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The US healthcare system makes it difficult, expensive, and often impossible for people with T1D to access the care, education, and support they need to live. Around the Circle: Living Well with T1D brings together voices from across the type 1 diabetes community to share real stories, expert insight, and practical support for living well with T1D.
Hosted by the team at Blue Circle Health, a U.S.-based program transforming type 1 care, this podcast helps people go from just surviving to truly living well with type 1 diabetes.
Learn more at BlueCircleHealth.org
When living with type one diabetes food
sometimes starts to feel like the enemy.
Every bite feels like a math problem or
a test that's maybe even hard to pass.
My name is Scott Johnson, and today we're
talking with Rita Rubin, a registered
dietitian with decades of experience in
diabetes about how to simplify nutrition,
not by following more rules, but by using
food as a flexible tool that actually
supports your life and your diabetes.
I am excited to welcome
Rita Rubin to the show.
Rita is a registered dietitian and
certified diabetes care and education
specialist who's been helping people
with diabetes for decades 2030 years.
Rita, thanks so much for joining me today.
No, thanks Scott.
Thank you for inviting me.
Of course.
Can we get started by helping our
listeners learn a little bit more
about your role at Blue Circle Health
and a little bit of your background?
Sure.
I am a registered dietitian and a
certified diabetes education specialist,
so diabetes educator, and I work with
people with nutrition, with navigating
the journey around food and type one
diabetes and really any self-management.
Challenges, topics, education
topics that come up.
So anything really around type one
and, and, and management of type one.
How would you describe your
professional journey in diabetes care?
How did you get started?
Well, you know, I was really lucky
when I was first, when I first became
a registered dietitian, I landed with
this amazing team at a local outpatient
diabetes care and cardiac rehab program.
And they were just, they
were just fabulous folks.
And so my work really involved working
with people with all kinds of diabetes,
type one, gestational, type two.
Uh, but over the, over the years,
that work really transformed as
I started to focus more and more
on people living with type one.
And, you know, it's been my focus
now for, for a really long time.
And, uh, yeah, once I started
working with folks living with,
with diabetes, I was just hooked.
And again, I just, I just
really love the work.
Yeah.
And, and again, that really comes
through in, in everything that you do.
Are there aspects that you.
Find challenging still, even
with all of your experience?
Yes, um, definitely.
So, you know, I think one of the
biggest challenges these days
is, is helping people with who
are living with food insecurity.
Hmm.
Yeah.
We're seeing that more and more of
that happen where folks are going.
Through part of the month without
enough food to eat and, and not
enough resources to find food.
So that's been something that's been
coming up as a real challenge is, is how
do, how do I help people eat when there's,
there's not a lot of food to choose from.
Yeah.
And, and then adding living with
type one diabetes on top of that.
And so that, that's been
particularly difficult.
And, you know, at Blue Circle
Health, you know, we, we.
We try to pull together all the resources
that we, we can, we have this amazing
case manager, Carrie, who is the, is
amazing at finding ways to help people.
And we have wonderful
resources that we can draw on.
But, but that's, that's a tough one.
Um, and then more, more generally, I
think with nutrition, everybody has an
opinion and not necessarily a bad thing.
You know, we all have unique
experiences with food and, and.
For the large part, you know, when you
see recommendations about nutrition,
it's probably working for somebody,
but I think there can be, it can be
a tendency to have a lot of rules.
Yeah.
And yeah, there's this way to do
it and this way to not to do it
and eat this and don't eat that.
And misconceptions and judgements.
And there's often a lot of noise,
you know, social media, you
know, there's a lot of noise to
sift through a lot of the time.
So that's probably the part that
is, is also sometimes difficult,
but also just another challenge.
Just to find your way through it
and, and find what the truth is
and, and what's meaningful for
each person that I'm working with.
Yeah.
Do you think that there's much
difference in thinking about
nutrition around type one diabetes
versus thinking about nutrition
just for normal, uh, overall health?
Yes, absolutely, because there has
to be, there's another layer of
attention that needs to be paid, right.
With type one diabetes, there's the
effect that you see every day of
the food on your blood sugar levels
living with type one diabetes.
You have some concerns
about some additional
complications that might happen.
Sure.
