EAT LESS, WALK MORE - ENJOYABLE EATING FOR TYPE 2 DIABETES
Table 7. Activity checklist
• Walk or ride a bicycle to work
• Park your car further away from the shop
• Walk to the shop to buy your daily newspaper
• Take the stairs, not the lift
• Do some gardening or mow the lawns
• Get off the bus before the final stop

Every day and every way...
‘Take exercise regularly not seriously’ implies that people should not regard exercise as a special activity. Suggest patients make a commitment to make activity part of their day. Help patients establish a specific time of each day for exercise to stop them from continually putting it off. For example, a patient may schedule in a 30 minute walk each morning before breakfast. Write an exercise prescription that will emphasise the importance of increasing activity in overall diabetes management (Figure 4).

Remove the remote
Patient’s should also be encouraged to include as much ‘incidental’ activity as possible. Reverse the trend toward labour saving devices (eg. remote controls, escalators, lifts, cars). Suggest they walk or ride the long way rather than the shortest way to their destinations, walk the dog, take the stairs instead of using the lift and take a brisk walk at lunch time. Introduce them to a pedometer – a small device that attaches to clothing and measures the number of steps taken. Patients can wear the pedometer and check the ‘mileage’ each day and gradually increase daily targets. Aim for 8000–10 000 steps per day instead of an average of only 3000–4000 steps.

Figure 4. Exercise prescription