Designs for Healthy Lifestyles - Your Wellness Resource for the New Millenium Article 1: Nutrition for DM

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Mind & Body Fitness: The Psychological & Physical Benefits of Exercise

Part I of II: Why exercise - what's in it for me?

The results are in!! Exercise is good medicine!

Regular physical activity should be a part of almost everyone's daily routine - both young and old alike. The good news is: it's not hard to live an active lifestyle and with a little imagination, fitness can be fun!

What better time to start on your journey to fitness than now. With the cool months of fall just around the corner, the great outdoors can become your gym of unlimited adventure. Think about it. When was the last time you actually participated in a physically challenging situation? If it's been longer than a week ago, it's time for a change!

The benefits of being fit clearly outweigh the risks of being sedentary. In fact, the American Heart Association considers inactivity a risk for heart disease! That's right - living a sedentary lifestyle is just as bad for your heart and your health as being overweight, having high cholesterol or smoking! Hmmm - are you still sitting?

Exercise helps:

Improve diabetes control by increasing insulin sensitivity and cell utilization of circulating blood glucose (which may decrease one's normal requirements of insulin and/or oral hypoglycemic agents)

The heart become stronger and more efficient in its ability to pump blood and nutrients throughout the body

Regulate blood pressure by making the heart pump more efficiently

Reduce the risk of heart disease by reducing low density lipoproteins ("bad cholesterol") and increasing high density lipoproteins ("good cholesterol")

Increase muscle tone and strength, which helps reduce the risk of injury when performing everyday activities

Maintain healthy bones (and may even help increase bone density)

To achieve and maintain a healthy body weight

Improve self esteem, body image and psychological well-being

Reduce stress, anxiety and depression, all in an effort to help you adopt a healthy lifestyle

A wonderful thing about exercise is it's ability to positively effect both the body and the mind. Think about it. When your body aches or your mind is stressed, your ability to function is always affected to some extent. On the other hand, when you are in good physical condition and in the best of health, you are able to handle whatever the world puts your way.

The effect one's mood plays on diabetes control has recently received a fair amount of attention. People who are depressed, anxious or highly stressed appear to have the most difficult time controlling their blood glucose levels. This makes sense, since stress does cause a surge in adrenaline-like hormones, which in turn increase the liver's output of glucose.

**Exercise helps the body work much better and helps the body and mind handle stress **

Okay!! If exercise makes you feel better, which in turn improves your diabetes control, how can you justify not becoming more fit?!

- next -

Part I II

Why exercise - what's in it for me?
Getting started - what you need to do

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