Happen later in life and so, so
nutrition can play, I think, in even
more salient, important role for folks
living with type one, just because you
have that added layer of complication.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Well, one of the things that I'm
hoping that we accomplished during
our time talking today is that, um,
we can help simplify this topic of,
of nutrition and, and help people
think of it as another useful tool.
In their toolbox.
But I have to admit that I, I
often feel quite overwhelmed when I
think about nutrition and cooking.
And, and I think it's probably much of
what, you know, you, you talked about this
big exciting, ever-changing domain, right?
And to me that it feels like a
lot, uh, why can nutrition feel
that way for so many of us?
That's a great, great question again.
Yeah.
Yeah.
For the.
Nutrition nerd that I am, you know,
it's exciting to me, but yes, and,
and yeah, totally can be overwhelming.
The sheer quantity of information flying
at us every day is overwhelming enough.
There.
There is, there's a lot.
And, and again, like we.
Talked about earlier.
There's so many different messages
coming at us and it's hard to sift
through all that and find out what lands
true for, for somebody and and what's
misleading or just outright false.
So I think that can be
particularly overwhelming,
just sifting through that plus.
Again, living with type one and
having to think about nutrition in a
totally different way than somebody
who doesn't live with type one.
Yeah, there's, there's often
a lot of emotions attached to
that, and we'll, we'll talk about
that throughout discussion too.
But you, you, one of the things I
want to ask a little bit more about
is what are some common fears or
misconceptions that you hear from people
about nutrition that you work with?
The biggest misconception is that
we are all the same and we're not.
Yeah, I, yeah, I, that's so true.
Again, it, it parallels
our lives with diabetes.
There's not one, you know, the
guiding principles and some of the,
the methods, but we all have to
figure out what works best for us.
Food.
Food can also be, um, quite a big
trigger for shame with a lot of people.
Why do you think that is?
Why does it carry so much emotion with it,
you know, emotionally?
I mean, what could be more personal than.
The food we choose to
nourish our bodies with.
Hmm.
And then you have external sources
giving you information about the goodness
or the badness of those food choices.
That can be incredibly
confusing and certainly shame.
Shame producing.
Yeah.
There's just a lot of judgment
and misconceptions, right,
about what type one diabetes is.
And you know what somebody with
type one diabetes should be eating.
Uh, there's so many shoulds
out there, aren't there, Scott?
Yeah.
There's there's so many.
Yeah.
And when I feel like I'm not doing,
uh, when I'm not doing what I should be
doing according to whatever I've got in
my head, then I, I do feel bad about it.
I feel, I feel kind of judged.
It's funny because we, our team this
week is sharing pictures of our meals.
To help with one of our social media
campaigns coming down the road.
Um, and I find myself, I've, I
haven't shared any pictures because
I'm just so embarrassed of like my,
my simple one color plate of food
or, and, and, and the others are
sharing these beautiful compositions.
And, um, I know it's kind of silly and I
kind of chuckle to myself, but, uh, but
there's, there's a lot of emotions there.
Oh, that's huge.
That's very v that's vulnerable.
Yeah.
To share.
You find that that happens when you are
talking because it's not much different.
Right.
Me sharing with the team about
what I'm meeting versus coming in
meeting a new diabetes educator,
a, a, a new relationship in my,
in my diabetes healthcare team and
doing something like a food diary or
describing what I, what I like to eat.
It feels kind of scary.
I'm sure you see that.
How do you help people
kind of get through that?
Well, gosh, I see that all the
time and my, my heart goes out to
everybody who is in that position
of presenting what they're eating
to somebody or doing to somebody
who's a provider or a medical person.
And again, that's an extremely scary
position to be in and very vulnerable.
Yeah.
Um, open yourself up to judgment.
You know, I really listen to people.
To start with and respect where
they're at and let them know
that there is no judgment at all.
And really, I don't, certainly
don't start off with, okay, can
you send me your food diary?
Yeah.
That's just a, that's just a scary thing.
And that, you know, the evil food diary.
Yeah.
Nobody, nobody likes to do that.
Um, so.
It's more like with me, it's more
like a conversation, you know?
Tell me more about, you know,
what does your day look like?
What do you like to eat?
If you're not eating what you like
to eat, what you know, what would,
what would your desires be about?
