Did you know that nine out of 10 people who are newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are overweight?
The American Diabetic Association estimates that 80% of the 15 million individuals who suffer from Type 2 diabetes are significantly overweight and that the obesity contributes greatly to the development of the disease.
It is no secret that a slow, intentional weight loss will decrease the risk of health problems and diabetes is included in that list. This weight loss will also reduce the need for insulin, improve cardiovascular health and improve lipid profiles.
By achieving these goals you also reduce your risk factors for developing stroke, heart attack, retinal damage and kidney failure.
Losing weight as a diabetic is accomplished the same way that weight loss is achieved under any other circumstance. Weight gain or weight loss is simply a matter of the amount of food eaten versus the amount of energy spent.
In other words, if an individual burns off 1500 calories per day but eats 2000 calories per day they will gain weight. If the reverse is true they will lose weight.
It isn't always useful to think of food intake in terms of caloric intake since all calories are not created equally but we can talk about calories for a minute. Each pound of body weight is equal to 3500 calories.
If there is a negative caloric intake of 500 calories per day and individual should be able to lose 1 pound of body weight each week.
While weight loss of 1 pound a week is a realistic goal, too many times we want our results to happen today. When an individual decides to lose weight they often want to lose 10 pounds this week.
If you really lost 10 pounds in one week you would have to have a negative calorie intake of 35,000 calories! This is not possible.
To achieve this it would require that metabolism was increased through some external chemical response, such as chemotherapy or cancer, and you had stopped eating altogether.
The goal of any weight loss program is to achieve a gradual loss that can be maintained.
This results in a healthy body and mind and can also result in the elimination of medication required to control Type 2 diabetes.
On the quest to lose weight individuals who suffer from diabetes will find that exercise is their friend. The American diabetes Association recommends that individuals engaged in exercise for two reasons.
In the first place, exercise reduces the body's need for insulin while still controlling blood glucose levels.
In the second place, it increases metabolism and enables an individual to lose weight with greater ease.
Individuals who are overweight and suffer from Type 2 diabetes find their overall health improves with weight loss and the management of their disease improves as well.
Unfortunately, researchers also found that those who lose weight, put it back on, take it off again and continue to go through a roller coaster ride of weight loss and weight gain actually do more harm to their overall long-term health than those who just remain several pounds overweight.
But, before giving up and deciding not to attempt weight loss it is important to recognize the significant health benefits that you achieve even through the loss of five or 10 pounds.
If five or 10 pounds is all that can be achieved initially it is enough that you should do it, maintain the loss and attempt to lose more later.
Yours in Health,
Danette
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