Prakash Chandran (Host): Getting diagnosed with diabetes can make it feel like you're losing control over your body. However, you shouldn't lose hope. By making simple changes to your exercise routine, you can safeguard your health and take the power back.

Host: Welcome to Happily Ever After 40, a podcast brought to you by ProMedica, where we discuss midlife health and well being. In this episode, we'll talk about how exercise benefits patients with diabetes. I'm your host, Prakash Chandran. Joining us today to discuss is Nicole Mason, a fitness manager at ProMedica ForeverFit.

Nicole, thanks so much for being here today. I really appreciate your time. I wanted to get started by asking you to tell us a brief introduction about ProMedica ForeverFit's clinical programs.

Nicole Mason: Yes, perfect. Thank you for having me. Yes, so our ProMedica ForeverFit Script4Fitness program is great for people with diabetes. So what it is, it's 60 days full access to our gym for $90. And with it, you get four sessions with an exercise specialist. The sessions include an initial assessment to check your fitness level, and then also talk about your goals and your concerns so that they can help create a fitness routine that you can stick with. From there, they help take you through that workout, make sure you understand it. And then, you have 60 days full access to the club to utilize our gym, our pool, our group exercise classes to find your fitness routine that best fits you. And then, we do a follow up to make sure things are going well. And then at the end, we do a final assessment.

Host: Wow. That sounds fantastic and what a supportive way to get someone started and to help them to be consistent. I think, we all generally understand that exercise benefits everyone, but can you talk a little bit more about how exercise benefits those with diabetes?

Nicole Mason: Yeah. So, a lot of people know the general fitness helps with your mood, your sleep, your stress level, your mental health. But overall, people with diabetes, it does help them improve their A1c levels as well, helps lower their blood glucose levels. And also, it allows increase in insulin sensitivity and I feel like that's the biggest thing for people with diabetes, is at rest insulin helps deliver glucose to the blood cells. But during exercise, the glucose can enter the cells independently by the contraction of those muscles. So, that's where exercise really comes into play. And in addition, you know Insulin also works better when you're physically active as well. So, insulin also helps with exercise.

Host: Yeah. I hadn't heard that and, I think one of the things I wanted to get into were the specific exercises that people with diabetes should really be practicing. Now, I understand that there is a tailored program for them when they come in, but can you talk broadly about the types of exercises that generally people with diabetes should do and how often?

Nicole Mason: So, the biggest thing with people with diabetes, with their exercise routine is just being active in general. So, finding what's fun, finding something that gets you up, gets you moving. The goal is to prevent you from sitting for a long period of time, to get you up and moving, whether that be just walking, just a basic routine of walking is a great way to get started with any exercise routine.

Some people may enjoy weight training. So lifting weights, coming up with a weight training routine that you enjoy to do. Swimming. Swimming is a great exercise routine, especially with people who have really bad pressure on their joints. This takes this pressure off their joints when they are swimming. Some people, especially a lot of our diabetic patients, love to do our aqua classes. They get really into it, really active in those aqua classes. Some other things that may are low impact for those joints that may be beneficial for people with diabetes is bicycling, whether that be a cycling class or just going out and riding a bike.

Some things people may not even think of that may be beneficial is tai chi and yoga. So, not only does it help with balance, but it also relieves stress. And it's actually been known that tai chi also improves balance, but it may also reduce nerve damage from neuropathy, which is common among people with diabetes whose sugar isn't managed.

Host: I had no idea. You know, I have a park that is nearby and I have been seeing a growing number of people taking tai chi. And outside of the movement patterns and the benefits you're talking about, it just looks like a lot of fun and something that you can do as a group.

Nicole Mason: Yes, it's really fun. And especially, the groups that we have here, it really helps to have a group with you and makes it more fun to go through each of the classes when you have people that are going through similar aspects or similar conditions and life situations as you are, where you can meet together and do things together, even within the facility or outside the facility as well.

Host: Yeah. That's just awesome to know that there are people just going through the same journey, right? Getting active, staying active, and you can lean on them through your fitness journey. Now, one of the things that you said was the biggest thing is really just to start being active. And you mentioned one of the most important things people can do is walking, right? To start walking. Is that how you'd recommend someone that is new to exercise start? Or is there something else that you might recommend to them?

