The majority of the causes of pre-mature death have a major connection to exercise. In case you haven’t heard, regular exercise can help prevent everything from cardiovascular disease, cancer and just about every condition association with aging.

One of the most prevalent diseases of our time is diabetes. This deadly disease does not discriminate and in recent years the number of people under age 20 diagnosed with diabetes has skyrocketed.

This disease is estimated to cost our health care system billions of dollars in direct costs. Complications associated with this disease, make it the most costly health concern of our time.

There are two very specific things diabetics have control over: diet and exercise. Type II diabetics (90 per cent of all diabetics) can almost fully get off their medication if they change their eating habits and start to exercise regularly.

The exercise guidelines are simple: 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise at least four days per week combined with 20 minutes of strength training three days per week.

As with any exercise program the diabetic should start at a low intensity and progress slowly as their body adjusts. Blood sugar levels may need to be monitored and medications may need to be changed as one progressed through the exercise program. Any of these changes to medication should be done under the guidance of a physician.

The majority of diabetics are overweight and carrying a lot of that weight around the waist line. Most of these people are not comfortable exercising and will need a coach or someone to keep them accountable to making the changes they need to make. As with anyone that has gained weight, a lot of bad habits have been formed over the years and very few people are able to make these changes stick on their own.

I have found it to be particularly difficult to work with clients that are also diabetic. They are very resistant to making the changes they need and many have allowed their medication to become a crutch that allows them to not deal with the issues at hand, which are diet and exercise.

If you are a diabetic or a pre-diabetic (at risk of being diagnosed with diabetes) I strongly suggest you contact your local diabetes office to find out about the coaching and educational options that are available. In Windsor the main diabetes office is at 2605 Howard Ave., phone 519-253-1797. They offering a diabetes and exercise workshop on May 29 at 7 p.m. The Canadian Diabetes Association can be found online at diabetes.ca

Diabetics are no different than anyone else with a health condition. If they want to make the changes, they will change their life. It’s that simple. Getting there won’t be easy but anyone is capable of getting their life back.