Your Current Lifestyle

As I mentioned previously, lifestyle is representative of the choices that you make. So in creating an action plan for diabetes, you must be able to go through the many processes of making healthy choices that will last throughout your lifetime. Honesty is key here. If you know that overeating is your major fault, then admit this to yourself. Do you hate to exercise, or think that you would not enjoy it? Do you know anyone who exercises? These are the types of questions you should ask yourself.

I have created a lifestyle-assessment form (see figure 3.1) that can help you work through this process and identify potential barriers to attaining your ideal lifestyle. There are no right or wrong answers; it is designed to get you to think about your current lifestyle while creating your action plan. A good way to use this form is to fill out the questionnaire portion now, then keep a daily log for two weeks. Then look back at your answers to see whether they correlate to what you thought. By then you will have read this entire book and discovered better ways to eat and exercise, and you'll be able to apply it to your lifestyle.

This is the initial process, such as when the lead planner in the spaceship project thought about her qualifications in taking on such a large endeavor. Ask yourself about your own qualifications to understand what your challenges will be in creating your action plan for diabetes. Start with thinking about what you know about diabetes. If you have read this far into the book, you have more than enough information on what diabetes is and how it can affect you and how you can affect it. This is a considerable amount of information to know about your disease. You know more about your disease process than many others know about their medical problems. You are up to the personal challenges that lie ahead.

The next question to ask yourself, as the spaceship project planner did, is whether you have the right resources to create a successful action plan. Most of the resources that you need are likely already in place. The mere fact that you have been reading this book shows that you have no difficulty finding resources. I'm sure that you've spoken with someone who has diabetes or that knows about someone who does. That person along with other family and friends will be your support group and will help you plan your new lifestyle. They may even be a significant part of it.

Lifestyle Assessment Form Exercise