Hello, my friend, and welcome to The Diabetic Toolbox, where we are on a mission to end Type 2 diabetes, one family at a time, through education, support, and empowerment. If this is our first time meeting, my name is Renee. I am an emotional eating and diabetes lifestyle coach and yoga teacher.
Today, we are talking about something I think many of us have done more times than we would probably like to admit. We decide we are going to make a change, but instead of starting today, we pick a future date. We are going to start Monday. We are going to start on the first of the month. We are definitely going to start January 1.
I don’t know who decided that changing our lives has to begin on a Monday, the first of the month, or January 1, but we’ve got to stop doing this to ourselves. If you have been telling yourself you need to start walking to manage your blood sugar, improve your mobility, or simply become more active, forget about creating the perfect walking schedule today.
Put your shoes on and walk for ten minutes. That’s today’s plan. Ten minutes. You don’t have to buy anything. You don’t need a gym membership. You don’t need to wait until your schedule clears up. And you certainly don’t have to wait until January 1.
What Could Ten Minutes a Day Change?
Right now, all over social media, creators are talking about the Great Lock In. The idea is to use the final 90 days of the year, October 1 through December 31, to choose a couple of goals and really focus on them. Instead of waiting for the new year to decide what you want to change, you begin working on it now. I like the basic idea, but I want to challenge you to go one step further.
Why wait until January 1? If you know something you want to change, you can start today. And because we are all about making movement a realistic part of blood sugar management here at The Diabetic Toolbox, I hope you will consider making walking one of your goals. You don’t have to begin with an hour-long walk or hit 10,000 steps every day. Ten minutes after dinner is a perfectly reasonable place to begin.
You could walk around your neighborhood, walk through the halls of your apartment building, walk around a store, use a walking video at home, or simply set a timer and walk back and forth through your house. Now think about this. What would happen if you walked for just ten minutes after dinner every day between now and January 1? You wouldn’t arrive at the new year thinking about starting.
You would arrive already having built a walking routine. And once ten minutes starts feeling comfortable, maybe you walk for twelve minutes, then fifteen, then twenty. That’s how something that once felt difficult can slowly become part of your everyday life.
If You’re Ready for More Than Ten Minutes
And maybe you’re reading this thinking, Renee, ten minutes sounds doable, but I know myself. I will walk today, maybe tomorrow, and then life will happen, and I’ll stop. That’s exactly why I created the 30-Day Walking & Blood Sugar Challenge. Sometimes knowing what to do isn’t the problem. We need a plan that tells us what to do next and support that helps us keep showing up.
The program gives you a beginner-friendly, progressive walking plan; Mediterranean-style meal support; pre- and post-walking stretches; a weight training guide; email support; a private community; and the Ask the Coach feature, so you don’t have to figure everything out by yourself.
But you don’t have to make that decision before you start. Your first assignment is still the same. Put on your shoes and walk for ten minutes today. When you come back, ask yourself one question: Could I do this again tomorrow? If you say yes, you’ve already started.
Thank you so much for spending a few minutes with me today. Let us know in the comments: If you committed to walking for ten minutes a day between now and January 1, what do you think could change for you?
Until next time, take care of yourself and each other,
With Peace & Love,
Renee
