Without a doubt, insulin injections are primarily responsible for keeping my blood sugar levels in range.

But I’d be remiss if I didn’t also consider how movement factors into the equation.

Yup, gettin’ steppin’ is key in helping me maintain tighter control over my blood sugars. If my levels start spiking after a meal or a snack – and I didn’t pre-bolus my insulin – then I start walking for as little as 15 minutes as a surefire means of getting my number back down. If I need to get up during my workday for a quick stretch and blood sugar level-set, I start stepping. If my blood sugar is higher than I’d like it to be before I go to sleep at night, then you guessed it: I get those steps in, whether it’s just marching in place or literally doing laps around my tiny condo.

All this movement not only means that I hit my daily step goal of 10,000 steps, but it has also obviously proven successful in helping me deal with high blood sugars (the kinda, sorta high ones and the really, super-duper high ones). In the case of the latter, I’ve found that coupling a dose of insulin with 10-20 minutes of movement is really effective in bringing me back within range in about 45 minutes, whereas I might have to wait an hour or more if I rely on the insulin alone. That shows how powerful – and so stinkin’ simple – it is to get those 10,000 steps in on a given day.

The added bonus? It feels good to get all that movement in a day, especially considering I spend 40+ hours a week sitting at a desk for my job. My body, my mind, and my diabetes benefit so greatly from it, and it’s been part of my routine for so long that I know that I can consider my 10,000 steps a day a permanent part of my diabetes management toolkit.