Siwgrstorm

A response to a post of mine got me thinking about the ways people deal with blood sugar control - via management (counting carbs, adjusting ratios, choosing the right endocrinologist, selecting equipment, calculating X-carbs, etc) and lifestyle issues (reducing stress, having good communication with your healthcare team, self-confidence, sense of community, etc). I've tried to keep an "eye" on which approach is dominating my thinking at any given time. Am I checking every post-prandial number or am I getting enough sleep? Am I sticking to the numbers and checking my daily averages and totals in chart form, or am I taking that precious half hour to talk to a loved one about how being a diabetic makes me feel? Am I carefully monitoring my blood sugar through out a work out or am I taking my friend up on an offer to go for long walk without focusing on being a diabetic? Sure, one can do both, but it isn't as easy as it sounds, and its in these little moments that balances shift. The management approach has clear results that can be easily quantified. The other approach, when not directly related to carbohydrates and insulin, is not easily quantified, and yet seems to be more than just subjective. While this dichotomy is being used to make a point, I think it is interesting that one "mindset" - management - can induce stress more easily - it can feel like a game that you keep trying to "beat" but never succeed at conquering. The other "mindset" - changing lifestyle choices - by its very nature is supposed to reduce that sense of failure.