One Lesson I Have Learned About Managing Diabetes That Has Preserved My Mental Health Over The Years (Helping Me Improve My Time In Range While Avoiding Burnout)
I like to have everything under control - and I mean it: everything.
And when it comes to T1 Diabetes, I am even more rigid.
I want to know the exact carbs count.
I want to know and calculate the exact units of insulin.
I want to calculate the exact ratios at every given point in time, ideally at every meal.
I want to know how insulin resistant I am.
I want to have full control of my diet, cutting anything processed and keeping it whole plant based all the time.
And on, and on…
I almost never allow myself to get sluggish - and to be clear, being rigid about all of the above is an excellent choice. Years of experience have taught me that with diabetes, lifestyle design and precision in tracking it are a must.
However, I sometimes fall off the wagon.
There are periods where I only have this much energy, and I need to allocate it. And it can happen that the mental estate required to track everything down to the smallest detail becomes unbearable and I get more benefit by letting all of that go for a couple of days to preserve my mental health. So I kinda count my carbs, I kinda eat whole foods, I kinda adjust my ratios, I kinda calculate my insulin. I still DO pay attention, but not with my usual rigor and discipline.
In the past I used to blame myself for not being perfect, and that always led to burnout and dark feelings.
But now, when this happens, I just let that happen and accept it fully because I know I can “afford” it.
I have learned that if I do things well 90% of the time, I can allow to lower the bar for 10% of the time. And by using this 10% tactically (I like to call it the “10% Tactic”, I can avoid burnout and negative self-talk in difficult periods.
Trying to be PERFECT all the time is not sustainable, because perfection is not human.
While I always aim at the best, I have learned to recognize that the definition of “best” changes over time. If my usual definition of “best” is tracking stuff in painstaking details, there are moments where “best” means just limiting damage. We can’t always control it all, and sometimes we need to let something go for a while to stay sane - and recognizing these moments is essential, because when we see them, we can deploy our “10% Tactic”.
If I think about it in terms of T1 management and healthy habits, when I am in control 90% of the time, I am resilient enough to let that 10% happen.
I am not capable of perfection, and life is not perfect either. The occasional “10% Tactic” has allowed me to accept that there are moments when it is OK to lower the bar.
In the long term, I am convinced that this is going to make a HUGE difference in my lifespan and health-span.
