Diabetes Prevention 3
The theme for this week's session was 'Moving More'. We started with the reasons why it's important to be physically active and how it affects your body but I can't honestly say that I learnt anything new. However, there were aspects of the session which I can take on board and implement lifestyle changes to improve my health.
One suggestion was to stop thinking in terms of the dreaded exercising and the need to set aside time every day but instead think in terms of moving more and being physically active throughout the day. The point they stressed was that as soon as you get out of bed in the morning you are being physically active so your mindset needs to shift to finding how to reduce sedentary time and how to increase activity time from the time you get up to the time you go to bed. She invited suggestions about how to increase physical activity without exercise sessions and the responses were all familiar - e.g. use the stairs instead of the lift, walk around the room every hour, get off the bus one stop early - but most suggestions were to do with the workplace rather than for retirees at home. She stressed that formal exercise is only one way of increasing your activity time and then went on to say that the recommendation was 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week, i.e. where you are breathing heavily but can still hold a conversation.
So, I just have to work out the best way for me to approach this, this being physical activity for all the hidden health benefits not necessarily just with the focus on weight loss. Before the next session in two weeks time we have to set, and have starting working towards, a SMART target to increase daily physical activity and also watch a video, 'Moving Well'. There was quite a lot of discussion about being realistic about what we can achieve from whatever our starting point is. Again, small changes can make a big difference and are preferable than trying to do too much too soon and failing as a result. I don't know what I'll choose to do because I set a daily steps target after session 2 and am still working towards that so am not sure about starting another one just yet.
Sounds interesting I would have liked to listen to that session. I am incredibly sedentary these days and that does worry me.
ReplyDeleteOne article I read this morning suggested it was just as beneficial to move regularly at intervals during the day as it was to do one long exercise session. An example was to get up and walk around the room once an hour or maybe during the ad breaks if you're watching TV.
DeleteIt all sounds very sensible and doable without making huge lifestyle changes, making it far more likely to last and become a normal part of every day living.
ReplyDelete150 hours is what I aim for - I don't always get there but often I do. Again, doable.
xx
I've just edited the post - it should be 150 minutes not hours as I originally said!
DeleteIt is all doable and I don't know why I'm fighting against doing it consistently but I have to find some way of turning my attitude around.
I read minutes and typed hours. Doh!!!
Deletexx
Haha, it just feels like it's taking hours sometimes xx 😏
DeleteSMART goals for just about anything is a good way to incorporate into a new mindset. We put the stationery bike in the family room where the tv is, so I bike during commercials - well at least that is the goal until vertigo woes began. Are you using your stationery bike for any of your goals?
ReplyDeleteI moved the bike upstairs to the small bedroom but think that was a mistake as I rarely use it now. I don't have room for it downstairs until I can take all the items for sale to the auction house and then the bike can go in the music room. For now, it's use isn't linked to any goals.
DeleteBuy a three storey house - I'm never ending going up and down the stairs!
ReplyDeleteBeen there, done that, four houses ago 😂
DeleteHow's the unpacking going?
Slow, but sure. Although now I'm waiting for racking and desks to be erected to I can unpack books and craft stuff.
DeleteIt'll be worth in in the end. You've moved to a beautiful area and the locals are wonderful 😊
DeleteWalking around the house and maybe up and down the stairs is doable these days when going out to exercise seems to be such a big deal unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteI'm walking around the house and back garden for my daily steps goal. As you say, it's doable especially on days when it feels impossible to leave the house.
DeleteThank you for sharing this, Eileen. I tend to be very, very sedentary, so the suggestion to get up and walk around the house every hour or so is a good one.
ReplyDeleteI've found some other useful information on how to add activity to the day which I'll share in a future post.
DeleteI do use the stairs in my house more than actually needed for the reason they suggest -just to increase my physical activity outside of my actual "exercising". I enjoy the exercising, though, so that makes it easier. I miss the exercycle we used to have. I think I'd find it useful now. Or maybe a treadmill... Being realistic is a wonderful goal. It's so much more encouraging to set goals we can meet rather than set unrealistic ones. These Diabetes Prevention sessions sound like they have some good ideas!
ReplyDeleteThey do have some good ideas. We're supposed to be working towards a lifestyle change so the little tweaks they are asking us to implement can all add up to a big change. Surprisingly, the majority of participants have dropped out and only 9 of us attended the last session.
DeleteI'm debating on a rowing machine when I get the garage cleared. Or a treadmill - I used to have one and easily did an hour on it every day, although that was a few years ago now!