Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation

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Barriers to exercise

I'm new here. I have recently been diagnosed with T2D and my doctor has told me I need to exercise more. I find it hard with my injuries and lack motivation. Does anyone have any tips or experience similar issues?

5 Replies

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Hi lukedeme I have both type 2 (for 3 years) and Pernicious Anaemia (for 46 years) making my options for exercise limited.

However a year or so ago I bought a small electrically power assisted exercise bike which I use whilst sat in my armchair, It has a remote control to adjust speed and length of session and I do 20 minutes a day.

I purchased it from House of Bath but sadly they do not appear to retail that model any more but have a look and search "exercise".

I wish you well

Well done Clivealive. Being so positive. Being a little active is good for anyone. We practice hand & arm exercises at one of the groups I go to. Keep at it Clivealive.

Non what so ever ! Keep active for your own benefit long term.

Have you tried talking to physiotheraptist - should be able to give you advice on forms of exercise that are appropriate to any pre-existing conditions.

On the motivation - that's more difficult - being diagnosed is going to be quite a massive thing anyway and may have left you feeling a bit low - one of the things about depression is that it can lead to the link between motivation and action being reversed so sometimes you really do need to actually start doing something and then you find that you do actually want to do it.

Hello Lukedeme

My colleagues have made some good suggestions. We can easily fall into a category where our condition can cause depression, low self esteem and build barriers. Although you don't stress what injuries you have, I would hazard a guess that maybe walking exercise is off the chart for now. There are some amazing armchair exercises that can be done and if you can imagine that your movement is burning calories as it would be, you could actually make a game out of it or a challenge that you feel you could master. A physiotherapist may be one avenue or explore the internet as a matter of personal research. The best way to counter the conditions is to take that challenge and make something out of it. After all, you are the beneficiary and it should improve your health and personal outlook. Give it a go and hope that helps to change things for you.