subject: Can Walking Help Control Your Diabetes? [print this page] Exercise is very good for all of usExercise is very good for all of us. It is essential to those of us battling diabetes. If you are just starting or planning to start exercising, get your doctor's advice first. This is especially true if it's been a while since you exercised regularly.
When my wife and I were initially diagnosed with diabetes, our doctor strongly encouraged us to walk 10.000 steps a day. This sounds like a lot of steps, and it is. However, as you get started and work at it, it gets a little easier every day. Using my wife Nancy as an example. In the beginning, it was a struggle and she was not very motivated. Fast forward 10 years and now she will walk around our living room at night if she does not get her 10.000 steps during the day.
Exercise affects our bodies and minds in many very good ways. Perhaps most importantly for us diabetics, exercise improves insulin sensitivity. This means you need less insulin to accomplish the same results. A lack of exercise has the opposite effect, our bodies become less sensitive to insulin which then requires more insulin to accomplish the same results. All exercise helps by requiring less insulin production from your pancreas.
Walking is one of the best exercises we can do. It requires no special equipment (well, maybe a good pair of walking shoes), no set schedule, no need to go to a gym or Y, and, no special clothes. It just takes some of your time. My wife and I use our walks as a good time to talk about our plans, daily tasks, etc. When you start, don't worry about how far, how fast or how long you walk. Start out slow and increase the length of your walks as you have time and stamina. It may take you a while to get to that 10,000 steps a day. That's just fine. Like Nancy, you will get to a point where your walks are an important part of your daily life.
If you can, buy a good pair of walking shoes. Running shoes and basketball shoes are different. A local sports shoe store should be able to help you find what you need. For us, the less expensive walking shoes work just as well as the shoes that cost twice as much or more.
I'm a firm believer that you improve quicker if you keep track of your steps. We have pedometers that we wear every day. There are many pedometers on the market today. We like a particular model that you can simply put in your pocket. Too many pedometers must be clipped to a belt, pants or skirt and be positioned in a specific way. We've found many of the clips break easily. Then you end up with a perfectly good pedometer that you can't use because the clip is broken. It's frustrating to have $35 pedometer you can't use because a 50 cent clip is broken.
We even went so far as to build a little spreadsheet we use to record our steps. We update it once a week as our pedometers record the last 7 days worth of steps. I know this seems a little over the top or excessive. This amount of detail is not for everyone. We do it so we know how we're doing and if we are staying on track. We plan to continue fighting our diabetes and our 10,000 steps a day is a huge part of our plans.
So get out there and walk. In the winter go to a mall. Try to at least spend equal time walking and shopping. As your stamina improves, walk more and shop less. You will loose weight but your wallet won't.
