Exercise can be challenging, both in trying to make it safe and in trying to make it fun. Included below are some tips for both:

Make Exercise Safe

Update your health care provider. It's important to include your physician in your decision to exercise, but it's also important to keep them in the loop with your successes and failures. You may need changes in your medications if exercise becomes a habit, or you may need to discuss changes related to your disease. Keeping them informed will help to keep you safe.

• Carry glucose. If you take insulin, or some oral medications, you may run the risk of low blood glucose, or hypoglycemia. That is because exercise increases insulin sensitivity. Carry something that can be easily digested, such as glucose tablets, lifesavers, or a snack-sized bags of skittles.

• Carry identification or your phone. It is important for you to be able to reach out to someone for help if needed. A medical Identification (ID) tag sharing that you have diabetes is a practical way for you to let others know about your condition should they need to. You can get medical IDs in multiple bracelets, watchbands, or necklaces with any number of colors or designs.

• Don't do too much too soon. Many get excited by the idea of improving their health, only to give up the attempt because they try to do too much too soon and end up with sore muscles and dejected by what happened. Be sure to start off slowly and increase slowly, both in the time, and the intensity of your exercise

Make Exercise Fun

Exercise must have an element of fun to it. Even if you enjoy exercise, there will be days where a little fun is needed to get you through the workout. Here are some ideas on how to make it fun.

• Bring a friend. Exercising with someone will provide reinforcement for you to be there - you don't want to let that person down. This journey together could actually strengthen the bonds of your friendship.

• Mix up your workout - We can get stuck into the same patterns of exercise; the same cardio, the same resistance exercises, the same type of stretching. Try something different, a different activity, new strengthening exercises, or plan your activity in a new area (for example, if you walk in a local park, try another park)

• Join a gym. It can be a great motivator to see other like-minded people exercising

• Take a class. Exercises classes are supposed to be fun - because they are! Most classes are done with an uptempo music track and choreographed by exercise professionals. They wouldn't be so popular if they weren't so much fun!