I am Christel from Diabetes Strong
in this video we'll be looking at gifts for people living with diabetes
I’ve been living with diabetes since 1997
and all of the nine items that I’ve included in this list
all items that I'd love to receive as a gift and most of them already have
so as we go through the list
I’ll actually be showing you some of those that I already own
so you can see what they look like
if you had asked me just a few years ago
whether or not I would like to receive a diabetes gift
I probably would have said, no thank you,
but in recent years so many new cool products have come to market
that it's definitely become a yes
and it might be for you too
below the video, down in the video description, you'll find the whole list
of all of the gifts that I’ll be mentioning in this video,
as well as links to where you can find them
the first thing on my list is Myabetic diabetes cases and purses
so I do love my purses
and the Myabetic purses are really good quality
they're vegan leather and they even have a little pocket
where you can put in your insulin it will protect it from the elements
so these are the Myabetic bags and cases that I have
but they have a ton of different styles on their website
including some that might be more suited for children and men
but I really do love the three I have
so this is the Brandy backpack and I use this a whole lot,
I also have the Joslin belt bag so you wear that on your hip
and then there's the Banting diabetes case,
and that's for all your diabetes supplies
so I’m not going to do a full review of them here,
I actually already did one so I’m going to leave a link to that up top
so if you want to see all the products, also what's inside,
go check out that video and there's a little bonus here,
so Myabetic has given us a discount code,
you just type in DIABETESSTRONG on the Myabetic website and
at checkout, you'll receive a discount of 15%
and I do love my diabetes cases and purses
so next up are diabetes cases and purses from Sugar Medical
so Sugar Medical is a little different than Myabetic in the sense that
most of their products are more of a canvas
rather than vegan leather that does also mean
they're a little bit more affordable they still have an insulated pocket,
for the most part,
and I’m going to show you a very cool feature
that I haven't seen in any other diabetes products
and that feature is the Sugar Medical test strip trash can
so let me show you in the case, so I haven't moved into this case yet,
but you basically this is a little slot here
so you put your test strips in here
and you know instead of just have test strips flying around
you put the test strips in there and then once you want to empty it out
there's this pocket on the outside where all the test strips end up
so no more test strip graveyard in the bottom of your purse
so let me show you what I have from Sugar Medical,
first one is the diabetes case I showed you before
and then I have this purse, which is probably my favorite,
it's like crossbody you can also take off the strap but this one holds everything
then very simple but very effective I have this canvas bag, I just thought it was fun
the guys at Sugar Medical decided to give us a discount code,
so that's nice, so you'll see that up here
just use that at checkout on the Sugar Medical website
and you'll get the discount
next up we have the Frio cooling cases so these are brilliant I’ve been using
these for years so they're really really cool because they can keep your insulin
at the right temperature when you're out in the sun, if you're hiking for days,
or if you're just out and about and don't have access to a fridge or a freezer
the way Frio differs from other cooling products
is this inner pouch this is actually quite brilliant
so in this pouch there's these little crystals
so right now they're not activated so you see it's all flat you
just submerge this in water little crystals that will gel up and they'll start to cool
and they'll actually continue cooling for up to five days, so brilliant,
you just submerge in water and it will gel
you put your insulin in here and then into the outer case
and once the five days are up or just it has dried out
you just resubmerge in water and it'll start cooling again
I did a demo and a full review of the Frio cooling cases a while back
so I’ll leave a link to that up here so if you want to see how it works
or if you just want more information check out that video
I have a few different Frio pouches
including this one as I showed you before as well some larger ones
you can get them for vials as well but since I use insulin pens
I have it for the insulin pen size
if I were to put one on my wish list it would probably be this one,
I just think the jungle pattern is fun
but if you get it in a single color like in a purple or blue and a white or whatever
they're actually a little bit cheaper but they do have the jungle pattern
they also have some other tropical patterns that I think are really fun
next on my list are diabetes books,
so there are quite a few really good diabetes books available now
but these are definitely some of my favorites
first off there's this one this is Think Like A Pancreas by Gary Scheiner
and this is practically the bible of diabetes management
so the better you understand diabetes and how to manage it
the less frustrating it becomes
and I think Gary in this book really tackles that
in a very practical down-to-earth approach
it's even one of those books that once in a while go back and you know
revisit certain things
if I need to fact check something this is where I’ll go to find the facts
then we have this one the Athlete's Guide To Diabetes
so I actually think the title is a little misleading
because this kind of indicates that it's only for athletes, that's not the case
anyone who likes to be active, if it's just to go for a walk, for that matter and lives
with diabetes will benefit from this book
it's written by Sheri R. Colberg and what I really appreciate about it
is that it goes over the basics of movement and diabetes management
so I’m not it's not just that hey your blood sugars might might go low
it's also what can you do about it
and she has interviewed over 300 athletes to get their personal perspectives
including this book and what do you know I am one of them look at this
