Hi - I’m a type 1, on a pump and cgm, and ever since I was diagnosed and started insulin my weight has crept up and up and up. I have a lot to lose and haven’t had much luck doing it. I know, calories in calories out…but seriously, what am I messing? Has anyone had any luck? Have any advise? One thing I notice, is that I drink a lot of diet soda. Could that be hindering me? I’ve read it does for some, not so much for others. My plan right now - exercise daily, drink more water and less diet soda, watch calories, and limit carbs to 45 or less per meal. That will in theory cause me to use less insulin which I believe will help.
I would quit drinking the diet soda. I am one of those people that it causes problems for and one way to know for sure would be to quit drinking it for awhile.
When my foot got infected, I was not able to move around and ended up gaining about 65 pounds. For me, exercise is a big part of being able to lose or maintain weight. Even though I was only eating 1200 calories a day, I was not able to lose that weight until I was able to get back on the treadmill again. I have read that you need to exercise about 50 minutes, 5 days a week to just maintain your current weight. I would take a look at how much exercise you are doing.
Weigh and measure your food. If you think you are eating 1 tablespoon of stuff like butter or peanut butter but are really using 3 tablespoons, you are eating a lot more calories than you think you are. Write down everything you put in your mouth. I read about a woman that could not figure out why she could not lose weight until she started writing down everything that she put in her mouth. She did not realize that she was consuming about 700 calories a day in coffee creamer alone. Maybe that is to the extreme, but all those little things do add up.
Be careful what you treat your lows with. A cup of OJ might taste better than a couple glucose tablets, but the glucose tablets don’t have as many calories. If you need to have juice before you exercise, don’t look at it as, I am going to eat 1200 calories today plus the juice. Include the calories for the juice in your 1200 calories for the day. Obviously, you can’t do that for unplanned lows but you can be careful what you treat your lows with.
If you are eating 45 grams of carbs per meal, that is 135 grams of carbs a day. The only time I could do that was when I was running 10 miles a day. I would try cutting back some more on your carbs if you can.
How many total calories are you eating per day? Back when I was first diagnosed 27 years ago, I was young and skinny and I was put on 1200 calories a day. I think today’s dieticians put people on more calories than that they need. When I plug my info into the calorie calculator charts, they always come back with way more than what I need. If I ate what they thought I should, I would easily be 100 pounds overweight. You do need to balance the amount of calories with your activity levels, but if you are not losing weight on what you are doing and you are sure about the number of calories you are eating per day, you need to exercise more & cut back on the calories.
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Have you had your thyroid checked, Kim? Thyroid disease is much more common in Type 1 diabetics and if you are hypothyroid that would certainly add to your difficulty in losing weight.
Hi Kim,
Restricting your calories too much can put your body in starvation mode so your metabolism slows down and you gain. My sister has MS and was on a 900 cal diet. Kept gaining, gaining, even tho it wasn't enough to sustain her. Giving up diet soda is good, going low carb is great (45 carbs per meal is what I'm on.) The less insulin you have to use the better, cuz insulin makes all of us fat! Good luck to you.
Try lowering carbs. How many carbs are you eating now? Less carbs, less insulin will help. I eat a lot of calories (never actually counted calories), but low carb. I lost too much weight at first & had to add more protein to maintain weight. Many low carb recipe sites for inspiration. The key is eating sufficient protein to keep from being hungry. I do 30-35 carbs daily & am never hungry. When I ate a lot more carbs, I felt ravenous all the time.
Diet soda can lead to cravings for more sweets/carbs & hinders weight loss for a lot of people.
Specifically, Kim, insulin is a growth hormone, so the more you inject, the more weight you gain. Also, dump the diet soda, if you can. Some diet sodas are worse than others. The ones with phosphoric acid (like colas) are harder on your kidneys, and we diabetics want to protect those as much as we can.
Also, I have lost about 10 pounds over the last 3 months. The only change I made was flattening out my bg. I had too many lows which had me popping glucose tabs and drinking juice like crazy. Once I realized what (forgetting to take my allergy meds in the AM) was causing the 3am low bg's, I put that into the equation, and I stopped having to drink like one or two cups of juice a couple of times a week.
I'm going to second what everyone else has said. I'm eating about 70-75 carbs a day, and have lost 18 lb. in 3 months. It's not a rapid weight loss, but I've felt fine through it, and only 10 lb. to go before I reach my first goal of BMI 24.9, which would be 140 lb. for me. Then I will think of second goals -- part of me would like to be skinny, and part of me says that at my age, I will never be a beauty queen anyway! LOL!
I DO drink diet soda -- it doesn't affect me, and I've been drinking it for years. It's one of my last dietary pleasures, along with milk, and I'm not willing to give either one up. I was a real carb addict, and not a veggie lover, and I have had to work on that in order to lose weight and keep my insulin dose down. I'm eating more meat than I did before, and trying to get more salad and low-carb veggies in. I think it's worth it.
Thank you for all of the replys. It helps to hear how others approach weight loss. I did forget to state that I have hypothyroidism, so that doesn’t help. I will start by increasing exercise and decreasing carbs and insulin. Happy Holidays everyone!
Hi Kim. I'm a type 1 for 35 years on MDI (taking Apidra and Levemir). If possible, get Dr Bernstein's books. You will loose weight when you cut your carb intake. I try not to eat more than 40g carbs per day. Since eating low carb, I have lost 13kg. All the best.
Kind Regards
Riana
It's not as simple as calories in = calories out. If you cut down the number of carbs you are eating, you can eat more calories than you ought to be able to, and still lose weight.
Is your hypothyroid adequately controlled? For years, I was on 125 mcg. and still felt tired, and didn't lose weight, but the doc said it was the right dose. I had a thyroidectomy (it was Hashimoto's and the goiter was interfering with swallowing)(downside was that I lost half my vocal range and can't sing any more :-( ), and then my TSH started going up, and the doc REDUCED the doses! (I think he's ready for retirement!).
When I was in the hospital, my TSH was 59, and they increased my dose to 200 mcg. and I can't believe how much energy I have. And I'm losing weight, although I'm sure the reduced-carbing is a great part of the equation.
There is controversy in the medical field about just what a TSH should be, so it could be that you are being undertreated -- needs to be discussed with your doc, and possibly get a second opinion.
Hmm. I am a little jealous of the weight loss that lots of people have experienced by going low-carb. I have put on 9kg/20 pounds since dx in June, going from BMI of 24 to 27-ish. I completely changed my diet after dx. I threw out all starchy carbs and replaced them with green salads, broccoli and asparagus. I didn't change any of the protein or fat that I ate apart from eating more eggs now. But I put on 6kg (13 pounds) in the first month after diagnosis alone.
I keep telling myself it is better to be overweight with ok control of blood sugars, than normal weight in DKA in the ER.
My endo says my dx BMI of 24 was 'unnaturally low' for me. I forgot to ask if that means he thinks my natural state is to have an overweight BMI. Which would then also imply that any attempts to lower it to a 'normal' weight would be 'unnatural' and hence ultimately futile.
Re the diet soda - why not try making your own by mixing carbonated water with sugar-free syrup?
I sincerely believe that we are meant to be different sizes. I'm short (5'3") and built with a round rib cage, so I will never look thin, even if I do have a "normal" BMI. Plus I stretched out with having a baby, and so that flab will never go away either, and I'm not willing to take the risks of plastic surgery.
I think the most important matter at this point is your diabetes control. Am I right that you have insulin resistance? It is VERY hard to deal with, and there is no ideal drug for it. And if you're already producing a lot of insulin on your own, then adding more might have its effects too.
Sometimes I think we're too obsessed with weight -- there have been some studies that say that mild overweight is not as unhealthy as we're made to believe, and may actually be protective in some cases.
Don't beat yourself up -- I bet you're just beautiful as is!
I recently had the thyroid med adjusted (for more of it). I believe for years that I've been under treated for it but the tests come back within the wide range. I've read about the differences endos have with the TSH test - the range is something like 1 - 5 and anything within the range is considered 'acceptable'. I've read most women do best at 1 and under. I've been anywhere from under 1 to nearly 5. So I do think this has something to do with my situation. The increase was so little that it hasn't seemed to make a difference. I think the doc just sees me as being one of those obese people who is always munching on the chips and ho-ho's and doesn't believe it has anything to do with the thryoid. (And I don't do that, I'm not saying I can't cut down on calories and carbs but I don't eat that unhealthy or sit around with bon-bons all day.)
I agree that you cannot go just off of the 'BMI'. I know some people who's BMI would be considered unhealthy yet it's just the way they are built.... but unfortunately I have gained nearly 60 pounds since starting insulin years ago.
I am indeed insulin resistent which is only working against me.....feels like it's all one big circle - insulin, thyroid, exercise, calories, etc.
I exercised an hour a day for 5 to 7 days a week from June to October and saw nothing happen with the weight. Well, I didn't gain anything. But it was disappointing to not lose anything.
I appreciate all the feedback given. Thank you all.
Two things I haven't seen mentioned yet -
1. I assume the diet soda is of the caffienated variety. Caffeine can alter sugar levels requiring more or less insulin and more or less carbs to adjust. It's one of those factors that isn't easy to account for until you see how it affects you personally (so long as I drink diet soda when I eat it doesn't alter mine, but by itself I get really odd peaks). Think Like a Pancreas talks about these factors.
2. If you are working out a lot you might not see much weight change, especially if you don't have a lot of fat. Basically muscle weighs more than fat. Working out burns fat and builds muscle. If you are working out right. So if you are just looking at the scale you might not see much change. Try getting a tailor's tape measure and taking measurements to see if you are having this happen. It also happens a lot if you are going to a high protein diet and working out. Protein builds muscle, carbs/fat fuel muscle. In the quick explanation anyway. And if you're workout regime doesn't work change it up. If weights aren't doing the trick try walking/running. If walking/running isn't working try something else.
I read somewhere that exercise doesn't really contribute to weight loss, although it keeps you from losing muscle tissue as you age. (Not counting extreme exercise, which some people do and love, but doesn't apply to most of us). We all have different reactions to exercise as well. There are people who love it, and find it exhilarating, and then there are those, like me, who hate it, and the only way to get me exercising at all is to make it a social event, i.e. exercising with friends who chat and laugh. So I go folkdancing once a week and one Saturday a month, which is not nearly enough.
If you are insulin-resistant, have you asked your doc about Metformin? I know it's aimed at Type 2's, but actually can be used for anyone with insulin resistance; it's just that Type 1's can't go off insulin, as Type 2's sometimes can.
And most people with an ounce of sense (and some scientific knowledge) know that overweight people mostly DON'T sit around and eat bonbons (or Big Macs) all day. It's partially because we've been fooled into thinking we have to eat low-fat -- so what else can you eat but carbs? And the lack of understanding how carbs contribute to excess insulin secretion (and in the case of Type 1's, excess injected insulin), and start the vicious cycle of insulin resistance and weight gain in those who are genetically predisposed to it.
You hang in there, and keep trying!
In winter 2006, I saw 275 lbs on the scale, I was 39, I had started exercising, walking when it was nice out and taking martial arts classes @ the park district. At the same time, I had T1 and had noted 42 year old obituaries listing ADA as the 'donor' and was sort of like 'yikes' so I started cutting waaay back on insulin and, at the same time, signed up for the 'boot camp' 'instructor class' at the Tae Kwon Do place. It was a chunk of money but got me working out 5 or 6 times/ week, an extremely fierce person suggesting 'you need to lose weight' and my own sort of 'yikes, I'm going to die' all scared me. I switched from no breakfast (DP, 150-300 pretty regularly...still was getting 5.5-6.2 A1C by IV R shots to fix that, not really a good, long term prospect?).
