Tag Archives: blood sugar levels

Raising Awareness For National Diabetes Month

By Lauren Bongiorno

National Diabetes Month

According to the American Diabetes Association, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, education and awareness is a key component in preventing the following statistics from continuing to rise in the future years:

  • Diabetes affects nearly 30 million children and adults in the U.S today — nearly 10 percent of the population
  • Another 86 million Americans have prediabetes and are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes
  • One- third of American adults will have diabetes by 2050 unless we take steps to stop diabetes
  • Every 19 seconds someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with diabetes
  • Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure
  • 60 to 70% of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nerve damage that could result in pain in the feet or hands, slowed digestion, sexual dysfunction and other nerve problems

*The above statistics are cited from the American Diabetes Association, 2015.

In honor of this November’s American Diabetes Awareness month, the ADA is holding a campaign to STOP DIABETES. They are gathering up as much support as they can for diabetes research, advocacy, and community outreach in order to help spread the message that all of us need to take a stand against this disease.

American politician Barbara Mikulski once said, “Each one of us can make a difference. Together we can make a change.” Whether or not you have diabetes, here are 5 ways you can help spread awareness to get this country one step closer to health and happiness by stopping the harmful effects and diagnoses of diabetes:

1.  Start at home

Start the awareness at home by talking with your family about the importance of healthy blood sugar levels. You can also discuss the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes and stress that type 2 diabetes is preventable by keeping a healthy diet and exercising.

2. Participate in a Fundraiser Walk

Join JDRF and ADA in one of their walks that are held nationwide to fundraise for education, research, and advocacy. You can register to join your local JDF ONE walk or ADA Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes.

3. Help support children at school

Once called “Adult Onset Diabetes,” Type 2 diabetes now affects a growing number of children’s lives. One way to help support children is to work with your local school to invite a health care professional to speak about diabetes. Another suggested is to help the district get less fried food and added sugar in the cafeteria and more fresh fruits and vegetables.

4. Organize a walk or workout

Become a motivator in your community and organize a walk or workout with a group of people to help each other stay accountable!

5. Organize a community support group for people with diabetes

When you take the time to come together with like-minded individuals working towards similar goals, you get a support system and realize you’re not the only one out there with the same issues and concerns. The idea is to create a sense of unity that is about joining forces to help each other through the challenges of diabetes and fight against the disease.

November 14th was World Diabetes Day but let’s not let that stop us from continuing to raise awareness and giving support to those who need it each and every day of the year!

Lauren Bongiorno is a Type 1 Diabetic, Diabetic holistic health coach, qualified yoga instructor, and motivational speaker. Lauren has lived with Type 1 Diabetes since 2000 and has proven that no matter what your challenge in life is, taking control of it starts from the inside out with a healthy mind and body. With a background in holistic health, personal training, division 1 collegiate soccer, and yoga, Lauren is the Brand Ambassador for Gluco Perfect. You can connect with Lauren on her website at laurenbongiorno.com and follow her Instagram and Facebook pages for daily inspiration.

How To Stay Positive When Recovering From Life Challenges

by Lauren Bongiorno

Lauren Bongiorno Type 1 Diabetic

Lauren Bongiorno Stretching After Injury

Over the summer while working out in my yard, I heard a popping noise in my left knee. I instantly started crying from the pain and when I tried to straighten my leg out but couldn’t, I knew I had a serious injury on my hands.

After a visit to both the emergency room and an orthopedic doctor, I learned that I sprained my right lateral collateral ligament pretty badly. I was told that I needed physical therapy twice a week for the next 3 months and needed to drastically modify my workouts so I wouldn’t further injure my knee.

If you’ve ever been injured, you know how frustrating it can be. As a result of the injury there are a lot of limitations and a lot of precautions that more often than not interfere with your daily routine. Once the doctor told me of my injury, however, my first thoughts were not about what I couldn’t do, but rather what I still could do.

In the weeks recovering form my injury, instead of running outside for cardio, which has high impact on your knees, I rode my bike and used the elliptical at the gym. Instead of my intense power yoga sessions, I focused more on slow deep stretches and meditation. And instead of leg days that usually consisted of lots of jumping and heavy squats and lunges, I focused on building my upper body strength with exercises like pull ups, pushups, shoulder presses and tricep dips.

Even though I could not work out as hard as I normally would have, I knew it was so important to stay active to keep my blood sugar levels from spiking and to keep my stress levels low. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t running 10 miles a day or squatting with heavy weights. All that mattered was that I was moving my body and staying active, using what I had to do what I could because every little bit makes a difference.

I truly believe that injuries, just like diabetes and all of life’s other challenges should be approached the same way:

  1. With acceptance
    You may not be able to control what happens to you but you can control how you react. Once you can accept the challenge that has presented itself, you can begin focusing on seeing the positive in a situation and cultivating strength to help you get through it.
  2. With patience
    When a new challenge presents itself there may be frustrating times, but the important thing is to be patient. To know that the moments of struggle are not permanent, and they will pass.
  3. With perseverance
    Above all, we must believe that challenges are not meant to be roadblocks, but only bumps in the road. No matter how many bad days you have, or moments of self doubt and sadness, or no matter how many times you get knocked down, the important thing is that you get right back up and keep fighting to be the healthiest and happiest you.

Lauren Bongiorno is a Type 1 Diabetic, Diabetic holistic health coach, qualified yoga instructor, and motivational speaker. Lauren has lived with Type 1 Diabetes since 2000 and has proven that no matter what your challenge in life is, taking control of it starts from the inside out with a healthy mind and body. With a background in holistic health, personal training, division 1 collegiate soccer, and yoga, Lauren is the Brand Ambassador for Gluco Perfect. You can connect with Lauren on her website at laurenbongiorno.com and follow her Instagram and Facebook pages for daily inspiration.