I Need Some Exercise!

Ugh! I’m going stir crazy! I need some exercise! Omg. Did I just say that? I hate exercise...so what’s happening to me? Oh yes, stay home, social distancing. Hmmm. This is not going to help my diabetes. Great, something else to worry about.

Diabetes management before the coronavirus

In looking after my diabetes, I would eat breakfast before I went to work, I’d have one coffee with it. I would carefully pack my lunch for the day. I knew exactly how many carbs I would be taking in. Normally my job would involve limited amounts of being in the office. I would be out doing my work in the community. I would be moving around a lot. I would be getting exercise of some sort. It wouldn’t be intentional exercise, it would be more unintentional. It would just naturally happen.

There were those days, however, where I would be in the office for a half or full-day. I would still get exercise, but I made it intentional exercise. Let me explain. Prior to our worldwide situation, my employer moved our organization to a new location. This had been planned for years and was finally coming to fruition. Because of this move, there was no parking on site. I would park past the new building. I would walk back to the plaza where the new office was located, walk across the plaza to the escalator (there are no stairs) in the middle, then walk the rest of the way to the back of the building. Inside the new office, my work area was at the far side, the very back. I would get up frequently from my desk just to move around. If I had to send documents for printing, I would send them one at a time, getting up to retrieve each one separately. Needless to say with either type of day, I could easily get 6000 steps in for the day, no problem.

Life during the coronavirus

For the most part, my job has been moved to my home. I work well from home. I have a place to set up my home ‘office’. So far, the remote technology is working pretty darn good too. So I’m very lucky. I still have a job. I have a place to work. And my job can be done remotely.

Now, I’m stuck in the home office. My home is not huge. My youngest child has moved back home as he has finished his Master's degree and is looking for employment. My home is stuffed full. Getting exercise within the home is very difficult. Getting exercise outside is challenging at best for a few reasons. The virus for one. Social distancing for another. The weather is still another - spring often brings rain. Mother nature in my area of the world is confused. One day it’s sunny and warm, the next it’s rainy, then it gets cold and snows. Try to get out for a socially distant walk in that nonsense.

Diabetes management during the coronavirus

So where does that leave my diabetes when half my treatment program is compromised? Not in a great place.

Carb counting

The food half I can control. I’m not doing too bad with that. I am calculating the carbs I’m taking in. I am both scanning and poking to get reliable numbers so I can judge what else I need to do. I am altering my carb intake to help when needed. Since numbers are rarely perfect with type 2 diabetes, mine will be even less perfect now that my exercise has been almost all but eliminated! Or so I thought.

Taking the stairs

Here’s what I have been doing to help. My home office is downstairs. Instead of using the bathroom right beside my office, I go up the stairs and use the main one. Also, the kitchen is upstairs. It may not be much but those trips can add up.

Using breaks for exercise

While working at home, I am still entitled to my breaks: mid-morning, lunch, and mid-afternoon. I have been doing my best to walk around my backyard. It’s amazing how many laps I can do after I eat my lunch. In my 2 fifteen minute breaks, I get out a couple of cans of soup and I use them for my resistance exercises.

Scheduling time for movement

A physiotherapist I know also suggested setting a timer on my phone and move around every 15 minutes, just for a few minutes. Yes, it can be disruptive to my workday, and it is, so I don’t do it every 15 minutes. I just do it a couple of times. I figure every little bit helps and my numbers are showing it.

Venturing outdoors

My husband and I are going to try a walk outside of our fenced-in yard today. Our health officials said we can do this provided we abide by the rules because our mental health is important too. We have been monitoring the street to see when the best time of day is to go, when there are the least amount of people out. That is when we will head out for our much-needed relief from the house.

Finding old exercise materials

A lightbulb came on too. I have stretchy bands! Now if I can only find them in the chaos of my home...Oh well. Everything is a work in progress.

How are you exercising at home?