Type 2 Diabetes prevention

Filed under Health , Weight Management

Healthy Lifestyle Habits to Prevent Diabetes

Some diabetes risks are inherent - elements like age, household history, and ethnic background.  Other medical risks include hypertension or being obese.  Your physician can advise you on diet modifications and particular workouts or medicines.  You can take steps yourself by giving up smoking, and lowering your cholesterol and blood pressure.

Research done by the Harvard School of Public Health and released in The New England Journal of Medicine discovered that being obese was the single most critical threat that predicted who would encounter type 2 diabetes. Throughout a 16 year follow-up duration, research outcomes revealed that routine workout-- a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week-- and an enhanced diet plan that's reduced in fat and high in fiber substantially reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes.

The bottom line - Type 2 diabetes can be avoided by changing your lifestyle habits and ensuring healthy habits instead of poor habits.

In an additional research, the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study Group, analysts checked the results of weight management, diet plan, and workout on type 2 diabetes avoidance in even more than 500 patients who were obese as well as had pre-diabetes or borderline diabetes with an impaired dental glucose tolerance examination. They concluded that with increase in fat burning and increasing exercising levels, individuals at high risk of establishing diabetes can minimize their threat of Type 2 diabetes by more than 50 %.

Medicine's Role in Diabetes Prevention

New research reveals that medicine can assist in reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance-- and not simply in regulating Type 2 diabetes as soon as you have it.  There are a number studies that reveal that diabetes medication, together with a healthy way of living, can minimize the threat of establishing diabetes in a high-risk individual.

One medical trial, “The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)”, carried out by the National Institute of Health (NIH), revealed that individuals who have a high risk for establishing Type 2 diabetes (borderline diabetes or pre-diabetes) can minimize that danger by 31 % when utilizing the prescription diabetes medicine Metformin along with lifestyle and diet changes. While this is substantial, the NIH research likewise revealed that the threat of diabetes might be lowered even more -- by 58 %-- with extensive lifestyle changes alone (particularly - nourishment and workout therapy).

If you’re at risk for diabetes because you need lifestyle changes URGravity can help you get on track.   We make it easy for you take control of your diabetes management by offering you the tools you need to control your blood pressure, weight, diet and exercise.

The URGravity Team

10 lb Challenge - First Week

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One week in; had a great first week getting started on my 10 pound goal.  Since I've lost 45 pounds over the last year I've reduced my body fat considerably so my body will resist at some point.  The first few days went well reducing my body fat by eating a low fat diet and keeping my exercise level high (working out 3 days for an hour each).  Celebrating Mother's day with the family was fun as we ended up having a family dinner.  At dinner I made healthy choices by eating a steak and salad.

You'll notice my natural cycle of weight loss over the week.  For those that are worried about weighing often I understand that you don't want bad news everyday.  Making healthy choices will allow your weight to cycle lower overtime.  Tracking it daily allows you to see your pattern.  As you see mine below.  My natural cycle is to be at my highest weight at the beginning of the week and lower later in the week.  This is likely because I usually don't work out on the weekend and spend time with family and friends which means eating and drinking more than normal.

Here's my updated stats.

Sleep – 6.7 hours Average for the week... I caught up some on the weekend by sleeping in a little later

Diet – I ate the typical low fat, low carbs diet.  Most of my meals included a mix of veggies, fruit, protein and dairy.  I did eat steak over the weekend, which was higher in fat than normal. 

Exercise – 3 days of exercise last week.  Playing basketball for about an hour each time.  This consisted of running and moving pretty constantly for an hour.  

Weight – My weight today is 197.9 and Monday's are usually my heaviest of the week.  Your pattern may be different.

Feeling – I feel great.  I haven't been hungry, I've started getting more sleep, my exercise has been just about right.

 I'm ahead of schedule for my goal and more than 50% on the way there.   

Think you can lose 10 pounds?  Let's compete!  Set up your URGravity account goal with an end date of 6/17 and add your name to the community challenge area.  You can find that area here.  

10 lb Challenge – Day 3

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Day 3 is down.  Wow, I've lost another 2.5 pounds.  This is going much better than I expected.  I'm making good decisions because I know if I'm going to exercise that day, I plan out what I'm going eat and get a good nights rest.

Here's my updated stats.

Sleep – 5.98 hours… I didn't really get enough sleep last night and I felt it all day.  Got to try to catch a little more rest.

Diet – Again, I ate a low fat, low carb diet by having a bagel with low fat spread for breakfast, salad and fruit for lunch, afternoon snack of more yogurt/w berries and then a normal healthy dinner.  I did grab a couple of drinks with friends after work but no real impact on my weight.

Exercise – No exercise today.  I only exercise a few times a week and I try to make the most of those times.

Weight – 200.2 (Down another 2.5 pounds from yesterday).  I need to keep an eye on this so I don't lose too much all at once.  Your body will react by storing fat if it thinks that you're losing weight too quickly.

