First and foremost is diet. Food has the most direct impact on blood sugar levels so always use your doctors guidelines to create their meal plans.

Get ready for 5-6 well balanced meals a day, ever adding up micro nutritional values to ensure balance and control of your blood sugar. How many grams of protein, carbohydrates, and fat that every meal contains should always be on your mind, but the end substantiates the means.

Once you learn how to run your body on the exact amount of fuel it needs, you can lose weight and gain muscle simultaneously. If you cut down on the calories but still get the right balance right between protein, carbs, and fats; you can just get lean and healthy.

Believe me I know what I am talking about; I lost 150 pounds 10 years ago. I have been able to keep it off because I developed a new eating lifestyle, I do not go on diets.

Second is exercise. Your exercise regimen should have three components stretching, cardiovascular, and weight lifting. There are two very important roles of stretching in the life of the diabetic.

First is increased blood flow to the extremities to prevent diabetic neuropathy and allow the movement of pharmaceuticals. The second is injury prevention.

Stretching before and after your workout is the best way to prevent injury and insure that the maximum amount of muscle fibers are exposed to stress. Do a quick warm-up walk, if time allows, before you start your stretches. The increased blood flow to your bone, muscles, and connective tissue will give you

an increase range of motion (ROM) on your stretches right off the bat.

While doing your cardiovascular training you burn fat most efficiently when your heart rate is at the correct level for your age group, typically just shy of heavy breathing in a healthy adult. If you perform your cardiovascular training at a higher heart rate, heavy breathing, your body will start to burn muscle as its primary energy source.

This is why runners carry very little muscle even though they get a tremendous workout every day, because they work over the optimal heart rate. The most important aspect of weight training is the metabolic boost you receive from an increase in muscle mass. Your body has to work hard to sustain muscle; thus your metabolism goes up to bring more oxygen and nutrients to your muscles.

The third major impact comes from stress. Stress is physical and it affects ever part of our being, mental and physical. Please do the best you can to keep to yourself happy.

Everyone knows by now that stress in our daily lives manifests itself physically. Bills, work, family, disease, etc. The more stressed you are, the more likely you are to increase your risk of making your diabetes worse.

Do your best to stay in control of your stress by the use of any technique you like, yoga, walking, working out, time with the family, hitting a punching bag; what ever makes you happy.

The fourth is heredity; if you have a family history of diabetes, you MUST alter your life to beat the odds or at least gain further control of your life. You can not change your family history, but you can control everything else that impacts your diabetes.

The reality of diabetes cannot be neglected. My hope for you is that following the suggestions and guidelines that your doctors and I set out will allow you to gain the highest possible level of diabetes control.

Take an active roll in your life; do not except the fact that this disease is going to completely control your life.

Many of my clients have been cleared by their doctors to at least decrease the level of pharmaceutical control factors. Every less blood sugar test and shot will make your life better. You need to get yourself to that point.

Control the disease, do not let it control you!