Why your weight makes a difference

For people with diabetes, there are extra reasons to keep to a sensible body weight. In your body, insulin seems to find moving glucose out of your blood into fatty tissue particularly difficult; so the more weight you carry, the more insulin you may need to inject. Of course the opposite is true too; if you lose weight you should need less insulin. That is why blood glucose testing is so important if you are on a diet.

Does diabetes make you put on weight?

Diabetes does not need to cause you to put on weight. If you don't take your insulin as you should then you will go thin, but it's an unhealthy thin that is damaging your body, and because you are not taking insulin your glucose will go very high.

If you are eating too much then you will put on weight like anybody else. If you are eating too much then you will be injecting extra insulin to manage the extra food and extra blood glucose it creates.

Tackling weight loss

If you find you are putting on weight, then you should speak to your healthcare professional who can help you get control of your weight while staying in control of your diabetes.

Talking about weight loss can be tough, particularly if you do not know your healthcare professional very well, but understanding weight loss can make all the difference. Take things slowly, take one step at a time.

Getting into the right frame of mind to lose weight can be half the battle for some people. Many diets involve reducing certain foods which makes some diets more or less appropriate for certain types of people. If you need help choosing which diet to pick, a dietician will be able to assist you in making a suitable choice.

The benefits of exercise

Exercise can help you to lose weight, by building muscle and burning calories. Although this can take time, particularly to physically notice the differences, each activity becomes easier as you become fitter. Always make sure exercise is appropriate to your situation. Exercise can help with motivation and can also help you to make appropriate health choices. If in any doubt though, check with your healthcare professional.

Body mass index (bmi)

Keeping your weight under control is always important. When you have diabetes it is even more so, because being overweight can lead to all sorts of problems. Nowadays doctors don't talk in terms of ideal weights of target weight, but rather of Body Mass Index (BMI), which relates your weight to your height and allows for individual variation in build etc.