Dr. Beverly S. Adler – Page 4

11/07/201711/10/2017

Luther’s friend, Whitney Houston Helps Us Celebrate World Diabetes Day

Enjoy an exclusive first listen to Whitney Houston’s newest album, “Whitney Houston – I Wish You Love: More from ‘The Bodyguard” album courtesy of SONY Music on November’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast scheduled for World Diabetes Day on Tuesday, November 14, 2017, 6 -7:30 PM.

We’re talking about how to become your own diabetes bodyguard with guests: Poet Lorraine Brooks, Dr. Beverly S. Adler PhD, CDE, Constance Brown Riggs MSEd, RD, CDE, CDN, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Author and T1D, blogger at “There’s More to the Story”, Mindy Bartleson, and America’s #1 Energy Conductor, Kathie Dolgin aka ‘High Voltage’.

Even though Whitney Houston was not living with diabetes, I still feel she can help inspire you to avoid the pitfall of seeking perfection as it relates to diabetes self-care managment.

After watching the recent Whitney Houston documentary, ‘Why Can’t I Be Me?’ it seems clear to me that the pressure to be perfect took a toll on her health and well-being over the years. She certainly had a lot to live up to when it came to hitting high notes especially after she sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl XXV in 1991. Most people agree that no one else will ever be able to top her performance!

“Her voice was perfect. Strong but soothing. Soulful and classic. Her vibrato, her cadence, her control,” said Beyonce.

Could the need to be ‘pitch- perfect’ each time she performed be the underlying cause of her substance abuse issues? It’s been well documented that Whitney Houston wrestled with demons, drugs, and heartbreaking betrayals throughout her life.

It is an unfortunate truth that the music industry is infested with alcohol and drugs. When trying to alleviate pressure or stress, the accessiblility of substances makes for a viable option.

How about you? Are you on a quest to be perfect about your diabetes self-management? Do you feel pressured to live up to others’ expectations about ‘controlling’ your blood sugars 24/7? If so, you’re not alone.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself to always have good blood sugars and avoid lows. Too often my quest for perfection has disabled me from living a full life. I now know that,” wrote Julia Flaherty for Insulin Nation.

‘Perfection’ is a mirage. Be a manager. Be kind to yourself. Be confident. Be brave. Be strong. Ask for help when you need it.

There’s no end to the process of blood sugar management, but there are always new beginnings. Be gentle with yourself.

No one ever did it quite like Whitney and no one ever will, but many more will try. Let her legacy remind you of the cost of seeking ‘perfection’ and be kind to yourself.

10/21/2017

High Voltage’s Secret to ‘Loving Yourself’

‘Love yourself, love your health’ is a catchy saying but putting into daily practice takes time and effort especially for those of us who don’t even like our hair (!)

How do you actually love yourself and your diabetes health?

My good friend and mentor, Kathie Dolgin aka ‘High Voltage’ is a walking billboard for self-compassion. She’s a health and wellness pioneer, best-selling author and TV personality, who has helped thousands of people get their energy up and their weight down. She has been featured on the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, CBS Morning Show, CNN, Extra, Entertainment Tonight, E! Network & More.

High Voltage believes in the power of Affirmations. Affirmations are statements said aloud with confidence about a perceived truth which have helped thousands of people make significant changes in their lives.

An affirmation can work because it has the ability to program your mind into believing the stated concept.uses affirmations.

High Voltage’s daily affirmations start with “I’m Happy, I’m Healthy” and then she adds a phrase like “I am the best and I deserve the best” or “I am fit, fabulous and fierce!”

Trust me, it works! I worked with her for several years on her Energy Up! Program in New York and I witness first-hand the power of affirmations in your daily life. Starting your day by saying aloud “I’m Happy, I’m Healthy and I choose to be FABULOUS” is like a double shot of attitude.

How do you practice self-compassion? That’s what we’re talking about on November’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast.

Tune in to November’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast on World Diabetes Day on Tuesday, November 14, 2017, 6 – 7:30 PM, EST.

Enjoy an exclusive first listen of “Whitney Houston – I Wish You Love: More From ‘The Bodyguard’” ahead of the album’s release date courtesy of SONY Music. This 25th anniversary of “The Bodyguard” soundtrack album features the hit song, “I’m Every Woman” echoing the recent statistics that 1 in 10 women are now living with diabetes.

Throughout the podcast we will be talking to experts about ways to safeguard you and your family from experiencing diabetes health-related complications such as stroke, blindness and amputation.

Guests include Dr. Beverly S. Adler PhD, CDE, Constance Brown Riggs MSEd, RD, CDE, CDN, Poet Lorraine Brooks, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach featuring Patricia Addie Gentle RN, CDE and Mama Rose Marie.

