Eating a balanced diet with type 2 diabetes can be challenging. Identifying your food triggers, talking with a dietitian, setting realistic exercise goals, staying active, mixing up your exercise routine, and sticking to a specific meal schedule can help.
Trying to implement healthier diet and exercise habits to help manage your type 2 diabetes isn’t always easy.
While you may know what you need to do to maintain a balanced diet and keep active, some things can get in the way, like old eating habits.
Rather than repeating the same standard message — that eating a healthy, balanced diet and getting daily exercise is important — Healthline asked a diabetes health coach to share nutrition and exercise hacks to help bridge the gap between knowledge and action.
“Eat in moderation and only eat until you’re full. Choose more whole foods. Eat this, but don’t eat that.”
If you’ve received a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, you’ve probably heard this advice.
But even with this knowledge, many people face difficulties with cravings, overeating, or a restrain-overindulging relationship with food.
As a diabetes health coach, I’ve found that for my clients to make progress and lasting change in lowering their A1c levels, surface knowledge alone isn’t enough. It’s essential that we address our emotional and psychological relationship with food to successfully change our habits.
One helpful tool is to identify your food triggers. For every person, there are usually two to three feelings that can trigger unhealthy food decisions, even if you “know better.” Right now, or the next time you reach for that brownie, ask yourself what the root of your craving is:
- Are you bored? Tired? Stressed?
- Using food as a reward?
- Connecting food to a past memory?
- Are you restricting or “being good” during the week but letting yourself go on the weekends?
- Did you not eat enough during the day, which is causing you to overeat at night?
- What’s ultimately the underlying reason you end up choosing those sugary, fatty, and refined comfort
foods?
Once you’ve identified your common food triggers, ask yourself what you can do to better address the underlying issue and satisfy your needs directly. Perhaps it’s practicing meditation, going for a walk, having a cup of tea, or going to sleep earlier.
Changing your diet to fit your health needs, tastes, and budget can be overwhelming and complicated.
If you’re having trouble maintaining a healthy diet, a registered dietitian can help you devise a plan that best fits your lifestyle.
You can also try sticking to a
Type 2 diabetes is often associated with inactivity. If the thought of exercise is intimidating to you, or you have difficulty sticking to a routine, here are a few ways to set yourself up for success:
Schedule your workouts
On Sunday evening, for example, you could schedule workout time into your calendar. Just like you prioritize doing the laundry, cooking, or attending work meetings, create time blocks for your workouts, too.
Create a system of accountability
Whether you find a friend to walk with at the park or get a trainer at the gym, having a support system will significantly help you stay on track for the days you don’t feel motivated to work out.
Start small
While the ultimate goal may be to move your body 5 days a week for at least
Each week, incrementally increase the amount of days and time. For example:
- in the first two weeks, you decide to exercise for 2 days for 20 minutes
- then, in the third week, you exercise for 3 days for 20 minutes
- in the fourth week, you exercise for 4 days for 20 minutes
Doing the same exercises day in and day out can become repetitive and boring. Try to do a variety of activities to keep exercise engaging and help boost your motivation.
Start by doing exercises you love, whether that’s going for a brisk walk, hiking, or bike riding. On alternate days, you could try lifting weights or doing other types of strength training. Aerobic activities can increase your heart rate and help manage your blood sugar.
Adults ages 65 years or older may need to avoid certain activities and should speak with a healthcare professional about which activities are right for them.
Picking specific times to eat can affect your health with type 2 diabetes. Certain medications, such as sulfonylureas or insulin, can cause a drop in your blood sugar level during exercise if you skip or eat too late.
Talk with a doctor before trying time-restricted eating if you have type 2 diabetes. For some, picking certain times to eat meals and snacks can depend on:
- the type of medication you take
- your level of physical activity or your work schedule
- any additional health conditions or diseases
An important piece in creating healthier habits around food and exercise is through reflection and mindfulness. Instead of being self-critical of the reasons you may not have lost weight or lowered your A1c, look at what patterns and habits might be preventing you from making progress.
If nothing changes, nothing changes. You can’t expect different results if your actions are the same. I recommend taking out a notebook and writing down roadblocks you’ve hit in the past along your health and wellness journey. Then, underneath each roadblock, write down how you can help prevent it from occurring in the future and the best way to respond if it does come up.
Former Division I college athlete turned yogi, Lauren Bongiorno is a diabetes health coach, yoga instructor, author, and wellness speaker. With a commitment to a holistic approach to health, Lauren educates, supports, and guides people with diabetes all around the globe.
Lauren has become a voice in the online diabetes community as a type 1 diabetic via her Instagram page, @lauren_bongiorno, where she’s amassed more than 24,000 engaged followers. She’s on the global ambassador council for Beyond Type 1.
To learn more about Lauren, visit www.laurenbongiorno.com.