The Diabetes and Exercise Alliance is a free grassroots organization led by volunteers.
You’re one of us if…
1) You have Type 1 or Type 2 or another form of diabetes
Our meetings are usually just us diabetic folks, plus any invited speakers. Our fitness activities welcome everyone, so bring your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, kids, parents, whatever. The more the merrier.
2) You’re physically active
From a short daily walk to an ultramarathon, it’s all good. (Or hiking or weight-lifting or roller derby or mountain biking or triathlons or karate or…you get the idea!)
For example, our group cycling rides often have everything from a 10-year old boy on his first mountain bike to a 65-year old woman near the head of the pack on her road bike. Some folks ride about 20 miles at 10 mph while others ride 70+ miles and average 15 – 20 mph.
3) You want to share
…non-judgmental ideas about juggling exercise, food, insulin & meds, testing and doctor and equipment experiences with folks who really get it
This is not for you if:
1) You just want to complain about how your endo doesn’t get you
Don’t post a problem unless you’re actually looking for a solution.
2) You’re not active
Active is anything from “decided to walk today” all the way to semi-professional athlete.
But if you’re still at the “one of these days…I know I oughta…” stage, don’t count on us to supply your motivation.
3) You just want to sell stuff to diabetics
If you’re selling something relevant to diabetes and exercise, the first step is to actually participate in our community and add value – by sharing your fitness know-how, or sports nutrition know-how, or whatever. If all you do is post ads on our Facebook page, we will delete the ads and drop you from our list.
We’re independent
We informally and enthusiastically collaborate with anyone who shares our interests: ADA (especially Tour de Cure and StepOut, naturally!), JDRF’s Walk to Cure Diabetes, and local businesses like bike shops and running clubs and yoga studios. For example, in Dallas we routinely promote training rides to D&E members and also to folks who want to ride in the North Texas Tour de Cure. We also collaborate with the folks at Medtronic and Omnipod and so on, since the best way to rope in more Type 1s and Type 2s is to talk to people who are talking to them all the time!
But: it’s entirely up to you whether you want to join a group like ADA or JDRF, and you won’t get any fundraising pressure from us. Our goal is to stay active and figure out how to do it better and smarter, period.