Tag: fitness

The Healthy With Diabetes Challenge

Posted on September 11, 2021 by thediabeticjourney.com

The Healthy With Diabetes Challenge

Managing your diabetes and living a healthy lifestyle takes both physical and mental strength, and it helps a lot to have the support of a “diabetes tribe”. That’s why I am really excited to introduce TheFitBlog’s Healthy With Diabetes Challenge!

Type 1 diabetic and personal trainer Christel Oerum, who you may have seen on the blog before, created the challenge. She hosts these online challenges three times per year and they are super popular (almost 3,000 people participated in the last one).

The Healthy With Diabetes Challenge is a free 4-week challenge where Christel and a team of top diabetes experts take you through some of the most important things you need to know about diabetes and exercise, healthy nutrition, and how to establish healthy habits when you live with diabetes.

How the Challenge works

The Challenge consists of five things:

Daily activities or “challenges” that takes you through everything you need to do in a step-by-step fashion
Articles covering the most important topics on physical and mental health with diabetes
Weekly meal plans
Workout programs that you can do during the challenge (home and gym workouts)
A Facebook support group for challenge participants in which you can ask questions, share your experiences and connect with other people who want to be Healthy With Diabetes

The challenge is for people with all types of diabetes, and of all ages and fitness levels. Besides Christel, you will also learn from the following diabetes experts during the challenge:

Mark Heyman (mental health and diabetes)
Phyllisa Deroze (healthy nutrition and lifestyle with diabetes)
Ben Tzeel (exercise with diabetes)
Ginger Vieira (overcoming diabetes burnout)
Rachel Zinman (yoga and relaxation with diabetes)

Each week, there will also be a giveaway where you can win awesome diabetes products from sponsors like One Drop, Myabetic, Vital Proteins and Legendary Foods.

You can sign up for the challenge on TheFitBlog!

Gym and Lifting Weights with Diabetes

Posted on August 21, 2021August 21, 2021 by thediabeticjourney.com

Gym and Lifting Weights With Diabetes

By: Taylor Pierce

I remember sitting at my desk in the third grade and having the constant thought of, “why am I feeling this type of way?” The constant rush to make it to the bathroom and the question that ran through my mind constantly was, am I supposed to be on this Earth to be a fish?

I remember thinking this because I wasn’t content with just a gulp of water, I wanted the entire ocean I was so thirsty. I remember at the age of eight I always felt weak, but I continued to try my best to compete in competitions with cheerleading and hauling booty on the basketball court, but something wasn’t right. I was weak, pale and exhausted.

We put aside my health and would just take it day by day, until one night after a basketball game. We went to a restaurant that served food that you would never want to pass up. I didn’t eat a single thing and trust me, I’m the type of girl who loves to eat, especially carbs. My mom and dad sat me down and began to question me. “Taylor what is wrong?” they would ask.

I didn’t know what was wrong.

Finally on December 13th I was admitted to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at the age of eight.

My blood sugar hit 1,100. I wanted to die and I was angry. I remember asking myself, “How am I even alive right now?” I knew exactly why, it was because of my wonderful savior, Jesus Christ.

I remember after two weeks in the hospital, I had the mindset of how I didn’t want diabetes. I attended camp Kudzu and would mentor kids my age with diabetes. A lot of people have asked me, “How do you still act happy through all the trials of your life with all the issues that your body faces?” I simply knew I didn’t have to face this alone, and that is where it all started and I wanted to beat diabetes.

I would research diabetes and do many projects on the disease. I would find articles on the death rates and percentages of complications and it scared me. I was scared until I knew that my body was capable of big things.

I also had younger eyes watching me. My younger sister was also diagnosed with diabetes and it broke my heart. I knew I had to fight this disease, be strong, be bold and be an influence to her and others. I didn’t know how to stay healthy and keep my mind strong until I hit the gym.

I have never in my life felt so close to a cure then I do when I’m at the gym.

There were nights that I would cry because I couldn’t make it to the gym. The gym allowed me to escape. Everything went away, my problems and my insecurities and I am so excited to eventually work towards competing in power lifting competitions.

My boyfriend is a Personal Trainer and has pushed me in the gym. I’ve never wanted to work so hard until I started to see myself grow. From my deadlifts starting at 66 lbs to 155lbs within weeks to bench press, and squats, I saw progress and that’s what I started to get addicted to.

If I could give advice to anyone with diabetes in the gym I would tell them to take care of yourself and to take breaks if you need to. I have lost almost 11% of body fat since I have been lifting weights. My A1C has dropped five points, and I cannot wait to watch my body grow even more!

This has been the healthiest I have ever been since becoming a diabetic (and a “Gym Rat” as they call me) . I have also decided to pursue my career in Nursing.

