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#889 Type 2 Diabetes Pro Tip: Movement

Podcast Episodes

The Juicebox Podcast is from the writer of the popular diabetes parenting blog Arden's Day and the award winning parenting memoir, 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal: Confessions of a Stay-At-Home Dad'. Hosted by Scott Benner, the show features intimate conversations of living and parenting with type I diabetes.

#889 Type 2 Diabetes Pro Tip: Movement

Scott Benner

A series for people with pre and Type 2 diabetes.

You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon MusicGoogle Play/Android - iHeart Radio -  Radio PublicAmazon Alexa or wherever they get audio.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT


DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

  • 00:00:21 Importance of exercise for diabetes.
  • 00:09:52 Start exercising gradually and safely.
  • 00:11:36 Walking is beneficial for health.
  • 00:21:59 Exercise regularly for better health.
  • 00:22:32 Regular exercise benefits diabetes management.
  • 00:32:30 Stay active and find enjoyable exercise.
  • 00:34:57 Exercise for increased heart rate.
  • 00:40:43 Involving others boosts exercise motivation.
  • 00:45:50 Take time to enjoy life.

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 889 of the Juicebox Podcast.

On today's episode Jenny and I will be adding to the Type Two diabetes Pro Tip series. And we'll be speaking today about getting moving. There are easy ways to get yourself going again, Jenny and I are going to talk about just a few of them and why they are so important. While you're listening today. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. And I have a couple things here for you just for Juicebox Podcast listeners if you want to try ag one that green drink from athletic greens, I actually drink it every day you can and if you use my link athletic greens.com forward slash juice box you will get a free year supply of vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first order. Now if you're looking for joggers, sweatshirts, sheets, towels, pajamas, that kind of stuff, you can go to cozy earth.com And when you use the offer code juice box at checkout, you will save 35% off your entire order cosy earth.com Use juice box at checkout

friends My daughter has been using the Contour Next One blood glucose meter for some years now. And it is my personal favorite meter. Contour next one.com forward slash juice box. Why is it my favorite meter, it is easy to carry to hold as a bright light for nighttime viewing and features Second Chance test strips. On top of all that it's incredibly accurate. And isn't that the most important part? It is. But let me tell you about those Second Chance test strips say you, you get some blood out and you touch the strip to it but it's not quite enough. Now this is not to say that the strip requires a lot of blood because the sample really does not need to be very large at all. But for some reason, like you touched a little and I don't know you you sneeze now you have to go back and get more well with most meters you'd have to throw away that expensive strip and go again but not with the Contour. Next One with the Contour Next One, you just get a little more blood touch that shirt back to it and you get the same accurate result as you would have if you got all the blood the first time Second Chance test trip. On top of all this if you go to my link contour next one.com forward slash juice box you'll see a big yellow button that says buy now. You can actually get your supplies online often for cheaper than it costs you through your insurance. You can buy a meter at Amazon walmart.com Walgreens CVS, Meijer Kroger target Rite Aid all at my link. Check it out, won't you contour next one.com forward slash juice box is a great website has a ton of information about a ton of their products. I'm here to tell you about the Contour Next One, but the website will tell you much more. I am not kidding. I am not gilding the lily. I am not making this up. The Contour. Next One is hands down the best meter I've ever used. And it could be cheaper in cash than you're paying right now through your insurance. You owe it to yourself to check it out. There are links to contour and all the sponsors in the show notes of the podcast or audio player you're listening in right now. And there are links at juicebox podcast.com. If you can't remember contour next.com forward slash Juicebox Podcast is sponsored today by better help better help is the world's largest therapy service and is 100% online. With better help you can tap into a network of over 25,000 licensed and experienced therapist who can help you with a wide range of issues betterhelp.com forward slash juicebox to get started, you just answer a few questions about your needs and preferences in therapy. That way BetterHelp can match you with the right therapist from their network. And when you use my link, you'll save 10% On your first month of therapy. You can message your therapist at any time and schedule live sessions when it's convenient for you. Talk to them however you feel comfortable text chat phone or video call. If your therapist isn't the right fit for any reason at all. You can switch to a new therapist at no additional charge. And the best part for me is that with better help you get the same professionalism and quality you expect from in office therapy. But with a therapist who is custom picked for you, and you're gonna get more scheduling flexibility, and a more affordable price. I myself have just begun using better help. Better help.com forward slash juicebox that's better help H E lp.com forward slash juicebox, save 10% On your first month of therapy.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 5:08
I was gonna say before, with your use of the word go v. And as we've like, texted about some things to, you have taken it to a degree to the route that really should be, along with anything that's supposed to impact health and weight and all that, like, you're not just sitting back eating a bag of Doritos expecting that this is going to be the magic trick, right? You know, you're really, you're conscious, you're being more aware than maybe you were before you're making sure that you're eating, you're not not eating because this med can take away appetite or reduce or increase satiety, right. Yeah. So you're I was just going to, I meant to say that that's a good thing that you're doing well, good lifestyle.

