"Exercise is key to lifetime management of type 2 diabetes". How many times have we heard that or a variation of that statement? dLife even has a whole section devoted to the topic.
I started picking up the exercise habit last summer, when I was laid off by my employer. But I tried to get the habit for many years prior to that event. If I only had exercised for all the months that I paid for gym memberships, I might not be writing first hand about type 2 diabetes!
It's been the perfect storm for me this time - a gym that charges month-to-month, no contract. Trying a personal trainer for the first time, and finding that to be extremely compelling. A kids room that my daughter loves and that I feel good about. And of course, my new life as a stay-at-home mom, which both forced me to find some way to carve out some time to myself, and gave me the more flexible schedule to do so. And The Biggest Loser TV show, which has shown me how hard you really have to work out to change your body.
For the last 10 months, I have worked out about 4 times a week. In January, my motivation was flagging, so I signed up for a 10K run/walk in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I originally planned on running it, then, as my knees started to protest regularly, I thought I'd do it as a run/walk. Then a jog/walk -- a couple weeks ago, I decided maybe it would be completed as a walk/crawl. But I was bound and determined to complete it! My mantra became "I just want to finish", and I repeated it endlessly. If pressed for a time goal, I replied "under 2 hours".
Sunday, I did it! In 1 hour and 44 minutes. I wasn't the last one to finish, though nearly. And that doesn't matter - what matters is that I walked/jogged 6.2 miles in under 2 hours. I had a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal with 1% milk and a Muscle Milk Light for breakfast, and after the race, my blood sugar was a respectable 90 mg/dL, down from a fasting of 114.
Sadly, my new exercise habit hasn't trumped my new at home eating habits in bringing down the lodestar of blood glucose management - my HbA1C result hasn't moved. But you know what? I finished a 10K and just for today - I don't care about anything else (such as the 144 my One Touch just reported after an ill-advised dessert)!
