Instill These Four Lifestyle Changes and Forget Diabetes

                                                                    DIABETIC TESTER

Source: author- florixc, it.wikipedia Gnu 1.2

Do you have a loved one or a friend with diabetes?  Or is diabetes a disease that many of your family members are battling?  Then I encourage you to continue reading.

Diabetes is the seventh disease killer of Americans. It is also the leading cause of death due to heart attacks and strokes. A Study was done by the National Institute of Diabetes in 2010. It showed that there are 79 million adults in the U.S. who are diagnosed with pre-diabetes. The good news is that type two diabetes, (adult onset) can most likely be prevented.

As many of you already know, when a person develops diabetes, the body stops making enough insulin to convert the sugar (glucose) into a source of energy.  Because of this, the body ends up with far too much sugar that it is unable to convert.  As a result, multiple complications can develop which has the potential to dramatically change a person’s physical health. Some of the complications include; visual impairment, vascular and heart disease, and renal failure.

These diseases have an horrific effect on any individual. In the event of kidney failure, dialysis will be required; most times it will be 3 times per week. Vascular disease can lead to amputations, and heart disease can cause a heart attack. The eyes may not only become visually impaired, but may develop complete blindness.

Now despite all of that gloom and doom, there is still some good news I’d like to report.  In many cases, You can guard yourself from ever becoming inflicted with diabetes in the first place.  All you have to do to protect yourself is to act upon these four important lifestyle changes.

1)Eat a Well Balanced Diet Every Day

Your diet should include a variety of:

Wholegrain foods like pastas and breads. They not only have a better nutritional value, but they tend to keep you feeling full longer. Be careful to watch the carbohydrate count.

fiber foods.  They help to balance the carbs you eat and they also have a great filling effect. Some of the best fiber foods are:

Berries, Avocados, Lentils and black beans, and  Broccoli

2) Don’t Smoke – Tobacco by itself has a lot of possible health hazards. It increases the risk of lung and mouth cancer, and seriously damages the respiratory system. It can also cause high blood pressure, and causes babies to be born prematurity with medical complications. Smoking in relation to diabetes constricts the blood vessels in the hands and feet, which causes swelling, dryness, and eventual ulceration. Ulcers may eventually lead to Amputation. So the best thing to do is not to smoke.   Of course, this is easier said than done.  If you are a smoker, you should start to dramatically cut down so you can eventually stop smoking. Many people find it difficult to stop. Anyone with difficulty should consider using the nicotine patches. The patches should help in the weaning process from the smoking habit.

3) Increase Your Activity Level- Activity is essential for all of us. We need physical activity in our lives every day to keep our bodies functioning and healthy. Regular exercise is a great component that helps to keep the blood sugar level within normal limits.

4) Keep weight within the normal limits- Perhaps the best benefit of exercise is weight loss, and or maintenance. If we can keep our weight within normal limits, the chances for developing diabetes will be seriously diminished. Usually, the older a person gets, the less active that person becomes. So an increase in body weight will naturally develop due to the decrease in activity. But there are many people who are naturally overweight because of making poor dietary choices. This is a sure precursor to type two diabetes.  Weight loss can be difficult but it is obviously worth the effort.

So for a lifestyle change that would help prevent diabetes in the future, remember these four things. Eat three nutritious meals every day, including snacks; no smoking, increase your physical activity, and maintain your body’s weight within its normal weight range.

Healthy trails to you

Carolyn

 

 

 

Longing for a Transformation-Part 2

This is part 2 of the blog I wrote regarding my weight loss.  I realize that it was a bit long, so I decided to break it in half rather than cut something out since I believe each point is important.  In case you haven’t read Longing for a Transformation part 1, you can read it here.  The following are suggestions to help a person get on with their weight loss journey successfully. These tips will help you to be more successful and also will help to keep the weight off. 

1)Journal your foods.  You should plan your meals ever day.  This will help you to stay on top of what you need in your pantry.  A daily food plan will make you less susceptible to engage in the wrong types of food. 

2)Exercise regularly.  I personally love the water aerobics class at my  gym.  When I’m done with exercising, I sit in the sauna for about 10 minutes. This I do 3 times a week, and it makes me feel absolutely delicious.  It does not matter what type of exercise you do, but try to make exercise a routine part of your weight loss plan.  Exercise will make your body stronger and will speed up your weight loss efforts.  It is also good for toning up the muscles.