What you, you would like
your meals to look like?
Yeah.
Instead of, you know, the analyzing, like
every calorie and carb, really trying
to make it a, a more easy conversation.
And then from that, get to
understand somebody's concerns there.
Their feelings of vulnerability around
things, the, the things that they might,
they might wanna change, you know, not the
things that I would like them to change,
but what, what would you like to change?
Hmm.
So, you know, trying to.
Come at it from that approach,
uh, is I think helpful.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think you, you're in a, a bit of
a more luxurious position where you've
got a little more time that you can spend
building relationships with people and,
and gaining trust and, um, before you have
to get into some of those nitty gritty.
Uh, details, right?
That's, that's gotta feel kind of nice.
And it's one that the system
doesn't usually afford.
It doesn't at all.
No.
I've worked in the system and, and
there's a whole lot of pressure
to gather as much information as
possible in a short period of time.
And that.
Often does not lead to good outcomes.
Yeah.
It doesn't build trust.
It's, it's, it's not a great system.
Do you think it's possible for
someone to be too focused on
food and type one diabetes?
Yeah, for sure.
You know, again, that's a
subjective experience for sure.
But, um.
Yeah, I, I, I have seen some
downsides of that for sure.
It can be kind of a slippery slope, right?
Like we have to pay enough attention to
be able to stay healthy and stay safe and
live well, but we also have to watch that
we're not sacrificing our, our quality
of life or some of those other things.
So,
yeah, absolutely.
I agree.
Yeah.
You know, if I see signs of, you know,
somebody changing their social life.
You know, not, not gathering with friends
or going out to eat or eating mm-hmm.
Or family or, um, restricting whole
groups of foods or skipping meals
or, you know, anything that's, that's
causing extreme stress around food,
you know, not enjoying food anymore.
Yeah,
that's huge.
I, I, I see that a lot and, and
that's, you know, such an important
part of being a human and.
Our existence here on this planet is
to eat and enjoy what we're eating.
That when that goes away, um,
that's, that's a big concern.
So when you do see, um, see some,
some, you know, when your antenna start
buzzing, you're seeing some signs.
How do you approach it?
Is it, is it as individualized as many
of the other things that you teach?
Oh, sure.
Yeah.
You know, I might start to explore
with somebody, you know, maybe
what their wishes are around food.
Like if you.
If you what?
What kinds of foods appeal
to you at this time of day?
You know, if you could wave your
magic wand and eat whatever you want.
I don't care.
Yeah.
You know, if it's bologna,
sandwich or breakfast.
No, it doesn't matter.
You know, just.
Lemme know what, what are those things
that you might really enjoy at this
time in the day or at this snack?
Not to say you're gonna go eat
'em, but I just wanna learn more
about what your preferences are.
Mm-hmm.
And, you know, we'll just make a list
when we get to a point where there may
be some, some light where there might be
a chance to maybe add one of those foods
back in, you know, in a small portion, in
a, in a safe environment to, to try it.
And.
Again, it doesn't matter what it is.
I don't care if it's
considered healthy or not.
Yeah.
Um, it's, it's just about maybe
make, making it feel a little safer
to expand those food choices and.
You know, as you know with anything,
you take a little step and if
that's, you're okay, you know?
Mm-hmm.
You're willing to take another
little step and, um, I don't know
that it necessarily will make fear
around food just co totally go away.
Sure.
But if, if somebody can start to enjoy
their food more often and engage in
their life more often, then that's.
That's so valuable.
Those are big steps.
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, this is a good time for us to
take a, a quick break here and when we
come back, we're gonna keep talking and
talk about simplifying the approach and,
and giving folks some practical tools.
So we'll be right back.
Hi, I am Becky and I'm part of the
team here at Blue Circle Health.
I've been living with type one
diabetes myself for about 30 years.
We love hearing stories from people who've
participated in our program, and I have
one here from Patty in Ohio who's been
living with type one diabetes since 1999.
I'd love to read it to you.
I was so excited to see a flyer for Blue
Circle Health at my doctor's office.
I had never seen a program
specifically for T 1D and checked
into it as soon as I got into my car.
At the time I had been diagnosed
with severe gastroparesis and was
having problems with having low blood
sugars through Blue Circle Health.
