How to Cure Type 2 Diabetes - Part2 Staying Active

Part2  Staying Active

1 Talk to your doctor about the appropriate exercise regimen for you. Perform an exercise tolerance test to alert your physician to certain exercises you shouldn't incorporate into your routine. He'll see what intensity and duration of exercise is appropriate for you and construct a schedule that can help you lose weight and stay on track.

·         Exercising, in general, can improve the health of diabetes patients in such a way that the disease could actually improve if it hasn't sufficiently progressed. Performing regular exercises will also aid in reducing your weight, which will have a great effect on lowering your glucose levels, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. This is a great goal to achieve to slow the progression of the disease, keep your condition steady, and even improve your general health.

2 Incorporate cardio into your routine. Aerobic exercising increases insulin sensitivity and controls body weight for obese patients. To get cardio into your day, try brisk walking, jumping rope, jogging or playing tennis. Ideally, cardio activity will be a part of your schedule 30 minutes a day about 5 times a week. If you’re an exercise beginner, start with a rate of 5 to 10 minutes and increase it gradually with patience. Anything is better than nothing!

·         One of the easiest exercises that doesn’t require any equipment or going to gym is walking. Though it doesn't seem like much, walking every day can improve your health, breathing, thinking, mood and lower your blood sugar, blood pressure, and anxiety levels. Biking and swimming are also two enjoyable, don't-seem-like-work exercises you could consider incorporating into your routine.

·         Cardiovascular evaluation is important in patients with a previous history of any cardiovascular disorders, the elderly, or patients with diabetes complications. Be sure only to start an exercise regimen under the supervision of your physician.

3 Start strength training, too. Strength training is your next step after aerobics. This builds up your body – when your muscles get stronger they burn more calories, resulting in weight loss and blood sugar management. Recommendations say to perform strength training along with aerobics twice a week.

·         You don’t have to go to the gym – even lifting water bottles at home is a very good idea. What's more, home cleaning or hard garden work can enter in the strength training range, too.

4 Work to lose weight. Most patients are encouraged to lose weight and to aim for an ideal Body Mass Index; this is especially true in obese patients, typically afflicted by type 2 diabetes. BMI is measured by the weight (mass) of the patient in kilograms divided by the height in meters squared.

·         The ideal BMI is 18.5-25; therefore, a BMI of less than 18.5 means that you are underweight; a BMI of above 25 means that you are obese.^[2]

5 Stick to your exercise routine. Make sure to make a schedule for yourself to adhere to that makes it as easy as possible. Everyone needs motivation to force themselves to stick with exercise. A partner, friend or family member supporting and encouraging you, reminding you of the benefits of your training program, may be just the motivation you need.

·         You also can always make a reward for yourself (not with a chocolate bar!) when you achieve your goal in losing a certain weight, for example. All these things will give you extra power to show yourself that you can hit your goal and improve your quality of life.