3)Lose weight with a buddy.  A buddy has great benefits.  A buddy will  help to keep you motivated.  Buddies will cheer on each other, and will provide  encouragement and support for each other. You should call your buddy every day, and exercise with your buddy whenever possible.

4)Rethink your food plan.   Don’t think of your food plan as a diet.  Think of it as a life style change.  In order for you to keep the weight off, it is important that you consider your diet as a life style change; just as it should be.  A life style change will eventually provide a difference in the way you react to foods in general.  This of course will help you to maintain your weight loss as well.

5)Remember to take life one day at a time.  Don’t look at how much weight you have to lose.  Instead, focus on each day one at a time; it will be so much easier for you that way.  You can do what I do sometimes.   Give yourself little challenges to help you to get through the end of the day successfully.  

6) Do something useful. Involve yourself in something that will benefit someone else.  When you put your resources into helping others, your days will move along smoother and faster. I’m sure there are loads of charitable events that will love your time and attention.  It should be something that you care enough about to work at it passionately.  Hopefully this will also help to take your mind off of your problem with food by focusing more on providing help to a needy cause.      

I’m sure you can come up with even more techniques to help with your weight loss.   In my case, I wrote motivational poetry for myself, and eventually published it in a book.  My writing helped me to conform to my new eating habits and added to my weight loss success.   I still use that technique to this day. 

Wishing you much success with your weight loss journey.

Healthy trails to you

Carolyn       

                

 

 

Don’t Sabotage Your Diet because of Hunger

Hungry? Dieting? Dieting and hungry? Gee, I’ve been in that predicament many times in the past. It took me awhile, but I finally caught on to what I needed to do in order to beat the hunger pangs. Many times when I was faced with hunger pangs, I’d seek satisfaction by binge eating. Once I started my bingeing, there was never enough food to satisfy me. In other words, I’d throw my diet and anything resembling a diet right out the window. It seemed that I’d make a small step forward but only to take a giant leap backwards. The hunger pangs and the binge eating were both destroying my chances for success. Thankfully I was able to outsmart those hunger pangs, and stopped the binge eating for good. AND I went on to lose more than 100 pounds. So you see, it is possible for you to lose weight without feeling deprived or hungry. This is how I did it.

First of all, a very helpful tip would be to stop thinking of yourself as being on a diet. This is especially helpful for people who have a large amount of weight to lose. For most of us, diets don’t work. Diets are usually abandon long before we can get halfway through. And unfortunately, most will regain whatever weight that was lost. So forget the diet mentality and switch to a lifestyle change instead. Make your new eating habits a lifestyle change and you will never have to diet again.
Getting through the rough patch will take a little time at first, but once you get through that, it will all be a piece of cake…pardon the pun. Here is what you do to avoid getting hungry:
Get into the habit of eating 5 to 6 times per day. In addition to eating breakfast lunch and dinner, include a snack during the day, and another one during the evening. For some people, it is a good idea to have 3 snacks instead of 2…and that would be okay. They may need 1 mid-morning, 1 in late afternoon, and a final one late evening. Also, drink plenty of sugarless beverages throughout the day. I personally drink diet ice tea or water with a few drops of lemon juice added. I drink coffee also, but I usually limit it to only once in the mornings. The snacks should not be another meal (obviously), but something you like and will be satisfying for you. And the snacks should not be loaded with calories. There are many different delicious foods to choose from, but keep them low in fat and sugar content. I’m currently working on a free PDF document called “100 Great Snacks for any Time of the Day.” Please check back later this month and I hope to have it posted.
Make your meals tasty. No need for bland foods like cottage cheese and lettuce leaves every day. There are plenty of delicious foods you can have. It is a good idea to fill up on high fiber vegetables also. They will help to keep your stomach feeling full and satisfied. Experiment with vegetables and learn to cook them several different ways. Sometimes I add lemon juice to certain veggies, or I may add a little salsa sauce. I thought I would never appreciate vegetables at the extent that I do, but finally I get it and they are delicious.

When you eat what you like, your foods will sustain you. You will be happy and less prone to overeat, binge eat, have cravings, or make unwise food choices. If you can do these things, I can practically promise you that the pounds will melt away…no more hunger, no more binge eating, and no more diet sabotage.
Healthy trails to you
Carolyn