You may have heard that weight gain is not good for you but did you know that those extra pounds of fat may literally make you grow old before your time? We are not talking about the normal signs of aging like wrinkles or gray hair. Instead researchers have been uncovering what happens deep down at cellular level when cells show telltale signs of accelerated aging when weight is gained or resistance to the hormone insulin is present.

Most of us never give our blood glucose levels a second thought and it used to be that only diabetics had to worry about it but not so anymore. All of us are now becoming more susceptible to a nasty disease that is becoming more prevalent around the world.

This most common and overlooked modern chronic lifestyle disease is caused by your body’s ability to process the food you eat and you may already be suffering from it. Although insulin resistance has been known about for decades, it is only in the last ten years how it derails your health is being better understood.

As many as one in four of us is in this pre-diabetic state without even knowing it and one in three of us will actually go on to develop full blown diabetes. This condition could easily knock 15-20 years off your lifespan so it is a serious health issue.

Our busy modern day lifestyles can cause us to neglect the very basics of self care – proper nutrition and proper exercise. Both of these things are pushed to the back burner when we are pushed for time yet both of them should be at the top of your ‘to do’ list. Diabetes is 80 percent preventable and these two things are what are needed to prevent it.

The human body functions best when blood sugar levels are balanced yet we over-consume highly refined carbohydrates like bread, pasta, sugary foods and drinks and our body simply gets overwhelmed and cannot clear the sugar from the bloodstream. High insulin levels along with high blood sugar levels cause damage to every tissue and organ they touch when they circulate around the body with nowhere to go.

The negative consequences of high blood sugar can take years to become apparent but make no mistake if you are eating a low quality (mainly processed) diet and live a no exercise lifestyle the damage is happening inside you and cannot be repaired.

You can easily do a self assessment as you may be experiencing some or all of the classic symptoms such as weight gain (especially round the midsection) feeling tired and listless and lacking motivation to exercise or be active. Your blood pressure may be creeping upwards and food cravings from unbalanced hormones may be forcing you to eat more than you should.

If this sounds like you it is time to take a detour so you do not end up with the silent killer diabetes. Although it is called a killer you do not die from it, you die from the damage it does to important organs that you need to stay alive. This makes it so deadly because you do not feel anything wrong so do not underestimate what is happening inside.

Those two simple strategies – firstly, a proper strength training program performed 2-3 times each week will help use up excess sugar from the blood stream as the muscle cells are where fuel (food) is burnt for energy so get them strong and toned. Next ditch the processed food and replace it with natural whole foods cooked from scratch at least 80 percent of the time.

Within weeks of implementing these two things you will feel much better and will have more energy so exercising becomes more enjoyable. It is far easier to hang on to the good health you have right now than wait till the wheels fall off and your health is lost. Do not wait till this disease hunts you down and picks you off, be proactive and make sure it will never make you a victim.