang out with foodies most of the time? Food is very tempting and being surrounded by it makes it difficult to navigate.
  Keeping a food diary and recording what and how much you ate as well as the occasions, your feelings, and emotions while eating will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses so that you can shore up the right defenses for diet success.

• Be Flexible.
  Diet plans are good. But, being flexible in terms of implementing the diet plan will make you successful. Be knowledgeable and skilled about swapping foods and portions to always stay in glycemic control no matter where and when you eat. Prepare for contingencies by carrying a healthy snack or beverage, don’t overeat even if the portion in front of you is large – ask for the extras to be packed for a later meal or snack. Expand and personalize this diet survival guide to ensure that you are in control overall.

• Get Back on Course.
  One-off disruptions will impact your blood glucose post-meal, but they should not throw you off your path to success. But, if it happens frequently, you may need a new plan to stay on course with your diet plan and achieve your goal of HbA1C. With diabetes, for success, the fable of the hare and the tortoise rings true. Small but sustained changes will make an enormous difference.

• Avoid Burnout. Get Support.
  Speak up to your healthcare team and family when you feel upset and angry about diabetes's demands on your food choices and lifestyle. It is natural to feel upset about diabetes. But, never give up, rework your goals, and allow for some balance. Vary your diet plan, explore new recipes and eat out with a diabetes support group. Small wins each day are better than completely giving up.

Be empowered with Diabetes-Specific Formulas (DSFs)

Eating healthy and well-balanced meals, and snacks that are carb controlled and made up of low GI foods is the right way to get your diabetic diet on track and, enjoy and sustain it over time. However, if you cannot figure out the details or put the instructions to practice daily and struggle with blood glucose highs and lows, a diabetes-specific formula as part of your individualized meal plan may help you achieve better glycemic control with greater convenience and confidence.

Designed for those with diabetes, diabetes-specific formulas deliver complete and balanced nutrition and are scientifically designed with slowly absorbed carbohydrates to be low GI. Here’s how you may include it in your individualized meal plan:

1. Swap A Snack. Tempted by the calorie and carb-laden ensaymada or lumpia? Replace unhealthy, high GI snacks with an equal calorie portion of the diabetes-specific formula.
2. Do a Partial Meal Replacement. A favorite meal choice sending your blood sugar out of whack? Eat only half the portion and top up the remaining allocated calories for the meal (if any) with a diabetes-specific formula.
3. Replace an Entire Meal. Want to lose weight effectively to attain good blood glucose control? Find that you are either missing a meal or giving in to temptations at mealtime? How about giving up your roasted chicken rice meal (534 calories²) for a controlled portion of the diabetes-specific formula to save 309 calories immediately. Sustained over time, you will see the extra pounds peel off.

¹Source: Accessed on 23 November 2019 at https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Life-with-diabetes/Diabetes-burnout