Diabetes Resources

Hello There!

Heres another blog full of some diabetes resources. I found this site: http://www.cornerstones4care.com/DiabetesBasics/DiabetesBasics.aspx?WT.mc_id=DC_C4C_Paid_DiabetesGeneral_Google_122011&WT.srch=1&campaign=000730451

On this site there was this quote that I thought came in handy: "If you have diabetes, you are not alone. Millions of people today have diabetes. Diabetes cannot yet be cured, but it can be managed. You can lead a full, active life with diabetes. The first step is learning how to take care of yourself."




Here is a good page within that site: http://www.cornerstones4care.com/DiabetesBasics/HowDiabetesManaged.aspx


More websites:
http://www.onglyza.com/type_2_diabetes/about.aspx

http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/consumer/index.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/index.htm

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/type-2/

https://www.myfreestyle.com/login.html?responseTrackingCode=ADC_Y11M04DTCSEM197C02&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=diabetes&utm_content=diabetes&utm_campaign=Awareness

http://sparkpeople.com/

http://www.fitnessgoop.com/2011/12/the-wheat-belly-diabetes-and-accelerated-aging/

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/press-media/faqs/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQSqjmk4Oxg

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/type+2+diabetes

If you are on this page and know someone with type 1: http://www.jdrf.org/
http://www.diabetesresearch.org/
Story of a famous type 1 diabetic: http://forecast.diabetes.org/magazine/features/nick-jonas-raising-pop-star-diabetes?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PPC&utm_term=nickjonas&utm_campaign=october2009&gclid=CJC_j8y-_6wCFUOQ7Qodow4yUQ

The resources about diabetes, both types, are endless. The recipe options are becoming more known as well. All of our information is growing constantly because of the seriousness of this desease but it is up to us to put what we have learned to practice.

Keep checking back for more updates as they come: http://takeactionforwellnessandrecipes.tumblr.com/

Type 2 in teens and Santa's sugar free helpers

Hey all are you checking out our recipe tumblr still? http://takeactionforwellnessandrecipes.tumblr.com/

Tonight at 5:30 is our "Santa's Sugar-free Helpers" We've got a few people signed up for it! Hope to see YOU there! :)

I wasn't sure what to do this post on today but I decided that it would be good to talk about the growing number of teens that are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Typically we hear of teens being diagnosed with type 1. A very famous teen with diabetes in Nick Jonas. He was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 13 and has type 1. Through his job as a musician he's started to use that as a platform to help other young people with type one diabetes. http://nickssimplewins.com/ but in recent years more teens are being diagnosed with type 2. This is likely due to obesity rate so it is up to us to spread the word about doing more physical activity and better meal planning. Type 1 is horrible but it cannot be prevented, type 2 can be prevented but the community of those with diabetes or those with family or friends with diabetes need to work together!

Here is a video that I found about a teen with type 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMPc_y5kNpU&feature=channel_video_title

Also, support someone with diabetes. My mother and best friend both have type 2 and so to show my support and love for them I bought a "Diabetes Dog tag" however mine does not say diabetes on it. You can order them for those with Diabetes and they say "Diabetes" on the back or you can buy one if you don't have diabetes and it will be blank on the back. They are just 5 dollars support your family or friend now: https://shop.nickssimplewins.com/

Thanks so much for reading! If you have diabetes I hope that you are doing well this holiday season, if you don't I hope that you are helping someone and supporting someone you know that does!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Type 1 Type 2

When it comes to Diabetes there are 2 main types and then Gestational diabetes. Then there is type 1 and type 2.

Gestational diabetes something that a woman may develop during late stage pregnancy. Although a woman who has gestational diabetes is more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life.

Type 1 is typically known as Juvenal diabetes. This is because it's typically the form that that youth are diagnosed with and it is the one that cannot really be prevented. This type is dangerous and there have been some adults who have been diagnosed with it.

Type 2 is the one that our diabetes coalition works with because it is preventable. If a type two diabetic takes care of themselves it is a high possibility that their diabetes can be controlled. We've talked briefly before about the things that need to be done to control diabetes. Eating right (healthier diet) and Physical exercise.

