Diabetes Health Center

Our emotions influence what we eat, when we eat, and how much we eat. So negative feelings can interfere with your ability to follow your diet for diabetes.

• If you feel that certain foods, such as chocolate cake, are "bad," you may feel guilty after eating a piece.
• If you are angry because you think you can't eat the foods you like, you may feel resentful.
• If you are afraid that you may gain weight or develop other problems, you may not eat enough food.

Once you accept your negative feelings about diabetes and your diet, you will be more likely to let go of these feelings; then you can more easily learn and successfully follow a healthy diet.

Your feelings can also help you follow your diet for diabetes. If you feel like you are doing something good for your health, you may feel motivated. Then, you may feel even better about your diet and yourself.

To deal with your feelings effectively:

• Learn about your diet for diabetes. You will be surprised to learn that you can have all the types of foods you like. All you need to do is fit them into your meal or snack plan.
• Talk with other people who successfully follow the diet for diabetes. Find out what foods they like and how they have worked them into their meals.
• Try new foods and new recipes to put some variety into your meals so you will not feel deprived.

More information about the different types of diabetes can be found in these topics:

• Gestational Diabetes
• Type 1 Diabetes
• Type 1 Diabetes: Recently Diagnosed
• Type 1 Diabetes: Living With the Disease
• Type 1 Diabetes: Living With Complications
• Type 2 Diabetes

Feelings can be positive or negative. Feelings affect how we think and behave. Dealing with a negative feeling means:

• Recognizing it. Name the feeling, whether it is anger, sadness, resentment, fear, or something else. For instance, some pregnant women are afraid that their baby might be harmed by diabetes.
• Accepting it. Feelings are not right or wrong. You are not a "bad" person because you have certain feelings. It is what you do with your feelings that matters.
• Letting go of it. After you have named and accepted your feeling, you can release its hold on you.

Negative feelings can get in the way of your ability to learn about and follow your diet, which is very important for keeping your blood sugar level within your target range.

• Feeling deprived of your favorite foods may cause you to eat more of those foods, resulting in high blood sugar levels.
• Feeling afraid of complications from diabetes may cause you to eat too little food, resulting in low blood sugar emergencies.
• Feeling angry or resentful about having to follow a special diet may cause you to resist learning about the diet, which will affect your ability to carry out your treatment.

Give yourself permission

People often think that following a diet for diabetes means giving up foods they like and having to eat foods they don't like. If you think a diet for diabetes means you can't eat any of the foods you like, try the following exercise:

1. As completely as you can, fill in the four lists of foods on the food list card(What is a PDF document?).
2. Examine your lists. Is your "bad for me" list very similar to your "foods I like" list? Is your "good for me" list similar to your "foods I dislike" list? If you think a diet for diabetes has only foods you don't like, consider this.
   • There are no "good" or "bad" foods. All foods can fit into a diet for diabetes.
   • You don't have to give up the foods you like. You can learn how to fit them into a balanced diet.
3. Cross out the foods in the "foods I dislike" list. You don't have to eat them. You can eat any of the foods in the other three lists. You may need to eat some of the foods (high-sugar foods) in the "foods I like" list in smaller amounts and less frequently to prevent high blood sugar.

Recognize your feelings

From the list below, check all the feelings you have about a diet for diabetes. Add any other negative feelings you have about following the diet.

___ Confused

___ Afraid

___ Angry

___ Deprived or resentful

___ Resistant

___ Other___________________________________

Identify what you may be afraid of, angry about, or resistant to in the feelings diary(What is a PDF document?).

Don't judge yourself by your feelings. It is what you do with them that matters.

Let go of your negative feelings

Just identifying why you have a negative feeling is not enough to rid you of it-you will need to do something to let go of it. Complete the section of the feelings diary about how you plan to deal with each negative feeling.

You can let go of negative feelings by:

• Writing about what you feel and reading aloud to yourself what you have written.
• Talking with your family, a friend, or your diabetes specialist. You may learn that your negative feeling is based on something that is not true.
• Joining a diabetes support group. Most people with diabetes have had negative feelings and are willing to share how they dealt with those feelings. Call your local affiliate of the American Diabetes Association to find support groups in your area.
• Getting counseling. If a feeling continues to get in your way of taking care of yourself, talk with a health professional about counseling.

Now that you have read this information, you may be ready to deal with your negative feelings about a diet for diabetes. You know that positive feelings about yourself and your diet can also help motivate you to stay on your diet for diabetes.

Talk with your diabetes specialist (doctor, registered dietitian, or certified diabetes educator).

If you have questions or have identified areas that you need help with, take it with you when you visit your diabetes specialist.