[RichieRich1000]

I have a sister-in-law who has been recently diagnosed T2. I have been worried about her for some time but she insisted she was fine. Finally went to the doctor and got diagnosed with diabetes. Now she really wants to do something about it.

It seems to me that diet is the most important thing to fix to get type 2 under control but also exercise is important. Correct me if you disagree.

Even so, I want to do my bit to help and plan to make her an exercise program. What do you think makes it easy or hard to start and keep doing exercise? It's not much good to exercise for a few days or a few weeks. It needs to be maintained for life (literally!) What do you reckon are the keys to making that possible?

I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

 

[Wink]

Welcome! and you have it exactly right.. diet is first but exercise is very important too.
My best suggestions to make exercise easier are to have someone to exercise with and make it something enjoyable like swimming or dancing.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

I have a sister-in-law who has been recently diagnosed T2. I have been worried about her for some time but she insisted she was fine. Finally went to the doctor and got diagnosed with diabetes. Now she really wants to do something about it.

It seems to me that diet is the most important thing to fix to get type 2 under control but also exercise is important. Correct me if you disagree.

Even so, I want to do my bit to help and plan to make her an exercise program. What do you think makes it easy or hard to start and keep doing exercise? It's not much good to exercise for a few days or a few weeks. It needs to be maintained for life (literally!) What do you reckon are the keys to making that possible?

I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Walking. i like to walk at least 3 miles a day.

Walking.

Walking is free and easy.

 

[John.in.France]

I have a sister-in-law who has been recently diagnosed T2. I have been worried about her for some time but she insisted she was fine. Finally went to the doctor and got diagnosed with diabetes. Now she really wants to do something about it.

It seems to me that diet is the most important thing to fix to get type 2 under control but also exercise is important. Correct me if you disagree.

Even so, I want to do my bit to help and plan to make her an exercise program. What do you think makes it easy or hard to start and keep doing exercise? It's not much good to exercise for a few days or a few weeks. It needs to be maintained for life (literally!) What do you reckon are the keys to making that possible?

I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Vicky is right - the exercise needs to be something your sister in law will enjoy and will keep doing for life. So the trick will be to identify something she likes doing and can do on a regular basis.

"ThoseBackPages" has also got a good point - Walking is something almost everyone can do without advance preparation and it's free. Only detail is that most folk need a reason to walk - for instance, my walking usually involves our dog who demands exercise!

There's no one simple right answer - like the diet, there are ground rules which apply but what works for me might not work for your sister in law and vice-versa.

The forum is a good place for ideas on both diet and exercise - don't be afraid to ask questions.

Good luck,

John

 

[lawprop]

Hi Richie

As John says, to make exercise for life it needs to be fun.

I walk my dog every day and love it, I also run and get a bit competitive. Your sister should look at what she likes doing and try to encorporate exercise into that.
Dancing can be great, so can boxing classes, swimming, climbing, kayaking.... and the list goes on. anything that gets the heart rate up for a sustained period will help the insulin do it's job of dealing with the glucose in the blood.

 

[Joshua Shorter]

It is great that you are wanting to join her and help to make this a little easier. Exercise can be as simple as parking as far away from the door as possible at the grocery store. I almost always do this (if I am in a hurry I might cheat ). ThoseBackPages has had extreme success, listen to what he has to say.
Good luck and welcome aboard. Visit often!

 

[RichieRich1000]

Thanks so much for all these ideas.

What I am hearing is:
1. keep it simple
2. keep it fun
3. it's good to do with others

The last one may not always be so easy though. Exercise at home will be easier to fit into your schedule, but more likely to be alone. Hmm. Maybe some way of checking in with others to help keep on track might work.

I find for me that what works best is if I have a specific time set aside each day for exercise. That makes it most likely I will do it. For example, currently I do exercise at 5pm but I only on weekdays. On weekends I have no set exercise time so often don't do any.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Thanks so much for all these ideas.

What I am hearing is:
1. keep it simple
2. keep it fun
3. it's good to do with others

The last one may not always be so easy though. Exercise at home will be easier to fit into your schedule, but more likely to be alone. Hmm. Maybe some way of checking in with others to help keep on track might work.

I find for me that what works best is if I have a specific time set aside each day for exercise. That makes it most likely I will do it. For example, currently I do exercise at 5pm but I only on weekdays. On weekends I have no set exercise time so often don't do any.

that place would be HERE!

