Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (00:00.878)
I kind of feel like maybe I should have cake or like confetti or something, because celebrating 13 years of type 1 diabetes is, it's beautiful. It's been challenging. It's been hard. It's been tough. But I'm tough too. And if you're listening, I bet you're tough as well. And if you're also listening, I know maybe you have type 1 or maybe you support the type 1 community or maybe your loved one has type 1. And for that, I just want to say thank you for being here. I'm so.
excited for today's episode because we are going to deep dive into 13 lessons from my 13 years with type 1 diabetes. Now, if I could actually give you all the lessons I've learned, I don't think we would ever leave this episode. I think it would go on forever and ever. But to have you here for these lessons, I'm so excited for. We're going to talk a little bit about some of the most popular concerns I see. And then we're also going to talk about some of the mindset components and a few other things. So.
stick around and here we go. So let's jump into thing number one, because I want you to benefit immediately. Number one is I want you to know that you do not have to accept a limiting narrative. Very simply put, when I was at the ER, if you haven't heard my story already, when I went to the ER and got diagnosed, my doctor told me, quote, I would never again have a perfect record of health. And
Well, that may be scary and I guess it is true and I guess maybe that is a limiting narrative, but I don't have to let that stop me from living a healthy life, from exploring life, from not letting diabetes stop me, right? It allows me, I allow myself to do anything I want to and I truly believe that diabetes does not have to define you, but if you allow it, it can shape you into the most wonderful human being.
That's tough to hear depending on where you're at. So I hope that that is received with as much kindness and love as I can provide for you. Now, what do I mean by you don't have to accept limiting narratives? You can rewrite the rules, rewrite them over and over. One of my favorite examples is if something doesn't work for you, if it doesn't work for your blood sugar, if it doesn't work for your body, if it just doesn't feel right, maybe that's physically, maybe that's emotionally or mentally, that's okay.
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (02:24.462)
Trust yourself, give yourself more credit, right? Especially, have you ever had that gut feeling where you're like, oh no, and then the thing happens and you're like, I knew it. Give yourself that credit, I see you, I know that you go, I go through that too. And you are not alone if you go through that. So, if you have those gut feelings, listen to them, validate them, and again, you don't have to accept limiting narratives. Okay, so that's kind of a mindset piece. Now let's move on to maybe one that's a little more controversial. You have permission.
to eat sugar, okay? I said it. You can eat carbs. You can eat cake, cookies, candy, pizza, whatever it is that you want. You can eat it. Now, remember, I am a registered dietician, right? Am I saying nutritionally that's the best option for you? No, probably not. But you are allowed to eat these things just because you have diabetes. That doesn't mean that you can't eat all the things you can. You also just have to learn how to manage the blood sugar surrounding it. Carbs are not the enemy.
The strategy that you have is everything. You can eat what you want when you want, as long as you know how to manage it. And if you don't know how to manage it, then I encourage you, I will encourage you every single day, find someone to help you or find knowledge, find resources, dive into the textbook, ask your endocrinologist questions, ask your, your diabeast, whoever it may be that is on your side, on your team. And if you don't have anyone, first of all, you have me. Second of all,
Do research, find people. Also, if you're like, yeah, I listen to you, Maddie, but like, don't, you know, it's not like we're friends. Yeah, we are, we're friends, absolutely. DM me, email me, text me. Any way that you can find me, we will make sure we chat together, okay? You have permission and you have people in your corner. Now, I'm getting in my head myself. You can eat sugar. Now, why do I say the strategy is important? Here's what I find. Oftentimes, in the old type one diabetes education,
We were told restriction, we were told minimize certain things and that's simply because they didn't understand the flexibility of what our technologies are now and they didn't have the flexibility and technology back then. When I say technology, I also literally mean the insulin, but also the tech, the pumps, the CGMs, whatever it may be that we have. Even like test strips are very different. If you're newly diabetic and I say that as in like, I don't know, the last...
