LiveFree with T1D

You are the chief executive officer (CEO) of your life with T1D. As the CEO, you get to define your mission and vision and decide on what short- and long-term strategies you want to use to get there. Being the CEO of your life with T1D is a lot of responsibility, but it also comes with some benefits.

You get to call all the shots.

In this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist Podcast, I talk about what it means to be the CEO of your life with T1D and the steps you can take to own this role. I look at some of the best practices of the top business CEOs in the United States, and I talk about how you can apply these practices in your leadership role in your life with T1D.

Find out more about The Diabetes Psychologist at www.thediabetespsychologist.com.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

The decisions involved in managing T1D are complicated, and they go beyond the logistics of healthy eating and taking insulin.

The choices you make about T1D do not live in a silo. Sometimes they involve making trade-offs between your blood sugars and living life the way you want to live it.

How do you make these decisions? 

Without a system in place to make these decisions, it is easy to feel lost. These decisions become haphazard, based on your blood or whatever has the most immediate payoff.

In this episode of the podcast, I give you a step-by-step framework to help you make decisions about managing T1D based on your values. Your values are what guides you. They are the filters you use to make sure your decisions align with the most important things to you.

Find out more about The Diabetes Psychologist at www.thediabetespsychologist.com.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

Your questions about T1D and mental health keep pouring in! These questions are fantastic, and I want to make sure I can share the answers with all of you. That is why I am doing another episode answering YOUR questions.

Consider this your T1D & mental health audio advice column! I hope you find it helpful!

On this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist podcast,
I answer your questions about:

• How a pump break can be good for your mental health
• Tips for accepting the fact that you have T1D
• How to deal with an endocrinologist who is a jerk
• The biggest mental health challenges Dr. Mark has had with T1D

Do you have questions that you want me to answer on a future diabetes & mental health audio advice column? Click HERE to send me a message and ask away!

Find out more about The Diabetes Psychologist at www.thediabetespsychologist.com.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

In Episode #44, I gave an overview of the three pillars of emotional health with T1D. You can listen to Episode #44 HERE.

In Episode #45, I did a deep dive into pillar #1: Diabetes Eduction. You can listen to Episode #45 HERE.

In Episode #46, I did a deep dive into pillar #2: Mindset.                You can listen to Episode #46 HERE.

In this episode, I do a deep dive into pillar #3: Behavior.

Type 1 diabetes is an anxiety-provoking condition. And a lot of times, this fear gets in the way of taking action. You put off doing things you want to do with T1D because you are scared, and you tell yourself you will do them when your fear goes away.

With this approach, you will probably be waiting a very long time.

The key to emotional health with T1D is not your emotions. It is your behavior. If your feelings did not get in the way of your behavior, they would not be that big of a deal.

In this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist podcast, I talk about why your behavior is a critical aspect of your emotional health with T1D. Everything you do for your emotional health with T1D is so you can do what you want in your life. In this episode, I give you steps you can take to lead with action, rather than letting your emotions call the shots with your behavior. Leading with action is the secret to not letting your anxiety and the stress of diabetes hold you back!

Find out more about The Diabetes Psychologist at www.thediabetespsychologist.com.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

In Episode #44, I gave an overview of the three pillars of emotional health with T1D. You can listen to that episode HERE.

In this episode, I do a deep dive into pillar #2: Mindset.

Your mindset matters with T1D.

You may not be able to change anything about diabetes, but you can change how you approach, think about, and respond to whatever T1D throws your way. Changing your T1D mindset allows you to control how you experience life with diabetes.

In this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist podcast, I discuss why your mindset is an essential aspect of your emotional health with T1D. I talk about how changing your mindset can transform your entire experience with diabetes and make the challenging parts easier to handle. In this episode, you will learn how to identify your current mindset and steps to change your mindset with T1D.

Find out more about The Diabetes Psychologist at www.thediabetespsychologist.com.

Follow The Diabetes Psychologist on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist and join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook.