 

[DocWhitley]

When I was able to exercise regularly I would make it different and vary the activities... alot of the time I think I looked like an idiot. One of my old favorites was with my old dog... I would throw the ball out as far as I could and then I would spring out and back and try to beat her back... It usually ended in a big collision if she beat ma back. Other times I would take a basket ball and just dribble while walking. You just need to either have more that one thing or more than one place you go to. Walking on the same track everyday to me is boring and I loose interest but, Swimming in a pool I can do for hours and never get bored. I bought p90X and will be starting that when I am cleared to exercise hard. I was told this could be several months til then It will be water aerobics starting next month. Oh 1 last thing SET GOALS!
a 1 month Goal
a 2 month Goal
a 6 Month Goal
and 1 tear Goal work for me

Now each Goal moves towards the next... So you start with the above Goals... WRITE THEM DOWN! People that write down goals are more than 95% more likely to succeed than those that dont. Now my method was simple and I will give you an idea of what I did

Jan 1 month Goal- Made at the beginning Say Walk 1/2 mile 3X week
Feb 2 month Goal- Made at the Beginning say Walk 1 mile 3X week
March- made after January is Complete- Walk 1 mile 3Xweek 1/2 mile 2 times a week
April-Made in February- walk 11/2 mile 3x week 1/5 mile 2 X week
May-Made in March- walk 11/2 mile 3x week 1 mile 2 X week
June 6 Month Goal= made at Beginning- walk 11/2 mile 5 times a week
(I guess you see for the months work)
and 1 year This is Made in January and is what you are working towards-walk 3 miles 5x week

Also instead of saying loose 20 pounds try sating Loose 6 inches on my waist or drop 3 dress sizes... Some people will develop muscle fast... and that will sometimes make you seem to gain weight. When i was training to swim the bay tears ago I lost an inch on the waist but gained 5 pounds


Good Luck I will be starting Exercising real soon and you will see my goals in my Signature. I like the 95% success rate.

 

[John.in.France]

Thanks so much for all these ideas.

What I am hearing is:
1. keep it simple
2. keep it fun
3. it's good to do with others

The last one may not always be so easy though. Exercise at home will be easier to fit into your schedule, but more likely to be alone. Hmm. Maybe some way of checking in with others to help keep on track might work.

I find for me that what works best is if I have a specific time set aside each day for exercise. That makes it most likely I will do it. For example, currently I do exercise at 5pm but I only on weekdays. On weekends I have no set exercise time so often don't do any.

Yep, You've got it. But one last thing already mentioned by DocWhitley - SET GOALS!

These are MY rules for goals
1: The goal has to be self defined and accepted - not imposed by someone else, no matter how well intentioned.
2: It has to be achieveable but challenging.
3: It has to have an obvious link to the exercise.

On the last point, for example, a goal of losing three dress sizes possibly qualifies under rules 1 and 2 but would it be associated with the diet or the exercise? I suspect the diet.

On the other hand, walking 10 miles in under 3 hours would work for me but fails your sister-in-law under rule 1 - who might happen to hate walking!

Good luck!

 

[taja609]

I have a sister-in-law who has been recently diagnosed T2. I have been worried about her for some time but she insisted she was fine. Finally went to the doctor and got diagnosed with diabetes. Now she really wants to do something about it.

It seems to me that diet is the most important thing to fix to get type 2 under control but also exercise is important. Correct me if you disagree.

Even so, I want to do my bit to help and plan to make her an exercise program. What do you think makes it easy or hard to start and keep doing exercise? It's not much good to exercise for a few days or a few weeks. It needs to be maintained for life (literally!) What do you reckon are the keys to making that possible?

I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Hi,

I suggest you try to fit the exercises on her age...don't try to put her up to a lot of effort if she's over 50..I'm thinking of my mom when saying this...more than 10 min exercise kills her..

 

[lawprop]

Hi,

I suggest you try to fit the exercises on her age...don't try to put her up to a lot of effort if she's over 50..I'm thinking of my mom when saying this...more than 10 min exercise kills her..

Good advice, All exercise should be based on a persons capability. Although my mum is in her mid 60's and she goes dancing at least twice a week and still rips out rooms in her house and replaces them herself (including walls)
I think becoming and staying active is the imptant bit, so as long as we are all doing some form of exercise then we are ion to a winner.

 

[MelissaF]

I hope you will get some useful tips and information here.

 

[Wendys8861]

I was just diagnosed as pre-diabetic myself. I can't afford to buy a gym membership right now, so I went out and bought a used Wii Fit board and a couple of used Wii Fit programs (Jillian Michaels is TOUGH on me!!!) and I've just started that. It may not be ideal, but it is certainly better than nothing. I can do it in my living room and I get a pretty good workout.

The great thing is that it keeps track of your goals and your weight and even tells you how many calories you burned on a certain exercise. It's so much fun, you don't even know you are exercising! And, friends and family members can also do it with you to add to the fun.

Just a thought!

 

[DocWhitley]

I was just diagnosed as pre-diabetic myself. I can't afford to buy a gym membership right now, so I went out and bought a used Wii Fit board and a couple of used Wii Fit programs (Jillian Michaels is TOUGH on me!!!) and I've just started that. It may not be ideal, but it is certainly better than nothing. I can do it in my living room and I get a pretty good workout.

The great thing is that it keeps track of your goals and your weight and even tells you how many calories you burned on a certain exercise. It's so much fun, you don't even know you are exercising! And, friends and family members can also do it with you to add to the fun.

Just a thought!

Just something I heard and I do not know is it is true but, I have heard the Y will give Memberships to people that can not afford them but have reasons that they need them

 

[RichieRich1000]

Thanks for all your input. With your feedback and talking with her, I am putting together a short set of exercises for her to do in the morning before breakfast. She's really excited about it.