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (04:53.838)
20 something years, then you don't maybe know this, but once upon a time, there was a time where you had to pee on a stick and check your blood sugar that way. And it would give you a range. You couldn't even tell, oh, my blood sugar is 136. Oh, my blood sugar is 87. Oh, my blood sugar is 249. You couldn't know that. You could just know, okay, is it less than this number or greater than this number or like really, really high? Okay, so that's what I mean by technology.
You have permission to eat sugar. We have so many resources and tools. It doesn't limit you. Like I said, diabetes does not have to stop you, does not have to define you, does not have to limit your life at all. I had a conversation with the Diabetes Network of Arizona, Tara, she's a wonderful human being. If you haven't already checked it out, it's a few episodes ago. And we talked a lot about how she didn't actually, she was told that she would die.
in her, I think she said in her 20s, 30s, something like that. So when she was young, or, you know, relatively young, teenager perhaps, she didn't have a game plan for the longevity of her life because she assumed she wouldn't have that. She didn't plan for children, which she now has. She didn't plan for a wonderful, beautiful marriage, which she now has. She didn't plan for all these things. But now the flip, the script, excuse me, is flipped and you can have anything you want and more.
and diabetes is something we manage along the way. Now, with that being said, I'm telling you some things. I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life. I'm trying to help you with your life on your own terms. So take what you need from this episode and don't worry about the rest. But here's a helpful tip. If your doctor does not serve you well, if you leave that doctor's office feeling unheard, unseen, unappreciated, like you're terrible diabetic, like you can never do...
Right? Like you always have to do better, more, this, that, ugh. You can fire in your doctor. Now, I say that and I give pause immediately. If you can find another doctor that works well with you at first, that might be advantageous, but you deserve to have a wonderful provider. There is not one endocrinologist in this world. There is many, right? And sometimes other providers can see you for a temporary time if needed as well. But you are allowed to find someone you align with. Think about a car, for example.
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (07:21.112)
There's tons of cars in existence, but not every car is gonna suit every human. That's okay. That's not a negative statement on the car. It's about the individual. What does that person want? What do you want? If you know that you like certain things in a car or you don't, then maybe you could also know that about your healthcare providers. You are not a burden in case you have ever been made to feel that way. If your healthcare provider dismisses you,
doesn't validate your struggles, doesn't answer your questions, makes you feel like you're too much, you can shop around. I say this with 1000 % honesty and confidence. You deserve better if that is happening to you. If that's happening to you, I am so sorry. There are other options though. There are other options that exist, other humans, other individuals who get it or who might be a little more aligned with you.
And by the way, if you have that great provider already, I'm not saying to fire them. If you love them, great, keep them forever and ever. But if you don't feel that your provider is serving you, then you are allowed to find someone else. Now, I've made several references throughout this episode already. So I just really want to quickly say the fourth thing, the fourth lesson is actually my entire book. Now, if you haven't already heard me explain this just really quick, the first 280 pages is kind of thick.
The first 280 pages are about empowerment, mindset, challenging the norm, breaking the rules, finding what works for you. And the last 75 pages are all about type 1 diabetes education. If your blood sugar isn't making sense, I recommend starting there. You don't actually have to read the first 280 pages to start reading the last 75. I think it might be 76 or 77, but you know, same, same. So.
That is the education piece. If you need it, I want you to have it for free. There is a free copy linked in the show notes. I want to make sure that you are fully taken care of, supported, and hopefully that helps. Now, I believe we need both, right? We need the education, but we also need the mindset, the empowerment, the education of how, not necessarily what and all the numbers and the ratios. We need that too, but
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (09:34.904)
just the mindset piece to know that, okay, I can do this, I should do this, I should not do that. This works for me, this doesn't. Your provider, hopefully one that you love, is the expert in the field, but you are the expert in your body. And it is your job to come together as a team and collaborate and find the solutions that work for you. Because everyone is different. And hopefully that book, if you download it, I hope you do again.
