What to Track
You already keep track of a lot of things: your grocery bill, your doctor's appointments, your kids, maybe even your husband or your wife. The fact is that you already know how to track stuff. Keeping track of your diabetes may be the least of your worries!
But what exactly do you have to keep track of when you want to control your diabetes?
Well, it's pretty straightforward:
You have to see your doctor or diabetes educator at regular intervals, so they can do the tracking they are supposed to do. They check your blood pressure, your cholesterol and your A1C. (Your A1C tells how your diabetes control was over the last few months.)
The most important thing you have to keep track of is your blood glucose. You check your blood glucose with a special meter by sticking your finger or forearm for a small blood drop. The blood is applied to a test strip and your meter figures your blood sugar level for you.
You can measure your glucose before and after you eat, and if your diabetes educator told you to, before and after you exercise. And you get to keep track of your personal glucose performance over several weeks or months.
To do that, you can use the paper and pencil approach and make a chart with all your measurements. Or you can use one of the meters or online tracking tools that do all the work for you!