High Voltage is the founder and executive director of the national nonprofit organization, Energy Up!, whose mission is to prevent childhood obesity. Energy Up! is the only health and wellness childhood obesity program built on the Energy Up! Addiction model with a published medical study. Numerous New York City private and public schools, the township of Huntington, Long Island and the Gerald J. Freidman Diabetes Institute at Beth Israel Medical Center have experienced High Voltage’s unique health and wellness programming.

Learn more about High Voltage @ www.energyup.org

It’s time to get Sugar Savvy – read about solutions for dropping those stubborn pounds, energizing your body, and feeling great about yourself. Health and wellness guru Kathie “High Voltage” Dolgin will help you retrain your brain to say no to sugar and its harmful effects, and get you on the path to “Fit, Fabulous and Fierce.”

Our most successful Sugar Savvy Sister lost over 18 pounds in 6 weeks! *

10/17/2017

Divabetic Delivers Big Divas on World Diabetes Day!

Our favorite divas from the world of entertainment, beauty/fashion, poetry and diabetes education, Whitney Houston, Constance Brown-Riggs, Karline Ricketts, Lorraine Brooks, Patricia Addie-Gentle, Mama Rose Marie and ‘Dr. Bev’, join us to celebrate World Diabetes Day on Diabetes Late Nite scheduled for Tuesday, November 14, 2017, 6 -7:30 PM.

First up, we have an exclusive first listen of “Whitney Houston – I Wish You Love: More From ‘The Bodyguard’” ahead of the album’s release date courtesy of SONY Music.

The Bodyguard Original Soundtrack Album set a record for the most albums sold in a single week since the Nielsen SoundScan introduced a computerized sales monitoring system in May 1991, with sales of 1,061,000 copies during Christmas week of 1992, becoming the first album sold over 1 million in one week.

In November 1999, Houston and The Bodyguard Soundtrack, were named the “Top-selling R&B Female Artist of the Century ” by the RIAA, respectively.

Whitney’s iconic songs are inspiring us to discuss how to become your own ‘Diabetes Bodyguard’.

Safeguarding yourself and your diabetes health requires a healthy dose of Self-Compassion.

Dr. Beverly S. Adler PhD, CDE discusses how the ‘negative talk’ inside our heads affects our diabetes.

How do you talk to yourself? Do you talk to yourself with kindness? Or do you beat yourself up for being diagnosed with diabetes, unexpected high’s and low’s, your weight and/or unhealthy habits?

There is a vast difference between feeling sorry for yourself and feeling kindness toward yourself. When you see yourself as a victim, you indulge in self–pity. You are a bottomless pit of misery, and you may find yourself crying endless victim tears.

Dr. Beverly Adler (aka “Dr. Bev”, right) is an award-winning certified diabetes educator and diabetes psychologist. She has combined her first-hand knowledge of living with Type 1 diabetes with a PhD in clinical psychology to serve the mental health needs of those within the diabetes community. She’s also written two self-help books ( “My Sweet Life: Successful Men with Diabetes” and “My Sweet Life: Successful Women with Diabetes”) and many articles, and does speaking engagements.

Constance Brown-Riggs discusses her personal fitness journey as well as her new book, “Diabetes Guide to Enjoying Foods of the World”.

Constance Brown- Riggs is an award winning Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator, and the co-author of the new book, “Diabetes Guide to Enjoying Foods of the World”. This guide provides information on native foods and flavors, strategies for healthy eating, recommended healthful pleasures, dishes for special occasions (or smaller portions), and carbohydrate counts for popular dishes for 11 popular ethnic cuisines. Help your clients learn to quickly identify the best choices for their meal plan, whether preparing ethnic foods at home, eating in restaurants, or traveling abroad.

Karline Ricketts believes“Beauty starts from the inside.” In 1997, Karline opened her first salon in West Palm Beach, FL, to provide an upscale client environment for a growing ethnic consumer market. This former NYC accounting professional, who spent many evening hours working for the legendary Studio 54, retrained and retooled under the tutelage of Paul Mitchell Systems.

You can be an INSTANT WINNER! Enjoy a Divabetic Prize package featuring a Nu Naturals gift basket filled with diabetic safe, low glycemic tooth friendly sweeteners, a Cabot Cheese gift basket filled with an assortment of delicious low-fat cheeses, Dr. Greenfield’s Diabetic Foot, Hand & Body Lotions which specifically designed for people with diabetes with sensitive and delicate skin, and a TRU Chocolate gift box. TRU Chocolate is the only 72% dark chocolate snack that’s sugar free, gluten free, ethically sourced and incredibly delicious. It’s TRU, you can finally eat chocolate and be healthy with their chocolate covered flame raisins, almonds, wafers and gluten free pretzels!