It's free. want you to have it. Diabetes education should be accessible. But if you download it, can you take a look through? I hope it's helpful. And if not, message me. Let me know if there's something you need or a question that isn't answered here. can't possibly answer all of the questions, so please reach out. Please feel comfortable to do so. I encourage you to find me and have a conversation. It is that easy. And I promise to do my best to answer your questions.
I want you to have strategies and believe that you are worthy of using them. So ultimately that is the reason behind this book. So that's lesson number four. Now lesson number five. This one I like personally. I think it's great. When I work with people, I have a group program, I have one-on-one clients, I have courses, I have so many things. And I love when I get to work with people, this is what I say, this is what I explain. And I want you to hear this because...
I want you to know it's possible. I tell individuals with type 1 diabetes that we want to live our life and incorporate great blood sugar management. I don't want you to have to be diabetic and then try to fit yourself back in. This one just doesn't work. This one does. And one way we do that is minimizing the work and maximizing the rewards. And in case that sounds too good to be true, it's not. You're able to find, sorry, brain fart.
When I'm filming this, it's a Friday. Happy Friday if you're listening to this on a Friday. So you are able to find what works for you. And I truly believe that when you're able to solidify strategies so well that it helps to make diabetes feel like less of a diabetes thing. Think about it this way. When you first got diagnosed or your loved one first got diagnosed,
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (11:57.656)
think about learning the ratios, what the heck is insulin? How do I take this? What do you mean? Carb counting? What? Nutrition? that overwhelming sense of information that you received. It was a lot, right? It was, it was a lot for all of us. Now, imagine where you're at today. Assuming you weren't diagnosed this past week, if you were, please reach out. I hope everything is going well. there's anything I can do, let me know. But assuming you weren't diagnosed most recently,
You probably have a little bit more of an understanding of card counting, right? Or maybe how to take your insulin or kind of what you need for your favorite breakfast or the things that kind of spike you, the things that maybe drop you. It may not be a perfect understanding of everything. Nothing's perfect anyways. This is humanity and type one diabetes that we're talking about. But you might understand some of the things that impact you. Your work is minimized.
and your reward is maximized because you kind of understand the things, right? They're second nature at this point. You understand it. And if you don't understand it, but you can get there, I believe you can. If you can get there, everything in type one gets so much easier. Not to brag, I say this as humbly as possible, but that is why I believe diabetes is a little bit easier for me these days.
I've studied it for years, I've worked with hundreds of individuals with type 1, I've seen things, I know things, and ultimately when my blood sugar doesn't work out, it was probably a choice. I do not claim perfection in blood sugars. I have highs and lows, just like everyone else does theoretically. But what I do claim is I have an understanding of what my body needs and what is provided for me in my nutrition, my physical activity, all the factors, sleep, the stress, the injury, illness, infection, anything that's going on, I understand how that impacts me.
And so simply put, when a situation comes up, I know how to handle it. Now, Maddie from a few years ago could never approach a situation with the amount of calm, clarity, and confidence that now Maddie, me, has. It takes time, it takes education, it takes resources, and it does take a little bit of a mindset shift. But life shouldn't revolve around diabetes management. Diabetes management should support us.
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (14:14.924)
and allow us to live our life. Again, live your life and then also have great bullet-shitter management. Don't just be diabetic and then try to fit your life back in. That brings me to lesson number six. I truly believe that that is what transitioned us from surviving to thriving. I wanna say this so clearly. It is possible to feel so confident in type one diabetes management.
that you can live your life and manage your blood sugar and have freedom and great control. And those things aren't mutually exclusive, right? You can have both. can have it all. And maybe that's something you want. And if it is, I encourage you to go after it. Do it. Heck yeah. Listen to your gut. We talked about that earlier. If you know that that's something that you want, first of all, I want that for you too. Second of all, figure out how to make it happen. And if you don't know how to make it happen, if you don't know how to go from surviving
or the confusion or the second guessing, if you don't know how to get from there to thriving, to confidence, to clarity, to comfort, to peace, then maybe it's time to figure out how. That brings me to point number seven or lesson number seven. Your struggle is your superpower. Type one diabetes is tough. I've said this before, I'll say it again. I say it so often. Type one diabetes is tough.
