“Step out of the history that is holding you back. Step into the new story you are willing to create.” —Oprah Winfrey
Fall has arrived! While some consider Fall an “ending” with the wrap-up of the glorious long days of summer, we here @AFreshPOVforYou think of Fall as a time for new “beginnings”. The air takes on a crispness. The trees magnificently change colors and leaves begin to fall. And it’s the perfect time for a solution-focused fresh start or two (or three)!
Today we’re sharing 3 solution-focused fresh starts for Fall that you in turn can share with your clients/patients:
- Fit a few more steps into the day. With shorter days and cooler temperatures it can be easy to become more sedentary. We know walking is good for us, and doesn’t require any equipment other than some well-fitting walking shoes. A favorite way to fit in more steps is to intentionally stand up every 30 minutes or so during the day and walk around for 2-3 minutes. That activity has been shown to benefit blood glucose and heart health. We’re also big fans of fitness trackers to keep up with how many steps are accumulated during the day, then try to bump that average up by 500 per day. Once that’s achieved, try adding another 500, and so on, working toward a goal of 10,000 steps each day. Read more about solution-focused practice applied to activity tracker conversations in a previous post here.
- Enjoy Fall vegetables (of the non-starchy variety). In fact, try filling half of your plate with these! Flavorful fall bounty includes arugula, carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, radishes, and spinach. These are all very low in carbohydrate (only 5 grams in a 1-cup serving raw or ½ cup cooked), so can help keep post-meal BGs in target and help bring more time in range. Plus, these veggies are packed with fiber to help fill you up. One of our favorites is roasted Brussels sprouts. Roasted radishes and roasted broccoli are pretty fantastic too! While Tami’s not a fan of raw radishes, roasted radishes are a different story. She’s found they become sweet and lose the bitterness when roasted. If you’ve never roasted vegetables, here’s the simple “how to” here.
- Check-in on those New Year’s “solutions” (rather than resolutions) that you set 9 months ago. You can read more about our take on setting New Year’s “solutions” rather than “resolutions” here. This solution-focused approach focuses on things that have gone well in the past, and pinpointing how you can do more of that (rather than trying to change in the new year). Autumn is the perfect time to see what you have accomplished and had success with, and look ahead to what you want to do before the year closes out.
Find 3 more solution-focused fresh starts for Fall in our blog here from 2019.
Stop back by in 2 weeks when we’ll share a few favorite apps that can be used in solution-focused practice.
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Deb is employed by Dexcom, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.
Tami is employed by the University of Kentucky HealthCare Barnstable Brown DIabetes Center, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.