Scott Benner 5:56
I appreciate that. Actually, I started recording right before you said that, and I'm gonna keep talking. And I might, I might keep this in. I took my own advice. That's basically what I did was I looked at myself, and I thought, what would I tell other people to do? I'm going to do that. And, and that's, that's what I've done. So I, and the medication, like the specter of the medication, when the doctor gives it to you, it kind of helps you because they're like, Look, if you eat the wrong things, you could end up with, like, some horrible nausea and like, I don't want that. So, you know, but then the doctor is like, but in this first injection, if we go over, you probably won't experience that. I'm like, Well, I'm gonna start eating that way. Now. Just to get myself ready. Like because I don't, I don't want to be in a panic situation where I'm like, I don't know, tossing candies back. And this medication gets ramped up, and I'm like, oh, plus, plus, if there was any value to just wait, I wanted the weight loss value. Yes. And so the one thing I can for sure, say is that I don't, there's no hunger on this at all. Like, the first four days, I was getting hunger in my head. Like I was getting woozy,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 7:06
right, like shouldn't I should be eating something but your stomach wasn't telling it to you. It was more your brain recognizing that your body was giving you some signals of lack of enough intake. But you really weren't, like physically hung. That's not the right way to say it. It's not like you've got this signal from a rumbling belly,

Scott Benner 7:27
let's say Oh, my God. No, it's bizarre, because the only way I knew I was the only way I knew I was hungry is that I was like, am I gonna like, like, pass out? Like, why am I weak and dizzy? Like, do you know what I mean? Like, Oh, I haven't eaten anything. Oh, goodness. And so for the first couple days, I just put timers on my phone. And I was like, eat here. Eat here. Yes, because I didn't know what else to do. I'm back. I have a better flow now. And after I've been on it for a few days, I I am, I have a little bit of it's not hunger the way you would think of it. But it's not like a mask like hypnosis. Like it was the first time when when it first I don't know what's going to happen when I ramp up to a new dosage. But for now, I took my own advice I'm eating carefully cleaner. When I'm, if I have a sweet tooth, I go to fruit. Yeah, you know, like little stuff like that. I'm eating a lot of like chicken and turkey and like some lean beef and stuff. So

Jennifer Smith, CDE 8:31
I'm very proud of you. That's super awesome. Honestly. I think I mean, that's right or wrong long with like, lifestyle things, right? I mean, lifestyle, including while a medication might help lifestyle in many health conditions, is a piece that needs to be included. If the med is really going to help you the way it's supposed to,

Scott Benner 8:53
also wasn't going to waste the opportunity. Like I just thought like, it's not going to happen. What am I going to go back to a doctor six months ago, I'm really ready this time, you know, so I'm just like, I'm gonna go for it here. And, you know, and actually making the series if I'm being honest, has helped me too. Because, you know, telling people, this is how you can help yourself. It would be pretty hypocritical if I didn't do the same thing. Yes, yeah, I will say for the recording that I have eaten like this in the past and not experienced weight loss like this. So um, this stuff's gotta be doing something, I am gonna go I'm gonna get up a hill, a monster to spit on me. That's what I'm gonna do. Listening, you don't get that you gotta go back and listen to the episode before this. But today, today, we're going to talk about something that I think a lot of people need help with. And I'm going to be a great person to talk to you with about it because I easily could be asking these questions. So cool. How do I start to exercise when I'm not a person who's exercised because I don't want to get hurt. And I don't want to I don't want to like break down right away. I think that's got to be the biggest goal, right? The focus in the beginning?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 10:06
I do. And if you I think the majority of people that are listening are also listening because they're ready for a change. And I think that's a step two, any lifestyle change inclusive of adding activity is you have to have this, this motivation of something needs to give here, right? I've got to put some some in some effort in. Does that mean? Oh, gosh, I want to start exercising, so I'm going to buy the new shoes, I'm gonna head out the door, and I'm gonna go run 20 miles, because that's clearly what I have to start to do. That's, you're gonna come back and not want to do anything anymore.

