Walk your way to lower blood sugar in 20 minutes

As a wellness coach, I was shocked when my obstetrician told me I had failed my gestational diabetes test. I thought I was doing all the right things to have a healthy pregnancy. I avoided sweet treats and fatty foods. I exercised daily and managed my weight gain. And yet, despite my health background and best efforts, I still developed diabetes.

Gestational diabetes occurs when blood sugar levels become elevated during pregnancy and typically go back to normal after the baby’s birth. Treatment includes exercise and special meal plans and requires routine blood-sugar testing. If gestational diabetes can’t be controlled through these healthy habits, insulin injections are necessary to protect the mother and baby.

My physician informed me that gestational diabetes has very little to do with diet and more to do with a hormone produced by the placenta that prohibits your body from using insulin properly. After my diagnosis, I began the process of pricking my finger every two hours and logging the results. It wasn’t until I began reviewing my readings that something significant stood out: the power of the post-meal walk.

It’s natural for your blood sugar to spike after eating, especially if you consume a diet rich in carbs. One to two hours later, blood-sugar levels should return to normal. But when someone has diabetes, blood glucose can remain elevated for hours following a meal. It’s for this reason that the timing of exercise can be so valuable in controlling blood sugar levels because muscles will use this glucose as energy to fuel your walk.

With this in mind, I made going for a 20-minute post-meal walk a priority. And when I returned, I’d check my glucose level. It was always considerably and consistently lower compared with days I wasn’t active after eating.

More than 37 million Americans — one out of 10 people — have diabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vast majority have type 2 diabetes, which is when the body struggles to properly regulate blood-sugar level. While people with type 1 diabetes must take insulin, people with type 2 diabetes can often control their condition with healthy eating and regular exercise, though some people with type 2 still require insulin injections.

» READ MORE: Seniors with prediabetes should eat better, get moving, but not fret too much about diabetes

Regardless of whether you have diabetes, a post-meal walk can help reduce your blood sugar and even lower your risk of developing this very dangerous condition.

Here are my top three tips for making the most out of your post-meal walk:

Be consistent. When it comes to working out, consistent effort will always yield greater results than periodic exercise. Think of exercise like brushing your teeth — a task that’s built into your daily routine. Exercise must be done consistently to generate an impactful result.

Consider scheduling your post-meal walk in your calendar just as you would a dentist visit, or any other priority in your life. When you write it down, you’re more likely to do it. And the more you engage in exercise, the better you will feel, the healthier you will be, and the more momentum you will gain to keep going.

Make fitness a family affair. Finding motivation to move can be challenging. But by enlisting the help of your family for support, their comradery can make exercise adherence a reality. Whenever you’re scheduled to walk, invite them to join. Not only will it improve your health, but it also will also enhance the well-being of your loved ones, as well. Getting away from distractions such as the television or cellphone also creates the perfect setting for family bonding over healthy choices.

If you’re at the office, extend an exercise invitation to a coworker. This can start a wellness trend that motivates more coworkers to walk with you, and as a result, improves your odds of sticking with your workout. Outside influencers are extremely important when it comes to fulfilling your fitness goals.

Find ways to make fitness fun. Most people ditch their exercise efforts because their brain and body grow bored with the same old stale routine. But by finding ways to keep fitness fun, something amazing happens: It transforms from being tedious to something you actually look forward to doing.

One of the easiest ways to refresh something as basic as walking is to change your scenery and landscape. Check out some hiking trails in your area. Trekking through hilly terrain is a great way to pump up your heart rate, burn more calories, and build bigger muscles. Or for those who live near the water, a walk on the uneven sand works wonders toward improving ankle and core stability, as well as strengthening cardiovascular health.

If you’re a city dweller, add little bursts of energy into your walk by jogging up a set of stairs, as at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, or exploring Kelly Drive. These experiences excite the entire system, making it an activity you’ll enjoy.

Ashley Blake Greenblatt is a certified personal trainer and wellness coach in South Jersey. Learn more about her virtual training program at ashleyblakefitness.com.