Mealtime Insulin: Take Control of Your Health

Rochelle: If I walked around feeling sorry for myself all the time because I was afflicted with diabetes, then nobody would want to be in my company. My attitude is to take charge of my life, so I can bring good into others' as well. Mary: One of the first things I tried to do to help with my diabetes is cutting out soda. Jennifer Stack: We need to be eating healthy foods in amounts that will balance and match our insulin intake and we need to be physically active. Maria Rodriguez: So when starting mealtime insulin, it's usually because the patient's blood sugars are not at goal. It's really important that our patients understand what that goal is, because once you start using mealtime insulin, you may notice that your blood sugars do improve, and you start feeling better, which is definitely the reasons for why we have our patients use mealtime insulin. Rochelle: The diet that you create for yourself should have some flavor in it, because if it doesn't have flavor, you're not going to adhere to it. So instead of having salt and pepper, I choose to have garlic as a flavor. I can take a lemon and I can spray the lemon over a piece of fish, or chicken, and it tastes just as good as if you dipped it in cheese or any oils. Maria Rodriguez: It's important that once they do improve, that you do not stop using that mealtime insulin, because the goal is to continue being consistent with your regimen. We want you to continue progressing so that your diabetes is as best-managed as it can be and we prevent complications that come from uncontrolled diabetes.