Diabetes Control - Why Diet Change Is A Must-Do

When patients are diagnosed with diabetes, they are usually advised two things: change your diet, and exercise more, or both. Of course there are other aspects of lifestyle that needed addressing for people with diabetes, but most would focus mainly on diet and exercise.

From my experience as a medical doctor coaching people to make targeted lifestyle changes to better control their diabetes, I often see many people with diabetes choose to only exercise more, without much effort to change or improve their diets, wrongly thinking that they might be able to out-exercise even clearly bad diets. And it is a harmful and even dangerous misconception that I want to confront in this post. 

Watch video, and read on.

Why Most People Choose Exercise Over Diet Change

From my experience as a doctor who has spent much time coaching people in making lifestyle changes, the main reason that most would choose to exercise more only and not make the necessary changes to their diets is that many are reluctant to make any changes to the dietary habits and foods that they have grown to love and gotten used to over years or even decades. These hard-wired foods and dietary habits, even when they are clearly bad for diabetes control, are not just nutrition, they are comfort, celebration, convenience, culture all rolled into one. 

When you have to exercise more, you are challenged to do more, do something new. But when you are told to change your diet, you may feel that you are being forced to give up what you have grown to love and found comfort in over the years. Both require effort, but one is seen as being challenged to do more, the other might feel like being forced to give up something precious. Same same but very different.

So when I see the reluctance or even resistance to having to make dietary habits changes in the diabetic patients that I coach, I understand, I empathise, but I would not give up trying trying to educate and emphasize to them that, if one desires to combat diabetes fully, dietary changes and optimisation is a Must-Do, not merely an optional Good-To-Do, regardless of how daunting or how reluctant one might be to do that. 

Diabetes Control - One Can Never Out-Exercise Can A Bad Diet

The second reason why so many people choose exercise over diet change, thinking that they might be able to keep their clearly bad dietary habits simply by exercising more is because of a very common misconception that they can out-exercise a bad diet.

I don't think nor want to have to explain or argue this in any depth, I prefer to simply say empathetically - One can never out-exercise a bad diet and when it comes to controlling and combating diabetes, changing and optimising one's diet is a Must-Do, and not an optional Good-To-Do.

What I Often See in My Patients with Diabetes

From my experience coaching patients with diabetes, I often see this :

A patient is diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, they are advised to or are simply self motivated to make lifestyle changes to better control their blood sugar and manage their diabetes. They start exercising regularly. They feel better. They feel like they are doing something. Their HbA1c improves a little. They are encouraged. They stop there. They do not change their eating habits, at least not adequately. The sweet drinks are still there. The high starch, high GI foods that they love and are used to, are still there. 

And when I see that, regardless of whether their blood sugar levels are good enough with just increased physical activity, I would still tell them, "If you truly want to fully control and combat diabetes, you still must do everything that you can to change and optimise your diet, regardless of whether your blood sugar is well controlled or not."

Combating Diabetes - Eating Habits Optimisation Is Non-Negotiable.

I am not saying exercise does not matter. It does. Sleep matters. Stress management matters. All aspects of your lifestyle habits need to be addressed.

But among all these lifestyle changes, dietary changes and improvement is not just foundational but also often an area that most would neglect or be reluctant to tackle.

Exercise should never be seen or used as a licence to continue eating badly. And exercise does not take away the need to make the necessary changes to your eating habits when you have diabetes.

I know it is not easy to change eating habits, but it is entirely possible and absolutely critical for optimal diabetes management. 

So don't ever give up doing what you can, what you are willing to, to improve your eating habits. One step at a time, one habit at a time, keep at it, you will eventually succeed. 

Your habits are powerful medicine to combat diabetes, unlock that power fully. 

Learning About Reversing Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes may potentially be reversible for some, especially if lifestyle and eating habits changes are made early enough, appropriately, adequately and sustainably. And if you have diabetes and are not as equipped with the essential foundational knowledge about reversing Type 2 diabetes as you should be, I have a structured online learning programme that you might find very useful. You can find out more through the link below.

Find out more about the Reversing Type 2 Diabetes: Essential Basics - Structured Online Learning Programme Here

Related Posts

• Can Type 2 Diabetes Be Reversed? Dr Chan Answers
• Stress, Sleep, and Strength: Lifestyle Habits Beyond Diet for Diabetes Control
• Eating Habits and Diabetes: Why Family Is the Key

About Dr Chan Tat Hon

Dr Chan graduated from the National University of Singapore medical school in 1992. For the last ten years, his work has focused on lifestyle medicine. He works with healthcare and corporate organisations to design and deliver lifestyle behaviour change programmes, train health coaches and build communities engaged in cultivating healthy behaviours to combat diseases.

