Covid19 forced us to take a Pause from this busy life and bring in changes in our life style.
Ten such changes which I incorporated I swear-seem to be helping me to maintain a better Health.
(1) My Job : As an Engineer in a MNC, I & my team always used to give a Capex Plan for automation to increase overall productivity. Every year our Capex plan used to get postponed by our board of Directors with a plea that we don't need Automation in a country like ours where cheap man power is readily available.
But the complete lock down for 2- months brought the manufacturing to a grinding halt and the company lost billions....
Now the board has approved 20 times our original Capex plan to go for Robotics, AI (Artficial Intelligence) , Machine learning and the contract has already been awarded for execution.. Well, it will minimise human foot falls in the works....comply to the new norm of social distancing....
The immediate fall out is a lot of my colleagues who would be losing their jobs, some of them would be relocated / re-deployed... I feel very sorry.....
Those who would be given a Golden handshake, will get a decent Package though...
Well, my role is consultative and I will have to work from home though at a lesser salary...but I am fine with it... It dents me very little ... I would save in fuel , save in time and will work in comfort from my home and video Meeting with my senior management as and when required , will have sufficient time to take care of my Health which is already improving during last 3 months...
For my research work , I used to go to an University once a while and now I need not go.... VC discussion is allowed with my Professor ....
(2) Shopping, Groceries , Vegetables : I used to go to the super market/ Malls at least twice a week for shopping...
During the Covid19 Lockdown, I made the best use of the E-Commerce Apps to get all essentials door delivered at no extra cost...even medical help available on line through apps through video and audio.. medicines get door delivered....
The best part of this E commerce platforms is that you can easily return items if you don't like and get a quick refund in your walet....
Result.....save in fuel, save your personal time in travelling....
(3) Hair Cut: Females perhaps need not have to worry about a Hair Cut....Lucky are those males who are Bald...but I was bit unlucky during covid19 , my hair grows very fast and after a month it becomes like a big herbal bush.....I bought an electric/ Battery operated Hair trimmer through Amazon and trimmed my hair- DIY...you can have rear view mirror to trim from rear end or take the help of your family members to help you !
I think I will never ever go to a Hair cutting Saloon again...save in time , save fuel, and prevent spread of Virus....
(4) Multiplex: I live in a combined joint family though I never visit a multiplex to view a cinema, some of my younger family members used to go to a multiplex once a while... Now they are happy viewing through Netflix and TV large screen...They would never ever visit a cinema hall again in fear of virus.....
(5) Physical exercise :
I live in a Gated community with multi- storeyed building with lifts...I used to go to our community operated Gym downstairs for a work out on Treadmill... It calls for taking the lift down and walk for 5 Mnts to reach the Gym...
But during the Covid19 lockdown, the Gym and the swimming Pool were closed... and the lift being a very small and confined space where there was a fear of virus infection as lift gets used by many other people......and the lift switches gets handled by many people....stale air inside .....
For few days, I walked in the corridor and used stair case to walk down and up....
However, my knees started hurting me a little....
Therefore, I decided to invest in a Treadmill...fortunately we had enough space in my house to ear mark space for a mini Gym with a tread mill, few Dumb- bells, resistance tube etc etc...
It is a big change in my life style and it is worth every penny...for the health....
I do a treadmill walk for 20-30 mnts post every meal@ 5-6 kmph and I find a good control in blood sugar level... I swear....the best part of this investment is that my other family members who never used to go to Gym are also taking the advantage of the treadmill for a walk out ....
The ideal situation for a Diabete living is if you have a park or a mini forest nearby where you can go for a walk... Or if the location of a near by shop/ mini market is such that you can walk for 2-3kms through a forest or a Park for buying your daily essentials....
I have seen such places all over Europe especially Germany... I love....
Many of you may be lucky to have such an environment....you are with the nature and whenever you want -2-3 times a day .... Go for a walk with mother nature.....
(6) Yoga
My biological clock during the Pandemic was - Early to dinner @ 6-7 PM and early to Bed & 10.30 PM and early to Rise ..... I wake up @ 5- 5.30 AM everyday....Practice Yoga ....it is a easy to do kind of stretching exercises which makes your body , limbs flexible and enhances your blood circulation... Amazing benefits....there are few Yoga Asanas which are specially helpful to prevent diabetic leg conditions... If you are living in country like India....you should not miss yoga lessons ... It is all free... Even there are a lot of TV free channels streaming yoga....take advantage of that....especially a Pay channel Tata Sky fitness was made free during pandemic was very useful...