Scott Benner 10:47
Yeah, right. You don't want to beat like you want to. I always say to people around me when they're starting up. Like, don't just go like that, like, let your hair on fire and run forward, because you'll burn out too quickly, and you'll get sore, and you'll skip and then you'll go right back into old things. Listen, this is old timey thinking. But I remember being 1011 years old, and my aunt and my cousin saying that they wanted to lose weight. And they just started walking after dinner. Yeah, it was literally all they did. It was one summer they started walking after dinner. I was stunned even as a child at how much weight they lost doing that.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 11:26
Yes. There are some some really good studies that have been done over a number of years for people, elderly people now who are in there, like, like 90 year old people who have had longevity, obviously, and health during that long life. And what are some of the biggest takeaways? These are people who they may not have done marathon runners, or crazy swimmers or they played tennis like a fiend every week. These were people that walked Yeah, walking was the most common thing for these people who were interviewed to have included long term. And if you're going to start with any kind of even the word exercise, I think, to some people is a turn off. If you think about it by of just increasing movement in your day, right? You might, I mean, most people have heard parked the car farther away. That's something you can do. And if the three trips to whatever store grocer that you're going to a week means that you're parking way in the back of the lot, and you're walking farther in, and you're not having somebody help you all the way out and cart, your groceries, you are increasing your movement. It may not sound like exercise, but you're changing and you're creating a new habit to include more steps than you were likely getting. Right. Yes,

Scott Benner 13:00
I laughed to myself because I do that because I don't trust people near my car.

Unknown Speaker 13:07
But sounds like my husband.

Scott Benner 13:09
I'm like these sons of bitches. And it's windy, they're not paying attention. Don't park

Jennifer Smith, CDE 13:16
next to the car that has car seats. Don't right,

Scott Benner 13:19
Jenny, I will only park if one side is on a curb. If there's a hill, I'll only park on the top side of it. I have a lot of rules about not I can't. If I see a little ding in my car. It ruins it for me. Anyway. So I do that. And I also take my cart back to Yes, like just until you get a little extra and it is it is helpful. I mean, it's safe, more walking than I get otherwise when I'm down marking.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 13:45
And if you're you know, if you're somebody who lives in one of the like, let's say a bigger city that might have some more public transport, whether it's a subway, a metro, a bus or whatnot. Let's say you take your car and you park in a lot and you get on a bus, park your car way to the back and walk farther in to where you get on. If you're standing and waiting for your subway, you could be marching in place. I guarantee you nobody's gonna care. Honestly, if you live someplace that there's a subway that most people take for public transportation. I promise nobody's going to look at you sideways. If you're walking in place, or walk up and down. Don't just stand there looking at your phone. Sorry, calling out people, right? It's the thing that people do, but you could be getting in more steps by just walking back and forth waiting, right? Going up and down on an escalator instead of standing. Walk on the left stand on the right. Be the Walker on the left.

Scott Benner 14:45
I will have an episode coming out a few weeks after this one goes up and it's with this person. We were just talking through ways that people can like lower their glucose values not and it wasn't about people with that. Diabetes, this person who comes on as a guest, she's talking about just everyday average people. And I thought, Oh, I'll have her on and see how what she's talking about might relate back to people with diabetes. And she was talking about calf raises, and how working your calves like just sitting in your seat, like lifting your heels and bending. And she's like that could actually lower your blood glucose. And I was like, oh, Jen, I forget her all explanation off the find it. Yeah. But yeah,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 15:29
there are whole bunches of things like that, even if you have a desk, get and you have the opportunity within wherever you work, get a standing desk, one that you can raise up and down, stand part of your day versus sitting, you actually burn more calories standing than you do sitting all day long. Even if you're just standing in one position. If you have, you know, an underneath of a desk that allows enough space for one of those, it's, it's like a tiny, little pedaling. Like I can't remember what they're called, right. But you could be getting in some movement by doing that, and you're building it into your day where you're already continuing to do then what you need to do. But you're adding it in, which is extra. You know, if you got kids go walk to the bus stop and go and pick them up there in back. These are just, it's not what we would call exercise session, like 30 minutes at the gym with the trainer, right? Yeah. But this may be adding more than what you were doing. And it could start to add up,

Scott Benner 16:38
you know, a pet a desk pedal is what I guess they call it a portable under desk, or you know, you can get them for as low as like $35. Yes. So you all have Amazon, it can be at your house tomorrow, and you don't and you don't need the one that's like 200 bucks. So they that's a great, I mean, that's just that's what we're that's what I'm talking about here, because getting started has got to be the most difficult part. Yeah, I mean, just honestly, with this whole series, I keep thinking that, you know, whether it's going to the doctor, asking speaking up getting a blood test, like the Getting Started part is, is just always kind of the biggest leap. And that's why I'm excited to talk about it.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 17:17
Another one is if you do have some of even news, if you watch the news every single night, or you always sit down to a favorite program that you've recorded, and now you're going to catch up on it either during the commercial breaks, get up, move around, maybe get some simple five pound hand weights, lift them up and down while you're sitting on the couch or your your your favorite chair, or stand up during the commercials. Again, walk in place, do some squats, squats, kind of like the leg raises are, they're a great way to drop your blood sugar honestly, like crazy. So they can these, they could all be added in again, as examples to your day to day normal stuff that you're trying to get done. Without creating too much change in your, I guess what you're trying to do?