Feeling – I feel great.  I have to make sure I keep enough calories in me so that my body doesn't think I'm starving.  So far not overly hungry; I eat many small meals/snacks and that makes sure I don't feel hunger pangs.

I have included my goal information here; you can see that I am right on track for reaching my goals.  As you can see from the data I'm ahead of schedule and more than 25% on the way to my goal - almost 50% there.    I can even let my social network know about my success.

Think you can lose 10 pounds?  Let's compete!  Set up your URGravity account goal with an end date of 6/17 and add your name to the community challenge area.  You can find that area here.  

10 lb Challenge – Day 2

Filed under Challenge , Health , Startup , Weight Management

On my way to my goal of losing 10 lbs by June 17^th.  I’ve got the hardest part behind me, getting started!  Focusing on diet and making sure that I don’t just sit around.   Over the last 24 hours just by watching what I eat, and doing an hour of exercise and a good nights rest I’ve lost 3 pounds.  Hard to believe, right?  Here’s what I did, you can do this just as easily by tracking what you’re doing using URGravity.

Sleep – 6.67 hours… I’m a busy guy and don’t sleep as much as I should.

Diet – I ate a low fat, low carb diet by having yogurt/w berries for breakfast, salad and bananas for lunch, afternoon snack of more yogurt/w berries and then a healthy dinner. 

Exercise – I played basketball for an hour which was about 12, 200 steps or about 3.5 miles.  Cardio is an excellent way to burn calories.  Find something that you like to do and get that heart rate up.

Weight – 202.7 (Down 3 pounds from yesterday’s 205.7 pounds).

Like most people I won’t have time to exercise everyday but I will make sure to use the stairs instead of the elevator when possible and make sure to not sit so much on the days I don’t work out.

I feel great, not deprived of food or too tired from exercising.  Just right. 

While I lost 3 pounds in the last 24 hours realize that every day will be different – some days I won’t lose weight at all or even gain a little weight.  It’s all dependent on my habits. 

Keys

• Good night’s rest, low stress
• Don’t eat or drink too late at night – go to bed a little hungry.  You’re body will consume calories while you sleep.
• Don’t sit as much.  If you work in an office, stand more; take the stairs instead of the elevator when possible.
• Think positive – be happy.

10 Pound Challenge

Filed under Weight Management , Challenge

There has been a lot of discussion around how hard it is to lose that first ten pounds.  I’m challenging you to join me in doing just that.  We’ll do it together.

Over the last couple of weeks I purposely let myself fall back into bad habits, not exercising as much, eating more unhealthy food that normal, drinking more alcohol, etc.  I was at a svelte 195 pounds and now I’ve bolted up to 205.7 today. 

Set a goal:

I’ve set a goal for myself of losing 10 pounds by June 10^th.  Just in time to be looking good while mowing the lawn with my shirt off. 

You can do it too - we’ll do it together. 

I’ll be posting regular updates here and on FB with my stats from URGravity.  You can follow along or better yet join me.  I’ll have the full details on our blog.

Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/URGravity

 My goal is to lose 10 pounds in the next month.  Join me in getting in better shape.

Weigh yourself

Filed under General , Weight Management

How often should I weight myself?  That age old question that seems to have a different answer no matter who you ask.  Mind you there is no “right” answer; it’s really a matter of what your goals are and how committed you are to them.  If your goal is to lose weigh but you aren’t committed to it you’ll likely keep your old habits and the disappointment of not making progress will make your answer be something along the lines of “Not often”, or “Once in a while”.  And like those who put gas in their car but forget to check the gauge they’re surprised when the car is out of gas.  Really?

Are you committed?

If you’re more committed but still don’t want to weigh very often it’s like putting a bullet in the revolver, spinning the cylinder and hoping for the best.  You work out hard, eat okay but you’re concerned you’re not making progress.  Why?  Because we’re afraid of getting bad news.

It’s true, we don’t like bad news.  But like the old saying, don’t shoot the messenger; or in this case ignore the messenger completely.  If you’re committed to your goal - following good habits for eating, exercise and rest then what is there to be afraid of?  Afraid of your weight going up?  Put away the fear, its reality.  Your body is a complex machine and simply looking at your weight on a single day isn’t enough to make decisions and shouldn’t discourage you from reaching your goal.  Know that your weight will vary from day to day; it’s a natural cycle.  Knowledge is power.  Have power over your fears.

What's the secret?

The secret is to form good habits – eat well, exercise enough and sleep well.  Even more importantly…. Weigh yourself each and every day.  Yes, that’s right; everyday.  Don’t hope for the best; don’t wish you can; don’t pray for success.  Be successful.  The only way to be successful is to know what your current state is.  Why do you think the first thing that you do when you go for a Doctor’s appointment is to measure and weigh yourself.  You wouldn’t want your health professional “hoping” for the best.  Instead they take measurements and make decisions based on those measurements.  You should do the same.  Know that a single weighing on your scale does not make the difference; it’s what happens over time.  Ask anyone who’s been to Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers – yes they weigh you.  

