If you have just been diagnosed with diabetes, it is important that you make some immediate changes to your lifestyle and dietary patterns. If you are a long term diabetic, then it is important to assess your current situation and see if you are headed in the right direction. Here are some dietary and lifestyle changes you can make to manage diabetes:

Manage stress levels
The autonomous nervous system, which consists of parasympathetic and sympathetic nerves, largely manages your flight or fight situation. It is also responsible for the release of cortisol. As a diabetic, one is prone to increased cortisol levels.

As a newly diagnosed diabetic — it is important to cultivate the habit of mindfulness and to ensure that you do not allow daily stress to overwhelm you. Sometimes frivolous life situations could trigger intense reactions, thus increasing stress, which in turn has a severe impact on your sugar levels.

As a long term diabetic, you can beat stress by indulging in healthier habits like taking a vacation or signing up for some volunteering activities. The body certainly needs time to recoup especially for a long term diabetic.

Exercise regularly
For a newly diagnosed diabetic, some kind of physical activity every day is a must. It could be a 30-minute walk or a 15-minute jog or just about any of your favorite workouts. Research has shown that those who manage to get a minimum of 5 days of work out a week are largely able to control their blood sugar and do not become insulin-dependent too soon.

In the case of a long term diabetic who has been following a regular exercise regime, it is important that they look at finer details like the kind of shoes they wear. It is quite known that any injury takes a long time to heal for a diabetic. For a long term diabetic, the chances of infection are far too high. Hence, it is imperative that the person changes their footwear often and uses the right footwear as per the nature of their workouts.

Watch your food intake
A newly diagnosed diabetic would surely find it difficult to restrict their diet and change to the new lifestyle pattern. However, their immediate goal would be to do this and switch to healthier food habits. Examples would be to reduce their alcohol consumption, smoking, consumption of fatty foods and beverages that are high in sugar.

For a long term diabetic, they should revisit their portion size and reduce it further. The frequency of consumption can be increased so that it helps metabolism and the blood sugar levels are managed.

When it comes to making dietary and lifestyle changes to manage diabetes, whether you have been diagnosed recently or earlier, the intensity of changes can determine your future. Be mindful and consistent in all your efforts. Keep monitoring and reminding yourself that managing diabetes is all about watching everything you eat.