On Episode #44, I gave an overview of the three pillars of emotional health with T1D. You can listen to that episode HERE.

On this episode, I do a deep dive into pillar #1: Diabetes Education.

Diabetes education can have an enormous impact on your psychological well-being. If you don't understand T1D and how to manage it, you will feel lost and overwhelmed. Once you get steady on your feet with your diabetes, you will be in a much better place.

On this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist podcast, I talk about why good diabetes education is the only way to set yourself up for success on your T1D and mental health journey. I talk about how diabetes education can make you more confident, reduce your anxiety and give you hope that your life with T1D can get better.  You will learn how to figure out what kind of education you need (there are more than you think) and how to find resources that meet your needs.

Find out more about The Diabetes Psychologist at www.thediabetespsychologist.com and on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist.

Most people think about emotional health with T1D in the wrong way. Emotional health does not mean never feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and burnt out with T1D. It means being able to handle these feelings and not let them get in your way. If you have challenging T1D-related emotions, but they don't get in your way, my guess is they won't bother you too much.

What do you have to do to become emotionally healthy with T1D? 

On this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist podcast, I introduce the three pillars of emotional health with T1D. These pillars are:

1. Diabetes education
2. Mindset 
3. Behavior

I tell you why these three pillars are the foundation you need to be ready to handle whatever T1D throws your way. You'll see how looking at your emotional health with T1D through the lens of these pillars can show you the path toward freedom and flexibility in your life with T1D.

Find out more about The Diabetes Psychologist at www.thediabetespsychologist.com and on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist.

Living with type 1 diabetes on your own is difficult enough.

But what happens when you have T1D, and you also have a child with type 1 diabetes?

My guest on this episode of The Diabetes Psychologist Podcast is Chelsea Lugone. Chelsea was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 23 years old, and she is a nurse practitioner caring for people with T1D. She has three children, two of whom have T1D. Chelsea talks about the challenges and the bright spots of having two children with T1D while living with the condition herself. She also offers some great advice and encouragement for anyone with diabetes who is thinking of becoming a parent but who is worried or scared about being a parent with T1D or possibly having a child with T1D.

Find out more about The Diabetes Psychologist at www.thediabetespsychologist.com and on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist. 

Please also join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook!

Restful sleep with T1D can be hard to come by. You wake up when your blood sugar is high. You wake up when your blood sugar is low. You may have trouble falling asleep because you are worried about high or low blood sugar in the middle of the night. And let's not even talk about the alerts and alarms that wake you up!

You can sleep well with T1D, and you'll learn how on this episode of the podcast. My guest on this episode is Dr. Nancy Lin. Dr. Nancy is a psychologist who specializes in helping people sleep better. We talk all about how T1D can impact your sleep, and Dr. Nancy gives you some helpful tips about how you can use both your behavior and mindset to set yourself up for success for restful sleep with T1D.

You can find Dr. Nancy on the web at http://www.gotosleepsd.com.

Click HERE to download your FREE guide on T1D and sleep!

Find out more about The Diabetes Psychologist at www.thediabetespsychologist.com and on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist.

Do you have someone with type 1 diabetes who you look up to and admire? Someone who has done incredible things without letting T1D get in the way.

We all need role models in our life. These are people who show you what is possible. People you can learn from and who you can use as models as you push beyond your limits with T1D.

Your T1D role model may be someone you know, or it may be someone who you admire from afar. Either way, people who have done amazing things with T1D are an inspiration!

My guest on this episode of the podcast is Kristina Loskarjova. Kristina is the author of YES, you can!, a book that highlights inspirational people who live with T1D. I talk to Kristina about what inspired her to write this book and her biggest takeaways from the people she met along the way.

You can find Kristina on Instagram @kristinaloskarjova and @yesyoucan_t1d. You can also find Kristina's book by clicking HERE.

Find out more about The Diabetes Psychologist at www.thediabetespsychologist.com and on Instagram @thediabetespsychologist. 

Please also join The Diabetes Psychologist Community on Facebook!