It’s Heart Health Month and heart disease and diabetes are
closely linked. Diabetes is very personal to me.
Type-2 Diabetes
runs in my family and my younger sister has Type 1. Because
I’ve grown up with words like insulin, needles, humalog, and blood sugar I am
sensitive to hearing about it in the news.
Recently TV Chef/Personality Paula Deen made an announcement
that she too has Type 2 Diabetes. This announcement took courage and it
drew responses that ranged from empathy to anger. But what was missing
from the discussion was information on diabetes and, specifically, diabetes prevention. Research studies have
found that moderate weight loss and exercise can prevent or delay type 2
diabetes among adults at high-risk of diabetes. These same changes can help prevent heart
disease, so I would like to talk about 5 Things You Can Do To Prevent
Diabetes:
1. Visit
a doctor and/or educate yourself about diabetes
If you have a problem, the first step to resolving that
problem is being able to identify it. Are you making healthy food
choices? Are your food choices putting you at risk for diabetes?
Consult a medical professional or visit a web site like the CDC’s Prevent Diabetes
Page. Once you’re sufficiently educated, you can…
2. Give
yourself a healthy goal to work toward
I find that it’s always easier to envision the end result
and plan backwards from there. Personally, I want to look, feel, and be
healthier. In order to do that what are the things I need to do/not
do. It took me nearly a year to get to a point where I was ready and had
a realistic plan of action for becoming healthier. What is your goal?
3. Seek
out healthy fats and eliminate things like refined carbs and sugary beverages
If you’re not sure what healthy
fats are, add
learning about nutrition to your to do list. I switched from regular
soda to diet, and from diet soda to drinking more water. I rarely drink
soda at all now… and I am still here. Often, people associate healthy
eating with eating cardboard. What a bummer. I can honestly say the
best part about altering my food choices has been the opportunity to…
4. Try
a whole grain or plant food you’ve never tried before
Have you had quinoa?
Lentils?
Brazil Nuts (make
sure you’re not allergic)? I shied away from them as a kid but now I love
that stuff. I’ve also tried a bunch of things I will never eat again (I’m
looking at you Lima Beans) but I think trying them is important. I found
out that by roasting veggies, they can go from “meh” to “OMG THAT WAS DELICIOUS
!!!” in no time. You haven’t lived until you’ve had a properly roasted
Brussels Sprout. You know what else? I can cook with confidence now!
Just another happy accident as a result of changing my diet.
5. Be
active
This does not mean you have to turn yourself into a world
class sprinter in 60 days. Ask yourself: are you an active person?
Could you be more active? If the answer is yes, consider making a
change. Not enough time? UCLA’s Instant Recess has great videos on activities you
can do from anywhere in just 10 minutes. Again, you want to talk with a
medical professional before you start changing your level of activity but
making fitness a priority is a key to diabetes prevention.
2 Bonus items Have patience and do what works for you
If you need to make a change –
either because you want to or because a medical professional recommended you
should – figure out what will work for you and move towards it at an
appropriate pace. Change can take time and effective change can take even
longer. Give yourself the support you need to make changes. If your goal
is to run 5 miles a day, you may want to try a preliminary goal first such as
walking 2 miles, or cutting back on cigarettes. For me it is portion
control, but Rome was not built in a day. I’m not sure about tomorrow,
but I know that today I’m going to have an appropriate sized meal.
Leave a comment and let me know something that has worked
for you.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
-Zak
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