Exercise, Diet Regulate Blood Glucose

09/23/08 Nutrition & Exercise

Winning the daily battle with diabetes necessitates a plan of action. I have found controlling nutrition and exercise have allowed me to harness diabetes and live my life.

Unregulated blood sugar makes me feel awful. Tight control is the way to prevent feeling poorly. Diet is a key factor in the fight, but how many of us know what our diet consists of?

Keep a log of your daily carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake. Do so for a week and then get an average amount of grams for each per day. Once you have all the grams, convert them into calories. Carbohydrates and proteins carry four calories per gram. Fat carries nine. Now determine your daily caloric intake by adding those numbers. Next, figure out the percent each category contributes to your daily calorie intake. Consider your numbers. If your carbohydrate intake contributes to more than 40 percent of your total diet, then you might be looking at an indicator for why tight control is elusive. The more carbohydrates you eat, the more insulin your body requires, and the greater propensity for blood sugar swings.

I eat roughly 2,100 calories a day, with a breakdown of 20 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent protein, and 50 percent fat. I have found this works best for me. It allows me a degree of control so that I am less subject to the peaks and valleys of diabetes..

Exercise is the other component to managing diabetes. We, as humans, are designed to be active, not to sit all day long. Unfortunately, the latter is the more apt depiction of our typical day.We must work at making exercise a priority. The key is finding a sport or program that keeps you coming back for more.

I use a program that emphasizes variation; every day is different. I never know what’s coming at me. This platform has kept me disciplined to five days of workouts per week, for two straight years. The hours I’ve spent sweating and toiling with weights and cardio have been exhausting and rewarding. My body now demands the rigors of physical activity; I am more alert, energized and alive than ever before.

Regular exercise and good nutrition have increased my personal expectations. I am now only beginning to understand the term potential. That is because I have diabetes in check.

Eric Devine, 30, has lived with type 1 diabetes since he was 12. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and two daughters where he works as a high school English teacher. Devine is an avid writer and is currently seeking publication of two Young Adult novel manuscripts.