Hey guys it's been a long time since i've been on here, but I came back because I need some help...I don't know what it is, either diabetes or my diet, but I've been gaining weight and it's almost impossible to lose it...i've tried everything and I even exercise and eat a lot better now and still nothing! It's so frustrating and I don't know where else to go for advice. To be honest, I think it has a lot to do with having diabetes.
Since I am new here I will let some of the type 1s answer even though I am type 2 on insulin.
I thought I gained weight with insulin. I changed the dose per endo exercise watch my diet and I lose 2 pounds a week. It is to me hard work. Reed
what do you mean per endo exercise?
I am getting my thyroid checked next month because I was wondering if it had something to do with it. Thanks for the advice i'll trying changing up my exercise routine :) How much insulin or carbs should I be eating then?
I don't think that it's the insulin as much as the carbs which, generally, one "covers" with insulin. I was 275 lbs in 2006 and am now around 180ish. Some of it might be exercise, as I have gotten more active but I think the main thing is to reduce the amount of carbs. A lot of times, I'd "plateau" and then I sort of look at what I'm eating and go "I don't *need* chips" or "maybe 1/2 sandwich is enough..." and will make a change and drop a few more lbs.
Ill try to eat less carbs...I feel like insulin makes you hungry though
Nicolette, you say on your profile that you're 16 years old. Because you're so young, I think it might be a good idea for your to talk to your endo about your concern over gaining weight. Maybe he/she can help you figure out what's going on. It could be that you've been exercising enough that you don't need as much insulin as you're taking, now. It could be a hormonal thing, like maybe your insulin levels need to be adjusted for the first couple of days of your period. If you're taking birth control pills, sometimes those hormones can change your insulin needs a bit. If it's just that you need to cut back on carbs overall, or reduce your total caloric intake, okay. But it would be good to have an informed opinion about everything, first, I think.
I meant before I changed my dose I had a conference with my endo. I am on a walker but I exercise do water aerobics and,then, I changed my diet eat better and have been losing weight. Reed
Insulin itself won't cause you to gain weight. It's simply a hormone, and everyone has it. Our bodies just don't produce it on its own, so we have to provide it - thus we are now the controller.
If the amount of carbohydrates you consume is more than that of what your body needs, insulin will cause you to gain weight because its allowing the excess glucose in your blood to be converted into energy. If you end up with more energy in your system than your system needs, it stores it as fat. Hence the gain in weight.
The hardest thing for us as diabetics is that if we let our diets get out of control, we end up giving ourselves too much insulin for our body's daily requirements. Allowing the excess storage of carbohydrates we consumed but didn't need. If we don't give enough, then we essentially starve our body of the energy it needs and it burns off fat - when we run out of fats, it eats into our muscle. You end up feeling terrible and in the same boat as when most of us were initially diagnosed - tired, irritable, hungry, weak, and in generally poor health.
A good way around this is to figure out what your system needs daily for carbohydrate intake. Plan your daily intake around that, combined with exercise, and you should have no issues losing anything extra that you have. You will have to work at it though.
Best of luck!