Thin Type 2's, I just started a group

Community Share Your Stories
1

The first thing I brought up is how to keep weight on. I’ve got a whole closet full of clothing that I’ve got to have taken in. My endo is snarling at me and If I turn sideways - I vanish. I eat like a pig, I exercise just enough to keep the blood sugar down but the BMI is 22 and headed to 21.

Hey I use to really fill that shirt out. It’s been down, down, down since diabetes kicked in. My wife put me in her Oprah video because I’m a “skinny” type 2 (http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=8826&promo_id=1). A lot of people think this is cool but you who are out there trying to inject insulin, no what a hassle thinness is. I’ve still got those 1/2 " hypos and they look like they could go through me. Okay rant over. Come share fattening hints

2

Hey Michael, wish I had some fat tips for you. But fat doesn’t really like me either. Avocadoes maybe? I am a skinny type 2 also. I weighted 130 at diagnosis about 4 months ago (i’m 5’4") and I have since lost 25 lbs. I now weight 105. I am too skinny (well I think I am). People will soon think I am an anorexic or something. When they ask why I am so skinny, if I tell them D. they probably won’t believe me!

My butt has disappeared. I want my bootay back! :slight_smile: Of course not all of my stomach fat in gone yet ( ooo, aren’t I happy THAT fat got left behind? haha!) But I’ll join your group. I don’t take insulin - I am on Met. I can just imagine though. I look like a board when I turn sideways too - if it weren’t for my boobs I would look like one. ha! You look muscular in your pic though so you don’t look too skinny.

3

Yeah I was 175, now I’m 150. My butt hardly exist too. I mean sitting down on a hard surface gets old pretty fast. Avocados? Do those almost every day. What I’m think of trying is a protein drink every morning. The problem is that I’'m not hungry most of the time and it’s hard to eat if you’re not hungry. So what’s your Doc telling you about the weight loss?

5’ 4" and 130 lbs means you were the size of my daughter and that’s not very big. You lost twenty five pounds from there. That’s gotta be scary. You are about to enter waif mode. I can’t talk because I’m 5’ 9" though I’ve always been muscular. I’ve got no fat so the muscles show through. It’s a great beach body but it isn’t what I was looking for. It’s like the great powers said, “We’ll take your health but we’ll give you the body of a twenty year old.” Frankly I’d rather be healthy.
I got dxed a year ago and this weight and food thing has been an on going struggle. Nobody wants to hear about it, however. Most diabetics don’t even believe I’m a T2. They openly say they wish they were me. So it’s real good to hear from you.

So are you still shrinking? What’s your bg’s like?

Mike

Oh, I take insulin because I think it’s easier to handle rather than all the oral meds. One shot and it’s over for the day.

4

Let me make a couple suggestions and perhaps they can help. First, if you are like me, I have an overactive liver, it will kick in and start producing glucose at the drop of a hat. If I am in a fasted state, it does this by converting protein to blood sugar, and guess where it gets that protein. From my lean body mass. So, first suggestion, start eating 6-8 times a day. Not a lot, but try to make sure that you have covered as much of the day by having some dietary protein circulating as fuel for your body.

Second suggestion. Remember that insulin is not just the glucose and fat uptake hormone, it is also the protein update hormone. If you are actually insulin deficient, that can be a problem. If you need to take a bolus insulin around meals to enable your body to take up the nutrients, then do the bolus. Not just because you need it to maintain blood sugar control, but also to get the nutrients into your body.

And finally, you might want to just check and see if you have a problem like Celiac’s.

ps. And you may find that the 5 mm needle (3/16") works better than the 1/2." BD has also come out with a 4mm.

pps. And I know that this is true heresy in this forum, but the real recipe for gaining fat is to eat excess carbs and cover them with enough insulin, you just need to be careful cause you are ketosis prone.

5

Hey Mike, I dont have any tips for you but just wanted to say you look in great shape! Sorry to hear about the insulin issues. Always trade offs I guess. Hope you are well and wish you the best. Pauly

6

Im almost int he boat with you Michael. At dx 3 months ago i weighed 230. Three months later I’m down to 180 and still dropping. at this point I’m ok with it as i still have about 10 pounds to lose, and i know i can back off the exercise a little. But i am very concerned that i can not continue to keep dropping and very soon will need to start finding a balance of exercise and food intake that allows me to manage good control and a healthy weight.

