How I stick to healthy habits for diabetes (or for anything really)
The original aim of this post was to talk a bit about how I am learning to stick to healthier habits for diabetes. As I was typing words, I realised that the same techniques and mental models I deploy to be an healthier diabetic reappear in a much wider spectrum of aspects of my life than I expected. I will start with diabetes, and try to generalise in a way that makes sense and can be helpful.
At its core, dealing with glycemic indexes is really an exercise of staying away from foods that cause big spikes (refined carbohydrates) or that increase insulin resistance (fats).
Not too long ago my blood glucose was not terrible, but unstable enough to cause some concerns. It didn’t take much self-reflection to spot the causes: I had a constant craving for white bread and some other processed foods, like hummus. These are ok when eaten in moderation, except that I was not moderate at all: eating bread meant devouring 1 or 2 baguettes at once and eating hummus meant ingesting at least half a kilogram. One can eat all the fruits and veggies in the world, but those will not contain nor reverse the damages that such eating habits produce.
Practicing Stoicism: “Fear Setting”
That’s when I discovered fear setting. Taking bread as an example, I started to ask myself some questions to put things in perspective, like:
What would happen in X time if I now take this very next bite?
How will I feel right after?
How will my blood glucose level be in 1 hour from now? What about 4 hours, 10 hours, 24 hours from now?
And if I keep eating like this, how will my health look like in 1, 5, 10 years from now?
The answer to these questions kind of scared me, and that was ‘fear setting’ doing its work just wonderfully.
As I practiced answering these questions, I noticed that it all really boils down to just observing one’s behaviour. Although making the rational decision all the time is much easier said than done - and I surely have a long streak of failures when it comes to resisting temptations -, what I have understood is that resistance leads nowhere, and that’s why instead of resisting I started to observe.
In practical terms, I propel the efficacy of Fear Setting by applying another tool that has more to do with mindfulness. It is a personal variation of the practice of “Gone”. Stay with me, I’ll explain.
Practicing Mindfulness: “Gone”
It may sound trivial or “whoo-hoo”, but the small habit of stopping before a craving or any other impulse, observing it and say “gone” out loud provides me the breathing and mental space to at least acknowledge that there’s a chance for things to slide down the wrong path, and put me in the position to choose whether I want to proceed or not.
Then, the action that follows is simply the rational deliberation of this quick inner consultation.
To make it more tangible, these are some very recent examples of the inner dialogue I am talking about:
“I could really throw that entire jar of hummus in my salad bowl, could I? Sure, but that really looks like a craving to me, since I perfectly know that a few scoops are just enough. I wait a few more seconds for the binge-eating impulse to pass…now it’s “gone””.
“Gosh, I love that vegan Greek-style yogurt. It’s not even that processed or unhealthy in all truth, but it’s 2.99 euros per serving, and these can add up quickly. Can I wait until tomorrow? I very much can. Impulse to buy: “gone””.
“That Naruto episode is calling me. But I know how that ends: I start with one, it quickly snowballs. No need for that today, the need for Naruto is “gone”. I’ll read Harry Potter. Or study some math if I have the energy.”
Now, perfection is unachievable, our System 1 (impulse) will always have its wins over System 2 (reason). A craving will always find its way over the rational option - screwing it up from time to time is what makes us humans after all.
Nonetheless, the ‘gone’ exercise is helping me tremendously because it produces the right environment for me to use my reasoned choice and take the best action with respect to the Fear that I’ve set.
It produces the uncomfortable but optimal conditions to envision the consequences of choosing the easy/wrong path, and allows me to decide what kind of identity I want to cast a vote for: a healthier Giovanni that can pass on this bread versus a Giovanni mining his own long term health; a Giovanni who endures 20 minutes longer to study maths instead of a lazy one streaming that 100th Naruto’ s episode out of boredom. You get the idea?
Changing, small win by small win
The point I am trying to convey is that there are things we can control, others we can’t control.
A car can hit me tomorrow and that would end it. I can’t control the car, I die. Happens, that’s fine. But I have total control over a number of small daily choices, and I can train myself to make the right call most of the times. Essentially, I try to get as many small consistent wins as possible just by envisioning the consequence of not choosing to make the right choice. Bit by bit, these smalI wins reinforce a new identity.
This is valid when it comes to dealing with type 1 diabetes (eating the right food, exercising, etc.), at the office (choosing to postpone that distraction and finishing the task) and whatever else aspect of life.
Fear setting and practicing “gone” are not mental taxes, nor do they turn one’s life into a tragedy or a constant state of alarm.
They simply materialise the consequences of our actions, and give us a shot at acting in our best interest, recognising a wrong pattern and interrupting it before it gets dangerous. And perhaps, they even nudge us towards a better direction.
Believe me, I have struggled with many unhealthy, harmful and unproductive behaviours that have compromised everything, from health to work. It was frustrating, it was hard, but change happened. I started to just observe myself, take mental notes - and even written ones - to see with clarity the patterns I needed to interrupt.
Since then, I have become able to enjoy a slice of bread, some hummus or the episode of a TV series when I want, without losing control.
I have become more used to get stuff done at work, because it is good for my future, my colleagues and my personal mental health.
And I have a much better grasp over my diabetes, which is what this post was all about originally. That 90% time in range doesn’t appear magically. It is the result of good choices on a consistent basis. The same is valid for being a good person with others or a good employee.
Should you have asked me a few months ago, getting out of those unhealthy cravings and bad habits I have mentioned seemed impossible. I still fail of course, but I fail less frequently and I get back on track more quickly.
I just got into the habit of taking a breath, observe the craving, and say “gone” out loud.
Fear setting
This blog post would not be complete without a link to this amazing Ted Talk where Tim Ferriss explains the Fear Setting exercise. Listen to it, you will not regret it.
