7 rules to keep YOU focused
1 PICK THE BEST TIME TO START
An ideal stretch of time in which to start this plan would be two to three months with no social occasions, upheavals at work or holidays. But life often gets in the way, so it’s good to lay down plans now for how you will manage to stay on course. During stage one you may worry that you won’t have enough energy to work, but most people report feeling more energetic than usual. Only 1 in 15 of our volunteers reported feeling ‘a bit tired’, but they had no problems continuing to work. The potential prize at the end — no more diabetes — kept them motivated. At this stage, you can enjoy unlimited tea and coffee, but you must use only skimmed milk, and no more than 50ml of this per day.
2 ENLIST A SUPPORT TEAM
Eating is such a social activity, and many families routinely eat together, so get your family to support you. It also helps if they agree to only eat at mealtimes. In today’s overfed society, snacking between meals has become the norm, which means you’ll constantly be tempted by biscuits, cakes and sugary drinks. You’ll need allies among your friends and workmates, too. In our early studies, only three people dropped out, and in all these cases the reason was that their spouse or partner wasn’t willing to help them lose weight.
3 CLEAR YOUR CUPBOARDS
If there are no biscuits, crisps or sweets in your cupboards, moments of temptation will be much easier to deal with. Beware the excuses you may make to yourself and others, such as: ‘I need treats for the children/grandchildren.’ Type 2 diabetes runs in families, so you could be putting your family’s health at risk by establishing food-based habits and rewards.
4 STOCK UP
For phase one, you need to buy plenty of liquid meals, a variety of salad foods and other non-starchy vegetables, plus containers to transport salads to work, and thermal mugs for soup. The better prepared you are, the less likely you are to get scuppered by hunger pangs.
5 KEEP MOTIVATED
Losing weight is one motivation, but just imagine life without diabetes! This goal provides a very useful focus, and if you’ve got it clearly written somewhere, you can pull it out and read it again and again, if you ever find your willpower wavering.
6 MAKE LIST OF ‘TIME-FILLERS’
To resist temptation during the first intensive phase, it’s a good idea to plan ahead and make a list of distractions and activities you can do to fill the time you would usually have spent eating, such as jobs around the house; surprising the dog with an extra walk; drinking a pint of water; or planning a future holiday. This will help stop you thinking about food.
7 GET YOUR DOCTOR ON BOARD
Forward-thinking medics will be very supportive, but be prepared for the possibility of some scepticism, and don’t let this put you off. Whatever the reaction, it is important to work together with your doctor or diabetes nurse. This is because the impact of losing weight fast can be so dramatic that you are likely to need to reduce your diabetes medication at some point, and it is always good to do this under supervision.