When you wake up (hopefully not too frustrated from all those CGM alerts), do you intentionally have a morning routine to help put order to the chaos of diabetes management? 

Morning time for most of us can feel hectic - starting with rushing to make and eat your nutritious breakfast, perhaps trying to fit in a workout session to get your body moving, getting yourself dressed and making sure your bag is packed for the day ahead. If we throw in our diabetes management responsibilities, the morning can feel even more chaotic and challenging. 

It can be helpful to apply some simple morning strategies and have certain systems in place to help you stay on track with your health, reduce morning stress, and set yourself up well to manage your diabetes in an empowering way. 
 

What your diabetes morning routine can look like ...

1. Waking up: the early bird gets the worm!
It can be a scary thought knowing that blood sugar levels do change during sleep. Being able to acknowledge and address this as one of your first steps when you wake up can assist you to feel better, tackle any health concerns you need to tackle, and be in a better mindspace knowing that your levels are corrected.
 
If you are tracking your levels in a journal, this can be  a great time to remember to jot it down so that you can see how your levels change throughout the day. 

2. Get out of bed and look at your morning checklist (that you obviously made and stuck up on your mirror/wall from the night before)
A simple to-do list can act as a great visual reminder to minimise the need for you to think too much in the morning, ensuring that all the important tasks are done. Spend more brain power simply enjoying the calm before the storm of the day.

Your to-do list can start off with something as simple as:

• Check my blood sugar levels
• Scan my CGM
• Take insulin/medication/food as needed
• Go for my 15 minute morning walk
• My shower and skincare routine
• Pack my diabetes supplies that I need for the day
• Make and eat breakfast
• Read for 10 minutes
• Pack my lunch
• Dress and get myself ready

 
3. Leave your house feeling like you’re prepared for success!
A morning routine in general can act as a really effective and simple system to get you into the flow of planning ahead for success, getting rid of any potential ambiguity that may come up in the morning to cause you to feel rushed, and to help you feel empowered with controlling what you can control. By having a morning routine, you can make sure your health is being prioritised and have extra time to fit in activities that are beneficial for your mental health (such as finding that quick quiet time to enjoy walking in the sun). 
 

At Glucology, we're focused on including our community in these discussions and sharing our collective experiences. Have a read at what our fellow community members do to set up their morning right!

• Wake up - Scan my CGM, decide what's for breakfast based on result, eat and take meds, check my work schedule for the day and plan my food to take with me, dress for the weather, check my pump and insulin vial to assess if they will last until I get back home. - Zara R.
• Wake up, check my CGM, look at my overnight results (smile or swear), clothes on, meds, long acting, parent, work, check CGM, dose, coffee - Paige F.
• Wake up, check BGL, workout, check BGL, correct for workout ride and prebolus for coffee in one. Check BGL, prebolus for breaky, eat whilst driving, check BGL for low before starting work. - Rhiannon C.
• Check my BG on my excellent #tandemdiabetes #pump thanks to my fab #dexcomg6 … dress… my Cafeteria Guy, aka my hubby, has orange segments and freshly cut veggies prepared for breakfast with kefir and #GidddyYo #organic #blueberrypowder (cuz I don’t like to eat berries!) and #Organika collagen powder, (we are #paleo). Check BG again. Bolus. Enjoy #mindfuleating… Then we start our day at our light-filled #art #studio! ❤️😍
• Get up, check levels, make breakie, carb myself, get dressed, make sure I’m not rising off to school I go, check levels to make sure I’m not dipping after my walk. Then start my school day 😊

IBD Medical was born in Sydney Australia. Our mission is to help improve the lives of people living with diabetes by providing the best possible support products and information.