If you’re living with diabetes in Germantown, Maryland, you know it can be a life-long commitment to monitor your blood sugar levels and make adjustments to diet or medication. It doesn’t have to be, though. With the right mindset and some lifestyle changes, you can live healthier with diabetes. First things first: see a primary care specialist for the proper guidance. A Germantown diabetes specialist will advise you on the appropriate treatment and measures to observe. Below are the right lifestyle tips for sticking to.
Maintain Healthy Weight
Being overweight or obese is one of the major risk factors to worsen diabetes. This is especially true for type 2 diabetes, which often creeps up among obese adults and children as young as age 5.
For those living with diabetes, maintaining a healthy weight is crucial to avoiding insulin resistance. That is when your body doesn’t respond well to insulin, which can cause your blood sugar to spike after meals.
It’s not easy to lose weight and keep it off, but sticking with a healthy diet and regular exercise will help put you on the right track. Sticking to smaller meals more often can help manage diabetes symptoms and incorporate more heart-healthy fats into your diet to keep you feeling satisfied.
Get Enough Sleep
Have a hard time sleeping through the night? You’re not alone. Nearly 30 percent of American adults say they typically sleep less than six hours a night, well below the recommended eight to ten hours.
Getting enough rest at night is crucial for managing diabetes symptoms—it can help keep your blood sugar levels balanced throughout the day and right after meals, which can help control blood sugar spikes.
Eat Healthy Foods at Every Meal
Eating well doesn’t mean eating less. It means eating the right foods at each meal, which can help you maintain healthy blood sugar levels without causing over or underproduction of insulin that can worsen diabetes symptoms.
That doesn’t mean counting calories or limiting yourself to one or two meals a day. For those living with diabetes, sticking to three nutritious meals at regular intervals is what your body needs.
Keep Moving
Exercise can feel like an added chore when you’re managing diabetes symptoms, but it’s well worth the effort. It will help control blood sugar levels and improve heart health. Research has shown that physical activity can lower your risk of heart attack and stroke, something crucial for anyone living with diabetes.
Consider making physical activity a priority every day, even if it’s just for 10 to 15 minutes per session. Remember: any movement is better than no movement.
Manage Stress
When you’re feeling stressed out, your body releases a hormone called cortisol. This stress hormone can cause your blood sugar to rise, making diabetes symptoms worse.
Meditation or deep breathing exercises are effective ways to manage stress, and they’re both easy to incorporate into your daily routine. Meditation has also been shown to lower blood pressure levels, which automatically improves heart health and can help with managing stress.
Living with diabetes can be a challenge, but it’s important to remember that you’re not alone. By making simple lifestyle changes and sticking to a healthy diet, you can manage your blood sugar levels and live a healthier life. The best starting point is visiting a primary care center as the doctors will offer you the best guidance.
