As a diabetic, you know how important it is to maintain your weight and in some cases, reduce your weight. If you are a diabetic who also suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), this can be very challenging. COPD is an overall diagnosis that covers a lot of respiratory illnesses. The illnesses that are typically categorized in this group are emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and asthma. These disorders cause shortness of breath, and make exercise very difficult.
If you have diabetes, you know how important it is to exercise in order to keep your body and your blood glucose level under control and to improve your ability to breathe efficiently. How can you do this if exercise wears you out and makes it hard to breathe? You feel like you are caught between a rock and a hard place. However, there are ways that you can exercise and help control your diabetes without aggravating your COPD.
Everything Counts
It is important to remember that everything you do physically can count as exercise. If you are having difficult times breathing, and you still manage to get up and vacuum your house, that counts. You are up and moving, getting your body and your lungs going is exercise so don’t feel guilty if you do not get much else done.
Walking
Because of all the exercise information available, you may feel that in order to get a good physical work out, you have to run, this is not true. Walking is a great exercise for people with diabetes and people with COPD. It gets the blood flowing and can actually burn a lot of calories. For instance, for every mile a 150 pound person walks, they burn 250 calories. If a 200 pound person walked the same distance, they would burn 333 calories. Don’t think this is possible? Put on a pedometer and clean your house. Plug your numbers into a walking calculator, and take joy in the calories you have burned. You’ll be amazed at how far you are actually walking and how many calories you can burn doing your everyday routine.
Stationary Exercises
Some days, COPD just refuses to allow you to exercise. There are ways around this! Stationary exercises are just as beneficial as full movement exercises. Sitting in a chair, you can work out your arms and legs. Even if you don’t have the equipment, doing arm curls with a can of corn can help build muscles. The more muscle you have, the easier it is to burn fat on your good days so take advantage of your bad days as well. Any amount of weight lost can make it easier to get up and get moving and put less strain on your body in the long run.
Physical Trainer
Many people think that a physical trainer is only for people who are buff, and want to maximize their exercise. Physical trainers are not solely for people who want to build muscles on their muscles. They can help you come up with an exercise routine that works for you, and monitor how your body reacts to certain exercises. They can even help you develop breathing exercises that work for you, even on bad days.
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