Diabetes Blog Week 2017 Diabetes and the Unexpected

May 16, 2017 / cam johnson

This week is Diabetes Blog Week.

Today's brief is: "Diabetes can sometimes seem to play by a rulebook that makes no sense, tossing out unexpected challenges at random. What are your best tips for being prepared when the unexpected happens?".

What foods will affect my blood glucose levels, how much and what do I eat, what do I put in my shopping basket, how do I read food labels, do I need to count carbohydrates, how do I count carbohydrates? So many questions. That's expected.

Having answers to these questions in clear messages. That's unexpected.

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Simply, Simplify.

March 25, 2017 / cam johnson

We know that from an average health professional consultation most people can recall very little of what's been communicated.

What is remembered might be the most important thing the health professional wants the client to leave with, but, it also may not be.

How can messages be understood and recalled?

Simply, Simplify.

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categories / diabetes, knowledge
tags / Simplify, Simplicity

Addition and Subtraction

February 08, 2017 / cam johnson

Is it more important to add, or subtract?

Many clients think I'm going to tell them what not to eat. The things that need to be subtracted, or removed from the shopping list, or the plate.

I'm more focused on what clients should eat. This means adding foods, and ensuring enough good nutrition. So let me go into this first.

Addition

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Zen in the Art of Eating

January 07, 2017 / cam johnson

It is Zen that inspired Deconstructing Diabetes. The concept of simplicity. "Simplifing dietary advice for people with diabetes".

So what is "Zen"?

A couple of definitions:

"A practice of emptying the mind and giving the attention to only one thing".

1 Comment 5 Likes

categories / nutrition, Mindful
tags / Zen, Healthy Eating, Art, Mindful Eating

Dietary Blind Spots

December 12, 2016 / cam johnson

Blind Spot

noun

1 . an area where a person's view is obstructed.

2. an area in which a person lacks understanding or impartiality.

3. subject about which one is ignorant or biased.

This post lists what we are simultaneously missing when we are not looking at all, when something obscures the sight of vision, or we are looking at one thing exclusively.

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Eyes on Diabetes. What are you focusing on?

November 06, 2016 / cam johnson

Eyes on Diabetes. What are you focusing on?

This week it is World Diabetes Day.

The theme for this year is "Eyes on Diabetes". This campaign raises awareness about eye damage complications from diabetes.

There are a number of pieces of the puzzle making up the right diet for diabetes. These include what to eat, how much to eat, and when to eat. Fats, fibre, salt, protein, the amount (including carbohydrate counting) and type of carbohydrate (glycemic index), including sugar, are all important pieces of this puzzle.

3 Comments 9 Likes

tags / International Diabetes Day, Eyes on Diabetes

The Most Important Thing

October 09, 2016 / cam johnson

One question I ask all my dietetic students is:

"If your patient walks out of your outpatient consultation, and does one thing, what would be the most important thing for them to do?"

By narrowing down or distilling what is going to make the biggest difference allows clients to focus on what is important

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Deconstructing Useful Behaviour Patterns

September 05, 2016 / cam johnson

Why, as a dietitian is this focusing on behaviour, rather than a change in body weigh so important, and for my clients, so useful?

Dietary behaviours.

This includes a client's successful changes to what's in their shopping basket, what's on their plate, their ability to keep to a meal plan, having enough food so they are not feeling deprived or hungry.

What has worked, and what changes have been successfully made is more important than what hasn't.

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"I'm Not Talking About Your Weight"

August 11, 2016 / cam johnson

My Client looked at me, with a look of disbelief at what I had just said. So I repeated myself. "I'm not talking about what you weigh on the scale".

She replied "that's what I came here for".

I proceeded to explain myself. "No, what you came for was assistance to be able to learn some behavioral patterns to assist you on the path to creating a healthier life. Specifically, learning how to have a healthy relationship with food, what to put into your shopping basket, how to structure a meal plan, setting you a number of behaviour goals and tasks and give you the confidence to change what you eat, and how much you eat".

By establishing these behaviours and habits, the weight on the scale will take care of itself. We need to create regular patterns of behaviour (diet and exercise), which will, in turn result in a measurable change on the scale or blood glucose reading.

So what are these behaviours?

Welcome to my blog. Welcome to Deconstructing Diabetes.

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Addition

So what is "Zen"?

Blind Spot

Dietary behaviours.