The differences go deeper than that but this is a short version. There are differences though and ALL diabetes can be dangerous! Take care of yourself! Especially this holiday season!

Stress

While trying to think of a good subject for today's blog post I thought about stress. Stress is a key factor in many  health issues. High Blood pressure? Your probably stressed... Stomachache? More than likely stress! I am not diabetic myself but my mother is. I notice a change when she checks her sugar when she is stressed. My mom keeps her blood sugar under control most of the time but sometimes she is so stressed that her numbers get pretty high.

When it comes to stress find out what works best for you to wind down. I found out for me the other day that when I'm stressed a nice little shopping trip (even window shopping) works wonders. I also have a me day where I focus on at home spa treatments or anything like that. Some men like to watch or even play sports to de-stress themselves. The possibilities are endless. Try your best to breath. Squeeze a stressball, anything to help you and your blood sugar count.

To help my mom I usually try telling her funny stories to calm her down. Stress is a killer, try not to let it get to you...

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/llw/stressquiz.html

http://www.geeksugar.com/Fun-Websites-Help-You-De-Stress-11242953

http://www.geeksugar.com/Fun-Websites-Help-You-Destress-11155291

Above are some websites that I found that might help with de-stressing and make you laugh just a little! Enjoy them!

After doing a bit of research at the CARES office there is a brochure here titled: "Stress: Your survival guide" These brochures are from the "Regional Prevention Center of Comprehend, Inc." in Maysville, Kentucky.

They give the following website from Stress assessments and information: http://www.webmd.com and say to search stress for resources.

Go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/health/gigaquiz?infile=stress_quiz&path=stress_test

http://health.discovery.com/centers/stress/balancing/stress/assessment.html

Stress can effect many things and cause many more. I think we're aware that stress can cause: Poor judgement, personality changes, hostility and anger, depression, and anxiety disorders.

Chronic stress could cause: insomnia, ulcers or other stomach problems (for example stress brought out more of my symptoms of my non-functioning gallbladder before it was removed), Frequent constipation or diarrhea,  Inability to focus or concentrate, nervousness, trembling and inappropriate sweating, headaches, significant unintended weight gain or loss, substance cause, and heart disease, and while it is not mentioned diabetes is in fact effected when stress comes in to play.

Tips on dealing with it from this brochure are: Be decisive, manage your time, manage your commitments, communicate, know what matters, balance your life and avoid excess...anything. Some more ways to deal with it are Laugh and cry, talk have fun, and RELAX. Some things that will also help with diabetes AND dealing with stress is to Sleep better and exercise.

The final thought from the brochure and myself is to "Tame the tiger" I get tired of people telling me to relax and take it easy so I'm sure you do to...but in order to take care of yourself trying to control your stress level is important. Remember you are not alone in this! We're doing this together.

Recipe Blog IS UP!!!!!!!! :)

Well it's been done! Lyn has officially set up the Take Action For wellness Recipe TUMBLR.

Go here to view it: http://takeactionforwellnessandrecipes.tumblr.com/

 If you have a tumblr you can follow that tumblr blog and also reblog the posts! Enjoy and we hope you also enjoy the food. We are excited to have this part of the blog finally up and hope you are as well.

Recipe Blog Training

Hey everyone! Lynnea here! I'm here with our Diabetes Coalition Recipe blogger! I'm "training" or I guess "teaching" her how to blog as we speak so I guess we could call this a test blog entry.

The email address for the blog that we're about to set up (when it gets set up we'll post THAT address) is...

recipes2share@rocketmail.com

So send your recipe emails there and we will post recipes on that blog for you try.

Recap of the Diabetes Day- Nov. 4th

Diabetes day went well this year! We hope next year there will be an even better turn out!

The proclamation was read at the start of the day by the Mayor. Following that the booths were open. We had booths about diabetes in general, health and diet, children with diabetes, dental health, heart, and even a booth to test everyones A1C. A lot of information and "free goodies" were given out. Anything from stress balls, toothbrush and toothpaste, to childrens books and childrens diabetes information. It was just a day full of knowledge and smiles. Some of the informative goodies were Counting carbs meal planning guides and a copy of the 2011 Calorie King: Calorie fat and carbohydrate counter.

