Weight loss for a diabetic, especially those told repeatedly by physicians or nutritionists that their daily diet is the problem, often feel stymied by this challenge that’s very hard to meet. Here’s a step-by-step method that targets the underlying effects of diabetes that are really causing weight gain. This approach can work for almost every type-2 diabetic, and is not a roller coaster ride on the branded, pre-packaged diets that never work over the long run.
This Five Step Plan has been shown to be very successful when tied together and followed in this logical order:
- Education
- Medication
- Nutrition
- Exercise
- Lifestyle
Meeting the challenge of diabetic obesity and even keeping a desired weight in check requires defeating a set of roadblocks—metabolic disorders—that have to be treated properly. The Five Steps are successful because each focuses on eliminating the biological risks and reducing the effect of personal risk factors. In turn this helps maintain glycemic balance and fewer calories are consumed.
Step One: Education—The More You Know the More You Can Lose
One key reason why so many people who are type-2 diabetics have lost control of their weight is that they do not understand their “risk factors” that were in play while they were pre-diabetic which led to full fledged type-2 diabetes. Learning all you can about the underlying roots and causes of your diabetic or pre-diabetic condition is a critical starting point to preventing over-eating and weight gain. A lengthy and in-depth medical history and work-up to determine the presence of both genetic diabetic and cardiovascular risk should be done by your physician before attempting any weight loss program. Knowledge gives you power, fortitude and greater ability to control your condition and to attack the metabolic roadblocks that diabetes has created.
Diabetics trying to lose weigh often face Metabolic Syndrome, a combination of lifestyle and “food-style” factors including:
- Visceral Adiposity—the belly fat, or roll of fat around the waist
- High blood pressure
- Low HDL (“good”) cholesterol
- High triglycerides
- Elevated blood glucose levels causing organ damage.
Other weight loss roadblocks:
