The other day I decided that it was time to manually log my blood sugars again, along with the calorie and carb intakes. I feel that by writing them down, I am able to hold myself more accountable for them and I am a bit more aware of the numbers and certain trends. When I don’t log, I may know that my sugars have been trending high, but I don’t know exactly why or what the trends are.
I’ve also been logging the food I have eaten in case there was a high or low previously, that way I can remember in the future to not bolus as much or bolus a bit more. Also, I am making notes of when there is exercise involved and when there isn’t.
I’ve logged BG’s in my iphone in the past, but I could never consistently do it. Now, my meter is in my office and the logbook is sitting right next to it. I went to the dollar store and bought a yearly calendar that has a monthly view. Basically, one month per page and each day has it’s own box. I use them to write down the time and the blood sugar and then also if any food is related to it.
I may not see an immediate improvement in my blood sugar levels, but I know that I am on the path to getting them where I want to be. Experimenting with different things, strict diet, strict exercise routines, all these things are helping me get to where I want to be. Manually logging these numbers is also a mental battle that is helping me win other mental battles too. If I can consistently track and log these numbers, than I can do other things too. I cannot be lazy and decide that I don’t feel like exercise. I can’t give in to my brain craving Chinese food or Tijuana Flats (my favorite place to eat) like it did yesterday. I fought off the craving and went home and made dinner. Not only would Dave Ramsey be proud for sticking to the budget, my heart and body is proud from saving it from another high fat dinner.
I encourage everybody to start manually logging their blood sugars, or at least electronically as well, but don’t just rely on your Dexcom reports at the time of your endo appointment. Review them daily, weekly, monthly. The more you know, the better off you are. The old phrase, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you” is one of the biggest lies ever told.
What you don’t know, is killing you!
Let the logging begin.
I’m the same way. Need to actually write my bg results down by hand, to keep myself more accountable. Seeing them and knowing that I’ve consistently been doing tests helps motivate me to keep doing that. And then I keep my meter case right there on my desk so that I can see it (or it can glare at me!), and that keeps me doing what’s needed. It’s just not the same for me uploading or downloading my data… doesn’t do the same thing to motivate me.
Keep up the great work!
For the food logging – do you only write down food if the BG wasn’t what you expected? I haven’t logged BGs for awhile (but was crazy about it when I was young), but will do food logging every now and then. Makes a big difference!
Good for you, Chris!
It’s something I know I need to do, but haven’t been able to stick with it for long. Maybe I need to try your method.
I do think that the simple act of logging does improve our management.