how to...

Kailani over at An Island Life has a group writing project going with the prompt of "how to." I've been thinking about what I know enough about to write a "how to" post on. I thought of such subjects as, "how to put off doing the laundry for a whole week" or "how to spend the day blogging"... oh wait... those would be the same subject. Instead, I decided to write on something everyone should know about and consider how it might personally affect them.

How To Contract Diabetes

I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes last November. Now that I know a lot about this disease, I know exactly how I got it. Here's how you, too, can get Diabetes in 3 easy steps.

1. Ignore your family's history when it comes to Diabetes. I had relatives on both my mom's and dad's side of the family that had and even died from Diabetes.

2. Have an unhealthy diet. Yep, that was me. More carbs than protein. Too many sweets. And yes, I even dabbled in fried foods.

3. Don't exercise. I've had my moments, but making exercise a regular part of my life... HA!

There you go. Pretty easy, huh? You would think it would be more complicated, but it really isn't. That may be why Diabetes diagnoses continue to rise. More than six percent of the population has either Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes and each year 1.3 million people over the age of 20 are diagnosed with the condition. One of the fastest growing age groups is children as it's obvious that too many children in our society do not eat well and do not exercise regularly, and therefore they are over weight.

Of course, you don't want to contract Diabetes. The solution is almost as simple. Take the three easy steps listed above and do the opposite.

1. Find out your family history. If there is diabetes in your family, then you are at greater risk. If you had pregnancy gestation diabetes, you are at risk. If you are African-American or Hispanic, you are at greater risk.

2. Make a healthy diet a lifestyle. Eat high fiber foods and healthy fats. Avoid artificial sweeteners. A good, in-depth study has found that just one can of diet soda a day can increase your risk of becoming prediabetic. The study suggested that the sweet taste of the artificial sweeteners may actually confuse the brain and cause us to gain weight.

3. Exercise! Studies say that regular exercise can decrease the risk of Diabetes by 60%. Losing weight in your waist is also key. Simply walking 30 minutes a day is considered exercise and helps you lose that waist weight.

Diabetes is a serious condition and recognized as one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. If you think you may have Diabetes or pre-Diabetes (elevated blood sugars as an indicator that if lifestyle changes aren't made, Diabetes is imminent), I highly recommend you make an appointment with your doctor. Waiting can be very detrimental to treatment and management. Find out now!

There are many different symptoms to having this condition and you can find out what they are and/or read more about Diabetes at a number of excellent web sites on the subject. I suggest that you google the word Diabetes and pick any of the top ten listings.

Fortunately, my Diabetes has been kept under control with medication, diet, and exercise. It has been quite a change for me and I'm still not where I want to be with the diet and exercise -but I continue to work at it. I'm working towards a healthier me. How about you?

** some information taken from Good Morning America