Losing weight is great but I don't want to lose muscle

I've been focusing on weight loss while managing diabetes, but one thing I keep thinking about is how to protect muscle during the process.

A lot of discussions focus on the number on the scale, but I know that losing weight is not only about losing fat. Maintaining strength and muscle seems important, especially while making changes to food intake and activity levels.

For people who have lost weight while on diabetes or weight management treatments, what helped you preserve muscle? Did you focus more on protein, strength training, exercise routines or something else?

I'm interested in hearing what worked in real life.