I was able to have a team of wonderful
people who not only understood
the struggles of living with T
1D, but also helped with dealing
with my newly diagnosed issue.
I gained so much helpful information
from the people I was in touch with.
I can't say enough great
things about the program.
I am very thankful for Blue Circle Health.
Thanks for sharing your story
with us, Patty, it's an honor.
Before we dive back in, I wanna make
sure you know about the a DA food hub.
This is not an ad. There's
no sponsorship involved.
They don't even know I'm doing this.
The A DA Food hub is a great
resource from the American Diabetes
Association, and it's completely free.
They have online cooking
classes, both live and on demand.
They have tons of great recipes, nutrition
insights, and healthy eating tips.
There are also meal planning tools,
including a customizable meal
planner and a grocery list feature.
Check all of that out@diabetesfoodhub.org.
We also have several cooking classes
led by Rita, available on our Blue
Circle Healthy YouTube channel.
Welcome back, Rita.
Let's talk a little bit more
about simplifying the approach.
I mentioned how overwhelmed
I often get myself about it.
Um, but I think my hope is that
by the end of our conversation.
We want people and myself to
be thinking about nutrition
as a toolbox, not a rule book.
Do you, do you think
that sounds reasonable?
I love that approach, absolutely.
Great.
When, if you think just at a high
level about simplifying nutrition,
the phrase simplifying nutrition,
what does that even mean to you?
You know, I would say, first
of all is ease up on the rules.
Mm-hmm.
Know that your body is, is resilient
and that there's a lot of, there's
a lot of space between the rules,
that the rules can be very helpful
and can be really good guidelines.
And then it's okay to bend them.
Yeah,
to sit who you are.
So aim for a variety of
nourishing foods during the day.
Throw in some fun foods now and
then, and, and try to end the week
feeling like, okay, I did all right.
Yeah.
I love that approach.
Looking at it at, from kind of zooming out
a little bit, looking at your week versus,
uh, a day or even an individual meal.
And, and the week of course is built
up of those smaller things, but, um,
that gives me a more of a sense of, um,
possibility by looking at it in a week.
If I, if I didn't meet my goals on a,
for a meal or maybe even for a day,
it doesn't mean that, that it's shot
exactly.
Exactly.
It's like, it's sort of, I guess
Scott, you know, like looking
at your blood sugars, right?
Yeah.
Is you can look at the
blood sugars at a moment.
Or during a day, maybe a day that
you're not feeling so great about your
blood sugars, but then you zoom out.
Mm-hmm.
And then you think, okay, but overall,
yep,
I'm doing all right.
Right.
So,
yeah.
So yeah, I think you can do
the same thing with nutrition.
And I think another way to simplify it is
really to start looking at, or start to
pay attention to how food makes you feel.
Again, connecting with that
internal wisdom of your body.
I often find when people are
starting to maybe change some
of their eating patterns.
And experimenting with different
patterns that feel healthier to them.
Yeah.
They'll often come back and say, you
know, you know, I noticed when I ate
this way, I didn't have those cravings
in the afternoon or, interesting.
Yeah,
yeah.
Or, you know, I didn't feel so tired.
Or when I ate that meal, I
noticed my belly didn't feel well.
You know, I got all bloy and mm-hmm.
This wasn't great, but when I
eat this way, I'm all right.
So.
No, that's another way to think about
it is listening to your own body.
What's, what, what is it saying to you?
Yeah, that makes sense.
Mm-hmm.
Is there such a thing as good enough
nutrition and what might that look like?
Definitely good enough.
Is is good enough?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, so again, stepping back from
those rules with I have to have
all of these nutrients every day
and, and maybe just looking at
some simple guidelines like, okay.
Um.
I'm gonna try to eat three meals a
day for the most part, and try to
have a variety of foods on my plate.
Might try to have some
vegetables more often.
You know, the USDA plate guidelines
is, it's actually a great tool and,
and it can be a template for not only
day-to-day meals, but also, you know,
week to week and where you've got.
You know, a lot of veggies on the plate,
half the plate, maybe a quarter of the
plate, some sort of protein, a quarter
plate, some sort of carbohydrate.
Yeah.
