From what I understand, low carb (not matter how many calories you eat) will usually tend to bring you to a near normal weight and body composition. But when you get within like 10%, things are not so simple. Bernstein actually suggests that you increase or decrease protein to gain or lose weight. You may be right that cutting calories will help.
I’ve also found that when I get close, it is very hard to separate weight loss from body recomposition. I may stay the same weight, but lose fat and gain muscle.
500 calories per day relates to 1 lb weight loss per week. If you aim for a 250 calorie deficit, you’re working toward a 1/2 lb per week. As a dietitian, I approach weight loss with a general reduction in calories, being more mindful of quantity rather than focusing too much of calories (because I already excerise, read food labels, and never drink regular soda, nor eat candy bars).
Slow weight loss is more likely to stay off and you’re more likely to be able to “live” because your behavior changes.
By the way-my endo just informed me, it takes at least 2 months to re-train your habits. So he encouraged me to daydream about all of the goodies I wanted (graham crackers and peanut butter, anyone?), but it should go away in time if I stay persistent.
I’ve heard people mention before that idea about re-training habits. But in addition, there is a very real quality of addictiveness to both carbs in general and sugar specifically. Many people find that if they dramatically reduce carb intake and in the case of sugar, totally cut it out for a period of 30 days the cravings decrease. Personally I would find “daydreaming” about goodies counterproductive if I wanted to avoid those things! Periodically on here we have people start threads like “what is the treat you miss the most?” and I (quietly) wonder how many people who are trying to avoid those foods succumb to them after reading the description on the threads!
I absolutely agree that slow weight loss and making changes in eating and exercise habits that you can live with longterm is much more conducive to sustained weight loss.
NO PB and graham crackers - I m holding out for the cure and test it with French Onion Soup followed by large end cut probe rib w au jus, steak fries and red wine. Followed by cheesecake or apple pie (maybe both) mmmm mouth waters thinking of!
“Periodically on here we have people start threads like “what is the treat you miss the most?” and I (quietly) wonder how many people who are trying to avoid those foods succumb to them after reading the description on the threads!”
Like the boyfriend that sabbatoges his girlfriends diet. They don’t anyone to have a good A1c!
I am not a low carber, however I deliberately choose to eat more for breakfast than any other meal …and it helps me to eat fewer total calories and carbs throughout the day .
The only thing I’ve found that works is reducing carbs, which in turn reduces insulin requirements, while simultaneously increasing physical activity. From what I’ve noticed, T1s don’t lose weight as easily as non-D folks, so we have to be extra careful about gaining in the first place. I consider myself very active and in very good physical shape, but it can take me forever just to drop a few pounds when I want/need to. So, I try to be extra diligent now at keeping my weight stable. I typically don’t really count calories, fat, or protein - I just limit my carbs and make sure I exercise at least once each day. Even if it’s just a fast-paced walk at lunch, I do SOMETHING to rev up my metabolism. This has worked well for me.
However, if you’re having a really hard time losing weight, you should get your thyroid checked. T1s are at an increased risk for thyroid issues, and you don’t want something so out of your control sabotaging your efforts!
This is a great reply. And makes sense when your numbers are fluctuating and your diet already being low carb and healthy is the same throughout (as in the way I mentioned above).
Low carb intuitively makes sense to me- much of human history shows that we did not have many carbs or fat to eat- they were a treat and that’s why we like them so much. They help us put on weight easily and were scarce. Nowadays we eat a lot less in terms of volume, but our food is more dense in nutrition.
Fruits, veggies, and greens have lots of vitamins and roughage that are great for you, and they are very low-cal. The best way I’ve ever found to lose weight as a T1 was to make the main focus of my meals on plants and unprocessed grains (quinoa was a staple) with a good shot of protein and fat in there (usually natural peanut butter or lentils or beans). Even reducing your intake by 1/5 and upping your exercise to 20 min a day will make a difference. I like to focus on learning new and yummy dishes rather than the calories or the carbs. Same goes for exercise! If you are doing it for the pleasure of that activity, you are SO much more likely to keep on doing it. Losing weight is a lifestyle choice, and you have to think about what you’re willing or not willing to give up, and what sorts of exercise you are willing or not willing to take up. You don’t have to stick with it forever, of course, but at least choose something you’ll enjoy.
