How to Get More Exercise If You're Diabetic

Exercise is important for diabetics because it helps to control the insulin levels in their blood. For people who are overweight and diabetic, body fat is a large factor in the decreased sensitivity of your body to insulin. Losing weight should help to increase that sensitivity. Meanwhile your heart, lungs, stress-level and bone density also benefit from a daily exercise routine. For most people, the treatment for diabetes is doctor-prescribed medicine, diet and exercise. Read more to find out how to get more exercise if you're diabetic.

Consult your doctor for exercise recommendations. Diabetes can affect the extremities and cause pain, requiring you to choose exercises that work best with your abilities, until you feel better. Most doctors suggest that diabetic patients should start with no-impact or low-impact exercise.

·      Your doctor may recommend that you see a physical therapist before you start exercising on your own. If you are new to exercise or you have recently injured a part of your body, then a physical therapist can lead you down the proper exercise path to help you recover. Go to sessions for 1 to 2 months before starting your individual workout program.

Buy a medical identification bracelet to wear at all times, and especially when exercising. You should have your name, your condition, a number to call and other instructions on the bracelet so people working out around you will be able to help you if anything goes wrong.

Figure out your diabetes-safe diet before you start an exercise regime. Studies have shown that it is easier for people to adopt good behavior if they only have to focus on changing 1 thing in their life at a time. Follow your doctor's or nutritionist's recommendations for a month before starting to make workouts part of your day.

·      Exercise moderately, immediately after three meals each day. This curbed risky blood sugar spikes all day. This works for people who do shorter/intermittent exercise on a daily basis.

·      The study found those three short walks each day after meals were as effective reducing blood sugar within 24 hours as was a single 45-minute walk at the same moderate pace. The innovative exercise science study was conducted at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services

Eat a doctor-approved snack about 1 and a half hours before you work out. Approximately 100 to 200 calories of healthy carbohydrates will work to keep your blood sugar steady, and you will benefit from the extra energy. However, do not eat right before your workout.

Use a pedometer. Wear it around for a whole, average day to see how many steps you take. Set goals to do 1,000 more steps per day each week, resulting in the overall goal of at least 10,000 steps per day.

·      Doctors recommend an average of 10,000 steps a day as a good parameter for judging if you have an active lifestyle. Stanford University scientists found that people that wear pedometers increase their overall activity by approximately 30 percent. Many people who commute, drive to stores or work in an office do not meet that goal. Think of diabetic exercise as an element of overall goal of an active lifestyle.

Ask a friend to start exercising with you, or find 1 at a diabetic support groups. Many towns and hospitals host these groups. Studies have found that diabetics, especially those over 60, change their behavior if they have a "contract" to exercise with a friend.