Sugar Turned On Me

After being diagnosed with diabetes, I was told I needed to do a number of things to keep healthy, most revolving around food. One non-food item on the list was 30 minutes of exercise a day. This wasn’t a shock as I work a desk job and had no regular outside activity, but it did leave the question of what.

The doctor, of course, recommended walking.

I like walking, so that was okay. The complication, as there’s always at least one, was setting aside 30 minutes a day to walk. I can point to afternoons where I spend an hour and a half using StumbleUpon to look at random websites of Crop Circles, but for some reason, finding the time seemed like it was going to be a problem.

I started off by taking my walks in the evening, until the first couple of days where I came home tired and not wanting to do anything, no matter how constructive. After that I started walking on my lunch hour, which worked out okay if I’d brought lunch with me. If not, I’d  walk after work.

I saw results almost immediately. I attribute the first 15 pounds I lost almost entirely to those walks. Then summer came and walking outside became impractical and sweaty.

I’ve tried to keep up some physical activity and had some success. I even found a second hand exercise bike for under ten bucks at a yard sale. I’ve used it twice.

Walking has been on my mind because, in Virginia, the weather now turning a bit. We’re getting cool afternoons and that makes me want to put my feet on the road. I’ve got an okay pair of sneakers and I’m adding to my routine a ten pound medicine ball that a friend gave me when she moved and decided she didn’t need a doorstop at the new place.

I walk more casually than I probably should for exercise purposes.  After a couple of weeks, I don’t know that I’ll even feel my heart rate go up. But yesterday, I took my first walk in a few months and found that it wore me out.

Which is literally just what the doctor ordered.

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