A cold shower
Recently, I was giving a talk to a group of 250 diabetes sufferers. The speaker man before me was an imminent endocrinologist specializing in diabetes. For an hour, he inundated the group with statistics on the various conditions of diabetics and, above all, on their life expectancy. He couldn’t stop depressing them. X% will have to inject insulin one day. X% will go blind. X% will need amputations. X% of men will be impotent, etc. Finally, he concluded his diatribe by saying that to be diabetic was to have a life expectancy 10 years less than the average population. Ouch! What a cold shower for the participants.
The other side of the coin
Suddenly his speech did a 180 degree turn and became positive and motivating. According to him, diabetics have two extraordinary tools at their disposal to counteract these depressing statistics. Eat better to lose weight. 2. train on a regular basis. The doctor then presented other statistics that showed that diabetics who lost weight and trained regularly could virtually reverse the negative effects of diabetes and could even manage to enjoy a near-normal life. He cited several cases of people who, after losing weight and starting to train, had stopped injecting insulin. The effect was instantaneous and people began to be aware of the extraordinary power they had over their health.
Worth the effort
Whether you have diabetes or not, if weight loss and training can help diabetics, imagine what it can do for our other health problems? Let’s face it, achieving a healthy weight and training improves overall health. It improves cardiovascular capacity, increases energy levels, helps you sleep better, reduces depression, decreases stress, helps digestion, improves self-confidence, puts a smile on your face and so on.
Like the 250 diabetics who came out of that evening full of hope and good intentions, I say to you…. Here’s to your health!
