9 steps towards a diabetic-free life

Lily

B.R
Staff member
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Eat more fruits and vegetables, steer clear of fried foods, walk more, sit less and so on. Heard these messages a time or two? Although you know all too well that implementing one or more of these healthy behaviour changes could help prevent or delay pre-diabetes or Type 2 diabetes, life’s challenges continue to get in the way of your best intentions time and time again.

In a survey done by International Diabetes Federation (Diabetes Atlas) earlier this year, it was found that out of the approximate 7.5 million adult population (between 20-79 years) in the UAE, 803,000 have been diagnosed with diabetes and some 327,000 are still undiagnosed. This makes one in nine adults a diabetic patient. In 2014 alone, in the UAE an estimated 1,335 deaths were due to diabetes, with 80 per cent of them under 60.

Diabetes also is the leading cause of kidney failure.

Although the number of people with the chronic disease is skyrocketing, there is still a lack of public understanding of it.

“Anybody think of the Titanic? We’ve got this looming iceberg. ... It can be as many as one in three to one in five people by the time we’re hitting 2025,” says Ann Albright, who directs the Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States.

There are two distinct forms of diabetes: Type 1, which is an autoimmune disease whose trigger is not known and which accounts for about 5 per cent of the cases, and Type 2, which is often associated with obesity, a lack of physical activity and personal history.

“The leap from knowing to doing can loom as large as a step the size of Superman’s,” says Joan Bardsley, an assistant vice president at the MedStar Health Research Institute and president of the American Association of Diabetes Educators. “Pair this challenge with our high-fat-food-focused, technology-laden society that thwarts efforts at every turn to eat fewer calories and burn more,” Bardsley adds.

These nine steps can help you make those all-important behaviour changes:

1 Be ready

You — not your spouse, parent or health-care provider — need to acknowledge that the habit you want to change is a problem. Experts call this readiness to change. People are ready to change different behaviours at different times. You may be ready to start walking 20 minutes at lunch, but don’t intend to change your menu options at lunch.

“Slowly and over time untangle your unhealthy habits to positively impact your weight, glucose levels,” says William Polonsky, an associate professor at University of California at San Diego and president of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute.

2 Take stock

Assess your food choices, eating habits and exercise habits. Keep records for a few days to see your reality in black and white. Be honest with yourself.

3 Choose a change or two

Change behaviours you want to change and ones that will benefit you in a meaningful way. Tie the trigger for the new behaviour to an existing one. Example: If you want to eat more fruit and you regularly eat breakfast, include fruit with breakfast.

Believing a change is important and having the confidence to make it is critical. “Importance is having more reasons to change the behaviour than to continue doing it. Confidence is your belief in yourself to change the behaviour,” Polonsky says.

4 Set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-frame specific) goals

Choose one to three small, meaningful changes you can live with long term. Set your goals honestly, specifically and realistically. If they are too general or overly ambitious, you won’t achieve them.

5 Track progress

Most formal weight-management programmes encourage the use of tracking tools to record your food intake, calories, time spent exercising and moods. These raise awareness and increase accountability.

6 Evaluate progress, revamp

To string together a series of behaviour changes that eventually become a healthier lifestyle takes months, perhaps years. Gain insight from both positive and negative experiences. People repeatedly start these ventures with excitement. Then unexpected events occur, whether positive or negative. “Expect life to get in the way of your best intentions,” says Felicia Hill-Briggs, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins medical institutions and senior director of population health research and development at Johns Hopkins HealthCare. She encourages people to make a list of potential roadblocks and then think through solutions before beginning. This tactic prevents being blindsided by bumps along the way.

7 Experience success

Take simple steps to set yourself up for success. For instance, bring healthy snacks in controlled portions to work to minimise hunger and unhealthy deviations and set out your exercise clothes the night before. Success breeds success.

8 Repeat

“Keep biting off small changes that have meaningful benefit to you,” Hill-Briggs says. Implement one tiny habit change, then another. Continue to practise the changes you have made. Over time, collective changes build a healthier way of living.

9 Seek and find support

Most people maximise their success by surrounding themselves with a cheerleader or two. “Education and support delivered by a diabetes educator or other trained health professional can help you prioritise your goals and develop strategies to jump over hurdles and not be derailed by pitfalls,” Bardsley says.

To slow this epidemic of pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes, more workplaces, hospitals, community centres and places of worship are offering diabetes prevention and management programmes. Look around. Or consider an online programme. Do, however, make sure a knowledgeable counsellor is available. Research shows it’s important to increase success.
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