[00:00:00] You are listening to the reversing diabetes with Delane MD podcast, episode number 229. Welcome to reversing diabetes with Delane MD, where women who are confused and worried about their type two diabetes come to learn strategies to fix it. I'm your host, Dr. Delane Vaughn. Ladies, if you know you are capable of doing badass things at work and for your family, but you're frustrated with why you can't see to stop eating the chocolate cake, this podcast is for you. Let's talk.
[00:00:31] All right. Hey there. I want to welcome you to the podcast. I'm doing some new things with the podcast and there's new technology happening and so I'm trying to navigate all that. So there may be some cuts and breaks here and I will hopefully paste it all back together and it will be amazing on the audio players. On the podcast players. So again, I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you've taken some time to join me.
[00:00:57] I hope this is the thing that you're doing to set yourself up on the path for better health today. I hope that that is what this turns out to be for you this time that you spend on this podcast. So today we are going to talk about how you get to enjoy the holiday for you. How do you you as one human in your life that wants to enjoy the holiday season, how do you enjoy the holiday season? But before we get started, there is help for your blood sugars. I have a 14 day guide to help you with your blood sugars. You can find that guide at httpsite that's site Delanemd that's my name. D-E-L-A-N-E-M-D-M as in medical. D as in doctor betterbloodsugars so it's HTTPs sitedelainmd.com betterbloodsugars that should get you to this 14 day guide. You can get signed up for it and then you can start implementing the food. I mean, basically it's a food menu. You can start implementing it. It walks you through 14 days of it. If you've ever had the thought that no matter what you do, your blood sugars aren't improving, this guide is going to get you there. And I would offer get a little hell bent. Follow this guide. If you really feel like you were never able to see better blood sugars, this guide is very powerful. It's going to get you there. So follow it. And if for some reason it doesn't get you there, I want you to holler at me. That is definitely where I want to hear from you. Send me a message.
[email protected] we will set up some time to get on the phone to get on a call and figure out why this hasn't helped you out. Okay.
[00:02:55] I do want to warn you, if you are on medications for your type two diabetes, you must be very careful. Be very careful making the changes I recommend in these podcast episodes. Be very careful using that 14 day guide. It's very powerful. Recognize you have been medicated because of the foods that you've eaten in the past. When you start changing that food to change your disease status, right. When you start changing your disease by changing the foods that you eat, you're going to need to change the meds that you've been on. You can get very sick, including a risk of death. So you need to be very careful. I need you to get in a line of communication open with your provider so that you can start sharing your blood sugars with them and they can start sharing with you how they want you to change your meds in order to keep you safe. Okay? So call their office, find out how that provider wants you to share your blood sugar readings with them and find out how they're going to share med adjustments with you. It can be that easy. So make sure you do that if you're making any of the changes that I recommend on this podcast. And if you're using that 14 days to better blood sugar guide so today is the height of the holiday season. I just had my birthday yesterday. It was a blast. It was amazing. I got to celebrate with so many amazing friends. And my baby boy's birthday is today, so he's not a baby anymore. He's six. But happy birthday to my son. But this is the height of the holiday season, right? For us, it's a big time. Like, there's birthdays, there's Christmas, there's new year's, thanksgiving just passed. We are in the height of it today, okay? Some of us love this time, and some of us absolutely despise this time, and that's okay. But either way, whichever side of that fence that you fall on, finding a way to enjoy it is kind of a gift to you. Learning to find a way to enjoy it is a gift to you. If you have ever heard me talk about the holidays, I feel that planning is a huge key to making this time of the year enjoyable.
