I’m launching our Summer Series of Super People with diabetes living in Ireland with my friend and fellow Clare blow-in Erin Dolan. 

Erin is a certified Health Coach based in West Clare, mother of two, world traveler and person with type 1 diabetes. She shared some of her diabetes life in a 2019 blog post here where she talked about the difficult battle, especially as a kid, feeling different from everyone else but then making it a way of life becoming active in the community to make your stronger mentally

In this post, she talks about why she has decided to devote more time in her busy life (did I mention she also works part time for a company in Galway) to helping people with diabetes through coaching. 

Bridging the gap for diabetes healthcare 

Erin Dolan, Diabetes Health Coach 

The story for many people with diabetes begins with the initial diagnosis shock – “…you have diabetes!” Just when you’re overcoming the shock, you get a quick  introduction on how a pancreas works and how your pancreas does NOT work. Part  of your diabetes 101 briefing consists of managing your “new” diet (without much  detail) and injecting yourself with insulin. If you’re lucky, you meet with a dietitian to  learn about carb counting and insulin ratio (Huh?!). Finally, you are sent home to  handle this complex disease on your own with very little follow-up support. 

Quickly you realise there is more to diabetes than just testing your blood glucose.  What about – dealing with the daily stress of diabetes, accepting diabetes as part of  your life, or trying to cook “diabetic-friendly” meals? It would be great if your diabetes  consultant listened to you more, maybe asking you what you want or need. Instead  of telling you what to do, what if your consultant gave you guidance on how to get  there? There is a huge gap in diabetes healthcare with guiding diabetics to achieve  their goals. Additionally, emotional well-being and diabetes is often overlooked. So, I  became a health coach to bridge this gap and provide a 360o approach to diabetes  support. 

I have lived with type 1 diabetes for 30 years and have experienced the stress,  mental burnout and diet struggles from diabetes. During my first few years of  diabetes, I lacked confidence in myself trying to hide my diabetes from others and  just wanted to live a “normal” life. I have overcome these challenges, and it has  pushed me to achieve ambitious goals like cycling over 4,000 km across Central  America and backpacking through Europe and Asia. I learned to embrace my  diabetes while making my health and happiness a priority. It would have been great  if my healthcare team gave me the “real” diabetes crash course at the start. This  desire encouraged me to become a health coach and fulfil my passion for helping  people with diabetes lead a healthy and stress-free life. 

So what is a diabetes health coach? 

A diabetes health coach helps clarify and  achieve your goals and put your doctor’s advice into action. A diabetes health coach  is like your accountability partner guiding you to make realistic, lasting changes. As a  diabetes health coach, I offer customised programmes for all types of diabetics. Like  individuals, diabetes is not one size fits all, and that’s why the consultation or  programme is customised to fit your diabetic health goals. I support the whole  diabetic rather than one aspect of diabetes to bring about healthier lifestyle changes  for the long term.

So, what does this mean? It means that as a diabetes health coach, I support you  with all the extra diabetes things that your doctors don’t cover like 

• Finding foods and cooking exciting meals that don’t spike your blood glucose 

• Understanding the confusing nutritional labels on food packaging 

• Making smart choices with eating out 

• Curbing your sugar cravings 

• Implementing an exercise routine to lose weight or stabilise glucose levels 

• Finding the confidence to self-manage your diabetes in a positive way 

• Reducing STRESS, so it doesn’t impact your blood glucose 

Diabetes doesn’t have to hold you back from living a life you love. My main goal as a  diabetes health coach is to empower people with diabetes and help them overcome  emotional barriers. My services include personalised nutrition programmes and  group or one-to-one consultations. Each virtual coaching session is 60-minutes and  will identify specific areas of your diabetes that need some love and attention. All  sessions include email support and an online resource folder to manage your  personal diabetes goals. 

Check out my website to learn more about me, my services and my blog  at www.crazyaboutdiabetes.com. Be sure to follow me on Instagram  @crazyaboutdiabetes for recipes and other fun diabetes bits! 

Erin Dolan, Diabetes Health Coach 

+353 87 705 3922 

www.crazyaboutdiabetes crazyaboutdiabetes@gmail.com @crazyaboutdiabetes 

Thank you so much for sharing Erin and best of luck with your new venture. 

I really enjoy Erin’s videos and posts on her instagram and Facebook pages especially on some of the things we don’t really think about anymore because we consider them normal now.

I hope to feature more people living with diabetes over the summer months in written form but also in recorded interviews. If you would be interested in sharing your diabetes story please contact me via email at Grainne@Thriveabetes.ie