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Starting the Day (and the New Year) Off Right With Breakfast

Consuming a well-rounded breakfast can aid in blood sugar control, improve energy levels, increase concentration and more. A good breakfast does not need to be complicated. Start simple with a carbohydrate and protein source, and add as taste, time and resources allow.

Examples include:

• Whole wheat toast (carb) with scrambled eggs (protein). You can also add veggies like spinach, mushrooms, onions or tomato
• Oatmeal (carb) with peanut butter (protein). Make it from scratch, or look for instant oatmeal that's low in added sugars. You can also add berries, apple, flaxseed, almonds, and make it with milk or add yogurt.
• Smoothie made with fruit(s) (carb) with Greek yogurt or protein drink/power. You can also add kale, spinach, carrot, flaxseed, peanut butter and more.

Try This: Overnight Oats

Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals for the New Year

Each year, we are encouraged to make a resolution for the New Year. By the end of January, only 41 percent of us are still working on those resolutions, and at the end of the year less than 10 percent are still working on those goals or resolutions. That’s not a very good rate of success! 

Instead of making a New Year’s resolution, consider making S.M.A.R.T goals to help you be more successful in making changes to improve your diabetes self-management.  

Resolutions that we set may be too general or broad. Learning how to set S.M.A.R.T goals can help improve the likelihood that we will be successful in making the changes that we would like to make.  

Let’s take a look at an example of how to set a S.M.A.R.T goal:

Specific. Identify something in your health journey that you want to improve.  For example, perhaps being more active is on your to-do list for 2023.

Measurable and Attainable. Be sure to set a specific amount of time, and decide precisely what you plan to do to increase your level of physical activity. Challenge yourself, but be realistic and be sure you can achieve the amount of time you set. Make sure you take into consideration things like weather, scheduling conflicts and unforeseen circumstances that might get in your way. 

Here’s an example: 

“I will walk for 10 minutes at least three times per week.”  

Result Focused. Check your progress regularly. Identifying progress keeps us motivated. If you’re struggling to be successful, it’s okay to modify goals in order to meet them, too!

Time-Sensitive. Think about the timing of your goal and how often to review, renew or revise it. This helps keep it meaningful to your success. For example, “Within three weeks, I will be walking at least 30 minutes per day, three times per week."

After you achieve a goal, set another one. If you aren’t able to achieve a goal you set, don’t give up. Set a new goal to achieve and try again.

The MyMichigan Health Diabetes Center wishes you and your family a safe, happy and healthy New Year! If you need support with achieving your diabetes self-management goals, consider making an appointment to meet with one of our diabetes educators.

MyMichigan Health, a non-profit health system headquartered in Midland, Michigan, is a leader in providing award-winning, high-quality care to the 25-county region it serves. With Medical Centers in Alma, Alpena, Clare, Gladwin, Midland, Mt. Pleasant, Sault Ste. Marie and West Branch, MyMichigan also has affiliations with Medical Centers in St. Ignace and Mackinac Island. MyMichigan Health provides a full continuum of care across a wide array of settings, including urgent care centers, home health, virtual care, as well as medical offices in more than 30 specialties and subspecialties including cardiology, family medicine, hematology/oncology, neurosciences, orthopedics, pediatrics, vascular surgery and more. MyMichigan Health demonstrates its commitment to the future of medicine by partnering with leading institutions to offer medical education programs that train medical students, physicians, nurse practitioner and physician assistant students, nursing students and other clinical experts for our region. Its more than 10,180 employees, volunteers, health care providers and other personnel work together to create healthy communities through solutions designed to meet the ever-changing needs of the 981,000 residents in the health system’s 25-county service area. In fiscal year 2022, MyMichigan Health provided $132 million in community benefits, as well as supported its patients and families with new equipment, services and programs with funds raised by the MyMichigan Health Foundation.