The members of our coffee club have become aware that there are many people who have to deal with diabetes. Most of us did not know that if you or a family member has diabetes it becomes a “lifestyle” dealing with the problem. Or we could say it in order to manage diabetes we need to make lifestyle changes.
Today Uncle Bud is discussing with us the importance of physical activity for people who have diabetes. He points out that while we are discussing diabetes that physical activity is important for anyone wanting to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.
As he begins, Uncle Bud, points out that he is aware we have covered some of the things we will discuss today a few weeks ago. However, because it is so important he wants us to refresh our minds. Physical activity helps us to achieve or maintain a healthy weight. Having a healthy weight may help prevent diabetes problems. Both physical activity and healthy weight help your blood glucose stay in your target range. (Glucose is also called blood sugar.
You may be asking yourself why physical activity is so important. Well, muscles use glucose better than fat does and you can only get muscles with physical activity. The physical activity helps the hormone insulin absorb glucose into your body’s cells. Therefore, we see that building and using our muscles can help prevent high blood glucose. When our bodies don’t make enough insulin (or if the insulin is not working correctly) the body’s cells do not use glucose. This could cause our blood glucose levels to get too high. If this happens you may develop diabetes. If you already have diabetes you may develop other problems that often occur due to diabetes.
The members of our coffee club know that we call our meeting a discussion time but once Uncle Bud get in his teaching mode it is hard to do anything but listen. Once in a while he slows down, (Tom jokingly says to take a breath) and someone can add his/her comments. This just happened and Mary jumps in to share with us some things she learned after she started going to Weigh to Wellness.
Mary tells us she was so pleased after she started a physical activity program. It not only helped her lose the 15 pounds she had put on over the holidays it was also helping her maintain a healthy weight. She shares that reaching a healthy weight makes a difference in reducing the risk of diabetes problems.
Starting a physical activity program can help you lose weight or keep a healthy weight and keep your blood glucose levels on target. Even without reaching a healthy weight, just a 10 or 15 pound weight loss makes a difference in reducing the risk of diabetes problems.
By now we all know Uncle Bud cannot be kept down for long and he jumps right back into his lecture mode. He starts back with a question. “What should you do before you start a physical activity program?” Then he realized the time and announced that would be the topic next week. As we are leaving he reminds us about the help he has received from going to Weigh to Wellness and encourages us to check them out.