So are you. If you're here listening, I know you're tough. And if you're saying no, give yourself more credit than that. You are tough. You are surviving with this disease or helping someone survive with this disease that could potentially have life-ending causes every day. Who knows, right? Insulin is a lethal medication, technically speaking. Now that sounds really dramatic. It is true, but also...
It allows us to live. survive because of insulin. It's this beautiful thing. But your struggle is valid, but it can be your superpower. Again, diabetes doesn't have to define you, but every hard moment, every season of burnout that you've had, every failed attempt, every CGM issue, every carb counting concern, all of those things teach you something. And guess what? I believe, I don't believe everything happens for a reason, but I think it can happen for a reason or.
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (16:37.098)
It can lead you to the next thing or it can help you help someone else. And now your lived experience is one of your greatest assets. think that diabetes can translate to so many things in our life. Again, your struggle is your superpower. Maybe that's if you work in HR, maybe that gives you a little more empathy for individuals who need some time off. If you are going into the healthcare field, right, you may not understand other diseases yet.
but you'll know that they deserve a little bit of empathy, just like what you would want, right? If you're going into anything, maybe it's a business negotiation, right? How do you want to be treated? Think about that endocrinologist that didn't really treat you right. Okay, maybe you had different philosophies, different ideas. That's okay. That's a part of life. But how do you want to be treated as a human? You've seen what you don't want, right? And maybe diabetes is part of what's shown you that. Well.
Now what? You get to pick. And that's why I believe that your struggle, type 1 diabetes, is your superpower. Now, lesson number eight, I think that maybe this one's a little bit more personal, but diabetes education should be accessible. You shouldn't be questioning. You shouldn't be left in the dark. You shouldn't have to be confused, concerned, feel stranded, never make sense of your blood sugar if...
If you are the type of individual, and apologies for generalizing, but if you're the individual who goes to your endocrinologist every three, six months perhaps, and they make some changes, but then you're constantly dealing with highs or lows, whatever it may be, and you think it's because of your settings, this is just an example. I say change the settings. I see so many people whose providers say don't touch the settings, and I understand that too.
from a provider standpoint. I understand why some people may say that, but if you can figure out the right settings, I say go for it. Absolutely. Now figuring out the right ones is key. And that's why I think diabetes education should be accessible. So that's why I give my book away for free. Knowledge is power. You've heard it. I know it. That's why I give it away for free. But I also just want to encourage you to sometimes.
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (19:00.236)
that diabetes education should be accessible. Sometimes that comes in the form of saying hi to the person on the subway who also has a CGM. Maybe it's starting a conversation when you're standing in line behind the girl at Panera that also has the same insulin pump as you. Maybe there's a million things that could happen. But if you find those ways to connect, you never know what it can do for someone, right? They say that you never know the struggle that someone's going through or the hardship that someone's going through.
Even if they look okay, you never know. And I bet if we were just a little bit more connected in the world of diabetes, in the world in general too, I think it would create some magic. So diabetes education should be accessible and maybe that starts with a simple conversation. Also, I kind of want to go back to a point, but it's another lesson. I think I'm on number nine, if I'm counting right. Are you keeping up? boy, there's so many lessons from 13 years. Now,
I don't believe you're failing. kind of talked about endocrinologists. kind of talked about ratios, change things if they're not working. You are not failing. Maybe that insulin just isn't working. One of my favorite lessons to teach to my clients is when it comes to our settings, there's two things that I will say a lot of the times. Either...
our settings, right? We just need a carb ratio to shift and then things work out. Maybe our correction factor is too strong, too weak, our basal isn't enough, or long acting insulin, whatever you use. Maybe that needs to shift a little bit. There's no level of perfection that you can achieve in your carb counting or your corrections to fix that. We just have to change the setting. But sometimes it is about our carb counting. Sometimes it is about our correction strategy. Sometimes it is us in a way. I usually call that our system.