Scott Benner 18:09
Yeah, I also think that it can be scary, like the idea of like, we have to start exercising I imagine people think about, Oh, I gotta get a gym membership. I gotta go to the gym, they're gonna be people that are in better shape than me, I'm gonna be embarrassed. I don't want to do that.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 18:20
I don't know how to write that cost.

Scott Benner 18:22
It's a cost. I don't know how to do the exercises. Like I don't think you have to start with that even just like little tiny five pound dumbbells that you could I'm sure grab anywhere you could probably probably things in your house you could use just to just do some current like easy curls to like help the muscle tone come back and other ways to burn calories. You know? Yeah. It just make yourself stronger overall, like your whole body like it doesn't have to start with you know, military style push ups and

Jennifer Smith, CDE 18:53
not at all. And today in today's world, even something like a gym membership doesn't it's not necessary because we have so many tools that are free. YouTube is full of stuff that you can get started with. So again, as you mentioned, if you're if you are worried about how you might look or that you don't have the right clothes to wear or whatever it might be or that the gym membership is just, it's too pricey. It doesn't fit into your budget. Online. There are a number of they you close the windows in your house. Nobody has to see you. You could do it at two o'clock in the morning if that's what your schedule, you know, permits. There's a there's a wonderful it's it's walked down your blood sugar, it's by Lesley sandstone. She does she's fantastic. All of the people actually, in her online videos have diabetes, most of them with type two diabetes, and she has anywhere from 15 minute walks all the way to 45 minute walks going a mile all the way up to three miles And she's she's funny and she's fun to listen to. So that's one that I used to recommend a lot, actually, when I was working with the education

Scott Benner 20:11
when we want people to listen to the podcast while they're working, though, no, no, my I mean, my podcast, that's one. I want to I want to say something kind of like, odd that I make your point. I don't know how many people know Joelle and bead. He's a basketball player for the Sixers. And I read an interview with him recently. And they asked like, because he lived in Cameroon, he you don't think he came here until he was 16. He wasn't a like a basketball player. They asked him how he learned to play. And he said on YouTube. He learned to shoot on YouTube. He said, he said, I went to YouTube, I watched a bunch of videos and I went to the gym and practice. So I don't know what isn't on YouTube at this point. Correct. You know, go find something that will help and stretching to Right. Like I wanted to bring this up, like just getting your body stretched out is such a big deal. Yeah. And again, I think you can you can go to YouTube for that as well.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 21:10
Absolutely. There's even some really good flexibility, yoga, there are a number of different people who have really good free programs, some of them are even like 30 day, and you can start them and each day kind of builds on itself. And they're short enough to fit into a schedule that may not permit a lot of time. So yes, there. I don't, I don't think there's anything you can't find on YouTube.

Scott Benner 21:35
And there's no shortage of people on social media who are sharing their journey as well and throwing a camera in front of themselves and saying, Look, this is where I started. And here's how I've been going. Whatever you need for motivation, but the the movement itself. So how much? How much actual movement? Do I want to start with? Is it a certain amount of day? Is it a certain amount of week? How do I count it a

Jennifer Smith, CDE 21:59
certain amount of minutes, about 150 minutes a week is the goal. And that's a little bit more maintenance, right? If you're really looking for your activity increase, or your addition of activity that wasn't there to benefit loss, we're looking at around like 200 plus minutes a week kind of give or take. And the average recommendation is about 30 minutes of exercise a day, right or five days a week. So

Scott Benner 22:32
and should it be spread out? Like I don't want to, like get up one day and try to put two hours in or something like that. Right? Correct.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 22:38
And I think that's an important point to make more talking. Specifically, in the realm of people who have diabetes, the more regular your activity is, especially around medication use, the more likely it is you're going to have a sort of an overlapping effect on a day to day basis. If you get consistent every morning, I get up I take a 20 minute walk Great. That rolls into the next 24 hours and that day rolls into the next day. So we really do want regularity and not just saving it all up and saying Saturday morning that's when I'm gonna get this 150 minutes it

Scott Benner 23:18
well type to see the same benefit that type one see from consistent Okay, not Jenny's

Jennifer Smith, CDE 23:24
Absolutely, yes, I mean muscles, muscles that build and you build muscles by exercise multiple different kinds, right cardio as well as your weight bearing flexibility. those muscle cells are what respond to insulin and allow them the glucose to be shifted into the places that it's supposed to. So exercise is it's like free insulin, essentially, it Prime's, those receptors on your cells to open up. Because when you move your muscles, they need energy. Where's the energy going to come from? It's going to come from the glucose levels in your body, right or some of it. And so then that decreases your blood sugar levels, which is great. Yeah.

