Diabetes Health Type 2: Dancing to the Oldies for Health and Fitness

Clair Lynch

When Jacqueline “Jackie” Delts’ doctor told her in 2007 that she had Type 2 diabetes she made up her mind to manage it with medication and exercise.

That’s exactly what she’s done for the last several years.

 

Jackie, who is 65, volunteers at a senior center near her home and several times a week she takes exercise classes along with 15 other people. “I do 20 minutes on the elliptical machine and 20 minutes on the treadmill,” Jackie says. “The senior center offers lots of other classes, too.

 

“Also, four times a week four of us walk outside of the senior center on a long path. It takes about 40 minutes to go around the building four times. That’s a good workout.”

 

Jackie, who is the daughter of a Type 2 diabetic and the mother of one, is very familiar with the disease and knows the importance of keeping things on track. She checks her blood sugar level each morning and makes a note of what causes it to go up or down.

 

Noting that she isn’t perfect about sticking to her diabetic diet, Jackie, who lives in North Carolina, notes, “I enjoy exercising with other people. It keeps things more interesting.”

 

Explaining that she really isn’t a “couch potato” type of person, Jackie adds, “I would rather keep busy. I feel good being with other people and I feel good every time I exercise. What’s great about it is the mental challenge and the physical challenge. That helps keep me sharp.”

 

If it’s raining outside when they want to go walking they just move inside somewhere. “We walk no matter what,” Jackie says. “We’re committed. We don’t let anything get in our way!”

 

Jackie, who is a retired civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force, enjoys spending her free time reading fantasy books. “Right now I am in the middle of reading a series of six books by Barb Hendee and J.C. Hendee,” Jackie says.

 

“The book I am currently reading is about vampires and elves and it sounds kind of silly but it holds my interest. I also find documentaries very interesting but romance stories and general fiction books aren’t for me.

 

“I enjoy cooking in my kitchen and my husband, Gerald, and I like to go out dancing every so often. I like dancing so much that even at home we are known to play some of the oldies songs from the 1960s and 1970s and dance. It’s a lot of fun – and it’s good for me, too!”

 

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