It's not a statement on you, right? It's just, have to figure out what's going on. it our systems, excuse me, our systems or our settings? If we can figure that out, again, not a statement on you. This is tough. What we talk about, what we learn, what we have to do to survive every day is freaking hard, okay? But it's about learning the strategies that actually work. So you're not failing, but if your blood sugar isn't working out,
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (21:18.028)
Maybe there's just a few tweaks to make here and there. Oftentimes, another lesson to go along with this is I teach people how to interpret their blood sugar results. And I'll teach you really quick. If let's say your blood sugar starts wherever it may be, let's say you're at your unicorn number, input, whatever that is. And then let's say you take for a meal and you end up there a few hours later.
That sounds like it worked pretty well, right? You start and end at the same point. Maybe there's a little spike or something in between, but that's okay. That happens for even individuals without diabetes. So if you start and end at about the same number, that was awesome. Whatever you did, give yourself a pat on the back. And then just because I'm not sure, make sure you give yourself another one. You got to give yourself enough credit in this space, okay? So if it works out, cool. But now here's the thing. Again, you're not failing. This is not a statement on you, but if...
your unicorn number starts at that meal and then you kind of end up high a few hours later. Again, not a statement on you. We just know, okay, the numbers didn't work out right. So what can we do next time? What's one thing we could change? Do we need to pre-bless a little longer? Do we actually just need more insulin? If we need more insulin, is it because the carb count was wrong? Is it because the carb ratio is wrong? Again, none of this is a statement on you, but you get to learn. So the thing I love about this,
from my perspective is no matter if it works out or if it doesn't, maybe you go high, maybe you go low, no matter if it works out or if it doesn't, you have an answer right in front of you. And I know how irritating, how frustrating that CGM can feel, how invalidating that CGM can feel, right? You did all the work you thought you did well, and then it just doesn't work out. That happens. Again, I'm a professional diabetic and it happens to me too, okay? But I really believe that you can learn from it.
Why did this happen? What factors might be at play? I talk about that in the back part of the book. There's a lot of factors that impact our blood sugar outside of food and insulin, the things that we tend to know. If you're not already familiar with that, I really want you to read that section. It should be the 42 factors that affect blood sugar. My original credit goes to Diatribes. Thank you so much for such a fantastic and impactful resource. Now, here's my other thought. Lesson number 10.
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (23:38.542)
is actually something that I learned very recently. So I'd like to give some credit to my good friend, Coach Ken, who you can find on Instagram. And if you need to find him, go ahead and stalk my followers. He's in there. And so we talked about how there's a statistic given by Stanford Medicine. And it says that on average, individuals with type 1 diabetes make about 180 decisions a day compared to their counterpart without type 1 diabetes. Now, I've done the math on this. And
If you think about it, 180 decisions, if you evenly disperse that over 16 waking hours, assume we sleep for eight hours, that's one decision about every five minutes. That may seem like a lot, right? That mental load exists, okay? And for some of us, that is a reality. For some of us, that is. But I truly believe it doesn't have to be. Coach Ken agrees on this. Really, if you can, like we talked about earlier, right?
from surviving to thriving. If you can figure out the things that actually will work for you and work for your life, you can definitely lessen those decisions. I know I don't make 180 decisions in a day. Maybe I used to, I definitely have before, but not every day is perfect. No, no day is perfect, okay? But those 180 decisions, imagine, what if it was 150 instead of 180? What if it was...
100 instead of 180 maybe 90 instead of 180 that's cut in half. Okay. Well, what if it was about five to ten decisions at each meal and then a few decisions in between meals? What would that be? 30, 40, 50, maybe even less. I'm just saying simplification is possible and it doesn't even have to be about perfection. It's about creating systems that work for you and sometimes work on autopilot.
