Happy New Year! 

January often brings a feeling of renewed possibility. Many people enter this month with clear intentions and a desire to step into healthier routines. Even with information, reminders, recipes, and strong motivation, starting can still feel unexpectedly hard.

If this sounds familiar, there’s a reason. You’re not lacking discipline or commitment. Your brain and body are responding to an internal workload that shapes how much capacity you have for new steps.

This first blog of the year helps you understand why motivation rises and falls and why follow-through can feel unpredictable. You’ll also find a simple worksheet at the end of this blog to help you begin the year with small steps that gently rebuild confidence.

Why Your Brain Hesitates: The Threat Load Response

Your brain constantly scans for cues from your internal state. When blood sugar shifts throughout the day, your nervous system works harder to keep you steady. This increases your internal “threat load,” which is the amount of effort your body uses to maintain balance.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) notes that glucose variability affects planning, organization, and the ability to begin tasks. These are the exact skills that help you start new habits.

When internal load rises, your brain switches to familiar patterns because they require less energy. This hesitation isn’t resistance. It’s your brain protecting your energy while it manages your internal landscape.

Understanding this helps you work with your brain instead of feeling pressured to force change.

Why Simple Choices Feel Heavy: The Energy Allocation Principle

Your body distributes energy according to survival priorities. When you’re living with diabetes, your body already spends more energy regulating blood sugar and supporting essential functions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that chronic conditions increase the body’s baseline workload. With a higher workload, there’s less available energy for planning, decision-making, and new routines.

Tasks such as choosing a meal, preparing something for later, beginning a walk, or organizing your morning can feel heavier than they look on the surface. This experience isn’t a reflection of your commitment. It’s a reflection of how much energy your body’s already using behind the scenes.

Awareness of this helps you approach your goals with more clarity and compassion.

Why Motivation Comes and Goes

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has shown that shifts in blood sugar influence mood, clarity, and emotional steadiness. These internal changes shape the way you experience energy throughout the day.

When you understand that your physiology changes, your routines begin to work with your natural rhythms.

Where Confidence Begins

Confidence grows from small supportive steps that help your brain feel steady and capable.

A powerful place to begin is this:

Take a quiet pause before starting your next task today.

This brief moment helps your system settle, lowers internal load, and gives your brain the space it needs to begin something new. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) notes that even short pauses support cognitive initiation, emotional steadiness, and improved clarity.

These small moments are repeatable, realistic, and supportive. They help rebuild confidence without pressure.

A Supportive Phrase for Days When You Feel Stuck

Try saying:

“I can begin with one small supportive step.”

This helps your body soften its internal strain and opens the door to gentle momentum.

How This Supports Our January Theme

New Year, New You: Confident Diabetes Self-Care sets a steady foundation for the year ahead. This month focuses on understanding how your body and brain communicate so each new step feels achievable.

Throughout January, you’ll explore the four pillars that strengthen daily steadiness:

• Mindset

• Meals

• Movement

• Self-Care Mastery
  

Week 1 helps you understand your internal experience so you can begin with less pressure and more clarity.

The worksheet included below offers one daily check that helps you notice supportive actions and build confidence gradually.

FAQ

Why do I feel ready to change but unable to start?

When blood sugars fluctuate, the brain shifts into a protective mode that makes planning and starting new habits feel harder. This is something many people with diabetes experience. The desire to change is real, but your brain is trying to conserve energy until it senses more steadiness. Once stability increases, the ability to begin becomes easier.

Does this mean I am not disciplined?

No. What you are feeling is not a discipline problem. Your body and brain manage a heavier internal load when you live with diabetes, even on days when everything looks fine on the outside. When that load increases, your brain naturally slows you down. This is a protective response, not a character flaw.

Why do simple tasks feel heavy?

Your body is already doing more work throughout the day to keep things balanced. Even a task that seems simple on paper can feel heavier when your system is carrying an internal workload that others do not see. The task has not changed. Your energy requirements have. Once your internal load lightens, the same tasks begin to feel manageable again.

How do I build confidence?

Confidence comes from giving your brain proof that you can take action without overwhelm. Small steady steps create that proof. When your system experiences something supportive and repeatable, it builds a sense of capability. This is how real confidence grows, one simple action at a time, until you feel stronger, steadier, and more in control of your health.

Begin With Clarity

If you want clear insight into what is shaping your energy and slowing your progress, you are welcome to book a complimentary Diabetes Wellness Connection Call. This focused conversation helps you understand your most supportive next step and what your body needs to move forward with confidence.

A Gentle Next Step

If you’re noticing that your energy, motivation, or follow-through feel inconsistent, you don’t have to figure that out alone. The complimentary Diabetes Wellness Connection Call is a  focused conversation designed to help you understand what’s shaping your internal load right now and where your most supportive next step truly begins. Together, we look at how your daily rhythms, blood sugar patterns, and lifestyle demands interact so you can move forward with clarity, confidence, and a plan that respects the reality of your life. We'll identify your next step that feels doable, supportive, and grounded in science.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Cheryl
Dr. Ac., C.H., RDH
Dr. Holistic Studies, Dr. Acupuncture
Diabetes Wellness Strategist & Coach
Creator & CEO of Holistic Diabetes Solutions
8 X International Best-Selling Author

As a woman living with diabetes for over 30 years, Dr. Cheryl understands the journey firsthand. When she was diagnosed, she received the same outdated advice her grandmother was given for over four decades, who relied primarily on medication, suffered from deteriorating health and eventually lost her life to diabetes. Fueled by this experience, Dr. Cheryl was compelled to seek a better way. Through countless research studies and trials, she developed the winning holistic approach: the Diabetes Success System which merges traditional wisdom with today’s best holistic self-care practices.  It has revolutionized diabetes management by providing a trusted way to maintain consistent and predictable healthy blood sugar levels.

_______________________

PROFESSIONAL DISCLAIMER

The material and content contained in this platform is for overall general diabetes health and education information only. It is not intended to constitute medical advice or to be a substitution for professional medical recommendations, diagnosis or treatment. All specific medical questions or changes you make to your medication and/or lifestyle should be discussed and addressed with your primary healthcare provider. Having the right mindset, doing the right movements at the right times of day, and eating foods that help keep blood sugar, insulin, and inflammation manageable can dramatically reduce your risk of the all-too-common complications of Diabetes, increase your energy levels and have you feeling your best every day.