5 Good Reasons Why You Should Do The Mastering Diabetes Coaching Program
Last year I decided to start the Mastering Diabetes Coaching Program. During that period, I was deep into the training block for my first marathon, I was trying to juggle physical activity, food intake, blood glucose management, insulin resistance and performance.
I like to figure out stuff on my own and that’s what I had set out to do back then, reading the science, testing different methods, adopting a trial and error approach.
I made progress, but I soon realized I needed a level of expertise and an accountability system I had not matured yet. I wanted my blood glucose to be and stay in range, to be insulin sensitive, enjoy endurance running and life in the process. And I needed some help to get there.
I already wrote a small review of the coaching program. Several months later, I am more convinced than ever that it has been one of the best investments I have ever made, and one of those that have yielded the highest returns because I am the returns are not money, but Health. And health lasts a lifetime, if we take good care of it.
In today’s post, I will share five reasons why I think anyone living with diabetes should consider the Mastering Diabetes Coaching Program.
If you’re considering the program but are not sure it’s the right thing for you, I hope my experience helps you with your concerns, doubts or questions!
1) Becoming Autonomous: It Teaches You How All You Need To Know To Succeed Long-Term
As soon as the Mastering Diabetes Program started, I had access to a member’s platform with video courses, downloadable content and a number of other resources (including guided workouts, a community page, webinars and recipes and a delicious meal plan).
In the video courses, also available as text, the coaches explain the scientific fundamentals I needed to know about my condition (type 1 diabetes, but type 2 diabetes, pre diabetes other forms of the disease are also covered): what causes insulin resistance and why, why lifestyle and food choices are crucial to prevent spikes, the importance of movement, sleep and fasting in blood glucose regulation, why certain foods are better than others and much more.
I would rate the content with 5 stars, not only for the depth of the explanations, but also for how accessible it was for the “generic viewer” with no background in science. After completing the videos, I had a much better understanding of my condition, and its first principles were imprinted in my mind.
Anyone living with diabetes has to make hundreds more decisions than the rest of the population (“what should I eat?”, “how is eating this going to affect me?”, “how much insulin should I take?”, “why my blood sugar is always high in this moment of the day?”,…), and knowing how diabetes works and the levers we can pull to make it work better for us is essential.
When we’re empowered to make better daily decisions by a solid and well explained scientific knowledge, we become more autonomous in our daily life and less exposed to the nonsense that thousands of gurus online try to sell us (I am sure everyone has come across “the magic diet that will…” or “erase this from your diet and…” or “lose weight in just one day with…” sort of things…).
As a bonus, our HbA1c, our insulin sensitivity, our time in range and our relationship with food ALL improve automatically and as a results of actions we’re able to make consciously and with confidence.
With all the emotional and physical benefits this brings.
2) Accountability Buddy: The Coach That Keeps You Going
It’s not that my diet was disastrous, I had been plant based for years and was already transitioning to a more whole plant-based food diet on my own. Nor was it the case that I was an inactive person, since I had been exercising at least one hour every day for the past eight years of my life. I was already tracking my food intake and keeping a diabetes journal, and I had already read the Mastering Diabetes book and familiarized with their message.
Diet, exercise, journaling and a conscious lifestyle…I didn’t need to be convinced about the validity of any of that. I was committed and had been for quite a while already. My real struggle was that I was not disciplined enough. And that made the Personal Coach an important figure in my journey.
Despite my awareness around the table, I was still trading whole foods for refined ones way too often. I had no problem eating one hundred percent whole plant based at home, but I had to develop some more discipline when eating outside and in social occasions. All those pizzas I was still saying “yes” to, those snacks at the market, those dried fruits and nuts in the shelf at the office still constituted a source of temptation I needed help to tame.
The mere fact that each day I had to send to my coach a picture of my decision tree with all the food I had been eating and how I had strategized my insulin intake was enough for some true self-examination. When after the first week of the program I was not seeing the results I had been hoping for, I had a chat with my coach. We went through each day of my week and analyzed what had happened and unveiled some trends, such as rising blood glucose in night hours and spikes after lunch.
With some analysis and reflection, my coach brought to my attention that I was underestimating my yellow and red light foods intake. What I considered “just some bread” was a lot of bread, eaten quite often during the week. What I considered “a couple dates” were thrice the portion someone would consider as normal. She also pointed to the fact that I was not always following the carb-to-insulin ratios I was calculating. In other words, I was still guestimating my injections without really being aware of it.
Having a coach helped me IMMENSELY to spot these biases of mine and start to address them, and months after the end of the program I am much much much more able to catch myself and keep myself accountable (and journaling is essentialfor this).
At first I thought I could do this all on my own and I did not accept help. I have matured and changed my mind: asking for help is a very smart move, especially when you can rely on an expert to be your guide, your mentor, your accountability partner. Looking back, this has been a pivotal moment which led to a behavioral change that lasts to this day.
Here are a few tips I use to stay in range more and with less effort.
Grab your free PDF and get your diabetes under control today!
3) Mental And Emotional Support: The Community, And Overcoming Doubts And Frustrations
Accountability and disciplines are not the only aspects that benefit from the presence of the Mastering Diabetes Personal Coaches. While she helped me reach and maintain the right level of discipline with tracking, logging and eating, I found in my Coach a wise and kind companion to navigate the tough times, the frustrations, doubts and uncertainties that inevitably arose.
When I couldn’t get my blood glucose down and stable as I wanted, I was way too hard on myself. My internal dialogue was a disastrous attempt to find someone to blame for my mistakes, for my wrongdoings, for the food cravings I still could not control. And in each and every case, I would blame myself with a violence and harshness that only augmented the perceived size of the problem, making it impossible to find a way out.
