Type 2 Diabetes - Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference to Your Blood Sugar

If you have received a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes and lowering your blood sugar levels and achieving weight loss are top of your list of things to do, please know eating healthily has got to be a daily commitment. You cannot be passive towards your condition and expect it to treat itself. You can hope as much as you like, but Type 2 diabetes does not go away without consistent effort. And people who do not control their Type 2 diabetes have chronically elevated blood sugar levels.
There is no cure for Type 2 diabetes, although it can be managed and the various complications avoided. You will not overcome diabetes overnight, but you can certainly take steps that will ultimately get you where you would like to be. Reducing your blood sugar, improving your insulin response and weight loss, are all factors you can influence, and by making a daily effort, you can ensure your diabetes does not exacerbate.

The first step in taking care of your body is to make lifestyle changes, and if you need to, take medications, be they drugs or insulin injections. People who start making lifestyle changes reap tremendous health benefits almost immediately. Lifestyle changes are seen as an ongoing, long-term proposition rather than a quick fix...

• a healthy diet,
• increased physical activity, and
• weight loss

are the safest and most efficient means for correcting your blood sugar levels and helping with weight loss. And by losing weight, you will do so much for your health it would be a shame if you were to overlook this opportunity. So we highly encourage you to start making a daily effort to lose weight, because it will make your Type 2 diabetes significantly more manageable.
Start eating healthily. We are not saying you have to go on a starvation diet that makes you question your sanity...

• eat a healthy diet low in calories and saturated fat. Limit your fat intake to 30 percent of your calories for the day, and saturated fat to no more than 10 percent of your calorie intake.
• choose more vegetables, fruit, lean meats, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, and unsaturated fats.
• reduce your sugar intake.
• increase your fiber intake to 30 grams a day.

Drink plenty of water. You have heard it before, but it bears mentioning because it's critical to stay hydrated. It helps you keep your hunger pangs at bay.
Be physically active. Physical activity contributes to combatting insulin resistance so your cells can remove sugar from the blood more efficiently. Lift weights, attend a fitness class or take part in moderate-intensity exercise such as brisk walking for approximately 20 minutes on five days a week. What you do does not matter, as long as you do something.
Lastly, ask yourself at the end of each day if you have done enough to fight those high blood sugar levels and any weight gain. You can treat your condition through daily effort - but only if you are honest with yourself.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.