Diabesity—Just Move It!

You’ll never guess what they did a study on in London, England. I recently came across a study on ticket-collectors on London double-decker buses. It showed how those who ran up and down the stairs during the workday got less osteoporosis than the bus drivers did. Hmmm. Could there be a message there for people with diabesity?

The recommendation there was to do something, no matter what. Move the muscles or they’ll fall asleep. Vegging out in front of the TV will make them wither away. When you exercise you keep telling your brain to expect better circulation. Your brain then does what it’s told and gets you give it more of the same. It’s that simple.

However, the opposite is also true. Take Sandi, for example. She says that when she gets home from work she is too tired to exercise. Besides, says she, she’ll never shed those 70-odd pounds her doctor recommended. Now that’s quite a theory.
So she doesn’t, and the pounds keep piling on.

Now, Sandi, says I, how about this. Let’s forget the 70 pounds and shoot for 7. I also explained how the too-tired-to-exercise bit could well have been connected to having eaten dead, processed food all day and a lot of slouching. “But I don’t slouch!”

I gave her the slouch test. “OK, OK, I slouch.” Also, Sandi my dear, one of the problems with diabesity is that the weight takes away your motivation to exercise. And one of the best ways to get motivated is to walk with a buddy.

Sandi also said it would help to have a walking buddy, but she had no one to walk with. It so happened that her 13-year-old son overheard her side of the phone conversation, an insisted on getting on the phone with me. Hi, my name’s Jordan, and I’ll walk with Mom. How many times do we have to go round the house? “Two” says I. “Fine, says Jordan, I and Mom will do three! Deal?” “Deal!” Unexpected deals are always welcome!

“And no stopping, OK?” I got Sandi to agree. From Jordan: “No problem”.

Three weeks later Sandi reported that they were now doing five laps round the house, even though the days were getting shorter. They were also catching some spectacular sunsets. She had lost 5 pounds. (I have to say we also revised her brown-bag contents, and got an agreement to drink water only).

How did that happen? For details, call me. You can get a free 30-minute consultation if your obesity is twinned with diabetes—if you haven’t been diagnosed it’s possibly just a matter of time. Call.

You’ll get there. We’ll do it together.

Jacquelyn

Jacquelyn Johnston M.Ed.
Professional Health Coach and Educator,
Solutions and Support for Optimal Health
Richmond, B.C. Canada