How to Lower A1C Without Losing Weight: 4 Lifestyle Habits That Really Work
Doctors reveal simple habits that can support healthier blood sugar levels
Key Takeaways
- A high A1C can occur even if your weight falls within a healthy range.
- Walking regularly can help your muscles pull glucose from your bloodstream.
- Better sleep and stress management may help support insulin sensitivity.
After a routine blood workup at your doctor’s office revealed a high A1C or prediabetes, you may have felt confused and not quite sure where to start. You’ve heard that weight loss can help, but what if your BMI is normal or you simply don’t want to prioritize weight loss at the moment? Are there other things you can do? Is weight really driving a high A1C, and if not, can you lower your A1C without losing weight? We asked doctors for the answers to all of these questions, including what you need to know about lowering your A1C without weight loss and the simple lifestyle tweaks that can help get you there.
What is A1C?
You’ve probably seen A1C pop up in your health portal, but what exactly is it measuring and how does the result differ from checking your blood sugar at home? “A1C is a blood test that gives healthcare providers and patients a picture of a person’s average blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels over the past three months,” explains Alisa Schiffman, DO, MBA, senior medical director for Abbott’s North America diabetes care business. “While a fingerstick glucose reading tells you what’s happening at a specific moment in time, A1C helps us understand the bigger picture and identify longer-term trends.”
Dr. Schiffman and Cory Rice, DO, Chief Clinical Advisor at Biote, both say that A1C results fall into three categories:
- Normal: Below 5.7 percent
- Prediabetes: Between 5.7 and 6.4 percent
- Diabetes: 6.5 percent or higher
Anna Cabeca, DO, FACOG, triple-board certified ob-gyn, regenerative and integrative medicine physician, says insulin resistance can play a major role in a high A1C. “When your cells stop listening to insulin, glucose stays in your bloodstream longer instead of getting into your cells where it belongs,” Dr. Cabeca explains. “Your liver then converts that extra glucose into fat. It’s not a simple calories-in-calories-out story; it’s about how your body is processing and storing energy.”
Dr. Rice says other factors that can raise A1C include:
- Dietary habits
- Poor sleep
- Stress of illness
- Genetics
- Physical inactivity
Can you have a high A1C without being overweight?
If you found your high A1C to be a surprise, one source of your confusion may have been that you aren’t overweight, so why wouldn’t your A1C be normal? Dr. Rice explains that while being overweight can certainly raise A1C risk, it doesn’t account for the whole picture.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that only people who are considered overweight develop prediabetes or have elevated A1C levels,” adds Dr. Schiffman. “The truth is that factors such as family history, ethnicity, age and body composition can affect glucose metabolism, regardless of what the scale says. Someone can appear healthy on the outside and still have elevated glucose levels that deserve attention.”
How to lower A1C without losing weight
Just as you can have a high A1C without being overweight, our experts say you can also lower your A1C without having to lose weight. Dr. Cabeca shared her top four tips to help lower your A1C that don’t revolve around having to move the number on the scale.
- Get walking: Dr. Cabeca recommends making time for a 30-minute low-intensity walk five to six days a week. “Walking lowers cortisol, which is huge for insulin sensitivity,” she explains. “Plus, movement helps your muscles pull glucose directly out of your bloodstream without needing insulin to do the job.”
- Try strength training: Aim for strength training with weights, resistance bands or exercises that use your own body weight two to three times a week for 20 to 30 minutes, recommends Dr. Cabeca. “When you build muscle, those cells pull glucose out of your blood even when you’re at rest,” explains Dr. Cabeca. “More muscle means better insulin sensitivity and lower A1C.”
- Manage your stress and prioritize sleep: A daily 10-minute deep breathing ritual and seven to nine hours of consistent sleep can be a good place to start to help manage cortisol and stress hormones, says Dr. Cabeca. “When you sleep well and manage stress, cortisol drops, and your body can finally heal its relationship with insulin,” Dr. Cabeca adds.
- Intermittent fasting: Dr. Cabeca suggests giving a 13-hour intermittent fasting window a try. She says this might look like stopping eating after dinner around 7 pm and not eating again with breakfast until 8 am the next morning. “You’re not restricting calories; you’re creating space between meals,” adds Dr. Cabeca.
The bottom line on A1C and weight
If a recent doctor’s visit revealed a high A1C, talk to your doctor about what factors may be contributing aside from weight and try one of our expert-approved lifestyle changes to not only support a healthy A1C but your overall health.
“Weight is not the villain here, and it’s not the only measure of health,” says Dr. Cabeca. “Two people at the same weight can have completely different A1C numbers, different inflammation markers [and] different energy levels. I care about your numbers, your symptoms, how you feel and whether your body is working efficiently, not what you weigh. Focus on the habits, trust the process and let the body do what it’s designed to do.”
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