Diabetes Habits I’ve Had to Unlearn to Have an A1C Under 6.0%

How do you have an A1C under 6.0%?

If you’re expecting me to say, “your carb count needs to be perfect” or “your pre-bolus time has to be perfect”, then I have a surprise for you… it doesn’t.

Now don’t get me wrong, it certainly helps to have a goo d guesstimate on your insulin needs & insulin timing for a meal or snack, but that’s not going to get you under 6.0%.

I repeat 🗣️ Being more strict on your “carb counting” and pre-bolus timing is not what is going to get you an a1c under 6.0%

What is going to get you an A1C under 6.0%?

You’re going to have to ditch some old ideas about diabetes. Ideas that were ingrained in you upon diagnosis (and possibly still being pedaled to you now).

This post might ruffle a lot of feathers because it goes against the conventional narrative of advice.

Are you ready? Let’s dive in!

ONE. Not Every Low is Scary

Our nervous system can go HAYWIRE when we’re low. It’s scary. Especially if we’re alone or have a lot of insulin on board (IOB).

But over-treating a low can have a big impact on our A1C.

I know I’m going to have some people say, “YeAh BuT uNdEr TrEaTiNg It CaN bE dEadLy!”

Of course it can. And if you’re alone, have a bunch of IOB, then do what you need to do to be safe.

BUT! If you are constantly over-treating lows and going rebound HIGH, then I’m here to help!

The first thing I would do is get a CGM. With a CGM you’re going to be able to catch almost every low before it happens. Having this insight will help you make better insulin decisions (like do i need to suspend my basal, decrease it, and for how long) and help you make better food decisions (like, is this a fast drop or a gradual one. How many carbs do i need to bring this up?).

I know Dexcom is expensive. But there is a better, smaller, more accurate, easier to apply CGM out there for ¼ of the price! Which CGM is that?

🙌 Libre 🙌

I have been a Libre user for YEARS now (maybe since 2019?). And would never go back to Dexcom.

The second thing I would do to stop overcorrecting lows is to challenge how you view them.

I used to have a very black and white view of lows.

ANYTIME I was low. No matter if it was a trend down ↘️ into the 60’s or a fast drop ⬇️⬇️ into the 60’s I was STUFFING MYSELF FULL OF CARBS.

There was no discernment.

There was no thought to it other than: food. NOW.

It wasn’t until my Endo’s nurse (who is a type 1) said to me when I was talking about my fear of lows, 💁‍♀️ “Non-diabetics can hit the 60’s all the time. The 60’s aren’t a scary number.”

Now to give you context, she wasn’t referring to FAST DROPPING, DOUBLE ARROWS DOWN ⬇️⬇️ 60 with 10 units of IOB.

She was referring to a drop into the 60’s with little to no IOB.

This made me realize 2 things:

1. 60mg/dL really isn’t scary, non-diabetics can sit there no problem.
2. there is a gray zone with lows and not every low should be treated like we’re trying to rebound from a 30mg/dL BG

When treating a low, my aim now is to get back into the 70’s (70mg/dL).

The third thing to do, to stop overcorrecting lows, is to designate only a few items to be low snacks.

My low snacks, once upon a time, were incredibly easy to overeat.

I would use my lows as an opportunity to eat the foods that I had a hard time bolusing for, like cereal.

The problem is, low snacks like these are incredibly easy to overeat.

And part of this problem is because they’re not fast acting sugar, so if you’re eating until you don’t feel low anymore, you’d have eaten 200g carbs before you stop.

Now cereal is a fast acting sugar compared to some other foods, BUT there are faster acting sugars that I prefer to use because the faster I can get rid of that low feeling the less likely I am to over-treat.

So what are those fast acting sugars?

Things that your body doesn’t have to digest:

In my diabetes bag, nightstand, and car center console I have maple syrup and honey packets.

This is really good for those nighttime lows because all I have to do is reach over, treat, and go back to bed.

Not having to go into the kitchen or pantry removes a LOT of temptation 🙈

 

TWO. Just Because You Have T1D Doesn’t Automatically Make You “High Risk”

I cannot tell you how many medical interventions I got (that actually harmed my health) simply because I was told that I’m high risk.

