How To Lose Weight With Insulin Resistance

You may wonder what insulin has to do with eating and weight loss. In fact, they are closely connected.

After you eat, foods containing carbohydrates turn into glucose.

Your blood glucose (or blood sugar) level rises after you eat, and your pancreas responds by releasing insulin. 

Insulin is a hormone that helps glucose (sugar) move from the blood to different cells that need energy, like muscles, the liver, the brain, and red blood cells. 

Ideally, this balance is achieved all day, every day. 

However, blood glucose levels can remain high due to insulin resistance. A national analysis from 2021 found that 40% of adults (18 to 44 years old) are insulin resistant. 

In this article, we’ll discuss insulin resistance, the benefits and challenges of weight loss with insulin resistance, and how a registered dietitian (RD) can help. 

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What Is Insulin Resistance?

Insulin resistance is when cells don’t respond well to insulin, and glucose doesn’t transfer to the cells that need it.

The pancreas makes more insulin to maintain blood sugar levels within normal limits. 

Over time, the cells don’t respond, leading to high blood sugar and high insulin levels. 

The most common consequence of insulin resistance and sustained high blood sugar levels is type 2 diabetes.

‍Researchers think insulin resistance starts about 10 to 15 years before developing type 2 diabetes. 

Other health conditions associated with insulin resistance include:

• Pre-diabetes
• Obesity
• Heart disease
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
• Metabolic syndrome
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

Additionally, when cells aren’t getting enough energy, your body receives signals to eat to fuel these hungry cells.

Blood sugar levels rise, insulin levels rise, weight trends up, and the cycle continues. 

Working with a registered dietitian can help you break this high insulin and glucose level cycle, leading to improved health, disease prevention, and weight management.

Is It Harder to Lose Weight with Insulin Resistance?

Yes, it’s harder to lose weight with insulin resistance. 

Your brain and body are receiving conflicting messages.

Cells are asking for more fuel (glucose)—despite having plenty in your bloodstream, yet that energy source isn’t easily accessible due to insulin resistance.  

While you may have more difficulty losing weight, diet changes and adding more exercise and daily movement may help. 

As you make changes, insulin and blood glucose levels should trend downward.

You will feel better and might start seeing weight loss that seemed impossible when your levels were elevated.

Keep note of other non-scale victories and progress to prioritize whole-body health.

How to Lose Weight with Insulin Resistance

What you eat, your daily movement, stress management, and restorative sleep all play a role in losing weight with insulin resistance. 

1. Eat a Balanced Diet

Generally, eating styles that reduce high-carbohydrate or high-sugar foods while incorporating protein, healthy fats, and high-fiber foods like whole grains, vegetables, beans, nuts, and fruits are best for insulin resistance. 

Remember, you can still have sugary foods when balancing the portion size and what other foods you eat alongside them. 

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends the Diabetes Plate Method to build balanced meals that support stable blood sugar levels. 

Simply divide a 9-inch plate into three sections: one-half is non-starchy vegetables, one-quarter is protein foods, and one-quarter is foods with carbohydrates.

Beverages include water or other no-calorie and low-sugar drinks. 

Other, more in-depth nutrition styles include counting carbohydrates and label reading. A registered dietitian can help you customize these styles for you. 

2. Add Enjoyable Movement

Moving more can reduce the excess glucose in your bloodstream and help your muscles respond to insulin better. 

A single session of moderate-intensity exercise like fast walking, biking, or mowing the lawn can improve glucose uptake by 40%. Improvements in insulin and glucose levels are seen 12 to 48 hours after the last exercise session. 

‍Aerobic exercise (like walking, jogging, biking, swimming, and dancing) also improves the insulin response by reducing inflammatory and stress responses. 

Regular physical activity can aid in weight loss—helping to reverse insulin resistance. 

It’s important to pick a type of exercise you enjoy and that excites you to move!

While increasing your activity, you might experience other health benefits, such as better sleep and reduced stress.

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3. Experiment with Stress Management Strategies

A 2022 review article discussed the strong relationship between stress and insulin resistance.

Any health condition increases the physical and emotional stress of a person.

Developing healthy stress management methods will reduce the toll stress has on you. 

Try stress-reducing strategies like mindfulness, being active, volunteering, joining support groups, journaling, mental health counseling, and restful sleep. 

4. Prioritize Restorative Sleep

Restorative sleep is often disregarded as an effective treatment tool for health conditions. 

The authors of a systematic review from 2022 did a deep dive into sleep, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.

Poor sleep, including short sleep, sleep deprivation, or disrupted sleep, increases weight and insulin resistance. 

Some articles found that short sleep led to less weight loss than well-rested individuals on a similarly restricted diet, indicating metabolism changes.  

For most people, aiming for at least seven hours of sleep was considered restorative. 

Try bedtime routines such as putting away technology an hour before bed and switching to calming activities to help you get restful sleep. 

Does Losing Weight Help with Insulin Resistance?

Losing weight through diet changes and exercise can help your body respond appropriately to insulin. 

Healthcare professionals strive to help people with insulin resistance lose 5 to 7% of their body weight based on lifestyle intervention changes and at least 150 minutes weekly of physical activity.

For an adult weighing 180 pounds, this weight loss equates to about 12 to 13 pounds.

A 7% weight loss reduces the onset of type 2 diabetes by 58%.

Weight loss promotes cell glucose uptake and proper glucose use and storage.

This benefit is still seen one year after weight loss was achieved.

‍Some studies indicate insulin improvements up to five years after maintaining a loss of 15% or more of their body weight.

Weight maintenance after weight loss was key for improving insulin resistance, and continued nutrition appointments with a dietitian can help. 

Safety Considerations

Healthy weight loss is achieved and maintained through a balanced diet, like the Plate Method, and adding in more physical activity. 

Small, realistic changes add up. Seeing progress will motivate and empower you to maintain your newly developed health behaviors. 

Rapid weight loss using fad diets or extreme dieting techniques may work for a short while but isn’t sustainable.

Often, people return to their previous eating and lifestyle habits and regain the weight lost or more. 

Working with a registered dietitian can help ​​you learn safe and sustainable ways to approach your nutrition and weight loss goals. 

Other Tips for Losing Weight with Insulin Resistance

• Remember to give yourself grace and time to make changes. Start small and give each change a couple of weeks to become a habit.
• Some foods and drinks will significantly impact your blood sugar and insulin levels. Consume them with a meal as you work on reducing your intake. some text
• Sugary drinks like soda, sweet tea, and juice, especially consumed on an empty stomach, spike blood glucose and insulin levels. Candy, sweets, and high-carbohydrate foods eaten without other foods impact the body in a way similar to sugary beverages. 
• Expect improvements over several weeks to months. 
• Monitor other health improvement measures like energy levels, sleep quality, ability to exercise (stamina), and mood. These non-scale victories will keep you motivated along your journey toward better health. 

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Takeaway

Insulin resistance can make it more challenging to lose weight due to elevated blood sugar and insulin levels.

Lifestyle and diet changes can help you achieve better-controlled blood sugar and insulin levels.

As you make these changes, you may feel healthier and might start seeing weight loss that seemed impossible when your levels were elevated.

How a Dietitian Can Help

A registered dietitian can provide individualized lifestyle goals and meal plans to help you prevent or reverse insulin resistance. 

Book an appointment with a diabetes dietitian today.