(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)
Hey y'all, my name is Maddie Cheever. I'm a registered dietitian nutritionist, certified health education specialist, type 1 diabetes specialized coach, and the face and founder of type 1 type fun. And I also live with type 1 diabetes.
I share stories, resources, and tips to make diabetes management easier and a lot more relatable and fun. Okay, let's be honest. Everyone waits for January 1st to make a change, but not us, not you.
The restart sets now. November, if you are familiar, was Diabetes Awareness Month, and we talked about it, we posed about it, we raised awareness. But now what, right? Well, December isn't just holidays and chaos.
Sometimes it feels that way, but it is actually the perfect time to set yourself up so that you're not scrambling in January and feeling behind and all the things. So today I want to give you the exact framework I have been using with my clients for years to prep for a new year of thriving with type 1 diabetes, not just surviving. So what do we need to know before we reset? Well, you can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been.
So here's what I want you to ask yourself. What worked well this year in diabetes? What didn't work? No judgment, self-kindness and honesty. What drained you most this year? Did you have decision fatigue? Was it low? Did you go through burnout? What gave you energy? What felt easy? These ones can be the hardest to think about because you haven't thought about them because they're easy.
Did you have support or were you doing this alone? Here's what I want you to do. I want you to grab your notes app or a notebook or something right now, pause if you need to, write down one win and one struggle from this past year. That's it.
Simple. You can also write down answers to all these questions if you want to. Awareness is literally step one.
You can't change what you don't acknowledge. Okay, so that's step one. Step two, check your settings and your systems.
Before you set goals, let's make sure your foundation isn't cracked. Okay, so we need to check our settings. When's the last time you reviewed your basal or your long-acting insulin if you're on the set systems for that? Are your carb ratios working? Are you constantly correcting? Are you maybe not even correcting but you're compensating? That could be a sign too.
Is your correction factor actually correction factoring or if you're on sliding scale is that working? If it has been six or more months since we've had any setting changes, either they're working great or we need to tune up. Your body changes, your settings do too. It's just a part of things.
And then there's also systems. So what I say is settings and systems. Settings is literally settings and then systems is everything else.
Sometimes it's our choices, sometimes it's the things around us. Like do we need to keep our supplies in a more organized fashion? Do you have a low treatment plan that actually works or does it not work? Do you have to double correct or do you spike super high? Is your CGM and pump working for you when you're stressed out or just on a random Tuesday? Do you have a meal strategy or are you guessing every time? Maybe you could answer this question for when you're at home versus when you're at a restaurant versus at a friend's house. Insert whatever makes sense to you.
And sometimes here's my belief with systems and settings. Sometimes you're not failing. Sometimes your settings are just wrong.
There's no level of perfection that you can achieve if your settings aren't working. And sometimes you need a system re-brush. Sometimes like, you know, do you ever do the thing? I do this.
I have to check myself on this, but I eyeball a lot of foods. I tracked food every day for almost six or almost every day for six years in case you don't already know. So I'm pretty familiar with a lot of food specific things.
Not perfect, but pretty familiar. And so I know what a cup of rice is, right? And I put it on a plate. Yeah, it's about a cup.
Cool. Here's what happens though. After a certain amount of time, I'm all of a sudden that my carb ratio isn't working.
Like, oh, are my settings wrong? Well, let me just double check. Let me just remeasure things. And all of a sudden I realize, oh no, my settings aren't wrong.
I'm just having a cup and a quarter or a cup and a third of rice. Ah, of course my carb ratio is not working. I'm having more rice.
It's maybe working, but I need to take for the right amount of carbs. So if your systems need a refresh, that's valid too. It is not you.
It's just related to your setup. So again, give yourself that kindness if you can. Section three.
Also, actually, let me back up. If you can't, then maybe that's something to talk through or think about with a professional. Okay.
Section three or step number three. Excuse me. Let's set intentions and set of systems, not just goals.
Goals are great. Like you could see it, you could taste it almost, right? Running a marathon or, you know, traveling somewhere. That's cool.