We even had a booth about a book that one of our coalition members has read,and others will be reading as well. In a later post we'll have more about the book. Until then check out these sites on it. http://www.wheatbellybook.com/wheatbellybook/ps/index?keycode=185994 and http://www.youtube.com/user/wheatbelly Also, there is this following quote: "Nutritionists established the fact that wheat increases blood sugar more profoundly than table sugar thirty years ago" -Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD. This book has information that may change your outlook on this new "whole wheat" diet that they are pushing now.

In future posts we'll also go through some meal planning and physical activity literature that I have within reach. There is a lot of literature out there about eating healthy with diabetes. Hopefully in the future we can hear from those that work with the dental aspect of it all as well as other aspects. I will also be able to share statistics of children with type 2 diabetes. There will also be more about the care involved for those with diabetes. There are so many pieces of literature about diabetes and I look forward to finding more and sharing it with you.

Thank you for reading.

Hope to see you at our next event!!

Diabetes Awareness Day

Hey everyone! It's November 4th... Vanceburg's Diabetes awareness day! Hope to see you all out at the extension office sometimes between 11 am to 2 pm today! It will be an experience of knowledge, preparation, and prevention!

Diabetes Challenge and Sparkpeople

Hey everyone,

I'm working hard on some more ideas for keeping diabetes in check. As previously posted the best thing for a diabetic to do is to keep an eye on your diet. I'm not talking a diet like the south beach diet or anything like this. I'm talking about your actual food intake. The recipes our coalition will be posting soon will hopefully give you that extra nudge in the right direction. Other than that there is the whole physical activity thing.

In the generation that we now live in physical activity is hard to come by. Especially with the young generation. Younger people love video and computer games they are all about the R&R (Rest and Relaxation) Even for myself I sometimes lack motivation because I grew up in the generation of computers and video games. So what can we do to help this generation evolve from that? Theres this fantastic "new fangled contraption" called a Wii fit. It helps give that extra nudge of physical activity and it's fun. Now they also have active games for other video game systems. I personally have a Zone 60 which is a cheaper video game system but still gives off that physical activity vibe. Theres a dance game, bowling, baseball, tennis, and so much more. Other video games are the millions of Just Dance and Dance Dance Revolution games out there. The resources and possibilities are endless and it's up to us to use them. If you say you can't afford it that's fine but chances are if you have a teenager or younger in your home you've afforded it or will one day. Thats just one example.

I found a site courtesy of my good friend who is type 2 diabetic. Both of her parents are type 2 as well and they all took it upon themselves to try and get healthier. They would thy many things and most of those things just didnt work. So they heard from someone about http://www.sparkpeople.com/ I am not a diabetic though it runs on both sides of my family. I'm also active in the diabetes coalition (proof? I help run this blog) Anyway...I know that in order to prevent type 2 diabetes in my own life I need to get healthy and stay that way. I've started to eat healthier and stay up on my phsycial activity. For a long time my main problem was that I didnt have an accountablity partner but thats exactly where sparkpeople comes in. You sign up, and it gives you the opportunity to track your food and physical activity daily. It also gives you other tasks to do, and fits your own personal needs. As a person who is at risk for diabetes it helps me keep track of my carb in take. Try it, it could help you like it's helped so many others.

So the first words on this blog entry are "Diabetes Challenge" You are probably wondering what on earth that is about. I'm a member of Tumblr and I've found that the site is great for networking and finding people with like interests so I did a search for diabetes. On this I found a "Diabetes challenge" This diabetes challenge is a 20 day challenge that has focus on a person with diabetes. It asks certain questions that the diabetic is to answer, and it's one question per day. This diabetes challenge serves the purpose of a vent, and support, as well as awareness. I will post the questions below. Feel free to post it on your facebook or your own blog and do your own diabetes challenge.

