Now that I have practiced yoga for all of an hour and one-half, I can confidently recommend it to almost everyone who has diabetes.

On Friday I took a yoga class for the first time in my life. While my yoga experience and expertise is as minimal as possible, my first impression of yoga is just about as positive as possible.

And our first impression of someone or something new is not only crucial in social situations but can be more accurate than a painstaking analysis whenever we face other complex situations. Making a decision on the basis of a first impression is anything but a “snap judgment.”
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The Novo Nordisk travelling exhibit of the faces of people who have changed for the better after a diabetes diagnosis is now online. It’s been a long time coming.

For several months the exhibit has been on tour in major cities around the country. Now it’s coming to Chicago’s Navy Pier from September 26-29 and Atlanta’s Woodruff Park on October 17-20. Novo Nordisk is planning to continue promoting the Meet the Face of Change exhibit in 2009, but hasn’t announced the details yet.
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The problem with the review of a new study showing that we have to exercise an hour a day to keep the weight off is that almost no one has time for it.

“People, let’s be realistic,” writes one reader of the review in the Los Angeles Times. “One person in one hundred may be able to exercise one hour each day. What about the rest of us?”

So true. Technology has improved the lives of almost all Americans and other fortunate people in the developed world so much that the only muscles we need any more are those in our eyes, our ears, and our fingers. And our mouth muscles, of course.
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When I made a preliminary report here on William Haskell’s presentation on exercise last month, I missed the main point. This Stanford University professor of medicine spoke at the first day of the American Diabetes Association’s scientific sessions in San Francisco.

This was one of the talks that I most wanted to hear. Exercise along with diet are the best tools we have to control our diabetes.

But my plane was late, and I missed most of what he had to say. In fact, most people who wanted to hear him speak couldn’t get into the full conference room.
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We all know that diabetes is a risk factor for heart disease, and we do our best not to collect any more of these factors. Of course, it’s better not to take any other risks with our hearts. But what’s worse, to be fat or to be unfit?
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Three people, none of whom know the others, happened to mention balance exercise to me on three consecutive days. I’ve learned to listen to coincidences like this, because the last time it happened like that, I listened and changed my life for the better. [Read more →]

Wearing my new Guardian REAL-Time continuous glucose monitor continues to give me a lot more help in controlling my glucose levels than I ever expected. Few people who don’t have type 1 diabetes have used continuous monitors until recently. Most of the people with type 2 who have been using them take insulin, which makes glucose control critical. [Read more →]

At the diabetes conference the experts were talking over their snacks of bagels and Cokes. One of them said, you know that diabetes is a progressive disease, don’t you? [Read more →]

You know the old saying, “No pain, no gain.” You can forget it.

Your exercise program doesn’t have to be hard. A major study that JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association published a few years ago, determined that you cut your risk of heart disease even if you do only light to moderate walking. The amount of time is more important than your pace. It is still the deed, not the speed. [Read more →]

The biggest puzzle for those of us with diabetes – and anyone who cares about his or her health – is what to eat while we are away from civilization on the trail. [Read more →]