Why Should You Exercise?

Burns calories, helping you to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
Can help your body respond to insulin and is known to be effective in managing blood glucose helping lower blood glucose and possibly reduce the amount of medication you need to treat diabetes.
Exercise can improve your circulation, especially in your arms and legs.
Helps reduce your cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Exercise helps reduce stress, which can raise your glucose level.
Can help you sleep better.
Lowers your risk for heart disease.
In some people, exercise combined with a meal plan, can control Type 2 Diabetes without the need for medications.

How to Approach Exercising?

If you're out of shape or have recently been diagnosed as having diabetes, see your doctor before you begin an exercise program. Here are some tips for starting:

1) Check your blood sugar regularly. Always have a supply of sugar or glucose ready in case your levels become dangerously low. Glucose Tablets are a great supplement.

2) Avoid lifting very heavy weights as a precaution against sudden high blood pressure.

3) Always wear an ID tag indicating that you have diabetes to insure proper treatment in case there's a medical emergency.

4) Stretch for five minutes before and after your workout regardless of how intense you plan to exercise.

5) Start slowly with a low-impact exercise such as walking, swimming, or biking.

6) Build up the time you spend exercising gradually.

7) Be sure your shoes fit well and are designed for the activity you have in mind. Be alert for blisters and always wear socks.

How much and how often should people with diabetes exercise?

Experts recommend moderate intensity physical activity for at least 30 minutes on 5 or more days of the week. If you are not accustomed to physical activity, you may want to start with a little exercise and work your way up. As you become stronger, you can add a few extra minutes each week to your physical activity. Do some physical activity every day. It's better to walk 10 or 20 minutes each day than one hour once a week.

Applying Your Knowledge:

A pound of fat represents about 3,500 calories of stored energy. If you eat 2,500 calories a day and burn 2,000 calories your body retains 500 calories each day. Over the course of a month you would retain (30 x 500 ) 15,000 calories which is equal to over 4 pounds of fat, since one pound of fat is about 3,500 calories.

The following table gives you an idea of how much work you have to do to get burn off excess energy:

What is BMI?

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number calculated from a person’s weight and height. BMI is a reliable indicator of body fatness for people and is used as a screening tool to identify possible weight problems for adults.

Body Mass Index (BMI):

Below 18.5: Underweight

18.5 - 24.9: Normal

25.0 - 29.9: Overweight

Above 30.0: Obese

How to calculate BMI:

Formula: weight (kg) / [height (m)]2

Example: Weight = 68 kg, Height = 165 cm (1.65 m)
Calculation: 68 ÷ (1.65)2 = 24.98

Health Tip #:001

Benefiting From A Daily Dosage of Aspirin??

May 9, 2007 - A study reported by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the effectiveness of a daily dosage of baby aspirin (81 milligrams) to prevent cardiovascular disease is just as effective as adult aspirin (325 milligrams). Also, a daily dosage of baby aspirin is much less likely to cause the most common adverse side affects - bleeding, primarily gastrointestinal bleeding.

Researchers concluded that to minimize side effects, every effort should be made to minimize long-term dosage of aspirin, and they pointed out that the optimal regimen for reducing cardiovascular risk for each individual patient is yet to be determined. Until that time, they recommended that all adults who take daily aspirin for this purpose take no more than the lower dosage.

Better Living Now is a proud supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation:

© 2007 by Vanderbilt University

Reference: American Diabetes Association:

There are 23.6 million children and adults in the US with diabetes -- 5.7 million people are undiagnosed and 57 million have a condition called pre-diabetes.
Take this test to see if you are at risk for having or developing type 2 diabetes.

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Why Should You Exercise?

How to Approach Exercising?

How much and how often should people with diabetes exercise?

Applying Your Knowledge:

What is BMI?

Health Tip #:001

Benefiting From A Daily Dosage of Aspirin??

Better Living Now is a proud supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation:

© 2007 by Vanderbilt University

Reference: American Diabetes Association:

Reference: American Diabetes Association:

There are 23.6 million children and adults in the US with diabetes -- 5.7 million people are undiagnosed and 57 million have a condition called pre-diabetes. Take this test to see if you are at risk for having or developing type 2 diabetes.

There are 23.6 million children and adults in the US with diabetes -- 5.7 million people are undiagnosed and 57 million have a condition called pre-diabetes.
Take this test to see if you are at risk for having or developing type 2 diabetes.