BCS: you mentioned carb intake and covering with insulin. Right now i am not on insulin, but is that option for T2’s who need to increase carb loads to maintain weight. My doctor is pretty good at working with me on my program so i am curious if i should have a planning discussion with him early about next steps.

7

Let me make a couple suggestions and perhaps they can help. First, if you are like me, I have an overactive liver, it will kick in and start producing glucose at the drop of a hat. If I am in a fasted state, it does this by converting protein to blood sugar, and guess where it gets that protein. From my lean body mass. So, first suggestion, start eating 6-8 times a day. Not a lot, but try to make sure that you have covered as much of the day by having some dietary protein circulating as fuel for your body.

Hey BSC, I’ve got the same liver problem. Eating throughout the day is problematic since you have to be hungry to eat. This highlights two problems, lack of hunger and weight loss.

Second suggestion. Remember that insulin is not just the glucose and fat uptake hormone, it is also the protein update hormone. If you are actually insulin deficient, that can be a problem. If you need to take a bolus insulin around meals to enable your body to take up the nutrients, then do the bolus. Not just because you need it to maintain blood sugar control, but also to get the nutrients into your body.
I’m just getting my basal together. My thinking on this is that maybe I don’t gain weight because of a lack of insulin. So far no good but it’s early yet.

And finally, you might want to just check and see if you have a problem like Celiac’s.

ps. And you may find that the 5 mm needle (3/16") works better than the 1/2." BD has also come out with a 4mm.

pps. And I know that this is true heresy in this forum, but the real recipe for gaining fat is to eat excess carbs and cover them with enough insulin, you just need to be careful cause you are ketosis prone.

Trust me, these needles are history. Being ketosis prone gives me a G6PD problem so I pretty much have to follow along with Celiac disease. I really don’t want to mess with feeding insulin, being KPD makes that dangerous. I gotta be desparate to go there.

Thanks for Posting

8

Hey Mike, I dont have any tips for you but just wanted to say you look in great shape! Sorry to hear about the insulin issues. Always trade offs I guess. Hope you are well and wish you the best. Pauly
Pauly, how are you doing? Hopefully some day you’ll be complaining in the thin diabetic group. Actually, I don’t see myself having an insulin problem, outside of the fact that I think I’m not making enough.

Mike

9

Im almost int he boat with you Michael. At dx 3 months ago i weighed 230. Three months later I’m down to 180 and still dropping. at this point I’m ok with it as i still have about 10 pounds to lose, and i know i can back off the exercise a little. But i am very concerned that i can not continue to keep dropping and very soon will need to start finding a balance of exercise and food intake that allows me to manage good control and a healthy weight.

Have you ever thought that you’re dropping towards a particular weight? I’m asking this because I was 150 lbs for years. I didn’t gain weight until I became a serious cyclist and triathelete. I was up to 185 lbs.

Mike

BCS: you mentioned carb intake and covering with insulin. Right now i am not on insulin, but is that option for T2’s who need to increase carb loads to maintain weight. My doctor is pretty good at working with me on my program so i am curious if i should have a planning discussion with him early about next steps.

10

Is that a current picture? You look great I think. (or is than old pic?)
BMI of 21 is very normal, isn’t it? Normal weight = 18.5–24.9 BMI?

I’m currently BMI 23 .2, at 5-10" and yes, I’m also a T2 like you. — But I ballooned up to 210lbs at my peak, and started losing weight without doing anything. And then my diagnosis when my weight was down to 178…

Right now, I’m currently stable for the last 3 months at 161-163lbs. I still have some butt, and wife think it’s still sexy. hahahha.

Fattening tips… maybe you’re expending more energy than you take in?

Have more protein, meat or protein drinks… eggs, hardboiled, scrambled, etc… pork… pork rinds! :slight_smile:

Pic was taken two weeks ago. Look good? I look strange to me. I’m nearly 60 and what I’m seeing in the mirror looks so strange.