The Coach intervened with great mental and emotional support during our calls, kindly inviting me to observe and hear how I was talking to myself, how unforgiving I was for, say, eating an extra slice of bread and not increase my insulin accordingly, or for abandoning myself to a yellow light snack that led to a spike. I was too busy pointing fingers that I didn’t notice that I would never talk to a friend the same way I was talking to myself.
With help, I have learned to accept that mistakes are a part of the journey. It is far more helpful to observe and understand them closely, the same way you would observe a wild animal to understand its behavior and how to interact with it.
Developing self awareness and kindness was yet another major step forward in my life as a diabetic. The path is not smooth, but I can smoothen it by mindfully learning from my experience and committing to guide my next action according to my learnings.
With mindfulness, kindness and close observation, things can only improve.
4) Technical Information: Food, Insulin, Blood Glucose And Exercise Management
So far we have covered the video courses and explanations that put me in condition to make more informed decisions during my everyday life. We’ve also covered the importance of the Coach, a figure who is critical to stick to the program and let some new habits (like tracking food, logging our decision tree, weighing our ingredients, calculating our ratios) sink in so that they stay in the long term. The Coach is critical also for the human support it provides during the inevitable moments of frustration, doubts and anger.
One bit that made me appreciate the Mastering Diabetes Program even more was all the practical material, tools and bits of knowledge I could access, download or printout and carry with me. Stuff I have been using or referencing to everyday since the w s of my coaching, and that makes every day life a lot easier as long as I commit to use it.
The first one is the Decision Tree Journal, which you can buy separately or just download as a PDF. I have the PDF version which I regularly print on paper, front and back, with two tables on each page. One table covers one day (I have explained how it works in a previous article). I was at first hesitant because I try to avoid sheets of paper when I have a digital alternative. But I have made an exception in this case: the power of tracking down on paper critical information like insulin and food in sequence allows me to witness how my ratios evolve throughout the day and start to connect the dots with my lifestyle. I used to log my data into a spreadsheet but I admit without any doubts that pen and paper is unbeatable.
Secondly, on day one I had access to an excellent day-by-day meal plan (available as a PDF), specifically crafted for reducing insulin resistance. Every week of the program includes new meals which guarantee a wide variety of choices, and each and every meal is quick to prepare, incredibly satisfying to eat and definitely affordable. I never had any issue in terms of sourcing the right ingredients for a recipe, nor in terms of grocery bills (in fact, I now spend less than I used to before the program).
What’s important about these meals is that they worked as expected, bringing my insulin sensitivity to a level I had never seen and securing a stabler, lower, in range blood glucose. I had very few spikes, and I know the ones I had were due to an error on my end.
Then, at the time I joined the program, I was offered a discount code for Cronometer. Cronometer is an essential mobile app for tracking food, understanding the quality of the calories we’re eating and have a complete overview on our macronutrient and micronutrient intake. I have tried several food tracking apps, but this is hands down the best one.
As an endurance athlete I was interested in improving my understanding and mastering the art of blood glucose control during exercise. The deep dive videos on diabetes and sports covered the topic just perfectly, empowering me with all the knowledge and tools I needed to navigate my workouts more effectively and safely. I took copious notes and still refer to them to this day.
Lastly, the Coaching Platforms includes a section with great follow along workouts, Q&As with the coaches, easy recipe videos and much more. I loved the Q&As because I could find answers to those mundane questions that you hardly find with a google search. And I loved the recipes because they were so quick and easy to make, so cheap and so good.
5) The Mastering Diabetes Method Just Works: The Foundation For A Serene Life
There is a plethora of aspects that make me qualify the Mastering Diabetes Program as excellent, and the paragraphs above tackle the ones that made the biggest impact for me.
Leaving aside personal opinions for a second, what everyone cares about is whether or not this works, if it is just another online scam, a good sales pitch that leaves you with a lighter wallet and no results.
So let me state this now, to make it clear: the Mastering Diabetes Coaching Program is absolutely worth every penny.
And to be honest, in hindsight I wouldn’t even consider the idea of not doing it. When I was pondering the idea of doing it, I had my concerns (Is it worth the money, can’t I just do it on my own, that’s quite an investment of time too,…), but then I changed perspective. This is not the equivalent of spending money for a new mobile phone, a trip, a concert or some other vanity thing.
This is an investment in a lifetime of health and wellbeing, and I immediately noticed the difference. Blood sugar swings used to ruin not only my everyday life and experience of it, but also my mood and my mental health. Being constantly stressed by an hyperglycemia, then an hypoglycemia, and another, and another, and desperately chasing it with either more food or more insulin, being awakened by the CGM alarm at night or having to skip work or a run for a hypoglycemia…this stuff ruins a life. And it was surely ruining mine.
But there’s a way out: understanding the causes behind things, having a plan to tackle them, and committing to the process. The Mastering Diabetes Program teaches you the science behind the issues you experience, helps you creating a plan of action and gives you all the support you need to succeed. Once the program is over, you’ll naturally not want to go back to old habits because you feel and see how counterproductive they were, and how much better you feel.
The idea of feeling that good despite and thanks to diabetes everyday of my life encouraged me and put a big smile on my face.
My mental health improved along with my blood glucose management and time in range, because when the tough moments come (and they always do), I know that I am equipped with the awareness, knowledge and tools to overcome them.
Joining the Mastering Diabetes Coaching Program has been one of the best choices I’ve made.
