In my research on my illness, I found that there was one thing all of the experts agreed upon, diabetes can be controlled with diet and exercise. Unfortunately, I hate jogging & I love cakes!
Now just two days after discovering that I was a diabetic, I laid down the cornerstone of my strategy: diet and exercise. Unfortunately, I hate jogging and I love deserts, the sweeter the better!!!
Over the past 30 or so years, I’ve always told my friends when they see me jogging that means I’ve gotten to the point of desperation in trying to control my weight. Although I had ballooned up to 260lbs, I hadn’t routinely jogged in over 15 years. I guess I was waiting until I could no longer lace-up my sneakers before I reached the point of desperation. Prior to being informed that I was a diabetic, exercising to get my weight under control was the farthest thing from my mind.
Although I would loss weight quickly when I jogged, I’ve only been able to stick with it for about 2-3 months. Initially, all of my reasoning pointed to jogging as my exercise regime to get my weight and diabetes under control. Now that I’m a diabetic, if this wasn’t a time for desperation when was it? But I was determined to control my diabetes naturally, I knew whatever I decided to do I had to do it longer than a few months. I needed lifelong modifications. I knew I couldn’t consistently keep a jogging regime for any significant amount of time. So jogging really wasn’t a realistic option for me. In the past, I’ve been able to maintain a workout regime in the gym, actually I liked working out in the gym. I once worked out for over 3 years before I eventually quit. In addition, my employer had a nice fitness center located in my building. So I had no excuses for not starting and MAINTAINING a workout regime.
Currently, I workout 3 times a week during my lunch hour. I do 20 minutes of cardio (i.e. stationary bike, elliptical trainer, rowing, etc.) followed by 25 minutes of resistance (weights) training. Click here to see my total body weight workout program with a few modifications because of equipment and or time constraints.
As I’ve said several times before, research, research, and consult with your health care team. As you may recall in a previous blog entry, initially my doctor did not tell me to do any of this. Because of my research & the advice of other members on my health care team, I discovered that I should be doing these things. Always be realistic with yourself. I knew I could not maintain a consistent regime of jogging, so I didn’t set myself up to try something that I knew I couldn’t consistently maintain. Heck, I couldn’t do it when I was much younger and healthier, so why would I fool myself into thinking I could do it now that I’m two decades older and a diabetic. Remember to be honest with yourself and your limitations.
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