Mirrors and photographs are much more enjoyable when you feel good about how you look in them. Though being a type 1 diabetic gives Nicole additional motivation to maintain a healthy weight, she is like everyone else when it comes to wanting to look and feel her best. So how did Nicole lose the 28 pounds to be in what she describes as “quite possibly the best shape” of her life?

Nicole established a daily calorie intake target and began keeping a food log every day. She consulted her doctor to ensure that she ate a safe and effective number of calories to lose weight, and her doctor advised Nicole to consume about 1200 calories per day. In order to know how many calories she was consuming however, Nicole had to track the foods she ate.

“I use a mobile app,” said Nicole. “It’s more of a guide (so she knows what she is eating each day), and it helps me learn the nutritional value of foods so I can make better choices. It also helps me figure out how certain foods affect my blood sugar.”

Good or bad, Nicole tracks everything she eats, and she makes an effort to stick to her 1200 calorie per day plan seven days a week. She has a realistic approach, and she accepts that there are going to be “bad” days.

“A bad day is when I consume more than the 1200 calories that I allow for myself daily,” said Nicole.

In spite of having “bad” days more often than she would have liked, Nicole kept to her plan of logging her food almost every day. Though her calorie intake is the most important factor that she takes into consideration for her weight loss, and her carb intake is the primary influence on her type 1 diabetes, Nicole did find it helpful to learn about the protein and fat content of her foods. Below are two actual examples of a “good” day and a “bad” day of meals and snacks that Nicole logged during her pursuit to lose 28 pounds.

A couple of things worth noting in regards to Nicole’s Food Logs are:

• She was 123 calories over her goal on her “good” day, but she still considered it a “good” day because she was close to her daily calorie intake target. Also, she exercised that day and overall she made healthy food choices.
• She was able to enjoy a couple of things like wine and brownies on her “good” day without deviating too far from her daily calorie target. This is because she was tracking her intake all day AS SHE ATE, and because of this she knew how many calories she had remaining throughout the day.
• When she could not find something paired or combined in her application—like peanut butter and apples, or a chicken bowl with salsa—she itemized the foods individually in order to account for all of the calories in her meals.
• On her “bad” day she skipped breakfast, and opted for a calorie-filled latte.
• Even though she skipped an entire meal—breakfast—on her “bad” day she was still 367 calories over her goal due to her food choices during the remainder of the day.

Now she is maintaining her weight, and she is still keeping a food log to make sure she stays on track. In fact, she received some pleasant news from her doctor at the end of her last appointment.

“At my last diabetes and endocrine appointment my doctor told me that I need to increase my daily calorie intake to 1500 calories a day!” said Nicole. “Since then (increasing her calorie intake), I’ve been maintaining my weight pretty well. Also, my A1C level was 5.2, which is about as normal as yours would be (or most people who do not suffer from type 1 diabetes). My A1C level is basically the average blood sugar that I have had for about the past three months.”

Say what?! She actually gets to eat more now? That seems like a fantastic incentive to get to your weight loss goal sooner! Besides just feeling and looking better, Nicole’s weight loss success and dedication to exercising daily has come with additional health benefits that are helping her cope with her type 1 diabetes. Keep striving toward your personal fitness goal every single day so you too can see the extra benefits of Living Healthy.

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