But you have to train to run that marathon. Theoretically, I can't run a marathon just in one go. Um, traveling somewhere is cool too.
Did you buy a plane ticket? Did you figure out where you're going to stay? Maybe you don't. Maybe, maybe you did need to. Intentions and systems are what actually change your life.
If you haven't already read the book, Atomic Habits, I'm throwing it out there right here, right now. It has changed my life personally, and then it's also helped with diabetes too. So in case you need it, Atomic Habits, it's wonderful.
Here's the difference. A goal, or I guess blood sugar specific, a goal is like, I want a better A1C. Most of us, right? The intention in the system though is, the intention would be like, I want to feel confident and in control of my blood sugar.
And then the system is okay, well, if your A1C is here, what do we need to do to change it? Do we need to pre-boost more? Do we need to fix our settings? Do we need to figure out an insulin strategy for those 2am highs that don't make sense after a big meal? Like anything that you need, that's okay. We just got to figure it out. Another goal I hear all the time is, I want to eat healthier.
Valid. I love that goal. But what does that actually tell you? I want to eat healthier.
We know kind of the vibe, right? But we can't confirm it actually, because maybe the vibe I think of eating healthier is different than the vibe of what you think is eating healthier. So maybe the intention is, maybe it's, I want to enjoy food without guilt, and I want to know how to manage that food. Okay, well, then what I would say is, why the guilt? Is it because of diabetes? Is it because of some previous food beliefs? Like what is going on? You got to keep on getting more and more specific.
SMART goals are also pretty helpful here. So find the system. Okay, I want to eat healthier.
Well, are you going to meal prep? Are you going to pack lunches? Are you going to make homemade dinners? Like what is the system? The goal is great. I want to eat healthier, full support. It doesn't actually tell you where you're going to go though.
So make sure you know the system. So ask yourself too, how do you want to feel in 2026? And what do you want diabetes management to look like day to day? And what would thriving actually mean for you? And when you focus on how you want to feel, sometimes those actions can become a little clearer, sometimes not. But if you stop chasing numbers that don't actually make you happier, or goals that don't actually make you happier, then you can all of a sudden find what's a little bit more important.
And also, if you have that goal where you've been like, Oh, I've been meaning to do this, I've been meaning to do this, it's because we don't have a system or an intention. Like, you even know that you thought of one, right? A new year's resolution that you like set, and you do it for a few days, and then like, it's a new year's resolution for you every year, but you still haven't taken the action to do the thing, right? If you know that, me too, I have several. So what's the problem? It's not that the goal was a bad problem.
It's that we didn't have a system and an intention. You have to have a system, oftentimes daily. Okay, thing number four, find your support.
You cannot do this alone. You can, but honestly, you shouldn't have to. You deserve to do this with support.
Maybe it's your medical team, your endocrinologist, your diabetes education, your dietician, what's up? Maybe it's your emotional support. Maybe it's a therapist, a coach, a friend who gets it, a diabestie. Maybe it's community, online, local, podcasts, community too.
Maybe it's educational resources, books, courses. I can't show you those, but check out my website. Programs, what I just said.
Here's what I know after many years of living with diabetes and many years of helping hundreds of people with type 1 diabetes. People who thrive with type 1 diabetes have support, period. Okay, they are not doing it solo.
They have people in their corner who understand the alarms, who understand the mental load, who understand the invisible exhaustion, the overwhelm, the complexity, all of the things. They get it, and if they don't, at least they can give us that kindness and empathy. So be honest with yourself.
Do you have someone that you can text when diabetes gets hard, or do you just take it all? Do you have a professional who helps you day to day, and not just the quarterly, or biannually, or annual A1C? Do you have resources that actually help you, or are you just googling, looking at the AI summary, and hoping? If the answer, well, I guess I gave a lot of answers. If you don't have those things, or if you do some of those things, that's okay. But it's your sign now that 2026 needs to include finding your people.