I was asked to include my experience
as a bodybuilding competitor who lives with diabetes,
so if you get the 2020 copy you'll find my little section in there as
well as a few quotes so that's kind of cool
and of course, I can't talk about diabetes books
without mentioning my own eBook so you can see the cover, up here
so that is the Fit With Diabetes eBook I wrote that a few years ago and it's over
80 pages of knowledge crammed into 80 pages
so it's everything I know about exercise and diabetes
with focusing on how to set healthy goals, how to develop an exercise plan,
and how to actually manage your blood sugars
when you live with diabetes and you want to be active
up next is the Spibelt so the Spibelt is a fanny pack
made specifically for people living with diabetes
so there's a little hole in here and that is for tubing
so if you are an insulin pump you can have your pump in here
and you just have the tubing coming out through that little hole
so it looks small but actually holds a
whole lot of stuff you see that here
I do not wear an insulin pump I use insulin pens
but this is my go-to whenever I’m wearing workout pants that do not have pockets
so whenever I go for a run or go to the gym
this belt is great not just because it has the hole for the tubing
but also because it's one of those bags that do not move around on your body
when you go for a run, it stays put,
so when I do go for a run, and it does happen,
in this I will bring my phone I wear a CGM Continuous Glucose Monitor
so I see my readings on my phone so I want to bring along my phone
I also bring glucose tabs, I bring my ID as well as my keys
and all that will fit into this little pouch if I am not wearing cordless headphones
I will plug in my phone so I can listen to my music I’ll just have
the cord coming out of the little tubing hole
you can get these in a lot of different colors
it doesn't have to be black I think if I were to put one
on my wishlist today it might be pink I use a Spibelt if I’m out of about
if I’m at the gym and I’m wearing workout pants that do not have pockets
but I must admit I prefer the workout pants with the pockets
and I do have a thing for workout pants specifically leggings
I have quite a few and quite a few of them do have pockets
one of my favorite brands when it comes to workout clothes is Athleta
it's not a cheap brand but you know
their stuff lasts for years so these are one of my favorite
pair of leggings I’ve had these for I think four years and I’ve used them but
they're really good quality no holes there they don't look worn
and they have pockets
since this pair has lasted me for years you can't get those anymore but Athleta
has plenty of other leggings with pockets so I found this pair I think those are really
cute that blush
you can also get them purple but there's a ton of different patterns and colors
and a lot of them do have pockets and in that pocket you can
of course, put whatever you want
I like to have my phone in there so I can always
access my blood sugar readings but you might have your insulin pump or
just your glucose tabs, your keys
I really enjoy jewelry I think most people do,
so why not combine jewelry with a potentially life-saving medical ID
so that's what the creators of Lauren’s Hope set out to do
and I think the results are amazing
wearing some sort of medical ID is a great idea
for anyone living with diabetes or any
other medical condition for that matter and what Lauren’s Hope has done is that
they've incorporated medical IDs into really stylish jewelry
Lauren’s Hope’s medical ID tags you have the star of life on one side
that represents emergency medical services
and then the other side you can put all your information
so on mine I have my name, I have my medical condition,
and I have how it's treated, so that's diabetes and it's insulin shots
and then I have my ICE, In Case of Emergency phone number
so that number is my husband's phone number
because in case of emergency and I am not able to communicate
I want them to call him,
so let me show you my Lauren’s Hope bracelet
so this is the one so you can get a lot of different designs
basically, this is a tag this is a medical ID tag
I like it dangling like this but you can also get other styles
where it's close to your wrist
on the tag, now here you can see the tag, it's an up close
you have all the information there
so the tag you can move from from bracelet to bracelet
so again there's a lot of different designs
there's also some that are more masculine
if you wear a Dexcom CGM like I do
being able to see your readings directly on your wrist
whether or not that's on an Apple watch, on a Fitbit or a Garmin
is absolutely brilliant
an Apple Watch can do pretty much anything that your phone can
so you can actually have the Dexcom app directly on your watch
and you'll be able to see your readings right here as well as get your notifications,
alarms, and alerts
if you're not really into Apple Watches you can also see your readings now
on the Garmin watches as well as some of the newer Fitbit watches
there's no official collaboration between Dexcom and Fitbit though
but I do have a Fitbit watch
so you can see here I just download a clock face
again that's not an official one but it allows me
see here to see my readings right here on the screen
I did do a video on how to get your Dexcom readings onto your Fitbit
so I’ll leave a link to a video about that up here and that goes for all the Fitbit Versa,
the Fitbit Ionic and the Fitbit Sense it doesn't really matter if you see
your readings on an Apple Watch, on a Garmin or a Fitbit
you still need to carry your phone with you
obviously, an Apple Watch can do so much more than a Garmin and a Fitbit,
however, it will also be the more expensive solution
and finally, even the person living with diabetes
who has everything still need to buy supplies and insulin so why not give
them a gift card to their local pharmacy
I know I would mind a gift card to my local
CVS especially for those first few months of the year before I hit my deductible
and that was my ultimate gift guide for people living diabetes
leave me a comment down below, let me know which one was your favorite
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thank you so much for watching