Living with diabetes involves adapting to a new reality and altering old habits.
Monitoring glucose levels can be demanding and should be adjusted to all situations—whether it’s a regular workday, a holiday, or a stressful day. It is important to understand how beneficial regular monitoring and tracking of these values are for your health and well-being. It’s noteworthy to mention that goals and frequency of monitoring may vary depending on the type of diabetes, the severity of the condition, and individual risk factors.
Your doctor will provide advice, but it’s up to you to engage and take responsibility for your health.
The key to improving your life lies in adopting new behavioral patterns, such as regular exercise, healthy meals, and giving up damaging habits such as smoking. Even slight changes in your daily routine can significantly improve your quality of life.
Record all essential data, including measurement results, types of meals, levels of physical activity, and your subjective feeling. Did you feel energetic, or were you exhausted? Was that day stressful? All this information will help you better understand how different activities affect blood glucose levels.
By using the Contour ® Diabetes app on your smartphone, you can facilitate tracking of all this data. Enter measurement results, meal information, and activities—anything you consider important. After interpreting the data with your doctor can help you make decisions about your therapy and lifestyle.
If you prefer a more traditional way of data collection, use the Contour ® Diabetes Book to manually record blood glucose values, activities, and meals. Although this may require a bit more effort, consistency and careful record-keeping are crucial factors, regardless of the method you choose.
After a few weeks of dedicated data recording, you will learn how your diet, level of physical activity, pace of life, and other circumstances affect blood glucose levels. This understanding will help you better manage your diabetes.
All it takes is a few minutes after each measurement, but the results will be invaluable for your health.