If you’re pre-diabetic, know that you can easily prevent your condition from developing into full-blown Type 2 diabetes. You can even bring your high blood sugar levels down without taking any oral medications. All you need is the willpower to make these important lifestyle changes and commit to it.

Here are the lifestyle changes that you need to do now.

Goodbye Sugar, Salt, and Fat!

The very first thing that you need to do is to say goodbye to some of your favorite foods. So limit your intake of foods high in sugar, salt, and fat. These types of food contribute to insulin-resistance, clog your arteries, and contribute to increased blood sugar levels.

Embrace a healthy diet, instead, and make sure that you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, especially those that are rich in fiber. There are fruits and veggies that have anti-diabetic properties, and it would benefit you a lot if you include these in your diet. Some of these include berries, beans, and citrus fruits.

Goodbye Bed-Weather Days

It’s sometimes so hard to get out of bed, especially when it’s a bed-weather day. You’d rather curl up in bed with a good book and a hot cup of coffee or just catch up on movies with some snacks to munch on.

But if you’re pre-diabetic and want to avoid oral anti-diabetic medications, then get off your lazy butt and get on your treadmill. Just because it’s raining outside doesn’t mean that you can’t get a good exercise!

You only have to use your treadmill for about 30 minutes each day or, according to one study, take a 10-minute walk after dinner. These short walks are a relatively easy type of physical activity and exercise that can help reduce your blood sugar levels as well as weight, which is a factor that contributes to the development of Type 2 diabetes.

Goodbye Stress and Bad Habits

You need to learn how to manage your stress. Stress can cause you to lose sleep, and lack of sleep can contribute to Type 2 diabetes as one study has found.

If you’re smoking, then you also need to let go of this bad habit. Nicotine from smoking clogs up the arteries and contributes to insulin resistance.

These lifestyle changes may be hard at first, but if you commit to the changes, your blood sugar levels will return to its normal levels.