Diabetes Guidelines for Weight Control to Protect the Heart
Diabetes guidelines for weight control? Why do we have to do this? You know, to protect the heart. Remember the three ABC goals we set for A-1-C test, blood pressure and cholesterol? With the risk of heart problems lurking around, one of the things we have to do is control our weight.
The diabetes guidelines portray obesity as the key factor in developing cardiovascular disease? Those who are 20 pounds over the recommended weight for their height are considered overweight. Now don’t panic, That doesn’t mean one is obese if such is the case. To be obese, one has to be 35 pounds over the recommended weight for the height.
Obesity and being overweight are considerably at risk for cardiovascular disease. Mind you, these may be due to nature or genetics and lifestyle or nurture. Why is this condition at such a risk for heart disease? There are five reasons according to the diabetes guidelines. People who are obese or overweight may:
- reduce the HDL or good cholesterol.
- raise the LDL or bad cholesterol.
- raise the triglycerides.
- raise the blood pressure.
- develop diabetes if not yet present.
How do obesity and being overweight happen? They seem to just sneak in like thieves in the night. Or as someone said, gravity just catches up with people as they grow older. Not! I wish it was as simple as that but according to the diabetes guidelines, the condition occurs when there are more calories coming in than going out as they burn through the daily activities.
Now I am confused because the diabetes guidelines tell me that Americans are eating less fat and consuming less calories. So what is going on? Ah, now that we have eliminated what we thought was the culprit, something is staring at us long and hard. Do I dare say it? Of course, I will because health is a very important commodity. An inactive life is the cause of it all.
We know that losing weight can lower our risk for cardiovascular disease because it helps us manage the blood sugar and cholesterol levels as well as our blood pressure. No one needs to convince us of this. The diabetes guidelines tell us so, but what can we do to lose weight? The following works for people who lost weight and didn’t gain it back:
- They try to be active almost every day.
- They eat breakfast every day.
- They reduce their fat and calorie-intake.
- They record their weight along with the food and what they do for physical activity.
Here's another way to help us lose weight. It surprised me.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle I know because it means changing our routine and face it, we love our routine; we are set in our ways. But we have this great motivation to spur us on. It is our life we are saving here. And the good news? The diabetes guidelines say we don’t have to lose a lot of weight to see the gain. A loss of ten to fifteen pounds will go a long way.
Sh… here’s our secret, don’t tell anyone. My husband and I love white Belgian chocolate, Leonidas chocolate specifically. Every night we had two pieces each for our snack. And then diabetes struck so the first thing we had to do was try to lose weight. It took us five stages to get rid of our chocolate habit.
Stage 1 - We were not interested in making the change. After all, we lived only once, we rationalized. It was clear we weren’t ready to give up. We thought giving up would be too difficult to do.
Stage 2 - We talked about how we can lose weight without giving up our beloved Leonidas chocolate. We decided to substitute something else for the chocolate. We were not quite ready to do it but maybe someday.
Stage 3 - My husband’s blood glucose level has not gone down so we decided we should really make a plan. We will give it thirty days. We will start then.
Stage 4 - Action time. We went to the market and bought our favorite fruits. A banana for him and an orange for me. And that’s what we had three times a week until our supply of Leonidas chocolate was gone.
Stage 5 - It’s a year after and we’re entrenched in our new habit. Leonidas chocolates, what are they? Now we bring bananas and oranges wherever we go. It has become part of our luggage. The trouble is one time coming back from a Caribbean cruise, the authorities confiscated our supply. It was a good thing we found a store and we could replenish our fruits.
The diabetes guidelines have another thing to say. It is to get a support system that can help. Meeting with people in the same predicament on a regular basis can be such a motivation to keep going on with the struggle of losing weight. Remember that each step will go toward the goal.
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