Use Digital Health tracking

You can use the URGravity service to see your success overtime.  Set SMART goals and weigh yourself daily.  It helps you reach your goals by allowing you to see what happens over time, not just that one weigh in.  You wouldn’t just put money in your checking account once, spend money all month long and not expect an overdraft.  Know where you stand by tracking your health.  It’s easy, just use the supported sensors and make informed decisions about what actions to take to reach your goals.

Happy Easter,

The URGravity Team

URGravity Spring Release

Filed under Health , Startup

We've been working hard, listening to your comments and improving the service based on that feedback.  We're happy to announce that we've just released our spring update.  There are many new features and improvements to list.  

A completely re-designed user experience

We've finished a complete makeover of how you interact with the service.  See your important health details at a glance.  Quickly navigate to areas that you want to understand in more detail.  Everything's available at your fingertips.

SMART Goals - Create a goal that's SMART

• S - Specific
• M - Measurable
• A - Attainable
• R - Realistic
• T - Time Based

Why SMART Goals?

SMART goals have a much higher success rate.  Often we wish and hope we can lose weight.  Start on a program where you plan for how to lose the weight and improve your health.  Use URGravity to create and measure your progress to reach your goal.  Use your social network to help you stay motivated and become your virtual cheerleaders.

Tired of searching the web for health tips - No longer

Use the URGravity health tip of the day and see how others rank the tip.  Why not use a tip that works for others.  Use it and let us know how it works for you.  Tips update daily so come to the site often to see the new tips.

Wishing you a great spring,

The URGravity Team

URGravity February update

Filed under Annoucements , Startup

We at URGravity are pleased to announce that we’ve just released the next version of the URGravity SMART digital health service. 

We’ve done a complete redesign of the user experience to make it easier to find information and quickly get to areas you’re interested in.  We’ve also added the ability to print your health charts from URGravity so you can review with these your trusted health advisors.  This gives you the ability to take a printout of your weight for a period of time to your doctor, health coach or personal trainer.  You can do the same for activity level and blood pressure.

We’re working on many new requested features that will be available soon.  We’re planning regular releases so stop back frequently.  If you haven’t signed up for access you can do so now; we’re no longer requiring a beta code to access the service.  If you have friends or family they too can sign up for the service.

The URGravity Team

…. 3, 2, 1 – Happy New Year!

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Ringing in the New Year is a well worn and familiar tradition that has a long history.  Wikipedia defines a New Year’s resolution as “A commitment that a person makes to one or more personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit. A key element to a New Year's Resolution that sets it apart from other resolutions is that it is made in anticipation of the New Year and new beginnings. People committing themselves to a New Year's resolution generally plan to do so for the whole following year. This lifestyle change is generally interpreted as advantageous.”

The top resolutions are:

1. Exercise more regularly
2. Spend more time with Family
3. Lose Weight
4. Quit Smoking
5. Enjoy life more

What are your resolutions?  How are you going to meet them?

According to survey data, Four out of five people who make New Year’s resolutions will eventually break them. In fact, a third won’t even make it to the end of January.  Ever noticed how going to the gym in January is much more painful due to the swell of people who likely won’t be there in another month or two?  How do you stay committed to meeting your resolution goals when so many others fail?

More...

URGravity beta is now live

Filed under Startup

That's right, we went live on 12/21.  What a huge milestone for the company.  Months of work all resulting in what we call in the startup business a “Minimum Viable Product”.  That’s right, not the end all product but one that has enough basic functionality that customers can get a taste of what we have planned and so that we can get real feedback on the features we’re offering. 

Early on we decided on having a small number of people participate in the beta and we’ve been successful so far in getting the 30+ people that we were hoping to get registered.  The thing that’s rough is that we had to hold the beta go live data so close to Christmas.  So many people are off doing other things that it’s been hard to get their attention.  We know this because we use mail chimp to send out the beta emails so we can track how many open and click on the links inside the email.  It won’t be long and people will start making their New Year’s resolutions.  Fortunately we’re in position to help them set and reach their goals this New Year. 

What’s next?

After a few days off for the holidays we’re back working hard at cleaning up some of the things that bother me most about the site.  It just looks terrible.  We know this because people remind us constantly that it needs work so we’re focusing on creating a more professional and pleasant looking site.  We’re also working on adding some of the features we didn’t have time to finish when we did the initial launch.  Those should come on in the next month or so.

We’re looking forward to getting that feedback.  If you want to see the product in action go to the community area where we have an informational video that walks through the product features.  You can find it at this link.  https://www.urgravity.com/URGForum/messages.aspx?TopicID=7

If you’re interested in trying out the product go to the beta signup page at this link.  https://www.urgravity.com/Home/BetaSignUp   

The URGravity Team