Type 1 diabetes results when your body's immune system attacks the cells responsible for the production of insulin, which helps regulate glucose, the sugar in your blood and your main energy source. Without insulin, the glucose that comes from the food you eat is flushed from your body, along with the calories, resulting in weight loss. Once diagnosis is made, however, weight gain can become a problem due to insulin treatments. This is especially true for overweight children, and some adults, who live sedentary lives and have poor eating habits.
Step 1
Make an appointment with your dietitian. Eating healthy foods is key to losing weight, and includes reducing calorie, fat and carbohydrate intake. Your dietitian determines the necessary boundaries, and devises an eating plan based on these.
Step 2
Eat the same amount of carbs each day. Carbs have the greatest impact on your glucose levels; eating the same number of carbs consistently each day can help control your levels. On average, 45 to 65 percent of your total daily calories should come from carbohydrates, but your dietitian will determine what's right for you.
Step 3
Take the time to weigh yourself at the same time each week. Your weight can negatively affect your glucose levels. Weighing yourself once each week, and recording the results, allows your dietitian to adjust your diet and caloric intake according to your needs.
Step 4
Increase your physical activity. Exercise is key to losing weight; participate in a minimum of 30 minutes a day, most days of the week, suggests UpToDate, a clinical community of more than 4,000 physicians who write and edit topic reviews for the good of patients.
Step 5
Read food labels carefully. Many items using the terms "fat-free" or "sugar-free" might not have a reduction in calories or carbs. Compare these labels to similar products not making these claims; choose the one with the best balance of complex carbs, sugar and fiber.
Tips and Warnings
- Check your glucose levels before and after exercising to see the effect exercise has on your levels. When exercising longer than 30 minutes, monitor your glucose every 15 minutes -- you want to avoid low blood sugar.