20 Day Diabetes Challenge

In case any of you are fans of the 10/20/30-day challenges:

1. How old were you when you were diagnosed? And/or how old is your diabetes now?
2. What was your first reaction to your diagnosis?
3. Have you ever been to diabetes camp/events? Have you made any friends that way?
4. Do you know any other diabetics? (both online and IRL)
5. Pump, shots, or something else? Why? What meter/pump do you use?
6. Do you advertise it or try to hide it? Any reason why?
7. What’s your favorite diabetic book/movie?
8. Did you have to make any major lifestyle changes when you were diagnosed?
9. Have you ever traveled far away with it? What was that like?
10. What was your scariest diabetes moment?
11. What’s your record for highs/lows?
12. How’s your relationship with your endocrinologist?
13. What’s your favorite diabetes joke?
14. Have you ever gotten in trouble for doing something diabetes-related that someone didn’t think was allowed? (Bolusing in class, blood sugar test in a meeting, eating at work, etc)
15. What’s your favorite oh-gosh-my-diabetes-hate-me-for-eating-this food?
16. Do you own/use any diabetic cookbooks?
17. Has being diabetic gotten you any privileges? (scholarships, special treatment, etc)
18. What advice would you give a newly-diagnosed diabetic?
19. What’s your best diabetes moment?
20. Give a diabetic shoutout!
    
    (diabetes challenge post is courtesy of http://igotthebeetus.tumblr.com/) Thank you.

Lunch and Learn meeting and More

Hello there!

Hopefully in the future I'll be able to use this blog as an announcement blog (when more people follow/read it) But today here is a recap. Today we had our Lunch and Learn meeting. Dr. Porter spoke about prevention! It was an excellent day. We had yummy healthy food, that will possibly be posted once the recipe section is put up.

Some of the things that I took notes on today were the fact that... weight proportion in a person can be a big indicator. If you have more weight in the belly region that will increase the chances of you having diabetes. Where as if your weight proportions are pretty even you are less likely to have diabetes. Also those on the Mediterranean diet are less likely to have diabetes while those on the western diet will have increased chances of diabetes. Also, something that is finally getting more known. Those in the Appalachian region are at a higher risk of diabetes.

We also talked about "5210" You can find out more about that here: http://www.healthynh.com/fhc/initiatives/ch_obesity/5210.php or just google 5210.


Something that our coalition has talked about before is this site: http://www.walkscore.com/ Go there to check out the walk score your county/city. It may surprise you. One of the biggest parts of control and preventing diabetes is the physical activity, and the availability of places to walk may not be that easy to come by.

As time goes by we'll be adding some great recipes, as well as other resources and websites! I'll also make announcements on here of the different events we'll be having. I hope to also do a Dining with Diabetes recap in the future.

ANNOUNCEMENT: November 4th is the Diabetes day in Vanceburg at the Extension office from 11 am - 2 pm Hope to see you there! 


Continue taking action for wellness!
Blog at you soon! :)

The Beginning of a Beautiful Blog

Hello Readers,

Welcome to the start of this new blog for the diabetes coalition. This first entry is just a introduction into what you will soon find on this blog.

Announcements of coming activities/events
Diabetes facts
Exercise and nutrition tips
Youtube videos
...and much more!

Soon we hope to have the recent Dining With Diabetes recap complete with pictures up on here.

Heres the basic intro to begin everything:
Who- Lewis Co. Diabetes Coalition: Take Action for Wellness in Lewis Co.
What- We exist to spread awareness about diabetes and we also would like to spread diabetes prevention in our county through health and wellness.
When- Starting now!
Where-Lewis Co of course!
Why- Because of the growing amount of people with type 2 diabetes in the Appalachian region. Not just in adults but in youth as well.
How- By using this blog, our local newspaper (shameless plug: read the articles in the Lewis County Herald. Many with diabetes in our community, and their family members put their stories in these articles.), Lunch and Learn meetings, Diabetes Day activities, using our community and internet resources, working with our community stores and restaurants.

Working together as a community good things can happen. Lets start on this amazing journey of health and wellness together. May the excitement begin! :)