So you can take that mental energy away from diabetes and refocus it on what you love and what you care about. For me, that's dancing. That's travel. That's hanging out with my loved ones. That's finding some good food and eating it. Yes, dietitian approved. I teach people how to eat donuts for a reason, okay? That's all possible for you, whatever yours may be. Now, other than that, one lesson. I think we're on lesson 11, so we're getting close to the end here.
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (26:03.372)
Lesson 11, find your blood sugar comfort zone. I'll tell you why I'm talking about this. So it's not necessarily what the standardization or the recommendation is. It's not what your endocrinologist wants, but where are you comfortable being? Where are you comfortable and honest about being comfortable with yourself for your blood sugar? If you can find this, then you can figure out a ton.
about your blood sugar and about diabetes. And I want to give you examples in this. finding your comfort zone. A lot of people are comfortable in different areas. Some people are really nervous to go above 150. When some people are nervous to go below 150. Wherever you fall, wherever you find yourself, 150 is just one example. Some people don't like going into the 200s. Some people hang out in the 200s all day and get nervous again when they're veering 100. Maybe it's more, maybe it's less.
And I will say these blood sugars are meant for my milligram folks. If you use millimoles, then think about, I don't know, let's say if you're, are you comfortable double digits or single digits? Typically that would double digits are kind of generally speaking higher numbers. Single digits are generally in range and maybe low single digits are low. Obviously at a certain point I'm thinking like, you know, maybe four or less, give or take. What are you comfortable with?
You have to figure that out because if you can't figure out what's going on with blood sugar, at least at the very least, you can know yourself and you can know your strengths and you can know your comforts and then you can work from there. An example, I have worked with so many individuals who are terrified of going low. Maybe they had a low that ended them in the hospital.
Maybe they feel awful when they go low. Maybe they're just nervous about what might happen. Maybe there's a million reasons why we have those fears and those fears are valid. But if you have those fears, stick with me for just a second. Let's say you're uncomfortable low. So you run yourself a little bit high most days and you know it, but it's not that high. Maybe you're not in the 300. Maybe you're hanging out at 180. Okay, not too bad. Okay, cool.
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (28:23.992)
There's a lot of numbers that work here. So this is not meant as a judgment. It's just meant as an example. Let's say that 180 is where you're comfortable, but then when you get below 150, you start to freak out a little bit. You start to worry, you start to sweat because now you're getting to the point where, okay, you could go low. Well, here's my thought for you. If you do want to lower your A1C, a lot of the folks that I work with are scared of lows, but want better blood sugar.
Maybe their A1C to drop, maybe their variation to drop, maybe their average to drop, or maybe their endocrinologist is pressuring that. Maybe some good pressure, maybe some not so great feeling pressure, who knows? If you can find your comfort, you can work from there. Think about this for a second. What if I told you, if you're comfortable being at 180, what if tomorrow you had to spend all day at 179? How would you feel? Would you feel comfortable? Would you feel like freaking out?
You know yourself, answer that question in your head. Or out loud if you want to message me, go ahead. And when you answer that, OK, 180, 179, most people are not going to be two-faced. 180 versus 179, you're still safe, right? Well, then what if 179 the next week was 178? What if the following week it's 177? Well, guess what? There is 52 weeks in a year. You could go from an average 180
to an average of about 130, maybe in the 120s, by making one average change per week. Well, it's not overnight. It's not this drastic shift. But if you're slowly able to get your numbers down further, further, further, but comfortable, one point here and there is not going to make that much of a difference. You're gonna be just fine. But.
Jumping 50 points overnight may feel impossible. Over the course of a year, it like almost nothing. But then you look back and you're like, I did that. And that is a cool feeling. So lesson number 11, find your blood sugar comfort zone. And that can tell you all about you and what you need to do. Now, I've kind of said this, but I'd like to reiterate it. Lesson number 12, your doctor gives you ratios. You have to learn.
