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A study published in Diabetologia in October 2016 discussed whether exercise training is more important than other lifestyle changes in preventing type 2 diabetes (and possibly reversing prediabetes). Honestly, I was very heartened by its findings.

For those healthcare providers who treat diabetes with any kind of regularity, it has become increasingly obvious that several of our patients fall outside the current diabetes classification system. With individualization of patient care being the new focus, it can be challenging to accomplish this, when certain diabetic individuals don’t “conform” to the current definitions.

Why are people inactive, especially when they have diabetes and know how much physical activity could benefit them? If they’re older, overweight or obese, arthritic, or dealing with other physical or joint limitations, they may not feel capable of walking for exercise, and they may not have easy access to other types of activities. This may be particularly true of adults with nerve damage in their feet or arthritic knees for whom walking for exercise is just not feasible. Enter the Corratec Life Bike, particularly designed with adults with diabetes in mind.

Whenever someone gets diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) nowadays, the first thing that an educator or dietitian tries to teach them is how to count carbohydrates (carbs). Although I have been living with T1D now for almost half a century, I have to admit that I don’t count carbs. Not only that, but I personally don’t think carb counting works very well!

The topic of insulin action (resistance and sensitivity) has come up multiple times over the years in my articles, but it is admittedly much more complex than I often make it out to be. In a DIC article last summer, you can find a short list of all the factors that can potentially improve insulin action (basically insulin sensitivity). In reality, though, sometimes it is impossible to know exactly what is causing your reduced insulin action from day to day and how to easily and consistently manage it.

For many years, I have focused on aspects of lifestyle and health management that can enhance quality of life, especially when living with a chronic disease like diabetes, rather than simply on living a long time (longevity). Much of my motivation is derived from the personal experience of watching my maternal grandmother suffer through six (long) years of severe disability related to cardiovascular complications of diabetes starting at the age of 70 that left her unable to feed herself or communicate, bed bound, and with almost no quality of life for her final six years of life. Really, what is the point of simply being alive when you’re really not experiencing life under such conditions?

A recent study published in Obesity in May 2016 reported very discouraging findings for a group of participants who had lost weight on “The Biggest Loser” (TBL) reality TV show: not only did almost all of them regain a significant amount of weight over the 6-year period following the show, but they also had lower resting metabolic rates than expected for their body weights, even six years later. With the way the media ran with this story, it will not be a surprise if everyone just gives up staying thinner and blames excess weight on a faulty, and unchangeable, metabolism.

You finally decide to get active to help manage your diabetes better or to prevent type 2 altogether, and once you’ve hit your stride, you get an injury that puts you back on the couch! Getting injured from being active happens often enough that you need to know how to prevent and treat injuries so you can stay on track. The best medicine is prevention, so trying to prevent injuries before they happen is the best way to avoid having to take time off from exercising and sidetracking your fitness program.

I recently received an email from a person with type 1 diabetes living in Denmark (Guido) whose physician believes in prescribing many medications to manage cholesterol and high blood pressure in anyone with diabetes, regardless of need. Guido has been taking a statin (Atorvastatin, brand name Lipitor), along with at least four others for blood pressure control. He used to take Simvastitin (Zocor), but a year prior had been changed to Atorvastatin (and his dose doubled). That’s when his problems with exercise began.

Ever go to a fitness facility in January and then back in April? The difference in the number of people working out is tremendously fewer, even just a few months after most of them were all gung-ho about getting into shape in the new year. Why does this happen?