Nicole Mason: I would say, yes, new to exercise, I would recommend just simply walking. You know, a lot of people say when they think of exercise, they of machines and, the intimidation factor of going to a gym. Just being active doesn't mean going to a facility or getting on a piece of equipment. Being active means just moving around. So, whether that be walking, doing housework like mowing the lawn, simply just dancing around in your house listening to music are great ways just to be active throughout the day.

Host: Yeah. My aunt who also has diabetes. I have seen her really transform her figure just by walking. And she set a goal for herself over time. It didn't happen immediately to go 10,000 or 15,000 steps a day, she has a little pedometer. And it's just amazing to see the transformation that she's gone through. She feels more confident and that's all just by getting up and walking outside.

Nicole Mason: My grandma's the same way. She started walking and just, she just hasn't stopped. She loves it. She gets up early in the morning and she goes to the parks and she'll take pictures of the birds and the sunset. And I feel like it's her stress relief, but also a way for her to be active.

Host: So Nicole, I wanted to ask, what kind of barriers do people with diabetes face when it comes to exercise? Why is it traditionally a little bit harder for them to get started?

Nicole Mason: I would say the biggest barrier is people are afraid of their blood sugar levels, their blood sugar levels dropping too low, getting into hypoglycemia. So, the biggest thing is when you start an exercise program, we want to make sure that you are cleared by your doctor. Make sure that they know that you are interested in exercising so they can adjust your medication that you're taking so that you don't get into these hypoglycemia phases where your blood sugar drops too low. I so would say that is the biggest barrier for a lot of people that prevent them from exercising.

Another thing is just finding that motivation to get up and exercise. We really need to focus on not only the benefits of exercise, but how does it benefit you. What are some benefits that you want to get? Some people are like, "I want to sleep better at night," "I want to have more energy," "I want to feel less stress at work" Or another big thing, "I want to take less insulin." It's important to have these positive thoughts and factors within your exercise routine because they allow you to make that behavior change and allow you to stick with it when you have these motivational factors behind you.

Another thing that they can do is find an exercise buddy. I know a lot of people that come here that they come in pairs and they love it. They keep each other accountable. Some other things that maybe people don't get is they don't understand exercise in general. They don't know where to start. They don't know how to exercise. Do I walk on the treadmill? Do I do weights? What's best for me? And usually, that's when I start recommending getting a personal trainer or going within our Script4Fitness program to get an idea of what's the best routine for me.

Host: Yeah. I think that last point you made is so important, right? you're thinking to yourself, you know, I think something needs to change here, but I don't know how to get started. Even if the thought of walking is intimidating because you're not sure what that's going to do to your body, it never hurts to go in and talk to that fitness professional, because it really sounds like this tailored approach from a professional that knows what they're doing, they've seen this play out before, can really help you get started, wouldn't you say?

Nicole Mason: Absolutely. Yeah. So, all of our people here are certified and degreed, so they really know how to modify these exercises based on your limitations. Like you said, if walking is not a thing that you think that you can do, let's come up with seated exercises that you can be able to do where you're still able to move and still able to get a routine down safely. So, that's where that professional comes into play, that they can still get you active in a safe manner.

Host: Now, Nicole, just as we close, there's one question that I always like to ask, and that is given all of your experience as a fitness manager in fitness, helping people, what is one thing that you absolutely know to be true that you wish more people with diabetes knew?

Nicole Mason: I would say that the best thing for people to know is that those who have the lowest baseline of activity have the most to gain when becoming active. You have so much to gain when you first start being active, whether that be your goal to be gaining muscle strength. You can gain strength and endurance so much quicker than somebody who's been training for a long period of time. So, there's so much benefit, especially when you first start out with exercise. It's just getting through those barriers that gets you on a routine track to see those benefits.

Host: Well, Nicole, I think that was the perfect place to end. Thank you so much for your time today. I truly appreciate it.

Nicole Mason: Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me on here. It was fantastic. Thank you.

Host: That was Nicole Mason, fitness manager with ProMedica ForeverFit. For more information, you can visit www. promedica.org. If you found this podcast to be helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. Thanks for listening. And until next time, stay happily ever after 40.