Losing weight can help you,
- improve your body’s sensitivity to insulin, that is, help your insulin work better
- help reduce the amount of insulin and/or medications that you require to manage your blood sugar
- achieve numerous other health benefits outside managing diabetes, so its win-win.
The benefits of weight loss, mostly come from the process of trying to lose the weight, that is, eating lesser calories and exercising more. The benefit of improving insulin sensitivity, is mostly for people with diabetes in the early stages, where the pancreas is still producing a reasonable amount of insulin. As the diabetes worsens to a significant reduction in insulin production, weight loss might not be as beneficial.
However, as stated earlier, the process of trying to do so, is beneficial in itself, even if you don’t achieve your desired weight loss goals. Speaking of goals, its important to be realistic. A realistic goals would be trying to lose about 5-10% of your current weight. For example, if you currently weight 100kg, you should aim to lose about 5 to 10kg at least.
Many people with diabetes, might be unable to lose enough weight to achieve their ideal body mass index; but it is important to still continue to do the things that helped you lose weight initially, to prevent gaining it back and to keep your blood sugar under control.
Losing weight would require you consuming lesser calories than your body currently needs and increasing your level of activity to use up calories. Learn more here Food and Diabetes.
You can seek professional help and personal coaching to help you lose weight here. You can also get our book What should I be Eating? to guide you through managing your blood sugar and losing weight.