I have had my ups and downs, but diabetes has taught me so much.

I would say having this disease for thirteen years has made me super blessed. I will never let diabetes control me and I will always have the upper hand.

A piece of scripture that keeps me moving forward and that I always keep in mind is:

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” Isaiah 41:10

Until Type One turns into Type “None”, I will never let this disease win. Find that inner fighter in you and join me in beating what the statistics have fed to us.

TheFitBlog - Strong With Diabetes Challenge

Posted on April 16, 2022 by thediabeticjourney.com

The Strong With Diabetes Challenge

I’m lucky enough to have Brittany as part of my diabetes tribe and I am very excited that she wants to share this challenge with all of you. Thank you Brittany!!

The Strong With Diabetes Challenge is a free 4-week program. I have teamed up with a group of the top diabetes experts to take you through the most important things you need to know about diabetes and exercise, healthy nutrition, and how to deal with the mental and emotional aspects of diabetes. The challenge starts May 3 and it’s completely free to participate.

I have type 1 diabetes myself, and inspiring others to live a healthy and active life with diabetes is my passion, so I really hope you will join my challenge. More than 2,500 people with diabetes took part in my last challenge in January and we have one of the friendliest and most supportive communities you can imagine.

How the Challenge works

The Strong With Diabetes Challenge consists of five things:

Daily activities or “challenges” that takes you through everything you need to do in a step-by-step fashion
Articles covering the most important topics on physical and mental strength with diabetes
Weekly meal plans
Workout programs that you can do during the challenge (home and gym workouts)
A Facebook support group for challenge participants in which you can ask questions, share your experiences and connect with other people who want to be Strong With Diabetes

The challenge is for people with all types of diabetes, and of all ages and fitness levels. Besides Christel, you will also learn from the following diabetes experts during the challenge:

Dr. Sheri Colberg (author of The Diabetic Athlete’s Handbook)
Dr. Mark Heyman (Director of the Center for Diabetes and Mental Health)
Ginger Vieira (Editor Emeritus at Diabetes Daily and the author of Dealing with Diabetes Burnout & Emotional Eating with Diabetes & Your Diabetes Science Experiment)
Dan Piper aka. The Healthy Diabetic (Nutrition coach)
Lauren Bongiorno (Diabetic health coach & Yoga instructor)

Each week, there will also be a giveaway where you can win awesome diabetes products from sponsors like One Drop, Myabetic, Lauren’s Hope, Real Good Pizza, and Beyond Type 1.

You can sign up for the challenge on TheFitBlog!

About Christel

Christel is a blogger, certified personal trainer, and diabetes advocate. She has been living with type 1 diabetes since 1997 and at an early stage decided that it wasn’t going to slow her down. Her motto is “There is Nothing You Can’t do With Diabetes”. She writes about Health, Fitness and how to be Fit With Diabetes on TheFitBlog.com. She also trains people with diabetes from across the globe, online and in person, and supports them in meeting their health and fitness goals.

Finding Fulfillment in Personal Training

Posted on April 9, 2022 by thediabeticjourney.com

Finding Fulfillment in Personal Training

By: Jordan Lane

I’ve been a Type 1 Diabetic for 18 years. I was diagnosed at the age of 5. I guess you could say I don’t know a life without it. It took me awhile to realize well maybe this is a blessing, we all know it’s an everyday battle. But I’ve found such a great passion for life.

My father passed away unexpectedly when I was 13, I was quite devastated losing my best friend. As time went on my mother was working her self too hard owning a cleaning business. She was working at a lovely private gym and introduced me to a trainer there, being so young, super skinny, and sad. I was nervous but eventually found myself enjoying it.

My trainer was a wonderful person who taught me so much outside of just exercise. He was my role model. Over the course of 7 years with him, I fell short with 4 left knee surgeries. A lot was lost. But somewhere along the way I found hope.

My mother no longer able to work, I tried my best to get a job to bring money home for the bills, some days good some bad. I didn’t want to give up. I had too much to live for. I eventually decided I wanted to become a trainer and work in health and fitness.

One of my favorite things is helping others. And it’s amazing all what exercise and nutrition can do for you. I’ve been in the field for some time now and still am in love with it. I’ve had some great success stories and more to come.

My friends and family know me best for being positive. I try to. But behind close doors, I’m not always. I eventually spark myself up again. The past couple years I’ve really cranked down on my diabetes and it’s been going well, I still dislike lows more than anything, juice boxes and I get along well.