Scott Benner 24:08
So I'm going to ask you a question. I might not be right about with a type two. It's not that they're not making insulin, their body's not using it correctly, and doctors are going to call that insulin resistance. Does exercise help with that? Or can exercise help?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 24:23
Yes, absolutely. That's a big reason for adding exercise is decreasing the amount of resistance that's in the picture? Yes.

Scott Benner 24:32
So the exercise works exactly the way it does and type ones and type twos, like exercise helps your insulin be more productive, you'll need I say, yes. My daughter who has type one is at college. And she had she's decided to start driving to class. And I thought, Oh, I wonder if she's gonna need more insulin like that? Because she because she was walking getting on a bus getting off the bus and humping her ass one way and the other and then all of a sudden she wasn't it And then she got and then you know, the the new semester started up. It's a quarter, the new quarter started up. And she got a lot of desk work again. Oh, so this week, she's like, I'm using so much insulin this week. And I was like, yeah, like you're driving to school, and you're sitting at your desk, and still eating that horrible college food. We have one more quarter to go. Arden requested. She used her accommodation. So I know this isn't for type two so much. But she used an accommodation to ask for a dorm room that had a kitchen in it. Because she's like, I have to start cooking for myself. I have to stop eating this food. Good for her. Yeah. So it was really, really kind of cool. But anyway, they gotta move. Do you remember? What was it the Big Blue Test?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 25:46
Remember? Yes, absolutely. That was where during November diabetes Awareness Month, the Big Blue Test was check your blood sugar, get up and move for 15 minutes, right? 10 or 15 minutes, I think it was and then check your blood sugar again. And post it was really the idea of getting people to see that movement, even if you've got only 10 or 15 minutes, really did have a very quick impact on blood sugar.

Scott Benner 26:10
Yeah, I just remember that. That's something that that had to be 15 years ago and the type one community Right? A long time ago. Yes. Yes. I'm gonna say again, I'm all for one of you listening to like, jump on social media and share improvements with your type two diabetes, the way people share improvements with their weight, the way people share improvements with all kinds of other things, exercise improvement, like just show people, Hey, I did this today in my agency, you know, especially if you have a CGM, you'll you'll be able to go into their the clarity app, if you have a Dexcom. And say, Look, my my agency estimated last week was this and this week, it's it looks lower. And, you know, try to be I mean, if you need that to motivate yourself, great. If you think you can help somebody else is terrific as well. Right? Yeah.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 26:58
And, you know, I think the other thing in the realm of adding activity is people stay motivated when they've got somebody else that is working with them to their goal, right? So if you're somebody who says, I've got this 30 minutes after I finish work, and I want to get out and exercise, maybe there's a friend that will walk with you, right? Because now you're also tying in a scheduling, which makes it more it makes it more like an appointment that you've made. Yeah. And you don't want to let your friend down because you've made this appointment. So you guys, you keep your each other sort of on track with this plan of action. And it's kind of nice.

Scott Benner 27:45
It's a great idea. It really, it really is like a gym buddy, but a walking buddy, or

Jennifer Smith, CDE 27:49
Yes, exactly. Right. Or a pickle, buddy. I mean, I don't know how many people have like, we've got a park right across the street with tennis courts. And last summer, they actually because so many people were playing pickle, or pickleball, or whatever it's called, right? They drew the cord for the pickleball lines, right? All on the tennis courts. Because people were playing it anyway. Right. So you know, maybe somebody has said to you, hey, you know, come play pickleball with me or whatever. And add that in. That's a fun form of exercise.

Scott Benner 28:22
Right? I think back to when I was in my early 20s. I was working with this bunch of guys. And they were playing, I forget what they call it. But it was a it was a game you played with a ball, but it was in a racquetball court. And there was a net, some people on either side, and we would get together and do it like once a week. And that was probably the best time of my life as far as being in shape. And I didn't even think of it that way. It was just moving. It's just fun. Yeah, right. And it was fun. And like, it wasn't difficult either. Meaning it was after work. I used to have a terrible job. So I worked very hard all day, like we were beat up at the end of the day. And we still all showed up and did it. You know,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 29:01
and it was probably that type of activity, you bring in a good point, maybe there's an activity that you can get into that is a it's a release of everything that you've put into your day, that's not been the greatest or that has been really difficult to maybe you can find an activity that's just like a, maybe you go in you box, oh, you take a kickboxing like something or

