Diabetes Care

Getting enough exercise is important to anyone, but it is especially important to people with diabetes.

However, people with diabetes have to take some important factors into consideration when thinking about exercise. You should talk with your doctor about what kind of exercise you can do before attempting any type of exercise program.

Your doctor will most likely recommend aerobic exercise if you have diabetes. If you engage in aerobic exercise, you will breathe harder than normal. But, aerobic exercise does more than increase your breathing rate, it exercises your heart. Aerobic exercise includes walking, jogging, step aerobics, fast dancing, kickboxing and bicycling. Aerobic exercise doesn't have to mean fast and furious, though. You are exercising aerobically, if you increase your heart rate just a bit. There is evidence

that even moderate aerobic activity sustained over a longer period of time is beneficial.

Diabetes sometimes affects the nerves in your feet so you don't feel pressure and pain from exercise. Diabetes can also make your feet and legs ache. In this case, you may wish to choose an exercise that will put less stress on your feet. Some good choices that do not stress the feet are swimming, bicycling and rowing.

Regardless which  
exercise you choose,
you need to take a few things into account:

Make sure your shoes fit you. Shoes that do not fit can lead to injuries that you may not notice.

These small problems can turn into much larger infections in anyone with diabetes.

Check your blood sugar level before and after exercising.

Exercise changes the way your body uses the sugar in your bloodstream.

Checking your blood sugar levels will tell you if you need to have a snack to keep your blood sugar at the right level during your exercise. Your doctor can tell you what your blood sugar levels should be before and after exercise.

If you are taking insulin, you must be particularly careful with balancing your insulin dose with your exercise regime.

If you do not exercise at the same time every day, you may need to vary your insulin dose based upon your exercise schedule.

  Be prepared

for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Symptoms include shakiness, change in heartbeat, sweating more, feeling hungry or suddenly feeling anxious.

A small amount of a sugary snack like juice will treat hypoglycemia.

 
Drink water before, during and after exercise. Keep hydrated. This is especially true for people living in hot, humid environments.