Many studies say that people with type 1 diabetes are at high risk for certain problems. But these studies are often based on information from people with type 2 diabetes. And for a long time, doctors put people with both types of diabetes in the same group, even if their diabetes was very different.

If you are a well controlled type 1 the amount of things you’re “high risk” for DRASTICALLY drops.

Medical interventions like:

• Taking a Statin simply because you have T1D
• Getting a flu, covid, and pneumonia shot, simply because you have T1D
• Taking a baby aspirin daily during pregnancy, simply because you have T1D
• Induction (for pregnancy) at 38 weeks, simply because you have T1D

are just some of the things you’ll hear that you MUST DO simply because you have diabetes and are therefore HIGH RISK.

🐂 💩

Uncontrolled diabetes and a high A1C DOES put you at risk for certain health issues. BUT simply having T1D does not make you high risk.

You become high-risk when you’re not controlled.

THREE. Waiting Too Long to Correct a High

When I waited until I had no more IOB left (aka 3hrs) my A1C was 7-9%

When I waited 2 hrs before correcting a high my A1C was in the 7’s%

NOW, If it’s 30-40min post eating and I can already see that my bolus isn’t going to work because I’m SOARING ⬆️⬆️ past the 150’s, I will give a correction dose of whatever my basal rate is for that hour (which is about 1 unit).

And I will continue to give a correction dose every hour until I see it level out or come down. I may even run a temp basal increase.

This proactive BG chase stops the high before it becomes a problem.

And of course, in doing this, there are times when it will starts to come down too fast. And that is when I will turn off my basal rate for an hour or so (essentially taking back that injected insulin because now it will be eaten up by my basal needs).

 

FOUR. Only Paying Attention to Carbs won’t help you Have an A1C Under 6.0%

If we’re only bolusing for carbs and NOT BOLUSING for fat or protein then it will be pretty hard to get an A1C under 6%.

I talk all about that in my T1D course BEYOND THE INSULIN. Check it out!

But what I’m talking about here is when we pay so much attention to carbs that we completely lose sight of something that is a massive needle mover in terms of insulin resistance and how well our body responds to the insulin we’re injecting… and that is NUTRIENT DENSITY.

My diabetes became significantly easier to manage once I started eating based on NUTRIENT DENSITY.

When I focused on local grass-fed grass-finished beef, local free-range raised chicken, and local seasonal produce, it was as if every cell in my body started working better.

My insulin resistance dropped and managing my diabetes became….dare I say….easy.

 

FIVE. Thinking Environment Has Nothing To Do With Blood Sugar

I vividly remember sitting in my former Endos office back in the 2010’s when he asked me, “Wow your A1C has dropped dramatically, what are you doing differently?”

I told him that I stopped eating processed foods and was following a more paleo diet.

His response was, “no that wouldn’t be it. A carb is a carb. I mean, what are you doing differently in your diabetes management that has made your A1C drop so much?”

I thank God that I was able to see past the ignorance and nearsightedness of this endo and continue down the clean & crunchy path.

What I’ve come to learn over the years is that your mitochondria run the show for everything your body does and how it reacts.

When your mitochondria aren’t happy, your body is not happy.

What makes your mitochondria not happy?

• Toxic air (fragrances, perfumes, VOCS, flame retardants, etc)
• Toxic water (city/town water, bottled water)
• Toxic plastic clothes (polyester, rayon, etc)
• Toxic skin care (shampoos, makeup, lotions, sunscreens)
• Toxic light (blue lights, fluorescent lights, LED lights, the wrong light at the wrong time aka blue light at night)
• Toxic food

What makes your mitochondria happy?

Just do the opposite:

• Clean air (FREE FROM fragrances, perfumes, VOCS, flame retardants, etc)
• Clean water (filtered water & well water)
• natural fiber clothes (cotton & linen)
• Clean skin care
• natural light
• Clean, Seasonal, Local food

When your mitochondria is happy, your body is happy. this is how you Have an A1C Under 6.0%

When your body is happy your diabetes will become easier.

Be well my friends.

Have an A1C Under 6.0%