Being a fitness professional, I know more than the average bear about what aging can do to a body. Being a type one professional (in training and education for longer than any other professional schooling, I see myself as a type one professional… aren’t you?) I know more than the average bear about what my diabetes can do to my body.
So here’s how I see it.
- We need cardiovascular health.
- We need muscular strength and endurance.
- We need great management of our blood glucose levels.
- We need to be happy and healthy as many days as we can, for as long as possible.
I think only #3 on that list makes me different than any non-diabetic.
I think it’s critical for my cardiovascular system that I engage in challenging
regular cardiovascular workouts. I want to increase my body’s ability to handle stress and one of the best ways I can do that is to train it to work under some extreme conditions. Every time I do, my body reacts by building a few more bone cells or making a few more mitochondria. Thank you, Body; I will need those!
I think it’s essential for my skeleton and my muscles and my wellbeing overall to challenge myself with resistance training a few times a week, every week. We all begin losing muscle mass by the age of 30—and the only way to fight that is to pick up something heavy. Heavier. And heavier still, as our muscles grow and we get stronger. You need to lift something heavier than you thought you could lift last week, or hold it longer, or move it faster or slower to always work against a challenge.
If you’re bored, you aren’t challenged.
My blood glucose levels are always going to be a challenge for me, and I need to keep my head on straight about those. I need to work with all sorts of health care professionals who are my allies on this. Life is too short to be stressed out when I see a doctor or dietician. I don’t want to carry anxiety about working with someone around with me. I want to check as often as necessary and not have any part of me afraid to see that little screen.
Life just has so much more crammed into it that is so much more important than spending time afraid or anxious.
And on that note, if I can manage those items #1-3 I think that #4 will kind of take care of itself. Work hard, work smart, and keep everything in perspective.
Go to it!
