Weight Loss For Women with Diabetes
Weight gain is a huge headache for most women, even without diabetes. But it becomes even more essential to control our weight when we have diabetes. Research shows that most middle-aged women with diabetes gain weight.
Even though it is essential for anyone with diabetes to lose some weight, you must do it in a very controlled fashion. People with diabetes should never attempt to lose weight the same way as those without diabetes, as it can cause imbalances in the body that the body cannot overcome.
If you’re a diabetic woman concerned with your rapidly growing weight, this article is just for you! It will greatly help you if you read this article to the end to fully understand what to do when attempting to lose weight with diabetes.
Why is weight loss for women with diabetes important?
Excess body weight is not good for anyone, but it’s especially not good for people with diabetes. People with excess body weight become more resistant to insulin, making their blood sugar skyrocket. Studies have shown that the higher the body mass index in women with diabetes, the more danger they are of developing type 2 diabetes.
When you have type 2 diabetes, losing at least 5% of your total body mass can greatly benefit you. You can also put diabetes into remission if you lose around 15 kilograms of weight immediately after diagnosis. And who knows? You might even be able to let go of your diabetes medicine.
What is a good diet plan to help weight loss for women with diabetes?
To safely lose weight with diabetes, you must follow a proper diet plan. You must completely forget what you hear about the different products and shortcuts and form a weight loss program based on your requirements.
There are quite a few diet plans available to suit your specific needs. The diet plans we recommend in this article will give you everything your body needs to stay healthy, energetic, and in shape! Just because you have to watch what you eat doesn’t mean you can’t eat good food while on a diabetes diet.
What are the best diet plans for weight loss for women with diabetes?
We understand how bad it feels to eat bland food all day long; it can even cause depression in many diabetes patients. Keeping the feeling of eating bland food in mind, we have prepared a list of four diet plans you can choose from to battle weight gain.
You should try following the following diet plans:
Low-Fat Diet
This diet plan must include lean protein sources like lentils and beans. You will have to consume around 30% of your calories from fat, with 10% saturated fat or less. You will also have to eat whole-grain foods. Your entire diet plan will include the following food groups:
- Lean proteins: You can include foods that consist of lean proteins, such as skinless white poultry, white fish, beans, peas, etc.
- Fruits: Fruits are very good for inducing weight loss and provide the body with the proper source of nutrition.
- Vegetables: You must include all vegetables in your daily diet plans. Vegetables will help your body receive proper nutrition and will also help to balance cholesterol.
- Low-fat dairy: Low-fat dairy will help your body to receive proteins without increasing body fat.
- Nuts: Nuts are a very good energy source for someone on a diet. You can eat nuts while on your diet, but remember not to go too nutty.
Plant-Based Diets
You’re probably familiar with some aspects of this diet already. In this diet plan, you will only eat plant-based foods. There are three ways you can follow this diet plan:
- Vegan plan: In this plan, you will completely cut off all animal products. You will eat things grown from the ground up, from meat to dairy.
- Vegetarian plan: The vegetarian plan will give you a little more leeway. You can eat animal products such as eggs and dairy in the vegetarian diet plan.
- Flexitarian diet: Flexitarian diet is a mix of low-fat and vegetarian. The flexitarian diet divides the diet plan into three stages through which you will gradually lower your meat intake.
DASH Diet
The DASH diet plan is an all-encompassing nutrition plan to greatly benefits people with diabetes. DASH is an acronym for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The diet is mainly designed for people who have fluctuating blood pressure.
DASH requires you to eat rich fruits, grains, and low-fat sugar. The foods you will need to eat in the DASH plan are as follows:
- Vegetables: In the DASH plan, you must eat three to four servings daily. You can eat basically any vegetable that is low in cholesterol.
- Grains: You will need to eat around six grains each day. It is better to choose three servings of whole-grain food such as oatmeal.
- Dairy: You can eat around two to three servings of dairy food products each day.
- Meat: You can eat a maximum of six servings of meat, each measuring around 1 ounce.
- Nuts: You can eat around three portions of nuts, seeds, beans, or lentils daily.
Mediterranean Diet Plan
In the Mediterranean diet, you will be required to eat Mediterranean-influenced food, such as in Italy and Greece. This diet includes many vegetables, healthy fats, and nutty treats. Many dietitians call this diet plan a ‘lifestyle’ rather than a diet.
The food categories you have to eat while on the Mediterranean diet plan are the following:
- Whole grains: in the Mediterranean diet plan, you will be required to eat more whole-grain food such as brown rice, oatmeal, and so on.
- Vegetables: you will need to eat at least 2 cups of fresh fruits and vegetables daily.
- Beans: Beans act as a replacement for animal protein. You will need to beans numerous times throughout the week.
- Healthy oil: Healthy oils are another important part of the Mediterranean; you will eat a lot of healthy fats, such as olive oil and avocados.
Diet plans are not the only options for diabetics experiencing rapid weight gain. Also, each diet can affect each diabetes patient differently. It will be very good for you if you choose the best diet plan that goes with your diabetes medication.
Never make changes to your diet without discussing them in detail with your endocrinologist first. If you eat something more or less than the amount you should, then it can cause major health problems.
Tips to help with weight loss for women with diabetes
Following the right diet plan is only a part of the whole weight loss process. Remember, people with diabetes must watch what and how much they eat, or there can be dire consequences.
Here are a few tips that will not only help you manage your diabetes better but will also help you lose weight quickly. The tips we have discussed here will make following diet plans more effective.
- Gradually reduce dinnerware size: the goal of starting a diet plan for diabetes is to reduce portion sizes and eat healthier food. By reducing the size of your plates, you will be more aware of how much you eating and can reduce your portion sizes.
- Track your food intake: It will greatly benefit you if you can keep track of what you’re eating when you’re eating it and how much you ate. A study has shown that people who kept track of their daily dietary habits lost more weight than those who didn’t.
- Drink more water: You must drink as much water as your body permits daily. Water is the most beneficial drink you can drink. It helps your body to digest food, flush out toxins, and rejuvenate your cells.
- Be more active: One of the main goals of people with diabetes is to keep cholesterol under control and burn fat. Simply dieting will not be enough for anyone to lose significant weight. To lose weight, you will need to become more active. It will help if you walk around your surroundings more, go jogging in the morning, or start your exercise regimen.
- Jog after meals: You should habitually go for a shortjog after meals. Jogging is the best way to burn calories and fat; it also helps keep the body fit. Jogging for around 15 minutes after every meal will help you to burn calories and digest food faster.
- Don’t starve yourself: It’s easy to convince yourself that if you starve yourself, you can lose weight easily. On the contrary, you will face deadly consequences if you starve yourself while having diabetes. Never suppress hunger and eat small portions throughout the day. Your body needs proper nutrients to function and help the diabetes medications take effect.
You should include these things in your daily routine. After finalizing a diet plan to suit your needs, you should implement these tips. You will lose weight and become much healthier by following these tips.
Summary
As we can see in this article on weight loss for women with diabetes, losing weight while having diabetes is not easy. No one can lose weight overnight, no matter how hard they try. You should always pace yourself when attempting to do anything with diabetes. If someone tries to lose weight too quickly and carelessly, they can disrupt the bodily process.
Before adopting the diet plans or weight loss tips listed here, go through them with your doctor. Do not take consultations from anyone but the doctor you regularly visit. Also, remember what we said before; you should never change your diet, routines, medications, or exercises without discussing it with your doctor.
Also Read: How To Get Rid Of Excess Blood Sugar?