7 Tips for Managing Diabetes: ‘Humor Helps Me Cope’
Key takeaways:
Evan “The Show” Spaulding is a 34-year-old TV host and on-air personality from Newark, New Jersey, living with Type 2 diabetes.
He ignored his diabetes for a decade until painful skin eruptions forced him to act.
He has several tips — including humor — for managing diabetes.
Having a doctor tell him he “should be dead” from diabetes didn’t provoke Evan Spaulding to change his lifestyle.
It took the pain of infected ingrown hairs to ultimately prompt action.
“I had an ingrown [hair] that turned into an infection on the back of my neck,” he says. “I got it one time, and then I got it like two or three more times on the back of my neck, and they're extremely, extremely painful.
Save on popular GLP-1 Agonists
Take control of your health. With GoodRx, you may be eligible to save even more on popular treatments.
“The doctor at the time told me, ‘The reason why you keep getting these and it’s getting infected is because your blood sugar levels are so high.’ … Let me tell you I’ve had a football injury where I broke my hip. I’ve had appendicitis. I’ve had multiple things that have happened to me, but this is probably the worst pain I’ve ever felt.”
So when the doctor told him his diabetes was contributing to his infection, “I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m definitely changing my lifestyle.’”
That began a 5-year journey during which Evan dropped nearly 100 pounds through disciplined diet and exercise and became an online sensation talking and singing about his life with diabetes. Along the way, the TV host and on-air personality from Newark, New Jersey, has learned several tips to help manage his condition.
1. Heed your family history
Evan’s mom is living with Type 2 diabetes. So did his grandmother and a few other relatives. In retrospect, he should have been wary long ago.
Instead, he grew up drinking sugary drinks — he’d drink at least a 2-liter bottle of soda every day — and eating sugar-laden foods.
“We overindulged in certain things like desserts and certain drinks and things of that nature. And I know people say do things in moderation and stuff like that, but we just didn’t,” he says.
2. Listen to your body
Evan was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at age 19 because he sought help for frequent urination. It was so bad, he would often pull over his car to use the bathroom.
“It was almost every hour on the hour,” he says.
That, and he was extremely tired. His mom, who had experience with diabetes, recommended he see a doctor.
That’s when he got the news.
To this day, if he finds himself going to the bathroom too often, he knows his blood sugar is elevated and he takes action.
3. Consult your doctor and make a plan
Evan wasn’t taking his medication regularly, and he wasn’t listening to his doctor.
Sometimes, his fasting blood sugar level would be 300 mg/dL (normal is less than 100 mg/dL). He knew taking his medication consistently would help.
“The first step was taking my medication, Metformin, and taking the insulin they provided me,” Evan says. “That was the jumpstart.”
He says anyone new to diabetes should immediately sit down with their doctor.
“I would definitely suggest getting with the doctor, taking that medication,” he says. “And that’s the first step. Then, mapping out a plan on what you want to do the rest of your life. Everybody’s journey is a little bit different. You got to do what works for you.”
4. Choose moderation over elimination
Soon after learning he had diabetes, Evan thought he needed to make drastic changes.
“They put me on medication and that did kind of do the trick, and it scared me a little bit to the point where I was like, ‘I’m gonna change my lifestyle in that moment,’” he says. “So, like the first week or two, I did kind of eliminate everything … but a few weeks later, I was right back at it.”
Evan tried to eat what he wanted for the first 10 years after his diagnosis. He’d then take extra medication to counterbalance his bad diet, or no medication and ignore the signs. It was only after the painful skin eruptions on his neck that he decided to eat things in moderation.
He misses his grandma’s apple pie, but he substitutes that with blueberries. Every now and then, he’ll allow himself a honey bun or a piece of cake, but not very often.
“I've found substitutes and different things of that nature to enjoy food,” he says. “I’m not gonna have a whole pint of ice cream.”
Evan says he doesn’t want to go backwards.
“I’m still learning my body, and I’m wondering what I can and cannot put in it,” he says. “It’s just the journey, and it’s still a learning process for me even now.”
5. Exercise: Take small steps
Evan goes to the gym every day now. He started gradually, just walking at first.
“I wasn’t moving at all,” Evan says. “Like doing 1,200 steps a day.” It was a process, but he eventually had days when he walked 20,000 steps.
“I’m competitive with myself. So, the iPhone tracks your steps. I just wanted to beat my record every day.”
He felt the exercise’s positive effects quickly, particularly in sleeping at night, which had been a struggle.
“Not eating well and not sleeping is a horrible combination,” he says.
6. Embrace humor
Evan talks about his condition on social media. He even sang a song about having diabetes that went viral and has nearly 100,000 views on Youtube.
“Well, I do make jokes about it, which helps me cope better with it,” he says. “Up until that point (when he posted the song on social media), I was kind of afraid to even tell people that I had diabetes.”
Evan, who goes by Evan “The Show” and once hosted a MTV show, doesn’t just post about diabetes. He has whole sites of content. But he cites joking about diabetes as a coping mechanism that makes day-to-day management easier.
7. Find your village
Evan appreciates the support of others.
“Just have people around you that support you,” he says. “When I made the diabetes song, I did meet quite a bit of people that were suffering with the same thing … They were able to laugh it off and, you know, ‘Hey, what do you use and what do you do and what kind of medication do you have?’ And it's kind of nice to know that you're not alone, suffering.”
For the last year, he’s had additional support.
“I do have a girlfriend (Brittany),” he says. “She definitely stays on top of me about my diabetes, and she makes sure that I stay on track. It is a whole lot easier when you're with a person that will do it with you.”
Why trust our experts?
