Walk your Heart! Diabesity Steps Upward

© Jacquelyn Johnston, M.Ed. Diabesity Coach

So, you’ve got the meeting-point of diabetes and obesity. You’ve measured your waist and compared it to your height. You have diabesity. What now?
To those of you who read yesterday’s blog, no, I’m not posting a duplicate—please read on. Then post a comment and let me know if you can spot the differences, like with those pictures we used to have as children.

Did you walk yesterday? I mean for at least 30 uninterrupted minutes. If so, your heart is thanking you profusely for helping it avoid complications from diabetes. Every little bit helps. You’ve done well, made a valiant start. Keep it up, OK?
You walked yesterday, so you’ve taken the most difficult step—you’ve started. The first step in a journey of winners. You have helped your beleaguered heart.

You realize that your heart is intimately connected with your diabetes. With your blood glucose.

Look how you’ve started the miracle of the domino effect. Heard of the Butterfly Effect? Amazing. It’s a similar phenomenon.

You are overweight. You have diabetes. Your heart works overtime. You have insulin issues, your pancreas is struggling. When this happens the liver takes on an extra workload, as if its 500-plus jobs per day weren’t enough. Now the kidneys kick into high gear too, joining in the fray. Oh and incidentally, you have helped these organs which till now have been screaming for extra nutrients from the blood. Guess who does the pumping? You got it—the heart. And you’ve helped it pump more efficiently.

All the research shows how quickly the heart improves with exercise. You have made this possible. You have begun to control your glucose levels.

We started with weight compounded with diabetes; we ended up with the heart. And I want to assure you your brain appreciates what you’ve begun. We’ll come back to that another day, when we can talk about it in greater detail.

Let’s get back to walking.

It’s hot—but you walk anyway.
It’s cold—but you go in spite of it.
It’s raining—you willingly go, with your umbrella.
It’s foggy—you take your flashlight and go.
It’s late—you’ve made a promise to yourself; you put one foot in front of the other.
It’s early—but you get up with the first buzz of the alarm, and out you go.
No one to walk with—you are undaunted. You think beautiful thoughts as you step out.
You don’t have the right gear—you dress comfortably, and away you go.
You’re not in the mood—you know walking can easily improve your mood. You go.
You know that, if you have Type 2 diabetes, you can reverse it with lifestyle changes, the first of which is a regular exercise regimen. You have set a goal to see improvements in 3 months. You know you will see some sooner than that. Courage. You will.

Here’s something you might find helpful: if you go to the right of the page you can download a free report that gives you ten proven reasons why you must lose twenty pounds now. Go ahead, enter your details and download the report. Share it with a friend.

Then let me know if you find a reason that reminds you of something—for yourself or for a loved one. Let me know how you feel, having quashed ten excuses you used to make, and gone right out there and started walking. You deserve a huge pat on the back.

You’ve only got one heart. It needs your support. Your kidneys love you. A few weeks down the road, you will notice your eyes improving, with all that extra circulation.

Ditto for your ears, your legs and your arms. Every part of your anatomy is singing. Diabetes affects every one of them. It affects your limbs, your eyes, your nerves. So does excess weight. And you have begun to take charge of all that.

Four cheers for you, my courageous friend.

You got vertical. You put one foot in front of the other. Tomorrow, you will call a buddy and extend the invitation. Please tell me who you’re going to walk with tomorrow. Happy walking to two valiant people!

Jacquelyn

Jacquelyn Johnston M.Ed.
Professional Health Coach and Educator,
Solutions and Support for Optimal Health

Whether you need to lose those pesky 20 pounds,
work on prevention or regain health, I can help.