What Can You Bring to the Table This Thanksgiving? Let’s Talk About Getting Active
Thanksgiving is a day filled with food, football, and great conversations with family! While you and your loved ones spend time together safely this Thanksgiving, consider talking about your family health history.
Bringing conversations about type 2 diabetes to the table is important. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a family history of type 2 diabetes is a risk factor for prediabetes, a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough yet for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Discussing your family’s health history is a great way to be aware of potential risks and start your journey to improving your health.
At the table, make a plan for something active you all can do together after the big meal. Physical activity is important – it can help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. It can also help you be healthier, live longer, and spend more time having fun with your family. Encourage your family to include more physical activity during this holiday season. Remind them to get up and get moving!
Making time to add physical activity into your Thanksgiving weekend shouldn’t be a big task. Start small by walking a little more or just moving around the house. Here are some helpful tips to try this Thanksgiving:
1. Take a walk or hike before and/or after the Thanksgiving meal. It’s a great way to get some fresh air and bonding time with loved ones. It also helps with digestion!
2. Park farther away. When prepping for Thanksgiving, you may need to make several trips to the grocery store. This is a perfect opportunity to get moving by parking farther away from the store’s entrance.
3. Split the family into groups and do a lip-syncing dance contest. Show off your dance moves and get the body moving while lip syncing to your favorite songs.
4. Before the day ends, work together to clean up the house or yard to get ready for the next celebration. You may want to just lay back and let all that tasty food sit, but this is a perfect time to get up and get moving! Play some music and dance around while you clean up the kitchen or rake up leaves.
Looking for more ways to include movement into your lifestyle? ECHN’s Diabetes Wellness Center runs a CDC-led National Diabetes Prevention Program lifestyle change program, that takes place virtually and in person, and can help you learn more about how to add these healthy habits into your routine and reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. For more information on the National Diabetes Prevention Program lifestyle change program, click here.
