Hello March!

March has been a completely choc-a-bloc month (also happens to be my diaversary month! Yay!) In the beginning of the month, the Club 1 Crew was in Jaipur attending the Diabetes India 2019 9th World Congress of Diabetes. More photos from the conference and all the fun we had here.

Of course we are happiest when we run and so the highly charged Type One Run Pune group did our monthly 5k on a lazy Sunday morning on March 10th followed by delish low carb breakfast at the pretty Kalyani Nagar Jogger's Park in Pune. Here is a link to the full album from that gorgeous morning.

In fact, we even managed to squeeze in a short and quick #RecceRun (Recce Run : runs that we do as a reconnaissance for our upcoming monthly runs) on Holi morning on March 21st. We were definitely quite a sight, chomping down our omelettes and chai and bolusing at a random cafe with pink faces!

Towards the month end, we were running (no surprise - again!) a 5k with our diabetic friends and their families in Hyderabad. Check out all our pictures from our super fun Hyderabad trip where we had the warmest welcome, the yummiest food ever and the company of our fabulous T1 friends from around the country. In the picture below, you will see representation from our friends from Hyderabad, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Bombay and Pune. We had a fabulous experience and took home the fondest memories.

With all that jet setting around the country, an eating out guide is just what the doctor ordered. If you are the type that would rather not eat out but carry smart and healthy snacking options instead, we have got you covered that way too! We wanted to acknowledge and openly talk about the importance of women's health in March and we accomplished that too, with our piece on menstruation and diabetes management. Don't you simply love the Club 1 Diabetes Blog? We know we do!

As if that was not enough running around already, Chinmay and I jumped headlong into a 20km trail walk in the scenic Pune University and Vetal Tekdi locales on the last Sunday morning of the month, March 31st and made new friends along the way! Needless to say, we had a blast while creating awareness about type 1 diabetes!

Apart from all the March madness, we also ran a very successful monthly social media campaign. Each month, we pick a different topic and invite you all to share your thoughts with us through your videos, photos and stories. For the month of March our campaign was called #TellingYouIAmType1 (credits to Divyesh) where we asked you to share just how you tell people you are diabetic for the first time.

We got (and are still getting) a very varied bunch of responses and here are a few highlights from our March campaign :

Divyesh from Pune talks about how he deals with the shock and questions that people have the first time they see him injecting and how he takes it as an opportunity to educate them about type 1 diabetes.

The very sweet Vaishali from Bombay has been T1 since 31 years and tells us how she tells people that she is diabetic while politely side stepping their suggestions for type 1 diabetes 'cures'.

‌Our friend Lakshminarayana from Hyderabad is T1D since the last 5 odd years and visually challenged since birth. He explains how it is a real challenge explaining to people how both his conditions are not related to one another. Most people do not even know there are different types of diabetes, that is another challenge that Lakshmi touches upon.

‌What is life without a little fun, after all? Check out the crew pulling Shekhar's leg and see how he responds! While Shekhar may have had a kidney and pancreas transplant now, the type 1 gang at Club 1 Diabetes is his family and he never misses a run!

‌Spunky, school going Revati from Pune confidently educates people who ask about her gadgets and tells them what type 1 diabetes is. You go girl!

‌While there might be many ways to tell someone new that you are diabetic, possibly one of the best ways to do it might be with a 105 kg deadlift! At least that is what Club 1 Crew Chinmay likes to do!

‌Very newly diagnosed 6 year old Aaryan dragged his parents along for their first run with us this month. Wouldn't it be easier to talk openly about diabetes if we all had a support system from day one like Aaryan and his family now do?

‌Whether you are new to diabetes or an old champion, like Rakesh from Delhi who has been T1 for the past 59 years, telling people that you are diabetic can sometimes be stressful, especially in social settings. Rakesh expertly maneuvers such social situations, listen in to know how.

Sonal from Pune shares some thoughts about how she told her fiance (now husband) Vaibhav that she is type 1 diabetic the first time they met. In such situations it is very important to be open and clear like Sonal. Vaibhav and his family have been super supportive too!

‌As you can see, we have had a wonderful March and we are now looking at fun things to do in April! Our April campaign topic is #HypoHacks. Send in your videos on www.club1diabetes.org/upload and we will feature you and share them with the world.

Have a happy April, everyone!