With summer in the air, it’s a perfect time to take a fresh approach to explore what activities people enjoy most and help them take that first step forward!

The majority of people with diabetes are aware that regular activity is integral to diabetes self-care and helps lower blood sugars for 24 -48 hours. However, getting started and maintaining momentum can be tough. With thoughtful coaching, we can support them to make progress toward the target of 150 minutes of walking (or other activity) a week coupled with strength training. 

Coach Beverly has outlined five strategies that she has found helpful in encouraging people to move more.

Everything off the Couch Counts

Getting started with regular activity can seem daunting for many people. We can help lift that fear by encouraging them to start with baby steps and substitute the term “activity” for “exercise”. Reassuring people that “any movement is better than no movement” allows them to shift their perspective and give themselves credit for something as simple as walking to the mailbox. 

The goal is to accumulate about thirty minutes of activity a day, so taking a 10-minute walk after breakfast means they are one-third of the way there. Other activities that count include; gardening, housework, yard work, shopping, chasing kids, and those dance moves people do when no one is looking.

Preparing for Set-Backs

Even the best-made plans to increase activity may go differently than envisioned. A person-centered collaborative approach can help people get moving, one step at a time. Anticipating setbacks helps create realistic expectations and PLAN strategies to get restarted. As diabetes specialists, we can prepare people for obstacles and remind them that a falter does not equal failure. According to Sylvia Gonsahn Bollie, MD, assisting individuals in preparing for barriers with a PLAN helps toward a quicker recovery.

                                       PLAN stands for:

– Ponder what happened.

– Learn from it.

– Adjust the original goal.

– Now get back on track.

In addition to having a PLAN, encourage people to avoid black-and-white thinking, like, “Well, I missed my planned workout, so I might as well just give up.” 

Suggest a reframe of the internal messaging and instead say, “I missed my planned workout today, and that is okay. I will get back on track starting tomorrow.”

Supporting gentle, nonjudgmental, self-compassionate coaching can help people feel better about their efforts and increase their success with behavior change goals.

Activity Quips that Help Reignite the Passion

These simple sentences capture people’s attention and help them take that first step toward more movement. Please feel free to borrow and use these sayings in your practice!

• Even a ten-minute bout of activity can lower blood sugar for up to 24 hours.
• Each minute of activity lowers blood sugar by about one point.
• Walking for 10 minutes after meals can help lower post-meal blood sugar levels.
• Even without weight loss, getting active can reduce A1C levels by 0.6%.
• Regular activity improves people’s mood, sex life, and balance.
• Keeping active helps people maintain their independence.

Exercise is medicine.

Regular physical activity can help prevent disease and improve well-being. Although less than 50% of people are reaching the activity goals, improvement is possible. As health advocates, we can encourage systemic changes in health care and environmental changes in our neighborhoods to increase population activity.

Cheat Sheet compliments of www.DiabetesEd.net

Keep it Practical and Fun

Starting and keeping new habits is challenging. By integrating activity into everyday life, people are likelier to keep it up. If the movement brings them joy, that is an added benefit. An excellent starting strategy is asking them what activities they like. Then explore if they can add it to their typical day. For example, taking a walk during a lunch break or hitting the gym before heading home. What about lifting weights with the kids or helping with after-dinner cleanup instead of relaxing in that favorite comfy chair? Joining an organized sport or dance class is also an option.

While waiting for more extensive changes, we have the power to equip individuals with personalized, actionable tools for improving and maintaining physical activity. Our belief in people’s ability to get active is contagious.

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