Okay, so thing number 5, what's going on in 2026? I want to be real with you for a second. I do this work because I wish someone would have done it for me. Like 14 year old Maddie was angry, and lonely, and scared, and I wish someone could go back and give her a hug and tell her it would be okay.
We can't turn back time, but we can support our future. I spent years figuring this out alone, years digging into science, data, research, and I shouldn't have had to. I should have had people that had my back, but I didn't.
But now, I get to help people skip all the hard parts as best as I can, and thrive faster, and I want you to know some of those resources that I have. So number 1, if you haven't already gotten it, you have a free book. There's a lot on the mindset piece of diabetes, and reworking how we think about diabetes.
There's my story, there's other people's stories, there's habits, there's so many things. But there's also a lot of diabetes education in the back. So if you or a loved one have type 1, then this back section, you don't even have to read the whole book.
Just skip to the back section. It has a lot of education. Okay, so that's thing number 1. That's one way I support people.
Thing number 2, I have a lot of guides. A lot of them are free, and I'm actually coming out with some new courses. So you'll see those pop up on the website too.
But free or paid, there is support for you. If you need some support, if you need guidance, if you need resources, I've got a lot of those. Again, because I wish someone would have done it for me.
They're intended to be specific, very well-rounded, and educational for you. This one that I'm holding up is, have you ever had like a dinner meal, and then like, so you have dinner, and then you thought you did the blood sugar well, you go to sleep at a great blood sugar, and then you realize at 2 a.m. you were super high. Whether you wake up or not, manual injections, automated system, alarms, whatever, this guide talks through that.
And it's free, right? So learning how to handle that, boom. That's hopefully one problem solved, one way I can help. Free, free.
But if you want to work with me, or if you want more personal support, then I have a coaching program. I take one-on-ones, and I want you to know that if you want someone who's real, if you need personalized support, if you want that one-on-one or even a group setting, if you just want that next level and that community, then I do that as well. I have all of these things as options because I needed all of these at different times in my life, and I'm not trying to make it about me, but I know that I'm not alone in this, and I know that a lot of different things speak to a lot of different people.
So, if you've been listening to this podcast, reading my blog, reading my book, something, and you're feeling like, like, yeah, I do just want to have a quick chat. Maybe 2026 is the year that you do not do this alone. If that's true for you, there is a link in the description of this episode, and we can jump on a call directly.
I want to make sure I can support you as best as I can. So check out that link below. Now, those are some of the topics for how to actually get going before January hits, right? Because if you do all this in December, do the work, then in January, you get to start to coast.
So how cool would it be that your New Year's resolution is actually just like, yeah, you just maintain the thing. Okay. For those of you who are only listening, I made a lot of faces for that.
Anyways, here is your homework, okay? Number one, reflect. Seriously, write down one win and one struggle from this past year. Number two, look at your systems and your settings.
Be honest, be brutal, but be kind. What needs a refresh? Number three, sorry, I'm not counting well. Number three, intentions, goals.
How do you want to feel next year? Support. What's in your corner? Who's in your corner? Who do you need to add? December isn't wasted time. It's prep time.
If you look at it like that, if you choose to look at it like that, your restart can start now, not in January, right now, and it can stay through January. If you want help making 2026 your best year with type 1 diabetes, then you know where to find me. And I hope you keep listening.
And I hope you find community. If it's not me, that's okay. But grab my free book, grab my free resources, DM me if you have a question, check out my website.
I want you to feel supported. I want you to have what you need. And if there's any way I can support you in that, then I will.
But until next time. That's it for today, my friends, but the fun doesn't stop here. If you liked this episode and want more real talk diabetes support, come hang out with me on social.
Just search type1typefun, all words, or head to type1typefun.com for tools, tips, freebies, and real life resources you can actually use. And if this episode made you laugh, learn, or feel a little more seen, feel free to leave a comment, give it a like, share it with someone you love. But until next time, live empowered, be silly, have fun and eat some carbs.
The information shared on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you heard on this podcast.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)