[00:04:57] Making a plan is a gift to you. Many women think, many humans think that if we plan, it creates a limit. It limits us, but it keeps us from having what I see. It as is, it keeps us from having to make the same decision over and over and over again. When we're constantly making decisions, we get decision fatigue. This is true if we're making decisions for work, and it's true if we're making decisions for our food, okay? When we're constantly making these decisions, we get decision fatigue. And then, of course, we no longer make the best decisions. Right? We're fatigued and we want to just make the easy decision. As far as our food is concerned, making the easy decision is usually not going to serve our health, especially when there's food everywhere, okay? When there's food in the break room, there's donuts, there's cookies, there's candies. Making the easy decision, because we have so much decision fatigue is usually not going to serve our health. So this is especially true when we're making the decision over and over and over again, when we're making the same decision over and over. So an example of this is if you're going to a holiday party. So you know there's going to be a lot of food there. There's going to be food that probably isn't going to serve your health there, and you're wondering how you're going to handle it. How am I going to do tonight at this party, you start to worry, is the food decision that you make going to skyrocket your blood sugars? If I don't get it right, my sugars are going to go so high. And then you commit to not having the food. So this is your first decision, right? There's nothing I'm going to be able to eat there. I need to do something else. I'm just not going to eat there. That's your first decision.
[00:06:42] And then you worry about how that is going to go. How is it going to be if I'm not eating the food? I'm going to have to stay away from that, from the candy bowl, from the cake, from whatever it is. I'm going to have to stay away from that food. So I'd better eat something before I go so I'm not tempted. I'm going to be so busy today. Will I have time to get a good meal? Where can I go? So right now, we're making multiple decisions about what we might eat, and then we start to figure out what I can eat at the party because maybe there's not time to go and eat something that we enjoy beforehand. So now we're making a new decision, and then we almost talk ourselves into the foods that don't serve us. And what this sounds like is that food choice isn't going to make me happy. It's going to be subpar in some way. It's not going to be satisfying, but it's all that's available. And then we have a thought, like, I deserve something that I'm going to like, I will have to just have one little treat. Like, maybe I just have one little thing and that won't be so bad. Here's a new decision being opened up, right? And then, of course, when we get in the moment, we have that one treat, and then it's like, oh, maybe one more. And again, you're making a new decision with that. Maybe one more. And then you have that, and then you see something new and you're like, oh, that food looks interesting. I should be able to try. Just one bite of that. One little bite more won't hurt. We've made a new decision. And then you see something that you didn't expect and you're like, oh, I love those. Those are the best. They're my very favorite.
[00:08:17] And then we hit the mother load of all bad decisions, right? And it comes again from the height of this decision fatigue. We've just made multiple decisions about what we're going to eat at this party. And then we hit like, I've already blown it. This is the story in our head. I've already blown it. I might as well blank, right? And then we're like, oh, just eating all the things that thought there, I've already blown it. I might as well. That blew many holidays for me. It killed many holidays for me. It removed my joy. In many holidays, I would end up almost dizzy with all of these thoughts running through my head. And then I would eat all of these foods and I would end up stuffed. I would end up uncomfortably stuffed with food. And this food would make my brain foggy and it would make my body ache and it would make my gut hurt and I would have just horrible gi upset. I would end up gravely, just so heavily disappointed in myself.
[00:09:24] And that was probably the worst part.
[00:09:27] I would end up disappointed in myself. I would break down the trust in myself. I would feel frustrated and angry with myself.
[00:09:34] All of that, that combination was the worst for me. That is the part that really, really made my holidays unenjoyable for me.
[00:09:42] So when women are resistant to plan food because they don't want to be restrained, they don't want to restrain themselves, they don't want to deny themselves, they don't want to be so restrictive I don't see making a plan as any of those things. I see a plan as the opportunity to make the decision once, make it in my best interest, and live from that so that I like the way I feel afterwards.
[00:10:06] Right. I like the way I feel in my body. I like the way I feel about myself. I like the way I feel about having my own back.
