Getting a Handle on Type 2 Diabetes – Part 2

I am not a doctor, or a diabetes specialist. I am learning about being diabetic as a recently diagnosed person. Please always check with your doctor before adapting any information to your personal situation.

Continuing from my last post, here is the second lesson I learned of the top three things from my meeting with a Diabetes specialist.

2. How do I get a handle on all this, it’s a bit overwhelming?

There are three ways to control my diabetes.

a) Diet
b) Exercise
c) Medication

And the guideline was pretty simple. If you don’t want to change your diet then increase exercise and increase meds. If you don’t want to exercise then control diet and increase meds. If you don’t want meds, then control diet and increase exercise. It just makes sense, right?!

I’m in the “I want off the meds” group. (I am not on insulin.) I feel like I have my diet in control right now and I’m really proud of myself for that step. Now that I’m tracking my glucose levels for each meal, I can really get this right. (See Post 1 for details)

She taught me that low carb doesn’t mean no carb and it also doesn’t mean I can’t ever have food from my “no” list. If I want popcorn when I go to the movies (I LOVE move popcorn… layered please!) – no problem, I just need to add in extra exercise before or after to make up for it. Essentially, there is no “no” list, it just depends how much exercise I want to put in. However…exercise is my struggle. It always has been. But, I want off the meds!

So, I have consistently being practicing yoga for 20 mins every morning, since November. (I absolutely love the Namaste.tv series) I purchased the DVDs and do one or two episodes every morning (Monday through Friday).

I have some other things in mind, and will slowly add them into my schedule. I find I work best with baby steps. Too many changes at once equals failure. Plus, with Spring coming in a couple of months, I know that I get energized to be outside walking.

See Part 1 and Part 3