Have you recently been diagnosed with diabetes? You've come to the right place. My name is Lyssa Youngblood and I am a registered nurse with over 20 years of experience. I've worked with many diabetes patients over the years and I know that it's not easy to hear that you have diabetes. The first few months in particular can be very overwhelming. I'd like to make it a little easier by giving you a few simple things to concentrate on until you can attend a diabetes education class taught by a registered dietitian or registered nurse.

What can I eat? The quickest and easiest thing for you to do initially to change your diet is to cut out empty calories. For example, if you drink liquids that contain sugar like juices, sodas, coffee or tea, switch to sugar-free beverages and use sugar substitutes to sweeten your beverages instead of sugar or honey. Initially cut out cookies, cakes, pies and candy. This does not mean that you will never be able to eat sweets again… it is just a fast solution for the time being to help lower your blood glucose levels. Lastly, make sure you eat regularly, do not skip meals and be sure to balance your meals by eating whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean meats.

Testing, testing. Next, learn how to test your blood glucose and check it at least once or twice a day. During the first weeks after being diagnosed with diabetes, your goal is to get your blood glucose below 200. Then, the ultimate goal is to get your before meal blood glucose readings consistently between 90 – 130 and your 2 hour after blood glucose readings below 180. Testing your blood sugar can be expensive (especially if you're not using ReliOn test strips!), but it's the best way to learn about the way food affects your blood glucose.

Take your medicine. Diabetes medications need to be taken consistently to work best. Be sure to take these medications as prescribed and ask your doctor or pharmacist these key questions: When is the best time of the day to take this medication? Should it be taken before eating or with food? What are the possible side effects?

Get smart.
Finally, you should receive education from a registered dietitian or registered nurse sooner rather than later on how to self-manage your diabetes. The more you understand what diabetes is, what causes your blood sugar to be high or low and how to manage it, the healthier you will be. You can find an educator in your area by going to www.diabetes.org or www.diabeteseducator.org.

Diabetes is a very controllable disease but it requires effort on your part. Eat healthy, get moving, test your blood sugar, take your medications and become educated. If you do these things, you will be on your way to good control.

If you'd like to start looking for some more information, the websites below are a good place to start—

American Association of Diabetes Educators – www.aadenet.org
American Diabetes Association – www.diabetes.org
American Dietetic Association – www.eatright.org
Joslin Diabetes Center – www.joslin.org
National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) – www.ndep.nih.gov
National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) – www.niddk.nih.gov
Nutrition.gov – www.nutrition.gov
National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC) – http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/
Calorie King – www.calorieking.com
Medic Alert Foundation International – www.medicalert.org
Children with Diabetes - www.childrenwithdiabetes.com