The Lifestyle of the Energetic Diabetic
Jumping jacks, pushups, sit ups, toe touches – while these activities may not appeal to you, they, and other activities like them can add quantity and quality to your life. The Diabetic Lifestyle is quite often a series of good choices. You can select salsa or you can have the creamy dip, one is diabetic friendly the other is sure to increase your BG levels.
Other lifestyle choices are whether you get up and get moving or if you are a couch potato. So what’s it going to be, spend time eating right and exercising on a regular basis or lowering your quality of living by ignoring a healthy diabetic lifestyle.
The decision to make the swap to a diabetic lifestyle was probably not yours to make. You likely lived like many others around you, until that fateful day, when you doctor informed you the test results were in, and they were positive for Diabetes. Once you worked through the anger and fear and mourned the loss of the life as you once knew, you have decided that the diabetic lifestyle sure beat the alternatives. So you read the material from the doctor and realized that change is inevitable and resistance is futile – but where should you begin? Regulating your blood glucose levels is necessary and can be done by a change in what you eat and what you do.
Exercise and the Diabetic Lifestyle
You know it’s good to exercise and that for the type 2 diabetic it can make a difference in how much or how often you take insulin. But… what’s really in it for you? Adding 30 minutes a day of exercise or physical activity to your schedule can have the following benefits:
- Lower blood glucose levels
- Improved insulin sensitivity
- Lower AIC levels
- Decreased triglyceride levels
- Increased HDL (good)cholesterol
- Improvement in mild to moderate hypertension
- Burn more calories
- Strengthen the cardiovascular system
- Better strength and flexibility
- Higher self-esteem and improved quality of life
So, now that you know why you should add exercise to Diabetes lifestyle related changes, you need to know where to begin. In the past the phrase “No pain, No Gain” was quite popular. However, popularity does not mean prudent. Here are a few tips to get you going.
- Choose an activity/exercise you think you will enjoy – if you aren’t interested in swimming then don’t make it a part of your routine.
- Get the proper clothing/shoes for the selected activity. Pay special attention to the shoes – be sure that they fit comfortably. Then, after each workout be sure to check your feet for redness or irritated areas so to lessen the risk of blisters.
- Set attainable goals. An experienced walker can walk a mile in 10 – 12 minutes. As a novice it may take 30 minutes.
- Don’t give up– even if it takes half an hour to walk 1 mile that is an improvement over doing nothing at all.
Not only is exercise an important part of the diabetic lifestyle, but the diabetic diet is equally necessary. Learning to exchange grilled for fried, vegetable toppings and fillings rather than meat, fat free milk rather than heavy cream and other diabetic-friendly changes can make a big difference without your feeling as though you can’t enjoy food or dining out. What the diabetic lifestyle comes down to is consistently making good choices.