November’s Diabetes Late Nite guests include Dr. Beverly S. Adler PhD, CDE and Constance Brown Riggs MSEd, RD, CDE, CDN along with Poet Lorraine Brooks, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach featuring Patricia Addie Gentle RN, CDE, Karline Ricketts and Mama Rose Marie.

Diabetes Late Nite is a fast-paced, full-filled hour of diabetes education and wellness advice that encourages listeners to “laugh a little, learn a lot.”

CLICK HERE to Listen to November’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast on Tuesday, November 14, 2017, 6 -7:30 PM, EST.

09/21/2017

Finding Forgiveness After Decades of Guilt by Gail Eisenberg

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month—a time to share resources and stories in an effort to shed light on this highly taboo and stigmatized topic.

My college friend, Gail Eisenberg agreed to share the following excerpt from her forthcoming memoir on the Divabetic blog:

Visceral congestion, pending chemical examination.

Decades later, those five words on a mustard-yellow death certificate were the only explanation I’d had for my mother’s demise in May of 1980, when I was 14. The question remained: Had my mother killed herself? Without proof, I would allow myself to waver. I convinced myself that uncertainty was better than having to say goodbye. But about 10 years ago, as I approached 40 — the age Mom was when she died — I needed resolution. I was determined to ground myself in facts. I dialed New York City’s chief medical examiner to request a copy of her autopsy report.

Within two weeks, I held the legal-size pages folded tightly in thirds. As I read, I imagined my mother’s toe-tagged body draped in a crisp white sheet as it slid out from the metal chamber, the glint of the scalpel, the snap of latex gloves. The pages of the report included terms I didn’t understand, quantities I couldn’t comprehend, body parts I didn’t know existed. My mother described à la carte.

Then: Final cause of death: Acute propoxyphene and diazepam toxicity. Suicide.

My list of socially marginalized affiliations grew — motherless, gay, only child, suicide survivor. I thanked God I wasn’t left-handed. I felt sad, yet satisfied. Until I saw something on the document I’d somehow missed:

Notes found at scene to be brought to mortuary.

“Did Mom kill herself?” I’d asked my father many times over the years, wondering if he’d protected me from the truth at 14, hoping he’d tell me at 40.

“I don’t think Mama meant to do it that day,” he’d reply. “All the medications she was on caught up to her.”

READ MORE

Gail Eisenberg is a New York City-based freelance writer who is working on a memoir, from which this essay is adapted.

A common method of suicide attempt in people with diabetes includes uses of high doses of insulin or other medications to treat the disease.

How widespread is insulin suicide?

According to research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, an analysis of overdose-related calls to a poison center suggested that 95 percent of insulin overdoses were deliberate. READ MORE

We’re discussing ‘Diabetes & Suicide’ on Diabetes Late Nite podcast with guests, Dr. Beverly S. Adler PhD, CDE, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Neva White DNP, CRNP, CDE, Poet Lorraine Brooks, Author Kim Boykin, the founder of thebetes.org, Marina Tsaplina and Mama Rose Marie. LISTEN

If you’re thinking of suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the Lifeline network is avaiable 24/7 across the U.S. Call the National Suicde Prevention Lifeline: 1 (800) 273-8255

05/30/201705/30/2017

Overcoming The Fear of Diabetes Complications by Beverly S. Adler, PhD, CDE

Many people with diabetes are fearful about some aspect of the condition – scared of taking medication, using syringes, breaking old habits and/or adjusting their diets and this is just the day to day challenge of living with a chronic health problem.

What about those fears about the future – the possibility of developing long term complication such as blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation.?

I’ve decided to include this topic in a new Mister Divabetic Mystery podcast. As part of my ongoing research I contacted my friend, Dr. Beverly S. Adler, PhD, CDE aka “Dr. Bev” for her invaluable insight and advice on this subject. She willingly agreed to share the blog post featured below, “Fear of Diabetes Complications” with our Divabetic community:

The topic of diabetes complications stirs up a lot of emotional issues. Some well meaning, but uninformed, people (they call themselves your family and friends) may tell you that if you eat that slice of cake you will lose a toe or go blind. Trying to guilt you into eating healthy does not work. It makes many people with diabetes become oppositional and eat that slice – and more – just because they want to be assertive.

Diabetes is the Leading Cause of…..

