Hi guys, I'm new to TuDiabetes, excited to get know you guys. :)
I've had an on-going problem for awhile, when it come to finding the right diet, for good fitness, as well as good blood sugar control. What I have been doing is keeping my carb intake very minimal (veggies, protein) except for the 1-2 hours before and after my workouts. If I keep within that time window, I'll have some fruit/whole-grain toast before my workout and sometimes sweet potatoes or 1/2 cup quinoa after. This seems to have little affect on my blood sugars and gives me enough energy to fuel my workout.
I have difficulty losing fat despite being quite active. When I first started low-carbing I lost a bit of weight, but since then I've regained most of it, some in the form of muscle. I'm not overweight, but would like to lean out more and a dietician that my endocrinologist recommended seems to be an advocate for the standard ADA diet- low-fat, moderate to high carbs. I know by increasing my carbs, I'll be increasing my insulin significantly. I'm already needing to increase my basal insulin because of recent higher numbers. (Stress, maybe). I guess increasing insulin always makes me uncomfortable because I always associate more insulin = weight gain. Let me know if any of you have experienced differently. Health comes first of course, but this has been frustrating me for a long while. I apologize for the long post but if you have had any similar experience to mine or could offer any advice at all, I would appreciate it so much. Thanks.:)
i completely understand your worry re more insulin=weight gain. i have t1 for two years and every now and then have to raise my basal with the natural progression of the disease and it always makes me think, omg, gonna get so fat.
i eat a moderate carb diet, about 100 grams a day and do a lot of exercise-about 1.5 to 2 hours a day-1 hour of it being cycling to and from work. i would think that this amount of consistent exercise would make me lose, but no, i just hang out where i am. i dont MIND, im not overweight, but if given a choice id take off 2 or 3 kilos.
i eat to my meter before and after exercise. im going for a run now but am only having coffee with milk and an egg because im too high for carbs :(, other times when i am lower, ill eat carbs. im sorry i dont have the answer for you, but i offer all of my commiseration!
I think many people have struggled with similar questions. I think it is a good health goal to try to be fit and lean, no matter what your weight. And by lean, I mean low bodyfat. Unfortunately, many of us have had less than stellar encounters with dieticians. I don't consider them experts on how to get fit and lean. I consider bodybuilders experts on how to really get lean. And if you look at what they do to "lean out," many of them eat very low carb, high fat, moderate protein and do lots of low steady state exercise to burn fat. I follow a low carb diet and my weight has been very stable. I also at times do something called intermittent fasting, just skipping one or two meals one day every week.
My friend who's had the most success working out and building up his body uses macronutrient tracking. He goes 50 protein/ 30 carb/ 20% fat when he wants to get leaner and 40/40/20 when he wants to build muscle. I have a hard time cutting my fat that low but have seen some ok results when I track my food along those guidelines and sort of deal with that separately from insulin. One thing I've noticed with a pump is that when I am even a bit off, too much basal or too much bolus insulin, I will find myself munching "emergency snacks" more often to cover the extra insulin and this can cause me to swing up a couple of pounds pretty readily. The differences are pretty small, like .1G carb/U or .025/ hour (although my recent experiment of 1/2 hour .8u/hour and 1/2 hour of .775U/hr has worked great...) will make a difference one way or another.
I work out pretty regularly and find that I can cover about 1/2 hour workout (5Kish run...) with about 8-12G of carbs, depending on where I start with, I usually am trying to get to 90-100ish before I start, have a glass of skim milk and run. Some lifting kinds of things seem to boost BG more than cut it but I just try to work around those things. In terms of "covering" a workout, stuff like sweet potatoes and quinoa seems to boost my BG more like 2 hours later so I don't work that stuff into my pre or post workout food choices unless I'm going to eat and then I just bolus.
I'm much older than you and find I gain weight very easily. (always have, but it's gotten worse). I definitely find that keeping both my insulin and my carbs as low as feasible works better. I am an exception though in that I still watch fat as well to some extent. I'm not sure but I think that "recipe" (low carb/high fat)is more necessary chemically with ketogenic low carb diets like 30 carbs where I eat more like 60. Could be wrong about that, I just know what works for me.