[00:10:13] When we're not feeling confused and worried and fretting about our blood sugars and dizzy with making decisions and physically uncomfortable and foggy in our brain and disappointed and frustrated and angry with ourselves, it's so much easier to enjoy our holiday season. And this is what a plan allows you to create. So if you want to hear about making that plan and my recommendations and kind of how I walk my clients through making that plan, you can find out. You can listen to episode number 124 and episode number 225. Both of those go into it. But today I really want to talk about more of the enjoyment part of your holidays and planning for managing that and managing your thoughts that come up to create enjoyment. Right. The thoughts that maybe block you from creating that enjoyment. I want to talk today about how we manage all of that. So deciding how you want to enjoy the holidays is an important part of this. Everyone remembers as a child how the holidays seemed magical, how we were surprised and we were excited and we were amazed, and we did nothing to make any of this happen. Nothing. We did like, we did not plan this for ourselves. It just showed up. It was, like, serendipitous. It just showed up. And every adult wants to have that feeling again, that amazing, magical feeling of the holiday again. But as an adult, it really takes some intentionality and of course, intention. And being intentional is, like the opposite of magical.
[00:11:50] It's truly almost like the polar opposite of magical.
[00:11:55] When our holiday does not have all those amazing feelings, the surprise, the excitement, the amazement, the magic, the serendipity, we become disappointed, and that leads to bitterness, and suddenly we find ourselves hating the holiday season. This is what the Grinch and what the Scrooge story is about. It's where it comes from. So we're not alone if we're feeling that.
[00:12:17] But when you consider what was behind all of those magical feelings from our childhood, we realized it was intentional adults in our lives that put the magic into it. It was our parents and our grandparents and our aunts and our uncles. All of these adults, they put intentionality into the holidays that created magic for us as children.
[00:12:39] The secret here is it was never magic. If you've ever seen that meme. There's a meme out there on Facebook and it talks about as an adult, I've learned that the Christmas magic I felt as a kid was really a mom, a family, other adults that loved me. That's what it was. And it's so, so true. As an adult, we've also learned that if we want to enjoy the holidays, or we need to have learned that if we want to enjoy the holidays as we did as a kid, that we're going to have to put some effort into our enjoyment, just like our families did, making the holidays special for us as a child, it took some planning. My mom, my parents worked when I was a kid. And when I was a kid, the big thing, I mean, I was in the height of the cabbage patch kid craze and my mom and dad, of course, wanted to give me that as a child, but they were at work and you had to be there at the stores or they sold out. So my mom planned with my grandfather to have my grandfather at the store when it opened up so that I could have a magical holiday. It took the adults in our lives planning for us to have magical Christmases, magical holidays. So I want to encourage you to make a plan for the holiday for you so that you can enjoy it, too. Maybe that means planning a wrapping party with your friends, or even just with you. Maybe there's a nice candle lit. Maybe there's some fun paper and some fun pose. And thinking about each person that you wrap those gifts for, maybe that's the magic you want to do. Or maybe you're going to watch your favorite Christmas movie as you wrap these gifts. Or maybe you get super creative. I can remember I used to be really crafty with wrapping. I've stopped doing that, but I used to do that. My eldest boy remembers that as a child. Whatever it is, though, how are you going to create a moment for you to enjoy your holiday? Maybe it's Christmas gatherings with friends. Maybe you're going to plan a dinner out with your girlfriends, your favorite girlfriends, and you're going to have a nice Christmas gathering with them. Maybe it's watching your favorite Christmas movie. I have a friend that posts on Facebook every year when her and her family sits down to watch love actually. And it's like a post that she has every. It's very, very funny. Maybe it's baking for your family. I know the last couple years I found my grandmother's fudge recipe and so I've started making that every year and I put it in small packages and I send it just a few pieces out to all of my family, my cousins that enjoyed that fudge with us when we were kids. Maybe that's what you're doing to create enjoyment for your holiday. Maybe. I feel like this is the most dreamy for me at least finding 30 minutes of quietness to sit with my favorite cup of tea and my favorite candle and my favorite chair and just sit and stare at the Christmas tree and the lights twinkling and all the dreaminess that's there. There are a million different ways that you can make the holiday. You can create some enjoyment for you in the holiday. Okay? So if you're interested in your holidays and enjoying your holidays and creating a little bit of that magic, it's not going to show up serendipitously. Our job as adults is to create that for ourselves.
