subject: Exercise Is Key In Controlling Blood Glucose Levels [print this page] For most people with high blood glucose levels, controlling your intake of food isn't enough to control their blood glucose. Combine proper eating with exercise and the chances of keeping your blood sugar in check increase significantly. Even a small amount of exercise can go a long way.
For those who are reluctant to exercise they commonly have two excuses. First up "I can't exercise, it's too hard". Don't fret, P90x isn't required here. A brisk walk of 30 minutes a day should be sufficient. Of course the more exercise you do the better chance of real results increases. 90 minutes is better than 60 minutes. 60 minutes is better than 30 minutes. 30 minutes is better than watching re-runs on your couch. Walking briskly will elevate your heart rate just enough to get your body working on that blood sugar level by burning up the glucose. Keep in mind that I'm not a doctor so if you're worried about exercise because of a heart condition or other medical condition, give your doc a call and clear it with them first. Don't let this become an excuse though. I can hear some of you know "I can't exercise until I talk to my doc!" Hogwash! Get off your butt!
The second, and my favorite excuse is "I don't have time to exercise". I'm sorry but that's just bunk. You have plenty of time available to you. Everyone has the same amount of time during the day. You just have misguided priorities. I bet if you tried real hard you could find 30 minutes a day.
Do you really need to watch that re-run of Friends? Think you can handle waking up a little earlier? Nothing is better than getting up in the morning and taking a nice walk to get your day started! How about that lunch break? Do you really need an hour to eat lunch? It takes me 10-15 minutes to eat lunch. Believe me; if it's a priority, the time suddenly becomes available. One more thing to keep in mind; having an exercise partner (a reliable one) will help tremendously with your motivation to keep exercising. You can make excuses to yourself; it's hard to make excuses to an exercise partner.
If you feel up to the challenge you should really do something to strengthen your muscles as well. Larger muscle groups take in more glucose during exercise which provides another way to keep in under control. You'll be pleasantly surprised about how much stamina you gain and how much your blood glucose will decrease. Some easy exercises that will work major groups of muscles are squats (with or without weights), pull ups and push-ups. Please get someone to show you how to do squats properly before using weights.
Pretty much anyone can do these exercises at home, in the office or in the middle of the street. Although I don't recommend that last one.
So what your excuse now? Unless you don't have all four extremities you should be able to find the time to exercise and keep your blood glucose in check! Although, I've seen one legged people in the gym