I think you are absolutely right on with your input, lyramer! So many times we think of “diets” as something negative: what we are going to lack miss, but need to white knuckle it through. Then we inevitably feel deprived over time and “splurge”. It’s a roller coaster and it’s not good for our bodies or our emotional balance, based as it is on principals of “being bad” or “being good”. I also encourage people to “own” their choices rather than feel saddled by them and do exactly what lyramer suggests: Find things that are yummy and fun to make as well as low carb/conducive to weight loss. I can agree in principle with the same approach to exercise, though I’ve never mastered that one so it’s all a theory to me!
Heather… how are you managing to eat only 40-50 grams of carbs a day? even eating no white products, no starches and mostly protein and veggies, salads and what not I am still way over that amount of grams, my endo has me counting every carb I put in my body
Fleece, I eat 30-35 carbs & have for almost 3 years. It’s possible:) My carbs are from low carb veggies, unsweetened almond milk & nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts). I eat a good amount of cheese.
Ill second this. I found dealing with 3 long PPs from low carb is a lot easier than dealing with 5-7 PPs on a carb laden diet. Once you nail down the bolus for a low carb meal, its 4-6 hours of steady BGs. This of course is just my experience.
I do some low-carb baking, using coconut flour, soy flour, almond meal, flax meal and the like. I’m probably a bit slack in counting the carbs in green veggies, but my I:C ratio probably takes that into account. I use almonds, almond milk sweetened with stevia, plain yogurt, unsweetened açai (+stevia), stewed rhubarb (+stevia), blueberries, almond butter (though need to watch the quantities of that stuff!), eggs, cheese, lean meats. I like green salads with tinned tuna/salmon or chicken/turkey in them. Also soups using some combo of chard/kale/cauliflower/pumpkin and maybe some chopped up grilled sausage. My favourite pasta alternative is spaghetti squash … amazing stuff. Anyway, eating these sorts of things, I seem to be able to stay below 50g of carb per day.
I’ve been quite surprised by how easy it has been, relatively speaking, to give up grain products. There certainly does seem to be an addictive quality to them, and, now that I’m not eating them, I find myself strangely put off by them. And cereal with milk used to be my all-time favourite food!
I find that I can lose weight if I reduce the insulin. Insulin that is not used for purpose is stored as fat - hence the problem with weight gain and insulin. Before I was diabetic I had frequent hypoglycaemia due to a cyst on my pancreas. I found that when I ate more and gave the insulin I was producing “something to do” I lost weight, but if I fasted I put it on. Then I got ill. Very ill. I went down from 14 stones to 6 in just under a year! Because of the diabetes which was not diagnosed for nearly 10 years! It took about 3 years for the weight to go back on, then I got too heavy for my liking so reduced the insulin - my excuse was that I had too many hypos. Then I have lost it. I have a way to go before I get back to my favourite weight of 7.5 stones, but it is getting there. Just a pain in the wallet as I keep having to buy new clothes from the charity shops - and all the bigger sized clothes are what I particularly want to wear!
I find that I lose weight rather easily on moderately low carb, say 60-90 gtams a day. I just eat nuts and cheese and a LOT of leafy green veggies, proteins from meats. My daily treat is a 4gm small dark chocolate square. But I also have a fairly high metabolism… but When I am around my family ( see my Easter photo) I can get a little plump.That weight is off now, as I am back home and hyper as ever(LOL).
I do not think it is harder for me as a type one to lose weight because of the aforementioned high metabolism( runs in the family). I gained a few pounds while I was home in GA with my parents because I ate all that good southern food and I bolussed appropriately for each and every delicious, starchy. fat-laden bite: I did not say my usual NO to macaroni and cheese, cornbread dressing .No resultant High BG’s, but the increased food along with increased insulin did do that weight gain thing for me, even with my high metabolism.
I suggest stay away from starchy carbs, simple sugar foods and breads and lower your insulin a bit.However,I find if I DO eat a simple carb, such as a few grapes with cheese, I do not spike and have a nice" bump" in my Postprandial CGMS graph rather than a "mountain ".
Stevia is banned in the UK. I could get it on-line but the ban makes me nervous. Has anyone had side effects from Stevia? I’m a low-carber and obviously interested in a no carb sugar substitute, especially as Dr Bernstein uses it, but… well, what do others think?