[00:16:09] Learning how to do that is where you're going to create the enjoyment that you remember or some of the enjoyment. It's probably never going to be as serendipitous and magical as when we were four years old. But if you want to enjoy the holidays, you're going to have to put some intentionality into it. So decide how you're going to do this. The steps here, real simple. Real simple. Decide how much enjoyment you are going to require. Like what am I going to need this year to enjoy my holiday? What am I going to, what's my bare minimum? I need 30 minutes. My favorite cup of tea, my favorite candle, my favorite chair in front of the Christmas tree. That's what I need. What is it you're going to need to enjoy the holiday? Maybe it's something you're going to need nightly. Maybe it's weekly. Maybe it's just once during the holiday season. But figure out what it is and make that plan.
[00:17:01] And then what I want you to do is I want you to practice. I think that it's such, I don't know, a strategy. It's such a powerful strategy to start making a thought plan. Make a plan for how you're going to handle your thoughts when they show up. What kind of thoughts am I talking about? What thoughts are going to show up? Thoughts like, I don't have time for this. There's too much to do. This is BS. It's just another thing I got to check off my list. I shouldn't take time from others for my enjoyment. I should make sure they're enjoying things. You might have a thought like they might be the kids, the family, the in laws, your boss, your work, whatever. Need me to do something else instead. Or you might even have a thought like I don't even want to do this anymore.
[00:17:49] You need to have a thought plan to combat these dumpy thoughts that are bound to show up. Like don't wonder, like maybe they're going to show up. No, they're going to show up. They're going to be there.
[00:17:59] You need to have a thought to combat them. So if you have a thought like, I don't have the time. The thought like yeah, time is tight. Of course time is tight but I am making the time. I am taking the time because I want to enjoy the holidays too. If your thought is there's too much to be done, a thought like, yes, there is a lot to do but this is important for me so I'm going to do this. If your thought is this is bs, just another thing I got to check off my list that I got to do. The thought is this does seem like another thing for me to do. But my brain and I need my brain and me. We need some time for me. Just for me. If your thought this shouldn't take time from others enjoyment, I shouldn't be focusing on me because it's a time to focus on others.
[00:18:46] The reminder that I am responsible for my enjoyment. I am the only one responsible for my enjoyment. Nobody else is.
[00:18:54] If your thought is they need something more from me, they need me to do something instead of this.
[00:19:01] The thought that everyone is needing something from me, but this is the time that I have set aside for me and my enjoyment of the season.
[00:19:09] If your thought is I don't even want to do this anymore. I don't even care about this right now. I don't even want to do this anymore. This is a big one because I think this comes up for everything enjoyable. Even if I've planned like a manicure or a pedicure, it's like I haven't got time for this now, right? I don't even want to do that anymore. The thought that I know it's easy to get stuck in a pattern of doing everything else that needs to be done and it's hard to break away, but this is the time I've committed to me.
[00:19:38] I want you to think about the thoughts that are common for you and think about why it's important for you to move past those thoughts. Those are the thoughts you need to have on the tip of your tongue and the front of your mind to give yourself so that you do these things so that you can enjoy the holiday too.
[00:19:57] So the fix to this or the plan for this. The how to for this is twofold. One, make a plan and be intentional about how you will create your enjoyment for the holiday season. And then two, make a thought plan for how you're going to handle the obstacles, the thought obstacles that arise for you have those in the front of your mind so you can come back to them easily.
[00:20:21] I wish nothing more than for everybody to enjoy the holiday season and have a wonderful, amazing holiday season. I hope that these strategies will help you do that. There's a lot of fun things planned for Delaney, MD, for the new year, so stay tuned for those things. We've got two more podcasts before the end of the year. One will be a coaching call and one will be talking about the end of the year and just getting our head into a place at the end of the year so that we can move into the new year from a wholehearted place of being. So look forward to those show up in the new year. There's a lot of amazing things planned for 2024 with Delanemd. If you need anything, reach out to me.
[email protected] if you're unsure somehow for how to spell my name, I get that my mom gave me a rough one. It's
[email protected] reach out to me. Ask any questions that you might have. If you are interested in working with my group, definitely reach out to me that way. I will be back next week and I'll talk to you then. Bye.
