2. GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR APPETITE
Many of us have lost touch with our appetites. We tend to eat for all sorts of reasons other than hunger, including boredom, stress or just because the food is there or someone else around us is eating. The idea here is to only eat when you’re hungry and to stop when you are satisfied (not full).
How do you know when it’s time to eat and when you should stop? You don’t want to wait until you are starving to eat, or you are likely to eat too much, but you should be a little bit hungry when you sit down to a meal. Then you need to stop eating when you feel satisfied (i.e.: ‘I enjoyed that meal and am no longer hungry’) and not when you’re full (i.e.: ‘I shouldn’t have eaten that last mouthful’). Eating slowly will help you to recognise when you get to this point, before it’s too late.
3. PLAN YOUR MEALS AND EXERCISE
Being organised is your key to success. Without a plan, it’s all too easy to get caught up in day-to-day life and never get around to fitting in exercise or making those dietary changes you were aiming for. So, plan your meals for the week, make time for shopping, set aside an afternoon to cook up meals for the week and schedule exercise in your diary like you do other important commitments.
4. REST AND RELAX
High levels of stress can worsen insulin resistance (the underlying problem in type 2 diabetes), lead to weight gain and cause havoc with blood glucose levels. Not only that, when you’re tired and stressed it’s hard to get motivated to make healthy lifestyle changes. Taking steps to reduce your stress levels, as well as scheduling time to kick back, is an important part of your health and wellbeing plan.
