Take control - Global Diabetes Awareness

TAKE CONTROL! EVEN IF IT IS FOR JUST 15 MINUTES!

 

Enjoying the Durban Beachfront (photo courtesy Pure Photographic Studio) 

With 24 hours in a day, how much time do you take, not only for yourself, but for your family and friends as well?

Annually on November 14^th, World Diabetes Day is celebrated. This day is a global observance aimed at raising awareness and educating people about this dreaded disease, its complications and the care that people with this condition need.  

 In light of World Diabetes Day, the annual Diabetes SA Global Walk – Durban, now in its fourth successful year, will be taking place on Sunday, November 29^th starting and finishing from the Lower Marine Parade Amphitheatre at the Bay of Plenty at 8am. This 5km fun walk encourages the public to start taking control of their lives, one step at a time and hopes to see over 3000 walkers in attendance.

In the lead up to the walk try setting aside just 15 minutes to focus on ways to combat or prevent this disease by embracing a healthy lifestyle change.  Start with a plan to perform light daily exercises, as well as, look at formulating a healthy eating plan.

When it comes to incorporating exercise into your day; just 15 minutes of exercise a day can provide important health benefits.  Each time you complete a 15 minute session it will add up until you have hours of fitness under your belt.  Doing something is always better than doing nothing.

Your 15 minutes of something will add up to 1 hour and 45 minutes of fitness each week or 4.5 hours of fitness each month.  That’s pretty impressive if you are doing less than that now.

 One should compensate for the fact that we sit for a huge amount of our day as we commute to work, sit at a desk at work, and frequently come home to a sofa or another desk.  If we don’t increase our activity levels during the parts of our day we can control, then we will gain weight. 

So, how can you increase the activity in your day?  There are endless ways but here are some to consider – Remember, your goal is to add movement throughout your day, every day. 

  Try this.

·         March in place or walk around when you brush your teeth

·         Spend part of your lunch break walking and take walk breaks during the day even if you are only taking the long way to the copy machine and bath room

·         Walk while your children are at ball practice or dance lessons

·         Plant a flower, herb and/or vegetable garden

·         Do something active with your children or friends every day like throwing a football or Frisbee, playing tennis, flying a kite, playing hopscotch or jump rope

·         Walk around your yard or neighbourhood every morning or evening 

·         Stand up and move when talking on the phone

·         Walk around the floor or office frequently during the day

·         Take the stairs instead of the elevator

·         Park in the ‘far away’ spots

 

Try to do everything on your list every day. These tasks will keep you up and moving and will burn many more calories than sinking into the comfy sofa at the end of your day.  Making a list keeps you on track and helps you stay focused.

 

Now that Diabetes SA has given you some encouragement and tips to better your lifestyle, you can now register for the walk by simply collecting your entry form from the Diabetes SA Durban office at Davenport Square in Glenwood at Office 62 on the 1st floor where personnel will be on duty to help with the registration process.

The first 1000 early bird entries will receive a T-Shirt & goodie-bag and the following 500 will only receive a T-Shirt. All this for just R50 a person with all proceeds going to this worthy cause.

Registration will be open from 9am until 3pm from November 16^th – 28^th for collection of goodie-bags and registration enquiries. No goodie-bags or T-shirts will be handed out on the day of the event!

There will be loads of lucky draws taking place after the walk where one can win fantastic prizes including a TV, family getaways to the Berg, the Bush, the Beach or the Battlefields, courtesy of the Gooderson Leisure Hospitality Group. There’ll also be a wellness expo at the amphitheatre where free blood sugar, blood pressure & kidney function checks will take place.

For more detailed information regarding the above guideline tips contact the Diabetes SA-Durban office on 0847177443 during office hours or email durban@diabetessa.org.za. For more information about the event call Pat from Nerve Events during office hours on 0312012169 or visit www.facebook.com/diabetessouthafricadurban