When my mother was dying, I ballooned up above 200 but it came off after she passed. I started losing weight as soon as I moved closer to work and wasn’t commuting on the bike 16 to 20 miles a day. So do you think you started losing weigh because of diabetes before you were dxed?

Another question: you’re about 160, now. Was that your weight for a long time?

Enjoy your butt while you can, I hope you get to keep it.

I really don’t exercise that much, I don’t use a car much so I spend time walking and cycling just to get things done. As for food, I’m doing everything you mentioned. Those things, however, decrease appetite.

Mike

11

Nice legs! ;D

Tom, I’d trade these legs in a New York minute for normal bg’s. Gotta friend who’s a fat slob with great numbers. I could shoot him.

Mike

12

LOL! Michael, I couldn’t help but laugh at your “Gotta friend who’s a fat slob with great numbers. I could shoot him.” comment. Is your friend a diabetic?

I think I am probably pretty different from you guys in that I have always been a pretty skinny person. I think the most I have weighed in my life was 135 which isn’t overweight for a 5"4’ girl. I did actually weigh around 100 about 17 years ago and my friends all thought I looked anorexic but I think they might just have been jealous because they were all overweight. That said, I wasn’t really trying to lose weight at that time either. I had a very busy life and a very active job, went to the gym everyday and I had tons of energy. The difference now that I have D (oh, I am only 4 months since my diagnosis) is that I believe the low carb diet is what is cause the weight loss. I was not losing weight before my diagnosis - on the contary I had gained from what I was before as a normal weight for most of my adult life has been between 115 and 125. I think I also have a super fast metaobolism - anytime I restrict my diet - I lose weight without hardly exercising at all. I think some peoples body just WANT to get rid of excess weight. But yes, when you feel like a toothpick, it is easy to get worried. I was OK with weighing 130 or even my normal weight of 115ish. I have a feeling I am still going to lose another 5 and go to 100 but not like I haven’t been there before (and without the D when I did).

As far as the fat goes, it is a bit different for me since I am a vegan. So I pretty much consume no saturated fat which isn’t a surprise that I am losing weight - although like I said it is the low carb since this didn’t happen prior and I have been a vegetarian for 20 years. My fats come from oils, avocadoes, nuts etc. I don’t really count them either.

I too am hardly even hungry and I have eaten like a bird most of my life. So this is not new for me. Although prior to D, I could really “put it away” if I wanted. When I gain weight, I gain it around my middle. I wish I could shift it to my butt! LOL!

I have tried the “eating more often approach” but I do know it is recommended that diabetics do eat more small meals instead of 3 large ones - this is hard for me since I am rarely hungry and I am used to eating two meals a day. Getting even the 3 - I hate it.

That said, I do have great numbers and I contribute it to the low carbing which is also making me too skinny! But I think it is more “dangerous” healthwise to be a bit too skinny than to be overweight. I guess I might have to great used to looking like a toothpick (although thank goodness, I inherited wide hips so I still look like a woman!) to have lower numbers to avoid complications.

For me, I think the key is going to have to be muscle building - something I don’t have right now. Michael, you already have that and yeah, you definately DO NOT look 60! You look great! Better to be skinny and muscular I think than overweight.

I’ll trade legs with you! (although they would probably look weird on me!) But I agree, it is better to have good numbers than great legs! :slight_smile:

Although I am not an expert on working out, it does make perfect since that one would gain weight when sedentary as opposed to be very active like you are. I gained weight before diagnosis because I was very sedentary - and I never really gained weight based my diet, only if I was lazy. :slight_smile: Also isn’t it true that muscular people burn calories faster than non-musclar people? Maybe having too much muscle isn’t a good thing?

Also the protein shakes will probably make you gain more muscle and not fat. Not that they aren’t good if you are trying to build muscle but it doesn’t seem like this is your problem (I have this problem). I was always under the impression to that it is better to replace fat with muscle and not the other way around. Muscle adds weight too.

I am not sure if I have the liver problems that you have since I am on Met. But I still learning about how all that exactly works. I don’t get hypos either (at least not so far).

13

opps I meant it is more dangerous to be oveweight than too skinny!

