5 Tips to Control Your Diabetes Symptoms or Avoid It Altogether
This story is from Priority Health. Read more here.
While poor eating habits and low levels of exercise can contribute to diabetes, this doesn’t always mean that you will develop the disease – you may have a say!
Knowing your family history, the pre-diagnosed symptoms and silent causes of diabetes can make all the difference. While many people chalk up eating a lot of sugar as the main reason, the real reasons are weight gain and genetics.
November is American Diabetes Month and there isn’t a better time to start managing your health and preventing this disease.
By taking advantage of initiatives such as free diabetes prevention programs, those with prediabetes or those at risk of developing the disease can better understand how to manage their health and get on the fast track to healthy living.
Here are five tips from Rebecca Carrier, a Michigan participant who benefited from a Priority Health sponsored Diabetes Prevention Program first-hand:
- Tracking what you eat does have an impact on the food choices you make. If you see that you could make healthier meal plan choices, you’ll want to make a change and increase the number of healthy items you consume.
- Eating is a choice. There is no obligation to clean your plate and rushing to finish a meal doesn’t let you realize when you’re actually full, which leads to overeating. Taking your time while eating can also help you enjoy your food that much more.
- Physical activity is a can increase gradually. Small, routine exercises create a consistent change. Even a walk around the block at lunch and when you get home from work can prompt higher levels of activity.
- Making sustainable changes is easier if change is made in small steps – this is part of the reason why the Diabetes Prevention Program is one year in length; it suggests a gradual introduction to change.
- No single act (over consumption, less than healthy choice, inactivity for a day), will make or break a sustainable change. Change is hard, that’s why it takes time – keep at it.