First, let’s examine that “advice” that you will lose a toe or go blind by eating a slice of cake. That is not a true fact. It’s important to remember that poorly controlled diabetes can result in long-term complications. That’s a good place to start when talking with your family and friends, if they worry about your future health. It is okay to eat that slice of cake if you’ve planned for it in your meal plan. You can’t eat the whole cake, but enjoying a reasonable size slice is not going to result in dire diabetes complications. If you take insulin, you need to account for the additional carbs and increase your bolus insulin dose accordingly. If you don’t take insulin, you need to “pick and choose” which carbs are your priority: try to skip eating the bread and pasta, so you can enjoy the cake. And remember this: Well controlled diabetes is the leading cause of……..NOTHING!

Helpful ideas to be Assertive

Second, let’s examine how to be assertive with the “diabetes police.” While it makes the point that you will do what you want, not what you’re told, the reaction cited in the example above is rather unhealthy. Here’s some helpful ideas to be assertive without being self-destructive:

Acknowledge their concern. Express appreciation for their well meaning intent and thank them for their concern. Always be courteous.
Educate your well meaning, but uninformed, family and friends. Let them know about carb counting and meal planning.
Reassure the “diabetes police” that you know how to manage your diabetes. Correct mis-information. After all, you don’t want to live with those dire complications either.
Keep a sense of humor. Try to be light-hearted if the situation gets tense.
If all else fails, you have the right to choose to ignore the advice and the person dispensing the advice. It’s okay to do what you need to do to keep yourself emotionally strong and healthy.

What if You are the one Fearing Diabetes Complications

What if you are the one who is obsessively worried about the “what if” of possible future diabetes complications? It can make you feel hopeless. An emotional consequence of obsessive worry, and trying to follow a strict regimen in order to avoid complications, can lead to “diabetes burnout.” Diabetes burnout can result in you feeling out of control and overwhelmed by your diabetes. If you feel like your diabetes is a prison, I advise you to “break out before you burnout!” When people with diabetes burnout, the pendulum of good self-care swings in the opposite direction to poor self-care. Try to be reassured with this good news: thanks to medical developments, people with diabetes are less likely to develop long-term complications than ever before!

Actions to Calm your Fear

Here are some actions you can take to help calm your fear for the short and long-term:

Take a walk.
Engage in regular exercise – because it can manage stress as well as blood glucose.
Get enough sleep.
Write in a journal.
Learn to use some form of relaxation, such as deep breathing or yoga.
Limit or eliminate alcohol.

Changing your Thoughts to Reduce your Fear

Here are some ways to help change your thoughts to reduce your fear:

Approach your diabetes with the mindset “it is what it is” – then stress can be reduced.
If you can accept your diabetes, you can feel empowered to manage it.
If you change your attitude from hopelessness to hopefulness, you can change your perspective to focus on long-term good health.
Psychologists see humor as a character strength.People living with diabetes can improve their mood by approaching life with a sense of humor – LAUGH!
Have a positive attitude. As the saying goes, “you cannot live a positive life with a negative mind.” If you default to a negative mindset, that will limit you. Remember: A bad attitude is like a flat tire – you don’t get anywhere until you change it.

Help is Available

If you are so worried about potential complications that may happen in the future, I say to you: “None of us knows what the future will bring.” (If you did know the future, could you please tell me what the winning lottery numbers will be!) Worrying about future complications wastes your time and energy and does not make your chances better or worse. Take care of your diabetes management one day at a time. It’s an approach I’ve personally followed to successfully manage my type 1 diabetes for the past 42 years.

If you feel that your fear of diabetes complications is too difficult for you to manage on your own, you may be helped by talking with a diabetes psychologist or mental health provider who provides diabetes-focused therapy.

Dr. Beverly S. Adler, aka “Dr. Bev”, is a clinical psychologist and Certified Diabetes Educator with a private practice in Baldwin, NY. She was honored in 2016 with the “Certified Diabetes Educator Entrepreneur of the Year Award.”

She is the author/editor of two diabetes self-help books which include insightful lessons of empowerment written by successful men and women with diabetes. She has published articles in print and online about diabetes management – always with the focus on emotional adjustment. Dr. Bev has been quoted in numerous magazines and contributed to a monthly diabetes advice column online. She is a frequent contributor to the Divabetic Diabetes Daily Wire, where she blogs about diabetes topics from the psychological perspective.

Dr. Bev has lived successfully with type 1 diabetes for 42 years. You can connect with her on her website www.AskDrBev.com and on Twitter @AskDrBev.

LISTEN NOW: Diabetes Late Nite podcast with music by Sia. We’re shedding some light on the emotional side of diabetes including depression with guests, Dr. Beverly S. Adler PhD, CDE, , Poet Lorraine Brooks, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach, Mama Rose Marie and Zippora Karz, a former NYC Ballet Solo Ballerina with type 1 diabetes and author of the memoir “The Sugarless Plum”.