Diabetic Weight Loss in Five Steps

Diabetic Weight Loss in Five Steps

By Frederic Vagnini, M.D., FACS, and Lawrence D. Chilnick,
Authors of The Weight Loss Plan for Beating Diabetes: The 5-Step Program That
Removes Metabolic Roadblocks, Sheds Pounds Safely, and Reverses Prediabetes and
Diabetes

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 weight 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:

Inability to burn fat because of metabolic changes
Fluctuating insulin and glucose levels that provoke hunger cravings.
Fatigue.
Musculoskeletal problems often are secondary to diabetes and obesity
Post-prandial hyperglycemia — a rise in blood sugar after a meal
Gastroenterological side effects
Carbohydrate addiction
Food allergies
Fluid retention
Low testosterone and low libido
Pulmonary
Cardio and peripheral vascular complications

Step Two: Medication — Follow the Doctor's Orders

Diabetes medications are not a stand-alone solution for weight loss or glucose
control, but they play an extremely important role in achieving your primary
goal — diabetes management leading to weight loss. One new approach is called
the Triple Therapy Protocol to reduce elevated sugars, insulin resistance and
beta cell preservation and regeneration using Metformin, TZD and Byetta. In
general, all treatment decisions are geared to the spectrum of severity of the
disease. Hormone treatments, testosterone, thyroid and adrenal function also
should be discussed with your physician.

Step Three: Nutrition — Eat Well and Lose Weight

Any diabetic weight loss program requires a sound nutritional program including
targeted supplements and proper foods based on a modified Mediterranean diet. By
seeking help from a specialist in diabetic diet you gain:

The benefits of a complete nutritional evaluation.
Development of a meal plan designed to stop weight gain and reduce it through a
balance of proteins and carbohydrates
Control of glucose and insulin levels
Concentration on a wide range of proteins
Varied, moderate, low-carbohydrate meals
A correct level of carbohydrates/starches in each meal (grams per day)
The strong use of nutraceuticals (supplements and vitamins) to control appetite

Feeling satisfied/full without overeating or eating the wrong things
Enhanced thermogenesis (fat-burning effect)
Reduced beta-cell stress syndrome
Learning the value of high-fiber foods
Use of foods with high nutrient density
Identifying low-glycemic foods
Making a sound meal plan and stick to it
Step Four: Exercise — Building Mind and Body

Exercise using the patient's own environment to improve both mind and body
are essential to a stress reduction program aimed at ridding the patient of
stressors at home and in the workplace. A structured program featuring low
impact exercise, some weight work but also meditation, yoga and personal
development activities (i.e. adult education) to improve lifestyle overall are
essential.

There is definitive proof that if you are in a pre-diabetic state, exercise can
keep you from becoming a diabetic — even if all you do is some very moderate
form of exercise on a regular basis. Other studies have indicated that even
limited periods of exercise (e.g., two months) will have a positive effect on
your A1C value and it can be significant. In one study A1C levels dropped from
8.31 to 7.65, despite the fact that there was no appreciable weight loss in the
two groups of participants in the study.

Exercise, except in people who have injuries or severe health problems such as
advanced heart disease, pulmonary conditions, or orthopedic restrictions, is
always beneficial, no matter what level you can manage. For diabetic patients,
exercise at least 30 minutes a day, 3-5 days a week. Exercise has one other
great benefit — it does wonders for mental health.

Step Five: Lifestyle — Change Is Never Simple (But It Does Make a Difference)

For anyone who is at risk for type 2 diabetes or heart disease, making
lifestyle changes is the final critical step in the five-step plan for diabetes
control and weight loss. Lifestyle changes have been proven repeatedly to be one
of the best ways to reduce the potential of pre-diabetes progressing to type 2
diabetes. Studies show that a better lifestyle can actually help you modify,
reduce, and control the genetic roadblocks and risks you were born with.

Your own contribution to behavioral change may be the make-or-break factor.
This doesn't mean you will be sent home from the doctor's office with
an unbreakable list of do's and don'ts, rather a lifestyle plan you
create together and that you implement, with a support system in place.

©2009 Frederic Vagnini, M.D., FACS, and Lawrence D. Chilnick, authors of The
Weight Loss Plan for Beating Diabetes: The 5-Step Program That Removes Metabolic
Roadblocks, Sheds Pounds Safely, and Reverses Prediabetes and Diabetes

Author Bios
Frederic J. Vagnini, M.D., FACS, coauthor of The Weight Loss Plan for Beating
Diabetes: The 5-Step Program That Removes Metabolic Roadblocks, Sheds Pounds
Safely, and Reverses Prediabetes and Diabetes, is a board-certified
cardiovascular surgeon whose understanding of the ravages of cardiovascular
diseases is grounded in twenty years as a cardiac surgeon. He hosts a popular
call-in radio show and has published several books, including The Carbohydrate
Addict's Healthy Heart Program, a New York Times bestseller.

Lawrence D. Chilnick, coauthor of The Weight Loss Plan for Beating Diabetes:
The 5-Step Program That Removes Metabolic Roadblocks, Sheds Pounds Safely, and
Reverses Prediabetes and Diabetes, is the authors and creator of the New York
Times bestseller The Pill Book, which has sold 17 million copies and is still in
print after more than two decades. He is a publishing executive, editor,
teacher, journalist, broadcaster, and author of several popular health reference
books, electronic products, audiotapes, and videos.

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