Keeping healthy
Keeping healthy is important for everyone, but it matters even more if you have type 2 diabetes or you are at risk of developing it. If you're overweight, losing weight and getting more active plays a huge role in either managing your diabetes and your blood glucose levels or it can help significantly reduce your risk for developing it. If you have type 2 diabetes, you may even be able to put it into remission.
Weight gain occurs when you regularly eat more calories than you burn through your normal bodily functions and from physical activity. Being overweight or obese is one of the major risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes, and if you already have it, it can make it much more difficult to manage your diabetes.
Carrying extra weight, particularly around your waist, means that fat can build up around your major organs like your liver and pancreas. The pancreas is the organ that produces insulin, which is a hormone that allows glucose to enter the cells in your body to be used for energy. This build-up of fat around the pancreas can lead to ‘insulin resistance' which means that your body does not respond as well to insulin, so the level of glucose in your blood increases. If you are overweight, losing weight and doing more physical activity can help with insulin resistance.
To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories and burn more energy through physical activity. It sounds simple. But more than 60% of adults in the UK are overweight or obese. Modern life sees many of us leading more of an inactive lifestyle, eating more calories than we need and not doing enough physical activity.
There isn’t a ‘one fits all’ approach to weight loss – different things work for different people. What is important is that the changes you make are ones that you can incorporate into your everyday life and you are able to maintain them.
In the pages below, we will cover many of the topics you need to know to keep yourself healthy. You can register to view your diabetes GP health record to see your latest diabetes test results.
Baseline measurements
Find out more about measurements such as Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference and what they mean in relation to type 2 diabetes.
Setting yourself up for success
Getting yourself in the right mindset is key before starting any weight management plan. This page will explore some of the things to think about to set you up for success.
Making healthier choices
Making changes is never easy but this page will get you thinking about some small changes you can make which will make a big difference to your health.
A balanced diet
Healthy eating is important to everyone but is even more important if you have diabetes or are at risk of developing it. This page explores the different food groups.
Different diets for weight loss
Find out more about some of the different diets including low fat/low calorie; low carb; very low-calorie diets and intermittent fasting.
Let's get physical
Physical activity has positive effects on all areas of your health and wellbeing and is a very important part of weight management.
Type 2 diabetes prevention
If you are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the good news is that by learning more about it and implementing small changes to your diet and lifestyle, you can prevent it occurring in the first place.
Type 2 diabetes remission
You may already know a lot about type 2 diabetes – but did you know it can be put into remission or paused? In this page, we will explore how type 2 diabetes remission is possible.
Sleep better
Research has shown that there is a link between diabetes and not getting a good night’s sleep. Find out how you can get a better night's sleep.