I’ve always enjoyed being active, from weight training to mountain biking and cycling. Currently training for the Tour de Cure! Haven’t felt my legs in awhile now haha. I’m looking forward to meeting more Type 1 Diabetics. If I can sum it all up, yes the disease is awful but nothing should stop us from going after what we want to achieve. Especially us, we’ve learned so much, gained more strength, and brought hope to a fulfillment.

Just keep it up and carry on, go do everything you want in life. Nothing should stop us. I hope we all continue to raise awareness and share our stories to inspire others. Happy glucose numbers to everyone!

Diabetes Has Become My Passion In Life

Posted on March 9, 2022March 9, 2022 by thediabeticjourney.com

Diabetes Has Become My Passion In Life

By: Austin Fuerst

At the age of two, I was diagnosed with type one diabetes. This didn’t just mean that my life would change, but the lives of my parents, family, and friends as well. As a two-year-old, I clearly didn’t know what was going on so all the credit goes to my parents for taking care of me. My mom and dad were always wonderful with taking care of my diabetes and making sure everything was done correctly, from insulin injections, to counting my carbs.

Needless to say, I was very fortunate. My parents also taught me early on to be independent at a young age, starting off giving myself insulin injections when I turned four-years-old, and counting carbs when I turned six-years old. My parents also taught me to not hide, or to be ashamed of my diabetes. They refused to take me to the bathroom of a restaurant to take an insulin shot, and before every school year, they would have a class meeting with all the other kids and let me explain my diabetes to them; the lows, the highs, and how it all worked. That’s where my love of education comes from. My parents helped ingrain it in me at a very early age.

As I got older, diabetes became more and more of something that was a nuisance to me, with middle school being the worst stage of it. I went into the sixth grade with a new insulin pump; the Deltec Cozmo for those who remember it. It was honestly one of the best pumps I have ever had. The only problem with it was that as a sixth grader, I didn’t have the maturity to us it as it was intended. I would bolus without checking my sugars or without even counting my carbs. This led to me lying to my parents about what my numbers were. Telling them that they were a perfect 120, when in reality it was upwards of 300. I could only get away with that for so long because of the dreaded endocrinologist. You smile your way through that because, well, the numbers don’t lie.

When my A1c results came back I was honestly scared for my life. It came back at a 14. I was afraid my parents would be furious at me, and I was right. They weren’t furious at me for having a bad A1c, but they were angry because I had been lying to them about my numbers. That was a big wake up call for me. I realized that the number, whether good or bad, was vital and helped steer me on the path that I needed to be on. After the endocrinologist appointment, I took a break from the pump and went back on shots to bring my A1c down, and get my diabetes back under control.

Through all this time, I attended a summer camp called Camp Sweeney, which is a summer camp specifically for type one diabetics. When I was younger, I loved going just because it was fun. It wasn’t until I reached high school that I realized what the camp was all about. Sure it was fun, but they really opened my eyes to what my diabetes really was. Diabetes was a blessing and something that grew more and more to be a burning passion in my heart.

At Camp Sweeney, they taught us how to take care of ourselves in the “real world”, what was going on inside our bodies, and helped us understand what diabetes really is. They helped spark my dormant love for diabetes education. As I went through high school I became more involved and helped in programs where I was able to go to Children’s Hospital in Dallas, TX. At the hospital, I could talk to newly diagnosed families and their children about diabetes, encourage and give them hope that their life isn’t over- it just got a little more complicated.

I have always been a very active person. Up until my freshman year of college, playing lacrosse was a huge part of my life. Over the last 2 years, my passion has switched to personal fitness and working out . Throughout high school my blood sugars and A1c were always “ok”. It wasn’t until I started getting into fitness, working out and eating right that my blood sugars decided to be amazing! After about two years of working hard, eating right and working out five to seven days a week, my most recent A1c was the lowest it has been in the 19 years that I have had diabetes. My A1c was 6.5 and I couldn’t be happier with it!

Through my fitness endeavors, I felt compelled to find a way to help encourage other T1d’s that diabetes shouldn’t stop them from doing what they love and their passion. No matter if its fitness related or not. That’s when I came up with the idea of Everyday_T1d. My goal is to spread awareness, help T1d’s become more confident, and help them realize that diabetes doesn’t have to control their lives but just be kept on a leash. Diabetes can be a blessing rather than a burden, it’s all a matter of perspective.

Through all of my experiences with diabetes, it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. My passion started with music, then it was marketing, and it took me so long to figure out that it was in front of my nose the entire time. Diabetes. It makes perfect sense to do something I’m so passionate about as my career. I’m currently going to school to receive a nutrition degree with hopes of being a registered dietician and one day, a diabetes educator. Now that I know my path, I am ecstatic to get there. To turn my passion and dream into reality. Diabetes has and always will be a part of me, and I am so blessed to have it in my life.