You know, that's, I think, good enough.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I like that.
It gives me a sense of, again, a
sense of possibility that this is
something I can actually accomplish.
It also, you know, there's even
thinking from that angle, right?
You can think about the.
Distribution of those categories on your
plate and, and that's one aspect of it.
And then over time, you can maybe look at.
Increasing the quality of those
particular, uh, food groups over time.
But it's not like I have to jump in,
uh, today from eating all my junk
food to going to a, a high quality
whole food, you know, perfectly
distributed plate by tonight's dinner.
That just, that's,
there's no way to do that.
Right.
Right.
That's just a big, that's
a setting a high bar.
Yeah.
So I think with making any changes,
set that bar low, you know, maybe
not so low that it's like Yeah, yeah.
Easy peasy.
I've done it yesterday.
Yeah.
You know, maybe open it up a little bit.
So maybe it's a little stretch,
um, but it's not gonna trip you up.
Yeah.
And you're gonna feel good about it.
And then, yeah.
I love that idea is you just
start somewhere and you think,
all right, I, I did that.
Maybe I'm gonna look at
increasing the quality here.
So maybe the next goal is to, you
know, maybe introduce some more whole
foods and, and less, less of those
ultra processed foods that mm-hmm.
It's so easy to grab and go.
Right.
Yeah.
Um, you know, simple thing might
be instead of grabbing, you know,
potato chips and dip, maybe it's a
whole grain cracker and some cheese.
Mm-hmm.
No, little bit more nutrients there.
A lot more nutrients in some cases.
Um, and probably a, a more filling
snack or a light meal than potato chips.
Yeah.
And then you might say, you know, I
haven't had a whole lot of veggies today.
Maybe I'm gonna throw some
cherry tomatoes on a plate.
So kind of trying to add more, more
whole foods, less processed foods.
That can be a really good way to
think about simplifying nutrition.
More food that's, that's closer
to what it looked like when
it was grown or produced and
oh, that's a great way to think about it.
Let's talk a little
bit about carbs, right?
Carbs sometimes get a bad rap
in diabetes because they are.
The primary nutrient responsible for
our, our blood sugar, uh, increases,
but it, it can drive some to aim
for a very, very low carb lifestyle.
Um, I, I'd love to hear one, just
your, your thoughts on that in general,
but then two, if there's a difference
between a very intentional and well
planned low carb approach versus a.
Approach that's driven based on
the fear of carbohydrates and
what that'll do with blood sugars.
Probably the big difference
is that is the fear.
Yeah.
Um, you know, if there's, and
understandably, um, you know, fear of
the effect of carbohydrate on your blood
sugars and managing the insulin and having
the variability that occurs when you
start to add carbohydrates into a meal and
uncertainty, but you know, it's all valid.
But very, very stressful.
Yeah.
Whereas if you have, you know, more
of a, a sense of, well this is,
this is the way that I enjoy eating.
This is the way I feel best
living with type one diabetes.
This is, this is my way of eating.
You're safe with it.
You know, you're getting enough
carbohydrate, you're not,
you're not risking the buildup
of ketones because there's not
enough carbohydrates in your diet.
And
Yeah.
You know, other nutritional deficiencies,
'cause I'm not having enough carbs, then
I think that's the, probably the biggest
difference is that you're choosing to eat
this way because it makes you feel good.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And it's working well for
you then that's, that's fine.
Um.
But if there was something else that
you'd rather be doing, but you're not
doing it 'cause you're afraid, uh, that's,
that's a big difference right there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Than something that, you know, you'd
wanna just get some support with.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Does it make sense to think about
experimenting with food versus
that complete dietary overhaul?
And, and what does that even mean?
What does it, what might that look like?
I think experiments are great ideas.
That's just more of the
taking that small step.
Instead of setting the bar really
high and putting these huge
expectations on yourself and maybe
your family and your friends.
So yeah, experiment and do it
in a way that you feel safe.
So, you know, again, I would go
back to that list, like what kinds
of foods sound good to you right
now at this meal, at this snack?
What would you, what would
you like to be eating?
If you could have anything you wanted?
And then.
And then choose a food and
then maybe start with a small
portion in a safe environment.
Like maybe you don't wanna eat that
food when you're out at a restaurant.
