Diabetic Control:

Learn The Basics To Retain
Future Diabetic Health

So you have been informed you need to learn the basics of diabetic control. Your recent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes has made it official.

You have suspected something must be wrong because of the nuisance symptoms you have been noticing. Increased thirst, the continuous and repeated trips to the bathroom, mild tingling in the hands or feet plus other little things that you just kind of brush off as "I'll check it someday". But now on your last trip to the doctor you have been informed you have extremely high blood sugars.

Factors Which Aid In Diabetic Control

• eating a good healthy diet
• exercise regularly
• control (or lose)some weight

Now, we all know in an ideal environment all three of these characteristics would be possible in life. But haven't you already spent most of your life dreaming of that ideal but settling for a lesser reality?

Here's some simple tips therefore to help you get on a simple daily path to achieve good diabetic control.

• The number one rule is you absolutely must get control of your eating habits. Sounds ominous, doesn't it?

  But really it isn't. Yes, you will have to control your intake of carbohydrates. Notice though, I did not say stop eating them. You just have to learn to become carb smart. It's time to just train your mind (that's not hard either) to remember there is more foods in the world than pasta, pizza, cheeseburgers and french fries.

  The easy way to follow this program is to Plan Out Every Thing You Will Put Into Your Mouth Today. This includes all three meals and any snacks you want. Did you notice, you don't even have to starve yourself in this lifestyle either. You can still eat 5 or 6 times today, just know ahead of time what you will be eating. This makes it much easier to go grocery shopping -you buy what you need and pass by everything else. Step one of good diabetic control has been mastered.

  Enter your E-mail Address Enter your First Name Or A Pen Name Then Don't worry -- your e-mail address is totally secure. I promise to use it only to send you Diabetic Happy Recipes.

• OK, now the dreaded word everyone hates - Exercise.

  But this isn't that hard to fit into a day either.You just have to set up the right conditions to make it happen.

  Many people don't have the time to go to the gym, jog around the block, take a swimming or yoga class, or any other dream in the back of your mind. But being busy does not mean you can't exercise. There is still all kinds of ways to fit some in each day.

  You are sitting in a chair so walk. That means pick your feet up and down and walk. Sure you aren't going anywhere, but you are still using every muscle group in your lower legs and feet. This one is easy to do if you stand at work also. If you are just standing there, use those legs and feet. Pick them up, put them down.

  If it's a swivel chair, twist at the waist. You are always waiting for those pages to load on that computer anyway. Make use of those 30 seconds to a minute and use it to your advantage. Put your arms at shoulder level and twist back and forth. It's great for everything from your shoulders to your waistline.

  Still have more time do go on that computer? So touch your toes with your fingers. Sit closer to the front edge of your chair and slowly work your fingers down to your toes. Feel the fantastic stretch in your back. Pretend you're a cat just awakening and do the back stretch of a cat. It's fantastic for taking the cramping and soreness from your neck, shoulders and spine. It doesn't hurt the waistline or legs either while you are trying to reach down to your toes.

  You finally made it home that night and all you want is TV and the recliner. Guess what commercials are for? Stand up for those couple of minutes and do a few knee squats, side bends, arm curls, shadow boxing etc.. It's not like you are going to get tired doing it - you're only doing it during the commercial. A couple of minutes at most. Just get in the habit of doing it every commercial for an easy way to obtain better diabetic control..

  Or the ideal "excuse buster" of an exercise is an indoor treadmill. You can't use the excuse it's too hot, it's raining, it's snowing, it's cold or anything else it's doing outside. You are doing it right in front of your TV again. Exercise and entertainment, all at the same time. What a fantastic favor the world just gave you!

• Many people are adamant this third lifestyle change just isn't going to happen. If weight loss is mandatory for diabetic control, then they are doomed - they have already tried it so many times. But there's the problem - stop trying!

  On your previous attempts, for one week or one month you changed your entire life. You probably ate different (and did not enjoy it), you actually did go to those exercise classes (and hated all that precision). Actually, for those few short days you tried becoming a person different than who you really are.

  Didn't work very well, did it?

  But I am going to tell you to forget all of that. Now that you are actually planning your foods daily, you are watching how much sugar, how much bad fats, how much processed food, how much junk food you are allowing yourself, and you have added those small little simple exercises that aren't wasting a single second of your usable time, soon you are going to notice your clothes are getting too big. You are losing weight and you haven't even tried.

These three factors above are a lifestyle change. Although they may seem difficult, by adding a few changes each week or scatter them throughout the next month, you will notice this transition is possible and almost effortless. You must realize though, each of us humans have our own set of habits, our own likes and dislikes. Often these can be difficult to change.

So forget any list of instantaneous changes and try one change today. If it worked, do it again tomorrow. Then the next day and the next and so forth. Eventually you will realize that wasn't that hard at all. As your change becomes routine, start a new one. Every little change you make stacks up to greater rewards with time. Each of those changes is an asset to your future diabetic control.

Return to "Treatment For Diabetes" from "Diabetic Control"