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your body. You are a team. This is a collaboration effort. If you don't feel like you're a team with your endo, if you don't feel like they're willing to collaborate to educate, to teach, I will say endocrinologists are stretched really thin. And so many of them are wonderful providers who simply don't have the time. That's okay. Right? That's why there's other resources that exist. That's why I'm here. It's why I do what I do. I wish someone would have done it for me and my time passed, but at least you are here and I'm grateful to help any way I can. So
Find those resources, maybe it's a textbook, a friend, a colleague, a professional, a coach, a dietician, a diabetes educator, whoever it may be. Find that information. No matter what though, your providers give you the ratios. To start, you have to learn your body. If your ratios aren't working, your provider can give you their very best guess. They can do an analysis of the data.
But at some point, sometimes there's no level of guessing that we can accomplish to really create the fine tuning that we need without certain information. And you are the only one who can uncover or explain that information. The medicine, the medical degree, whatever it is that we want to call it, that is a fantastic, amazing, well-educated starting point. The Mastering Type 1 Diabetes.
is about being an expert in your body and advocating for what you need and what works for you. So that's also kind of a sub lesson here. Use your voice. You have one and I want you to use it. Okay? If you can speak up for yourself, if you're uncomfortable, state it. If you have a question, ask. Whatever it may be that you need, that you like, that you want, that you don't, anything is possible. But
Nothing changes if nothing changes. So action must happen somehow to create the change that you want. Your doctor gives you ratios. You learn your body. Use your voice. Now, my last lesson for you is about community. And I know I've kind of paired with this throughout this episode, but I really believe it is that important. You need to surround yourself with people who get it. If you are a lone wolf, first of all,
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (33:09.846)
I was a lone wolf for many years and it was lonely. No, no secret there. It was lonely. It was hard. It was challenging. I actually felt like the only diabetic in the world. I wasn't, but I felt that way. And so I want you to not feel that way if you can. You don't have to have, not everyone in your life has to be diabetic. You don't have to have a hundred diabetic friends or anything like that by any means, but if you could find just a few.
wonderful, amazing, supportive friends or providers or coaches, someone who gets it, someone who can help you, someone who can talk you through things. Maybe it's the logic and the education. Maybe it's the emotion and the hug, the hug, right? Whether it's a verbal hug or a physical little hug, you deserve to understand and to connect. So what I will say is tech.
Text knowledge as we know is different from lived experience. I think we all know that. But both are important. So find your people who get the mental load and the burnout and the reality, not just the numbers. One of my favorite examples is, yeah, like I had a client who used to tell me that they wouldn't check their blood sugar when they were having lunch at home. And I would say, okay, why? And they were like, well, my monitor, they were not on a CGM.
They said, my monitor is upstairs and I feel like going upstairs. Now to many people, the simple solution is to go upstairs, go get the monitor, check the blood sugar. But I get it. Why? That's been me not checking my blood sugar. Cause the monitor is upstairs. Come on. I don't want to walk all that way. Like think about it. Have you ever like when you're in your own home, have you ever not wanted to go to the furthest restroom just cause there's one right here? Same, same, but different, right? It's not a statement on you.
It's a statement on the fact that, hey, we want a little bit of ease and that's okay. Now, if you are struggling because of some mental health concerns or maybe you are dealing with depression or now anxiety, I really encourage you to specifically find a resource who can help you in that regard, a mental health coach, a therapist, a resource, a counselor who you can trust and you can explore those things with.
Madi Cheever MPH RD LDN CHES (35:32.686)
But if you need help with blood sugar itself, or if you want to understand the ways to handle it and how to deal with it all, then I'm glad you're here and I want to stay connected. So make sure you go to the link below, grab my free book. It will have a lot of those components. I hope it will help. I want you to reach out anytime for anything. But for now, I'm gonna leave that at my 13th reason or lesson for my 13 years.
of living with type 1. Thank you for listening today. I hope something was helpful. Feel free to reach out and let me know what your favorite part was. And I hope to see you on this next episode. So stay tuned. But for now, thank you.
