the other two.
Control is what we are all after. Control of blood glucose levels, good HgA1c numbers, cholesterol, and blood pressure are all things that people with type 2 diabetes need to pay attention to. Depending on your situation you may also be keeping an eye on kidney function, neuropathy, vision problems, any any of a host of potential complications.
Control requires discipline. You may rely on medication, you may be expecting to manage with diet and exercise. Everybody is different so everyone needs their own plan.
To take control:
1. Establish your goals – short term and long term.
2. Determine how you are going to achieve them, ie. make a plan.
3. Follow your plan
4. RepeatIn other words, say what you are going to do, then do what you said your were going to do. If you achieve your goals or discover that they were too ambitious for now, revise them. Don’t let yourself go another day without having a plan to control your diabetes.
Nutrition will play a big part in your control plan, and it will also affect your fitness level. Draw up your nutrition plan, but establish measurable goals in your nutrition plan. These goals may be:
1. Food-related – eg. I will limit my carbohydrate intake to 120 grams per day
2. Test related – eg. My two hour postprandial (after meal) glucose will be less than 140or they may be meaningful to you in some other way. I have been following the 4 Hour Body program, so my nutritional goals have been to stick to my dietary plan every week.
Fitness means exercise to most people, and for some of us this works well. But fitness for someone who is newly diagnosed may need to start with an effective nutritional plan to get to a point where exercise is possible. If you do plan on exercising start slowly, and with the advice of your doctor. Diabetes is the number one cause of heart disease. Please don’t go out and over-exert yourself to the point of a heart attack.
When you and your physician decide that exercise is an appropriate choice for you, choose something that you will enjoy and will stick with. Set a goal to do something for yourself for at least twenty minutes every day. This is in addition to whatever you normally do at work. Make it something that works the big muscles in your body – your arms and your legs. Go for a walk, do some gardening, ride a bike, whatever. The benefits of this regular activity are amazing, both for diabetes management and for your overall well-being.
Make sure it’s something that you can continue to do. If you start running and injure yourself you will probably stop running. Don’t allow that to happen. Your goal right now is not to run the Boston Marathon. Your goal is to do some physical activity that will improve your fitness and have a continuous impact on your diabetes management. Ramp it up as your fitness level improves. One of my twitter buds is training for a triathlon, but that’s not where she started.
There you have it. Three disciplines that if followed religiously will help anyone manage type 2 diabetes.
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