I switched from maybe 250G of carbs to maybe 100 and...lost weight. Unfortunately, between running my BG up to work out, b/c it would drop from like 180 to 60-70 w/ the insulins I was taking, and just guessing at carb-insulin ratios, my A1C went up (7.7, then 7.2 in 2009, doc visits w/ GP every 6 months....). By 2008, I was down to maybe 230 lbs and ran into a guy whose wife had a pump, we had dinner and she said "I don't have problems with lows" so I said 'what the hell' and decided to get a pump. I decided a 'refresher' w/ the dietician and CDE was in order but I did those pre-pump. The dietician was like 45-60/15-30/45-60/15-30/45-60 re carbs. That could have ended up like 240G/ day but, w/ the pump, I stayed around 175 or so? I had kept up the exercise, ran in some races and passed the black belt test in the spring of 2009, ran a 25:03 5K and felt pretty good about stuff, maybe 200 lbs or so. I've only dropped another 10 lbs as I'm 190-195 but more consistently lower. It is total work and, despite still being at least average sized, if not big (5'10"), I still eat 20G of carbs @ breakfast (piece of toast, egg beaters...) +V8, 1/2 sandwich @ lunch (20G or so, w/ Propel...), nuts and cheese for in between meal snacks, maybe 50G of carbs in the evening (dinner, beer, whatever...not *nearly* as much as I used to though!) so it's not a huge amount of carbs but not 'low carb' either. I had to move and stopped martial arts but I've kept running, biking, etc. so I exercise probably 4-6 times/ week most of the time. Shoot, really all of the time. It has been a very long road but is addictive when I've gotten into it? I am not sure what I am missing by not eating as much as the dietician recommended. I have a lot of energy, I don't bother eating at all the night before 1/2 marathons or other races (cf Galloway's Book of Running...) and have done ok? The first 5K I was like 7th/ 56 in my age group?
The downside is I am totally all over the scale. I know diet theorists say 'don't obsess about the scale' but I know that if I take Naproxen because I'm 'creaky', I'll gain 2-3 lbs. If I eat a huge meal, I'll go up a couple of lbs. This summer, we had a great vacation that involved a lot of eating and I saw 207 on the scale which, of course, was very alarming but I've buzzed it off quickly by staying with the plan. It's handy to have a plan. It also has helped my BG a lot eating pretty similarly every day? It probably is dull but I'd rather see good BG results than go out to eat 3 or 4x/ week, as I did when I was bigger. I dunno, it may not work for everyone but just staying on top of it has worked for me. The results I've gotten have been ***VERY*** slow but are still achievable? Less insulin= less food= less AcidRock. I hope that you can figure out a plan?
Also, it occurred to me when I read Think Like a Pancreas that if your TDD is calculated based on your weight and BG results, once you know your TDD, you could cut it back by eating less carbs and figure out a TDD based on a reasonable 'target weight'. I didn't do it this way at all but it seems reasonable that it might work and allow you to sort of program weight loss without blowing your BG out of the water, like happened to me? Good luck!
Hi, Acid … Very interesting account. I’m curious about your experience with Naproxen and weight gain. I take that occasionally and didn’t know it could have metabolic effects. Is this something you experience regularly?
I took it ALL the time during TKD but MrsAcidRock gets "Fitness" magazine that had a blurb about it causing weight gain and, frankly, if I run 10 miles, I get aches, if I sit on my butt, I don't? I sort of stopped for about a week and immediately dropped a couple of lbs? I am not sure if it's psychosomatic but if I really push myself and get really creaky, I'll have a coupel and it seems to just cause a very moderate weight 'nudge' of going up a couple of lbs? I am totally boring in that I eat about the same stuff all the time except for dinner? Again, I could also be totally nuts. I do like Naproxen though.
I wiped out on my bike, destroyed a couple of teeth, ripped lip in 1/2 and stitches in my chin, possible fractured jaw (I declined CT of my head as I'd just read an article about the radioactive horrors of CT scans and the doc said 'we won't really do anything if it's broken anyway...') and they gave me some Vicodin but I didn't think that it was as useful for the achyness as Naproxen? Still good w/ Star Wars, LOTR, etc. of course...heh heh heh....
Yeouch! Yeah, I'd be wanting some fairly serious drugs for a wipe-out like that.
I quite like the painkilling effects of Naproxen, too, but I just Googled the potential side effects, and some of them sound rather nasty. I'm guessing it's not a huge deal if one is only taking it occasionally, but maybe I'll see if I can make do with regular Advil next time.
Cheers ...