14

Have you ever thought that you’re dropping towards a particular weight? I’m asking this because I was 150 lbs for years. I didn’t gain weight until I became a serious cyclist and triathelete. I was up to 185 lbs.

Im hoping to settle around 170 initially, then i want to bulk up to 175 or 180. i have always been pretty muscular. In High School i was a competitive snow skier and wrestler and at that age i was 175. It hard to believe at 40 i am almost at that same weight, but i cant imagine dropping below that.

15

Oh, forgot to mention too Michael. I have no health insurance so I dont’ go to the doctor all that often. But last time I went a few months ago, I did mention I how much I lost and he didn’t say anything - I am assuming that he understood that it was normal considering my type of diet and doing the low carb. I had an A1C of 9.2 when I was diagnosed and cut it to a 4.9 -which I think is more important than being too skinny (at least for me!)

But like I said, I am not surprised at all that I lost this weight. I know why I am losing it. I know my body too and I can drop weight without hardy any effort. I do believe also that everyones body has some sort of ideal weight it wants to be at and I think for most people it might be more on the skinny side than the fat. I also think that once you body feels you are the weight it is comfortable with you will even out and maybe even gain a few pounds back. I know people (not D) who have changed their diets to low fat and they first got a bit to skinny and than they gain a bit back (without changing their diet) because their bodies seemed to be “evening itself out” (for lack of a better phrase there). I have a feeling I probably will not drop too far below 100 if I lose anymore. But I do know I have to start gaining muscle again. (last time I weighed 100 I was working out at the gym - I wasn’t really muscular per se - but I had more strength than I have now - I know my muscles are probably kind of atrophied). One of my goals is to try to make sure I get more fat in everyday - for me, it will be in the form of avocadoes, maybe coconut, olive oil but the muscle gain will be key for me. :slight_smile:

16

Fat slob friend has the good genes. No diabetes anywhere. Can and does eat everything. I hate him!!! Okay, I got past that.
I really don’t work out much. Overtime, I’ve figured out how much I have to do and that’s all I do. I come from blue collar people and the concept of exercise is foreign. Life was exercise and sitting down was all they ever looked forward to. I did give my car away ten years ago to my daughter since I didn’t use it. I’d rather ride a bike and I ride through out the Michigan winter. I say I’m 60 but I actually turn 58 in August. 60 is just quicker.

Kimberly you should try using coconut oil. It’s got to be the most dense thing out there. Muscles are supposed to help with bg’s but I haven’t found that to be all that true.

I’m very interested in the old body weight before significant weight gain. I’m thinking that now that I’ve changed my diet, my body is trying to return me to 150 lbs.

Bubbaluv - I now can get into the suit I was married in 30 years ago. Of course, my wife really hates that.

Mike

17

I hope your wife has that photo framed somewhere!

18

Actually, she’s the one who took it and she too would trade it for a fully healthy husband. When I look at this body I’m reminded of a friend who was being complimented for how thin she was. The woman asked how she did it. She replied, “Terminal Cancer.”

19

I liked the way I looked and felt back then. I rode my bike about 100 miles a week. I had no flab and I felt solid. Now I feel like a good wind could blow me away.

20

Well, I’ve always been thin…was a skinny kid; the most I’ve ever weighed was pretty much what weigh now. I fluctuate between 123 and 130, and I’m nearly 5’7". A couple months before dx, I shot up to 153 lbs for no reason…shocked me, as I had never done that before. Then about 2 week before dx dropped like a cannon ball all the way down to 118…I didn’t realize how I looked 'till friends I hadn’t seen in a while brought it home to me…they didn’t recognize me right away, and when they did…they were shocked. Someone ACTUALLY said I was lucky!! I dreaded bumping into someone I hadn’t seen in a while…it was very embarrassing. My husband thought I was losing too much weight…but I wasn’t trying to!! I was trying to put some back on and maintain it! I’m 127 now. I also retain fluids…for which I take meds. Read your post, Kimberly, and laughed…I come from a long line of “skinny butts”, and a little shifting WOULD be nice lol
I, however, am prone to hypos…causes me to snack OFTEN!!