Motivation plays an important role in virtually every area of your life. You need motivation to succeed in school, at work, and even in personal relationships. Diabetes, a chronic condition, is no different. As something that requires a significant portion of your time and attention, your diabetes management routine will require motivation to make sure you are giving your body the attention and health it requires.

How to Stay Motivated

Staying motivated does not mean that you are passionate about taking care of yourself every single moment of every day; instead, it simply means that you take care of yourself even when it is frustrating or inconvenient. Motivation doesn’t come to you on its own, but has to be cultivated through consistent habits and practices.

#1. Track Your Numbers

Diabetes is often a numbers game—one that requires you to pay careful attention to your body and the signals it provides. Keep track of your food habits, your exercise habits, your blood sugar trends, and notice areas you can improve, or areas you are doing really well in. This will keep you motivated because it takes much of the guesswork out of medicating, eating, and exercising, and lends insight into how different foods and activities impact your body.

#2. Journal

When you’re feeling frustrated, burnt out, joyous, or isolated, document it. Making a note of how you are feeling can help you look at a situation more objectively, and can be great to look back on as you make more progress and learn to manage your condition more effectively. Nothing is quite as motivating as seeing your own success.

#3. Find a Buddy

Whether the person in question has diabetes or not, enlisting a partner to help keep yourself accountable for eating well or keeping your fitness routine up is one of the greatest ways to stay motivated. After all, you don’t want to have to report an off day to your partner, do you?

#4. Pay Attention to How You Feel

It might be tempting to reach for that extra slice of pizza, or to pop in for a quick pastry while you’re running errands, but take a second to think about your body’s reaction. How do you feel when your blood sugar is high? The most common response to high blood sugar is irritability. How do you feel when your sugar is low? Tired, loopy, even a bit lethargic? Rather than focusing on how good a particular food might taste for the split second it is in your mouth, focus on how good your body feels when you give it healthy, whole foods. If you love the feel of sitting on the couch and zoning out to your favorite show or video game, enjoy that feeling for a time, then hop up and enjoy the experience of exercising.