Scott Benner 29:27
I visited my son recently, and he just, you know, in the last year, graduated from college and stopped playing baseball. And he just one day, he said to me, he's like, I can't talk. I'm gonna go play basketball. And I was like, where he goes, I'm going to the park. There's got to be a game there. Right? He's in a city by himself right now. And he's like, I cannot sit still like this, but it's he's got the mind of an athlete. Like, like, I can't just sit here. And so he went to play basketball. And he's like, Oh, I met some guys like Applying now this is terrific. And then he said to me, I might try to find a boxing gym. Even like he's like that looks like good exercise. And it's just interesting the difference between. And I made this point in another episode, and I hope people are tying this all together. We all drag our five, six year olds to some sport, and they're all able to do it. And some kids keep doing it. And they're not all like, don't get me wrong, right? They're not all like pros, but they can get up and they can go and they can do it. And they're, they're healthy and they're moving. And then some people make a decision to stop moving, and some people make a decision to keep moving. There's no reason you can't make a decision to go back to moving like that correct? You know, there's just no reason you can't do that. So

Jennifer Smith, CDE 30:44
and I think the more that you do that, especially if you have children at home, the more that you do that, the more likely it is that you're by show teaching them that, just because mom and dad are adults, and they're doing all these other things. They're still taking care of themselves, right. I mean, my kids see me exercise all the time, especially now that I have actually gotten nice outside, like temperature. And when I take my kids to take one dough Now, there's another mom I've been talking to. And last week, I got to class I dropped my kids off, I was like, you have fun in class, I'm gonna go take a walk. Because of right I just otherwise sit there and watch them and what's the purpose for me, then I could be doing something for myself. So she looks at me. She's like, I didn't touch that. Can I walk with you? It's like, great. Come on. There was

Scott Benner 31:38
a father on Arden softball team, and we'd get to a practice. And the kids would get settled. And he'd put on different shoes and just take off and run. Yeah, and that's it. He did it every time he used the practice as his time to exercise time, exactly home, and I'm not doing other things. I'm not just gonna sit here and stare these kids practice and softball. So I'm gonna go through this now.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 32:04
Right? I mean it unless you have to be an interactive part of your child's participation in a sport or whatnot. Obviously, it's important for them to see you there and paying attention and cheering them on and all of that kind of stuff. But if there are points at which, clearly they don't even care until you pick them up. Go be busy yourself.

Scott Benner 32:28
There's a list here I found that I'm going to run through real quickly just because I can imagine people are like, I don't want to go for a walk. So ride a bike, walk your dog, which I thought we should like, you know, maybe your dogs like the guy never takes me anywhere. Skipping rope. Please don't do that. If you're on a high floor and an apartment building Frisbee. The gym swimming this hokey hosted dance party. If you do that, please let me know. You This is akin to what Jenny was talking about earlier, use the stairs instead of using an elevator, carry out household chores things need to get done anyway. Just even moving around the house and bending over and reaching around the back of the toilet. And like at least you're moving right? Yoga is brought up here. Again, that's something you could do through YouTube. This is a temporary rock climbing. I'm not doing that. Go for a hike, hula hoop. Join a sport. There are some parks have circuits already set up? Yes. Like if you don't know what they do, you can

Jennifer Smith, CDE 33:31
they're typically like called Vita courses. Essentially, they have you walk a little bit and then you do like a pull up. They have you walk a little bit. And you might do a couple sit ups on like a park bench or something like that. But they've got a visual of how to do the exercise, how many reps to maybe do. And then hey, proceed on down the path from here.

Scott Benner 33:49
This one's interesting. If you bowl three games, you'll walk an average of a half a mile. Now, who would know? I'll say one i i used to love like photography. And then that love of photography. I kind of pointed at my children and now I have way too many pictures of my kids. But when you go out to take pictures, you wander around looking for things to take pictures of it's another good way to keep your mind busy. And not tell yourself oh, I'm out here moving around because I gotta get moving and you know, and spin class at the end. But that sounds horrible.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 34:31
I used to love my spin class. I don't belong to a gym anymore. But I I really loved my spin classes. They were a lot of fun.

