Essential Things You Should Know When You're Diabetic and Want to Lose Weight

It would be better to call type 2 diabetes a special disease than a serious disease. Diabetes develops stealthily. At the pre-diabetic stage you won't feel symptoms. You might feel fatigued now and then especially when you've eaten too much of those fine processed carbohydrate foods. Gradually, you'll feel chronically tired; feel pain in your chest; your hands get numb; your vision gets blurred or minor wounds heal so slowly. When you experience these symptoms, you suspect diabetes.

So, it won't come as a surprise when your doctor gives the diagnosis. You know it might be diabetes as you think of those wonderful delicious sweet and fatty foods you've been used to and the doubling of your weight in such a short time.

You're told that it can't be cured with a dose of pills. Your doctor explains that lifestyle changes can benefit you - lose weight, eat a sensible diet, portion control, exercise and daily blood glucose tests. First things first, your doctor referred you to a dietitian so you can be counseled on the right diet. This is tough you tell yourself.

Here are things you should know when you're diabetic and want to lose weight.

1. Take this seriously. Some diabetic patients don't care. They think diabetes can be cured with pills but unfortunately they may not work well if their diet is made of finely processed carbohydrates and fatty food.

2. Know the right foods to eat. Your dietitian can help you here. Get a list of food you can eat. Print it. Post it in your kitchen, workplace and bedroom. Keep a list in your bag.

3. Refer to this list every time you buy food or eat out. You can memorize this list too. Stick to it.

4. Know how many calories you should consume daily. Your dietitian will talk about servings. How many servings of veggies and fruits, carbohydrates, fats and protein should you eat in day? Your dietitian will introduce you to the food pyramid. If you aren't familiar with this, grab a copy and study it well.

5. Learn to use common objects and compare it with servings.

6. Learn to cook with a minimum of fat. Instead of frying, it would be better to grill or boil. Cook with oils low in unsaturated fats such as olive or canola oil.

7. If everything else is confusing, use portion control plates, glasses, cups and bowls. Portion control dinnerware can greatly help you measure your servings.

8. Develop a healthy eating habit. Social experts say that creating a healthy eating habit will assist you to develop a pattern that will last a lifetime. Initially, creating this habit will be tough. However, once you've mastered this, you'll do it automatically. This will help you reach your goals of losing weight and controlling your blood sugar.

You've got to realize that a diabetic's diet doesn't differ much from the normal diet. You can still have that dessert but in small servings, you can still eat meat but in moderation as prescribed by your dietitian. And yes, start to develop a habit of portion control and healthy eating.

A B Stephens is a chemical engineer by profession. Her passion to help diabetics stems from the fact that members of her family and her husband's are diabetics. They launched http://www.typefreediabetes.com in 2007. A portion control dinnerware is one of their top selling products. http://www.typefreediabetes.com/FOCUS-Extended-Portion-Control-Dinnerware-Plus-p/fps1x.htm

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