If you feel like you lack the motivation to exercise, you are not alone. Physical activity is often easier said than done. It is so convenient to tell a person diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes who doesn’t exercise they should be active on at least three or four days a week. But you also have to consider a diabetic who is overweight and sedentary will have to make a drastic change to their lifestyle to go from being completely inactive to regularly active.

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If you are interested in bettering your health and your blood sugar levels, however, it’s a necessary change. If your aim is to treat or prevent a disease like Type 2 diabetes, you have no choice but to get active.

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But you may still be lacking the motivation to exercise: maybe your good intentions vanish when the time comes to lace up your sneakers. While you may be willing to exercise on occasion, most of the time it’s a commitment you have to push yourself to make. Going for a run takes discipline because it’s an effort you would rather avoid. Going to the gym requires you to convince yourself because it is easier to stay home and watch TV or surf the web.

The fact it’s simpler to do something else rather than exercise will never change. But since you know it’s what needs to be a part of your lifestyle plan; you owe it to yourself to see it through.

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If it helps, establish exercise goals to boost your motivation. A goal particularly challenging but achievable can be rewarding and does wonders for your motivation. For instance, committing yourself to a 5-kilometer race at the end of the year. It’s beneficial to have something to aim for. Not to mention completing a race you trained hard for is immensely rewarding, even if you don’t consider yourself an athlete.

What is more is if you are currently overweight and unfit, you have no choice but to get in shape for such an event. It will take time, but as long as you push yourself to do your runs a few times a week, you will get there.

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Lastly, knowing your health will improve with each week of physical activity should be all the motivation you need to be physically active. It’s not going to be easy to exercise each and every time, but it helps to know you will never regret a workout once you commit to it.

A bonus is once you develop a habit of physical activity, you will rarely think twice about it. You will find you don’t need to convince yourself to exercise because you have become so used to it: exercise will have become such an important part of your life. It goes without saying this is where you want to be.

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Don’t forget to talk to your doctor about your diet and exercise program to make sure you are ready to exercise, and make adjustments for your blood sugar levels.

Although managing your disease can be very challenging, Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. You can make simple changes to your daily routine and lower both your weight and your blood sugar levels. Hang in there, the longer you do it, the easier it gets.  By Beverleigh H Piepers