Scott Benner 34:38
So what are we looking for out of exercise? Like because this I mean, obviously we're not talking about, you know, we're not talking about lifting weights. We're not talking about doing anything really intense. So what's the feedback I'm looking for from my body to tell me this is worthwhile and valuable for me.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 34:57
Right So one big thing as I would recommend And for anybody starting something they haven't been doing is make sure that you are okay to start it right, your doctor visit, make sure everything's fine. As long as that's the case, then out of exercise you're looking for an increase in your heart rate above sitting down. And right. So you mentioned dog walking before. dog walking is fantastic. But if you take your dog for a half mile walk, and every three steps is a sniff and pee and grab and chew on the stick. You're probably getting a little more movement than you might have been sitting at home, but you're really not getting like, like, walk the dog

Scott Benner 35:47
sense of wandering around the kitchen with trees.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 35:50
Yes, exactly. So you're looking at us an increase in your heart rate. You don't have to be out of breath. In fact, some of the most beneficial for weight loss type of movement is honestly being able to carry on an easy conversation, not like we're having now. But you should be a little out of breath, but not terribly out of breath that you can't actually get words out, right. So thus, the reason bring a friend along, you can have a nice conversation about something but Yes, a bit of an increase in heart rate. A warm if you're moving and we're talking about cardiovascular exercise here. You are going to warm up if you're getting enough movement in.

Scott Benner 36:36
I'm going to bring up something from the podcast. Let me see if I can find it. Oh, there was a guy on episode 713. His name's Adam, he had type one diabetes, the episodes called a rage rocking, because I thought that was funny because I thought that was funny not because that's because not because it has a lot to do with anything. But he he lost weight rocking, which is walking with a backpack that's weighted. And apparently, Jennifer apparently this is Inc reasonably popular. So if you're if you're a person who wants to go on a hike, or you know, just go for a walk and add a little more to it, apparently rucking is a terrific way it's worth googling or looking at or listening to Adam story in the episode because his experience was, I remember being pretty like blown away by what he was able to accomplish.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 37:34
I wonder if rucking came? You know rucksack is actually the term for a military attack.

Scott Benner 37:40
Yeah, somebody, somebody, somebody looked at a bunch of guys who were, you know, overseas, they're like, those guys are all in great shape. Yeah,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 37:47
well, and that's I mean, that's essentially what they do is they go out, and they, they hike with a lot of all of their stuff in their backpack, and it's training,

Scott Benner 37:56
they're carrying their life with them, and they have to carry it. And apparently, it's apparently it's an insanely beneficial. So a thing that from his description, and when I remember looking into it is something that does have easy entry for you. Like, it's, you know, you just grab a backpack at home and put 10 pounds in and go for a walk. And then when it gets easy, add more, you know,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 38:20
and what comes up to me as a another good suggestion for a parent who has a child that is of the size that you can put in one of those carrying or the right, carry your child, if you're gonna go out and take a walk, while pushing a stroller is also something to be said of extra. Carrying that child on your person and walking adds more just like this idea of a weighted backpack. Yeah,

Scott Benner 38:48
yeah. You know, it's funny, it just made me think of something. I went to high school with a guy who's like a land management personnel. And he's one of those guys. he's outside all the time. He carries his gear with him. I stop and think about that guy. He's absolutely chiseled. Yeah, he's just he's got little Ripley muscles on top, a little Ripley muscles. He's outside. He's moving. He's carrying things. I don't think he's setting up a gourmet meal that has cheesecake at the end, probably, you know what I mean, outfield so he's living that lifestyle he's getting and I think that really is what we're talking about. Right? Like there's, there's a lifestyle that leads to an end, just like, just like sitting around leads to an end. Moving around, leads to an end. Yes, I did. Really. I loved your idea of like, including someone else too. I mean, going all the way back to my story of when we were kids. It's my aunt grabbed her daughter. And I want to be clear, like I did not grow up in a family full of people like exercising. Right. There were two exercises I saw done in front of me in that time. It was those walks. And my cousin doing something that involved her going I must I must I must increase my and these are the only the only exercises I was ever witnessed. Oh, that's so fine. Second one did not work for her. If you're wondering,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 40:11
no, it won't work, although it's funny that we're both in the same category of having I totally remember that as well. Yeah.

Scott Benner 40:18
There was this thing with a spring, right? It was Yeah. And you were trying to make your I don't want to be in delicate. You're trying to make your boobs bigger. But that's not how that works.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 40:26
That's not how that works.