Hello AnJaleh I have been to quite some Diabetic Sports Seminars. The difficulty of losing weight while on insulin is that it keeps back the burning of fat and therefore you cant lose weight as easily. here are some tips:
-do the exercise at a time with as little insulin on board as possible
this is mostly the case while fasting, in the early morning might be a good time
-try to do the exercise with as little carbs in the stomach as possible
from what i read, you only eat carbs before workout. this way you give your body carbs to burn while working out. it would be better if your body would burn fat.
imagine it like that: if your body were a fireplace, the carbs would be the paper sheets you put in there to light on the fire, and fat is the wood. if you always put in paper, the paper will burn first before the wood, and maybe the wood will never start to burn.
therefore i would recommend not to eat carbs right around the workout, but eat more throughout the day so you still have some energy and dont tire out completely while trying to lose weight.
so here a summary: try to go exercising with as little carbs and insulin on board as possible (also lowering your basal before, during and after exercise). it will be hard at first to find out how much insulin is enough and still wont drive you low, dont expect it to work from start! it is all a learning experience.
feel free to ask if i havent expressed myself clearly, my english is not the best! good luck :)
Thanks guys, all of your responses have been helpful! swisschocolate, I've heard about the way insulin causes fat loss to be more difficult. The reason I usually eat carbs and bolus pre-workout is that I find I need a less insulin to cover the meal, but your point regarding working out with the least amount of insulin on board makes complete sense. I'm curious, if you wake up with a higher reading (say, over 180 but less than 250) would you wait to correct until after the workout? Fasted cardio tend to raise my bgs, rather than lower them, but maybe I just need to experiment more with the length and intensity of my workouts. :-P
Brian (bsc), I totally agree with you, re-the experts being bodybuilders>most of the dietitians out there, haha.
acidrock23, consistency in macronutrients is always helpful, I think-- especially in diabetics. I'm still figuring out the right macro ratios to follow, but the ones you described seem that they could work well. :)
and thanks to everyone's responses, I appreciate it!
AnJaleh Your weight is always dropping easier with an elevated blood glucose level…
Same when you were diagnosed, you lost weight, thats the whole point. So it is your decision whether you wanna correct under 250, i would correct at about 240, not sure, depends on the stuff i am going to do.
it is a difficult balance, the higher you get the easier you get into dka, especially while doing sports, so above 300 you should not be doing sports. up to 240 your ability to do things should be the same (no tiredness) so its really your decision where you wanna keep your bgs at (long term complications, etc.)
i can not really give you the solution, but just at the moment nothing will happen to you exercising with a bg of 220 and your weight will probably drop faster.
BUT I DO NOT ADVICE TO KEEP YOUR GLUCOSE LEVELS UP ALL DAY, DO ME THAT FAVOR PLEASE!!!
find it out by your self, its trial and error as always with D.
take care, SC
Umm, Really? Bodybuilders? You are recommending that AnJaleh should take diet advice from Bodybuilders? How about this report on real-world bodybuilder diet: http://www.exrx.net/Bodybuilding/PreContestDiet.html
"In effort to reduce body fat and maintain lean body weight [prior to competition], bodybuilders typically employ restrictive dietary practices, intense training, and the self-administration of pharmaceuticals" ... "Kliener found competitive bodybuilders who consumed an average of 5739 ±2500 kcalories (2451-19760 kcal) when not preparing for competition." ... "The week before the [Junior USA Bodybuilding Championships] competition, the men's diet consisted of 2015 ±1060 kcalories; 169 ±94 gm of protein (33.5% of kcal), 243 ±121 gm of carbohydrates (48% of kcal), and 40 ±51 gm of fat (18% of kcal)." ... "Many athletes reported the use of various drugs including anabolic steroids, diuretics, and laxatives as part of their training regimens. A large portion of competitors left the questions pertaining to drug use unanswered. Two men practiced sodium loading preceded by sodium depletion prior to the competition. Beginning 2 to 3 days before the competition, fluid restriction and dehydration practices were reported by all competitors."
Geez, I would much prefer the advice of a nutritionist.
I can't contribute anything about exercise, blood sugar and weight loss. But I do have some concerns about allowing blood sugar to stay high to lose weight. I'm not clear on all the science, but I believe the severe weight loss that happens when we are first diagnosed is caused by burning fat and only happens at extreme blood sugar levels. So intentionally staying in the 200-250 range probably wouldn't do much for weight loss. What it would do is put us more at risk for complications down the road. There is a form of eating disorder called diabulimia where people intentionally allow their blood sugar to go very high (by underdosing insulin) and thus lose lots of weight. It is unhealthy and can be very dangerous. That's what characterizes eating disorders (similar to substance abuse): being willing to go to dangerous lengths to lose weight.
As someone in recovery from an eating disorder (for 19 years) I understand the anxiety over weight gain, but feel there are moderate ways to prevent gain or to lose, such as reducing carbs and thus insulin and engaging in moderate exercise.
As I said, I do not recommend it to anybody to stay high for a long time just to lose weight- unfortunately some anorexic girls with D use exactly that to get thinner. I just let her know that even a lightly elevated blood glucose level can support weight loss- if it is healthy regarding long term complications, that is another question.
i would not stay high just to lose weight, and i do not advise anyone to do it, but it does help, whether you like it or not…
take care everyone and dont make any stupid choices! ;) sc
