A size-inclusive
online learning program and support group

Module 1: Create a self-compassion practice for “diagnosis shame” resilience.
When faced with a new diagnosis or a medical visit gone wrong, it’s not unusual to feel yourself fall into a “shame spiral.” But shame resilience is possible and it helps you practice meaningful self-care. You will learn why shame might be getting in the way of your well-being and how to boost shame resilience through self-compassion and acceptance practices.

Module 2: Complete your self-care self-assessment. What’s going well? Where can you learn and grow?
What you do for yourself on a day-to-day basis is your choice. There are lots of options to make positive changes and create new habits that help you with your health concerns. Identifying opportunities for change that sound interesting and helpful will help you make self-care choices that “fit” your needs best.

Module 3: Make sense of your blood sugar changes.
Contrary to what you may have heard, there isn’t a “pass/fail” system of checking blood sugars. We’d like to invite you to view checking blood sugars as a tool to help you see patterns and make choices, rather than a measurement of your success or failure.

Module 4: Define and live your values to create a happier and healthier life.
When you identify personally meaningful values, especially around your well-being, you can make choices that matter to you and get more joy out of it. Focus on how you want to live, rather than just an end goal, to create a happier and more meaningful life, even through difficult change. Your values-driven goals will help you make lasting positive changes in habits and lead to a happier and healthier life.

Module 5: Build mindful eating patterns for more satisfying meals.
How you eat can be as impactful to your health as what you eat. If you have lived by diet rules that have told you how much to eat and when, it can be confusing to know how to listen to your internal regulation of hunger, fullness, and satisfaction to guide your eating. Learning to eat mindfully can help you better tune into those cues and take the worry out of “how much should I eat?”

Module 6: Adjust your eating patterns with gentle nutrition.
Restriction isn’t helpful in caring for yourself and your blood sugars with food. There are many food changes that can enhance your life by adding in, not taking away, and adjusting patterns of eating to help with blood sugar management. There is no “one-size-fits-all” way of eating and you’ll learn instead how to focus your attention on overall quality of food and eating patterns rather than individual nutrients or meals.

Module 7: Make movement “fit” your life.
Exercise has positive health benefits for most everyone. You might be surprised to hear that high intensity and long durations of movement aren’t necessary to receive those benefits. Creating exercise patterns that fit your needs, interests, time, and financial resources is a valuable endeavor and will help with your diabetes concerns. We will help you develop strategies to create those patterns and overcome exercise resistance.

Module 8: Improve sleeping patterns for better energy and better health.
We tend to hear most about eating and exercise changes from health professionals, but what about sleep? Why is it so important for overall health and what role does sleep play in blood sugar management? This module explores sleep and it’s relation to blood sugar regulation, and teaches you ways to help you get the sleep you need.

Module 9: Change your relationship to stress and anxiety to enhance your well-being.
Stress and anxiety are normal parts of everyday life, but when they become overwhelming, your well-being can suffer. In this module we teach you techniques for working with your stress and anxiety to boost resilience and enhance well-being.

Module 10: Set big boundaries with family, friends, care providers, and other people in your life.
“Boundaries” is not a bad word, yet many people tell themselves they can’t set boundaries because they don’t want to hurt people. As a result, they unintentionally contribute to their own unnecessary suffering. We will help you value boundary-setting and show you how to do it with kindness and confidence.

Module 11: Why most diabetes care is not weight inclusive (it’s not you). 
It’s not just in your head. The medical community really does think losing weight will make you healthier. The problem is that based on all the available evidence, we know that most weight loss attempts are not successful in the long run. And we also know what is helpful. We’ll cover the myths and facts around diabetes self care to bring you clarity and inspiration for your decision-making.

Module 12: Tempting “trends” and empty promises for healing diabetes. 
While it’s important to advance medical knowledge, what actually gets attention in media headlines and book titles may actually not be so scientific or good for you. We break down some of the “tempting trends” for you and why they may not help you manage your blood sugars sustainably in the long-run.

Module 13: Navigate your diabetes and other health concerns.
You may be dealing with other health concerns along with your diabetes. Sometimes there’s alignment in concerns, and other times, one concern needs your attention more than the other. Learning to prioritize what’s most important will be key to your self-care. Eating disorders and other mental and physical health concerns are discussed in this module.

Module 14: Commit fully to yourself and your well-being for life. 
Wrap-up time! Now that you’ve learned where you want to focus your energy for self-care, it’s time to think about how you will continue your commitment to yourself, and what that work looks like (hint: it’s not about being perfect). Real, lasting, meaningful change takes time, and you deserve to take as much time as you need in creating your self-care plan. In this final module, we help you to think about where you are, where you’d like to go, and how to get there.

Not quite ready to enroll?

Then start with our free guide, 7 Surprising Myths About Diabetes and Weight…

What mainstream medicine isn't telling you, but we will!