Lifestyle

Overview

Diabetes management is all about self management, so the person with diabetes needs to:

• Understand their diabetes so they can make informed lifestyle and treatment choices
• Learn to solve day to day problems that affect their diabetes
• Juggle diabetes with the demands of work/school, family and social life.

Diabetes can be managed better by:

• Making healthy food choices
• Incorporating physical activity into daily life
• Taking medications/insulin as prescribed
• Monitoring your blood glucose levels and using the results to improve diabetes control
• Taking special precautions for foot care and oral hygiene.

Some situations require extra care:

• Prevent and treat high and low blood glucose levels
• Manage your diabetes during illness
• When travelling
• Playing sport or exercising vigorously.

With good care people with diabetes can live a normal, active lifestyle, and reduce the risks of developing long term diabetes complications.

Healthy eating - food choices

In the past, having diabetes meant checking for ‘sugars’ in foods and avoiding these as much as possible. Thankfully the dreaded ‘diabetes diet’ is a thing of the past and has been replaced with simple healthy eating principles. There is no longer a need to prepare separate meals or to buy special foods. In fact, we recommend that people with diabetes follow the Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults when making food choices, in addition to having a good understanding of carbohydrate counting and relationship between food and blood glucose levels.

Our Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) can provide advice on an eating plan that’s best for you. It isn’t always easy to find and keep the right balance, but regular blood glucose testing will help.

Physical activity

Whilst the benefits of exercise will help in the management of type 1 diabetes, hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose) and hyperglyceamia (high blood sugar) may occur and require strategies to avoid or treat these conditions if or when they occur.

Pregnancy

For people with type 1 diabetes pre conception planning is very important. As pregnancy in type 1 diabetes needs to be carefully monitored. A team of Allied Health Professionals such as a Endocrinologist, Diabetes Educator and Dietitian and an experienced Obstetrician are an important part of the pregnancy journey.

Further information on diabetes and pregnancy can be obtained from the links below:

Information Sheets

Click here to view our Resource Information Sheets.

More information

View our education sessions.