Scott Benner 40:30
out, you could have just had a little more milk as you were growing up and that might have done it. Yeah.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 40:36
No, but But yeah, definitely in involving someone else in your plan. keeps you motivated. Because again, you may be even checking in with them. Right. And if you wanted to go a little bit deeper, there are there even, you know, some some tracking apps, things like many of the tracking devices, the tracking watches and those kinds of things. They've got motivational things on them that will even tell you, hey, you know, like my watch, it tells me Hey, get up, you've got 250 steps to get in yet this hour, like you've clearly been sitting on your bottom. So get up and move some

Scott Benner 41:14
right say to like, for a lot of you. I mean, you might have a little natural anxiety to begin with pointed at something valuable. You know, like, if that's a great point, if that app is like, look, walk this many steps, or a lot of you whose personalities you're gonna go, Okay, well, I need to do this now. So sometimes just asking it of yourself is going to make it happen, because it's kind of how you're wired. You could be doing that with, with things that are not beneficial in your life and not realizing it. Like, it's interesting how we can turn things into tasks. Yeah, do you know the mean, and some of them are not always good, but they become repetitive and you do them anyway. Right? Okay. Well, I love the way you just said it now, like involve someone else in your plan. And I thought, if you're robbing a bank don't involve any exercising, tell people tell people? That's exactly right. I say that more than two people can't keep a secret. So eventually, someone's gonna snitch. In this situation, that'd be a great thing.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 42:15
That would be a good thing.

Scott Benner 42:15
What are we? Are we not saying anything that we should be here?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 42:19
Oh, I know, I'm trying to think. Well, I think it goes along with involve someone else, if you are the type of person who really needs some direction. And if you have the means, it may not be a bad idea, with motivation in the picture to just call a gym and see what it would be like to get a month's worth of a trainer. Right? Somebody who can give you a starting place where you are, and give you an idea of how to progress out of that. Even if you're not going to stick with them longer than a month, you've got an idea. Now you've got a base to continue to build on. And it may very well be money well spent.

Scott Benner 43:04
Yeah. Also, if you're looking for another reason to do that, it's a great place to meet people too. It is, you know, in a world where it's hard to meet other people, we were talking about this somewhere the other day. It's hard to date. It's hard to like it's hard to even, it's hard to meet people you're working. You know, some of us are working in our homes. There are days I just go out to go out, because I'm like, I gotta leave here. Now, you know, middle of the day yesterday, my mom was asking for something. I was like, I'll go to the store and see and my brother's like you don't live here. I'm like, I'll mail it to her. I just gotta get out of the house.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 43:39
So you need to see other people in real person

Scott Benner 43:43
fresh air. I got my car I drove I walked around a little bit. I was like, Thank You know, I needed to get away and you don't, it just becomes I don't know, like, the whole COVID locked down. It really shone a light on that for me that if I'm not careful. I could do this forever and ever and ever and ever and ever again and never break this cycle whatsoever. It's you know, it's there's always work to do. There's always something to do around the house like I could, you know, can easily become a shut in no problem. Right, you know, don't be a hermit. Yeah, Herman's Hermits, it's okay, but not like a regular hermit.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 44:21
Find your dog and you've got a dog. Yeah, find your dog. Take the dog to the dog park. You will see people there.

Scott Benner 44:27
I got a great walk the other day because my dog just wandered away. I'm trying to talk to my wife at the back door and we're having this conversation about something and I turned around I was like, where Where's where's the dog? So now I'm like, Oh, I know which way he likes to go and walk in that direction. Also, I stopped to get a sweatshirt because I'm delicate and it was chilly. So

Jennifer Smith, CDE 44:50
you can see your delicate Scott. You're not delicate. Got a

Scott Benner 44:54
little distance on me because I was like, I'm not going out with that sweatshirt. And then he's just five doors down standing in someone's backyard. And he's like, He's so old. And I was like, Andy, what are you doing buddy? And he looked up, he goes, Oh, hey, he looked at me like, I'm lost.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 45:11
I don't smell right anymore. So I don't know exactly which way to sniff back to where I'm really supposed to be. He looked

Scott Benner 45:17
at me like I was standing here waiting for you to come find me. And he's looked at me. He's like, and then he starts like, he forgets he's old. He starts to run. And then he's like, Oh, can we walk? And he looks at me like, let's let's not go too fast. I'm like,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 45:30
Can you pick me up? In fact,

Scott Benner 45:31
he's too big for that. But I hope that doesn't come to that. Oh, gosh. Anyway, Jennifer, I really appreciate you doing this very much course. Yes, thank you. I'll talk to you soon. Hi.

If you're enjoying the type two Pro Tip series, please share it with someone else who you think might also enjoy it. Let me thank better help for sponsoring this episode of the podcast and remind you that if you go to better help.com forward slash juice box you will save 10% off your first month of therapy. And don't forget that full line of contour meters at contour next.com forward slash juice box they are really accurate and very worth checking out. Contour next one.com forward slash juice box. Hey guys, if you're looking for community around your diabetes, check out the private Facebook group for the Juicebox Podcast. There's links in the show notes of your audio player. And if you'd like to hire Jenny, she works at integrated diabetes.com. Just head over there and ask for Jenny


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