(7) Pranayama:
It is done at the end of Yoga session....
It is a Deep breathing exercise ...inhale and exhale .....there are many kinds ... It helps a lot in diabetes condition ...it helps you to maximise oxygen in your blood haemoglobin, exercises your lungs....
And keep doing simple Pranayam even when you are sitting, working ...
Just inhale deeply..... hold your breath for 10-15 seconds And exhale slowly and gradually .... tremendous benefits .....
(8) Jal Neti : it is a simple cleaning technique of your Nasal passages by warm saline water...you can also use the warm saline water for gargling in your throat...
It requires some supervision for beginner's.... Once , twice... Then you can do it on your own... Any one can do it....
You will find immediately , your senses i.e. smell, hear and eye sight have improved....
It will help clean your nasal passage respiratory tract to ward off virus if any inside ... You will get demo of Jall neti in You tube... However, at least some one physically should do a demo to you and first 2-3 times you should be doing it under supervision...though it is very safe...
By an advanced Yogic kriya, one can also clean the entire digestive system by warm saline water right from throat, stomach, Duodenum/small intestine, large intestine / colon....it requires yogic supervision ...
(9) Enhanced Immunity : There was an unanimous view of all nutritionists in the world that there are 3 vitamins namely Vitamin C, D, E which are also anti- oxidants known to scavenge free radicals from your body - very much essential to enhance your immunity...during these Covid19 times....and diabetes were said to be vulnerable as per data ...
Covid19 data from several countries indicated most Covid19 victims had extremely low level of vitamin D....
Vitamin C- There are a lot of natural fruits low in GI but are rich in vitamin C:
Guava, Lemon, Kiwi, Straw berry, Plum, Cherry, Cherry Tomatoes, capsicum, Orange...there is specifically one kind of orange where you can not peel by finger- you need a knife...very low GI vit C rich fruit..
I ate 100-150 gm of the above fruits (one or more types depending upon availability) with every meal....no spike in blood sugar at all... Please try and see....
Apart from vitamin C, these contain fiber , phyto nutrients...
Vitamin D- I was lucky to have open terrace and was able to get Sunlight exposure for 20-30 mnts between 10.30 AM to 1 PM...3 times a week....
You can also have D vitamin pills ... If you are diagnosed to have low vitamin level...
Vitamin E- If you take 50 GM's of pea nuts (dry roasted at slow flame) and 50 GM's of Almonds per day, you get enough vitamin E....Ensure you are not allergic to peanuts....
Almonds and peanuts are low in carbs, high in healthy fats MUFA, and protein....and also have plenty of Magnesium and zinc which are very much essential for a Diabete....
These are all time snacks...
Peanuts are very economical , available all round the year, does not spike your blood glucose at all. And you can use it as a all time snack if you mix it with chopped onions, corriander leaves, tomatoes....little rock salt to taste......
Please remember you don't go overboard...and exceed your daily overall calori requirement.
(10)
Diabete is a full time job...one can manage well if the person can afford to stay at home , eat all home made food.....
If you are working , see if you can opt for a work from home kind of job...or ensure you take up a 9 to 5 job in office and take your own home made food for your lunch... Remain active at works by brisk walk whenever possible....never use intercom.....walk up to your colleague...go to the bath room for sanitising your hand often, walk up to the pantry to have a cup of tea...
A big no to overnight work or a stressful job especially the shopfloor kind of job, and also a big No to a marketing job calls for travelling by Air to many locations....
Your biological clock gets disturbed and you are forced to eat outside ......and it would be difficult to maintain your overall health...
Last , but not the least, we had in the past many virus pandemic such as SARS, MERS, H1N1, Ebola, Nipah, Swine flu, Avian Flu , HIV, Plague... and now covid19.......yes, we may or may not have a successful vaccination.... keeping fingers crossed.... however even after a covid19 vaccination....there could be another novel virus pandemic in future .......virus is here to stay ... there are millions of virus in animal kingdom .... and it would keep visiting the planet since virus is a part and parcel of our life... So the best way is we need to keep our Body immunity strong....
The ideal way to know whether you are able to maintain your immunity is if you don't catch a cold and flu with sore throat , fever...and how long you can keep yourself free from such viral infection with your current life style....
Stay Safe and Stay Healthy !🙏
Yoga for Diabetes
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