Yeah.
Or at a party eating
or eating with friends.
But maybe when you're home and you're,
you're safe and you can control the other
factors in your environment and try it.
Yeah, and see what happens.
You know, you might reach out to your
providers or your peers and say, you
know, I'm thinking about adding this food.
What do you have?
You know, what do you got for me?
Yeah,
a little help over here.
You know, what should I expect?
You know, what should I look for?
How should I dose?
You know, gather information, especially
if you're feeling pretty scared about it.
And, um, and give it a try.
Uh, you know what you'll get back is data.
Yeah.
Oh, that's so valuable.
I love that you, you mention it
and frame it that way because e
experimenting with food can feel a
little bit scary, uh, when we're dealing
with trying to match insulin doses.
And so it makes a lot of sense
to me to, to experiment and gain
a little bit of confidence, uh,
in a controlled environment.
Does it make sense to start by
building a handful of very predictable
meals and doing that over time?
What are some benefits
of taking that approach?
Oh, I think predictable
meals are a great idea.
Yeah.
And, and especially too,
you know, on our busy lives.
Right.
I think having some meals
that are just easy fallbacks.
Yeah.
When you know, you may have the greatest
intentions of coming home and baking
a chicken and roasting some broccoli,
but life doesn't, doesn't provide you
the opportunity to do that always.
Yeah.
And um, so you've got some
easy things in your pantry that
you can just throw together.
Maybe it's a peanut butter sandwich.
Yeah.
I'm kind of chuckling over here
because I'm thinking about some of
the experiments I've tried in cooking
something new and it didn't work at all.
Right?
And so the choices then are,
well, I could suffer through this.
Uh, terribly prepared meal
because I took my insulin for it.
Or I can turn to one of my, my
fallback meals that I've got here.
I can turn back to something that
I know and that that'll do the job,
and then I can try again next time.
Sure, sure.
And they may be some easy, you
know, freezer meals, right?
Mm-hmm.
Like some frozen burritos or something,
or, you know, pasta with, you know,
a, a jarred sauce and a salad.
You know, it doesn't
have to be complicated.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love that.
Mm-hmm.
Can you talk a little bit about
why balanced meals are so important
and how does, how does a balanced
meal benefit our blood sugars?
I think balanced meals are,
are important in a lot of ways.
So blood sugars aside, when I think
about a balanced meal, I think that
there's, there's some interesting things
on the plate that there's some varied
textures, maybe some varied colors, maybe.
Uh, but probably some protein, some
vegetables, some, you know, fiber and
um, maybe some beans or a whole grain,
um, or some sort of carbohydrate.
And really there's, there's actually
science that shows that, you know, our
brains kind analyze what we're about to
eat, you know, before we even eat it.
And certainly our, our digestion
even starts before we start to eat.
Even thinking about food or smelling
food starts Digestive juices.
Yeah.
Churn.
So there's an expectation about whether
that meal will be satisfying or not,
like before you even start to eat it.
Hmm.
And so if you go into a meal with
a plate that looks beautiful to
you, what, whatever that means,
then your brain is gonna say,
okay, this is gonna be a good meal.
I'm gonna feel good after I eat this meal.
I'm gonna feel satisfied.
I'm not gonna feel hungry.
Yeah.
And so there's a whole psychological
part of it and, and then physiologically,
when we eat a balance of nutrients, there
is that sense of fullness and satiety.
Okay.
You know, we have fiber and
protein in our meals that are
gonna slow down our digestion.
Maybe that fiber's gonna expand in our
guts and make us feel fuller longer.
Um.
Certainly can slow down the conversion
of carbohydrate to glucose so that blood
sugars maybe rise a little bit more
slowly after the meal and give insulin
time to get in there to do the job.
I think that's really,
you know, such a benefit.
And it doesn't even have to be a
complicated meal like that cheese and
crackers and cherry tomatoes, you know,
instead of a pile of potato chips.
I mean, there's, there's a lot more
interest on that plate and I think your
brain's gonna say, okay, I think that
this is gonna be great physiologically.
When you're looking at blood
sugars, when you've got more than
maybe just carbohydrate on your
plate, then the impact of the
food on your blood sugar yeah.
Is gonna be smoother.