He also provides training and coaching to individuals with diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases and other lifestyle-related chronic diseases through 1-1 personalised coaching, live webinars, and online courses.

• 1-1 Personalised Coaching with Dr Chan
• Online Courses and Programmes by Dr Chan
• Reversing Type 2 Diabetes: Essential Basics Online Programme

About This Video

In this short video, I pose a question to my viewers: when diagnosed with diabetes, would most people choose to change their diet or exercise more? From coaching patients with diabetes, I share what I consistently observe — that most people reach for exercise while leaving their eating habits largely unchanged. I explain the two main reasons behind this pattern: the reluctance to give up familiar foods, and the mistaken belief that exercise alone can compensate for a poor diet. The key message is this: exercise is not a licence to eat badly, and dietary change is non-negotiable for proper diabetes control.

Full Video Transcript

The following is the full transcript of the video above.

Hey friends, welcome back to my channel.

In this episode of The Daily Dose, I am going to tackle this question: Change Diet or Exercise More — which of these two habits change would most people with diabetes choose to do? Especially when they have just been newly diagnosed with diabetes?

If you are new here, I am Doctor Chan, The Habits Doctor. I am a medical doctor and I am on a mission to awaken people to the power of habits. The Daily Dose is a series where I share and also answer questions about habits. My goal is to encourage people to start taking action to unlock the power of habits for health and life, one habit, one dose at a time.

So back to today's question. Change Diet or Exercise More? Which of these two habits change would most people with diabetes choose to do?

Usually, when people are diagnosed with diabetes, their doctors, on top of prescribing diabetes medication for them, would often also tell them, "Change Your Diet and Exercise More."

From my experience as a doctor, the reality, the sad reality, is that most patients would actually do neither of them, at least not adequately or consistently. Often solely and overly dependent on diabetes medication for their blood sugar control. But amongst those who are motivated enough to try to make changes to their lifestyle habits to better control their diabetes, and if they were only willing to do just one of these two, which is either changing their diets or to exercise more, which do you think most people when diagnosed with diabetes would choose to do?

What you think? Do you think that more people would be willing to change their diets? Or would there be more people who would choose to exercise more instead of changing their diets? Think about it and then type your answer in the comments section below.

Ok try, just think about it. Just make a choice. Just choose one of the two. Which do you think it will be? Exercise More? OR Change Diet? Type your answer below.

My Kopi-O Kosong, my black coffee without sugar.

Ok, have you typed in your answer in the comments section?

Ok here's my answer. From my experience managing and coaching patients with diabetes, most of them would not be willing to embark on any significant lifestyle change. But amongst the minority, those who are willing to do so, most of them would choose to only exercise more but are not willing to change their diets.

Was that your guess, was that your answer too? Or do you also have diabetes and that was also your journey, your experience as well?

But why? Why do you think this is so for most people? Why are there more people willing to try to exercise more than there are people who are willing to have a go at changing their diets, their eating habits to better control and combat their diabetes?

Perhaps it is actually not too difficult to understand why this is so, because most people are reluctant to change their eating habits, even when it is clear that there is a need to do so, mainly out of the fear and the reluctance to give up their favourite foods and the common misconception that changing their eating habits would mean that they would have to give up the joy of eating.

So most people when diagnosed with diabetes and advised to change their diets and exercise more would choose to only exercise more without also making the necessary changes to their diets, wrongly thinking that exercise alone would allow them to get away with being able to continue eating badly. Or even if they are not eating badly, not making the necessary changes to their diets, their eating habits, to better control their blood sugar, to better combat their diabetes. Because they are so used to the way they eat, the foods that they eat over the years.

This is a very common misconception amongst many people, and not just amongst people with diabetes.

This is the takeaway, the main takeaway from today's episode of The Daily Dose. Exercise should never be seen as a licence to continue eating badly. And exercise does not take away the need for making the necessary and adequate changes to one's eating habits when diagnosed with diabetes.

That's all I shall cover in this episode of The Daily Dose. For those who know me well, they know how passionate I am about this topic of how important lifestyle and eating habits change is in combating chronic lifestyle-related diseases, including and especially diabetes. And I can actually go on talking about this topic whole day long. But I am also constantly reminded by well-meaning friends that people nowadays do not have time or patience for long videos, so that is why I came up with this The Daily Dose show where I do short bite-sized sharing sessions about the power of habits.

I hope you liked it. And if you've found this useful and would like to be updated whenever I post new videos, do subscribe to my Youtube channel by pressing the subscribe button below and or follow my Facebook page.

I am Doctor Chan and I am on a mission to awaken people to the power of habits. So till the next episode of The Daily Dose, take care and have a blessed day.

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