It's not gonna necessarily
spike up really quickly.
I love that you were talking about
how the brain sees things and, and
when we think about that, what, what
are some mind shifts around nutrition
that someone might start to play
with after hearing this episode?
I hope that maybe.
Shifting, thinking about all or nothing.
Mm-hmm.
Good and bad.
There's so much variety in the world,
uh, you know, with regard to how
people eat and how people living with
type one diabetes eat and how people
living with type one diabetes eat a
variety of ways and have good health.
Yeah.
You know, for long periods
of time, you know, with.
Good time in range that
there's a way to do that.
You know, maybe it takes some
time to figure it out, some help
and care and support from other
people, but there's a way to do it.
Yeah.
And.
To find a way where food can
be pleasurable and healing
and soothing and comforting.
And you can have the fun foods
when you want, you know, want 'em.
Um, you know, balancing it with,
you know, some good plates of
food regularly during the week.
There's maybe like an awareness
of more like gentle nutrition.
Mm-hmm.
Love that.
I would hope for love that
you can rely I love that.
Yeah.
You can rely on your own, your own
wisdom more than those external messages
that are coming through everywhere.
Yeah.
And, and work to, you know,
take in that information.
It's, it's, some of, it's good and you
can decide what, what, what stays with
you and what you, what you let pass by.
I love that approach.
Totally.
Yeah.
Because it probably works for somebody.
Mm-hmm.
And you can, you know, sift through it
and say, you know, I wanna try this.
And maybe give it a try.
And maybe you'll say, yeah, that didn't
really work, but I like this one piece.
Yeah.
Of this approach that worked for me.
And you can kind of put together,
it's like a jigsaw saw puzzle, right?
Yeah.
You can put together your own plan and
um, you know, do what works for you.
Yeah.
I love that.
Well, we've covered an awful lot
today and I feel like you, you did.
A great job of just kind of summarizing
things, but is there anything that I
maybe didn't ask about or, or something
you feel is important to leave listeners
with as they, as they end this episode?
Well, maybe, maybe going back to
simplifying nutrition and maybe just
some basic guidelines that I would share.
You know, I would start
with make time to eat.
Give yourself that gift of making
time to have a meal, um, to have
several meals during the day.
Yeah.
And, you know, honor your body with that.
Honor yourself with that
self-care that you can, you can
take time to nourish yourself.
You know, that guideline of, you
know, three, three basic meals a day.
You know, maybe throw a snack in
now and then when you need it.
But I think that's a really
good basis for good nutrition.
Uh, using that plate guidelines.
Eat more vegetables.
Always eat more
vegetables.
Always eat more vegetables.
Yeah, I'm working on it.
Yep.
Uh, yeah, I mean, it doesn't have
to be more complicated than that.
It's very simple.
I love that.
And when you, and if you look at your
own routines and you think, you know,
I really wanna start to improve this
or change this aspect of my, of my, my
nutrition, and like you were, you were
saying earlier like, maybe I might wanna
improve the quality of what's on my plate.
Start someplace small and
um, then just go from there.
That sounds like a great way to.
Bring this episode to an end.
We're gonna start small.
We're gonna experiment.
We're gonna use some of the principles
and guidelines that you shared, um, to
keep us healthy and safe, and we're gonna
take the time to build the relationships
with those around us who can help us
and support us on the, on the journey.
And.
Um, we're gonna take it
slow and simple and steady.
I love that.
Well, Rita, thanks so much
for taking so much time today.
I, I really appreciate it and we'll
have to have you back on again soon.
Thanks Scott.
Again, thank you for inviting me.
It's, it's been a real pleasure.
Thanks for listening today.
I hope you'll try one small nutrition
experiment that feels doable to you and
consider letting go of at least one rigid
food rule that isn't serving you at all.
I'm gonna try my best to do that
as well, and remember that it's.
Okay.
To ask for help or guidance around
nutrition, you can always visit
Blue Circle health.org to see if
we're available in your state or
ask your healthcare team for a
referral to a registered dietitian.
And then be sure to tune in for our
next episode where I'm talking with the
esteem, Dr. Bill Polanski to help us find
support and navigate diabetes distress.
I hope you'll join us.
Until then, keep living well with T 1D.