I will shortly be 63 with 42 years as a Type 1. My last A1c was 7.0 BUT quarter by quarter my weight has been increasing so that it is now 320+. My lipids and blood pressure are good. But my asthma and bulging disks are getting worse. The pain is one of the excuses I used to stop exercising which hasn't helped the weight.
I am calling an intervention on myself and contacted our local hospitals wight management group. I refuse to consider bariatric because I know too much about it and myself. The other option they push is an OptiFast program supervised by an endo. This is also sometimes called a ketosis diet. Basically, you replace all meals with concoctions I would not normally let in the house. This will mean a total revamp of my MDIs. Anxiety!
The Optifast is a medically supervised protein sparing starvation diet. Like any starvation diet, it will put you into ketosis as you mobilize the fat in your body. It is called protein sparing because you eat enough protein to minimally meet needs, thus (hopefully) avoiding eating away any important muscles or organs. Despite that, the diet is somewhat medically risky, thus the medical supervision.
I've never tried it, I've simply read about it. Have you tried a low carb diet like Atkins? That could be done without direct medical supervision and is medically a lot safer.
On a typical week day I consume 50 - 60 grams of carbs. None at breakfast, 14 grams at lunch. Weekends are more variable.
Part of my problem is probably that I do not care enough. My endo says that the two things I love most are reading and eating which I usually do at the same time during meals - so am not motivated to terminate either..
That is a pretty strict restriction of carbs. I think getting a handle on the mental part is going to be a big part. Sticking with such a strict diet like Optifast can be hard.
Have you looked into whether you have other factors which are complicating the weight issue? For instance, do you have sleep apnea? Are you insulin resistant? Perhaps metformin will help. Do you get hungry and crave food? Perhaps Byetta or Victoza would help?
I am not affiliated in any way with the following but as a T1 I have found the folowing information to be immensely helpful.
I suggest you watch the movie Fathead on netflix, hulu or youtube. Or get your own copy from http://www.fathead-movie.com. Also read Tom Naughton's blog articles.
Read Gary Taubes book - Why we get fat and what to do about it.
All of these offer incredible information about weightloss and a sensible diet which will not leave you feeling starved. There are much better solutions to your problem than an optifast diet.
The information is there but it is up to you to use it. Good Luck.
One of the reasons, I posted this question is that the Optifast diet seemed pretty radical. Also the word ketosis sounds bad to a Type 1. I just ordered two of Gary Taubes book to learn more. I also looked at Fathead. Another option I looked at was Nutrisystem (which I used in the past). If Mr. Taubes is correct, then many of nutrisystem's menu items have too many carbs and the benefit is really just potion control. Thanks again.
The second ingredient in Optifast is fructose. Do you really think that's suitable for a diabetic? I watched my cousin, who is T2, do this diet on her doctor's recommendation. She was hungry ALL the time, a predictable response to eating sugar. When she finally went off the diet, about 20 pounds short of her goal, she ate everything in sight. The problem is you need to refine your diet to something you can live on for the rest of your life. If you lost 100 pounds and brought all your test results into line, that doesn't mean you'll be able to go out and eat whatever you want. I suppose you could do a prolonged fast and lose weight, then carefully adjust your diet. But you can buy low carb protein powder and do that yourself, and use your carb allowance for a good salad every day. The only thing I've seen people gain from Optifast is, ultimately, more weight, and self loathing when it doesn't work.
Hi, You are confused about Ketosis. Ketoacidosis is the Diabetes type and is very dangerous because it a symptom of High Blood Glucose, see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetic_ketoacidosis. Ketosis is the condition where the body is getting its energy primarily from fat instead of carbohydrates. Ketosis is a natural function and is a goal in weight loss with the LCHF diet. see here http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/faq/f/whatisketosis.htm
This is all very helpful to me - thanks to everyone. I was/am seduced by the "magic" of losing 50 lbs in 20 weeks. But if it seems too good to be true...
I really appreciate the help. I also overlooked my youngest son who is entering his final year in Food Science. Since he heard what I was thinking about he has been explaining a lot of the risks and downside. For example,it appears that the body has a mind of its own. Like if you cut fats out of your diet, your body triggers a famine response and starts generating and storing suboptimal fats.
I work in the health care industry, and the honest truth is, for most people at your weight, diet alone is not enough. But with that being said, surgical intervention alone is not a magic fix. Regardless of what you do, weight loss includes things like determining what lead to the weight gain, making significant lifestyle changes-the way we eat, the food we eat, and getting exercise. Have you tried water aerobics? That is a really good option for people with back and knee problems, and from people I know who have done the classes, they say they have actually worked up a sweat in the water. Good luck, I'd look into a bariatric program, if you aren't inclined in the surgery at this point, a lot of them do have weight loss programs that are part of the bariatric programs. Most insurances before covering bariatric surgery recommend supervised medical weight loss, and a lot of bariatric programs have these programs established as part of their practices. One of our bariatric groups here also has a program just for people wanting to try diet and exerices alone. I'd keep searching before trying that ketosis diet. Insurance may or may not even cover it. That is another thing to inquire if your medical plan has bariatric benefits...regardless of surgery or not, if your plan doesn't have the benefits, it may be something that you will have to pay for yourself. I'd advise looking into joining the YMCA, and a water aerobics class to start with. Start slow and work your way up to more activity. Good luck with your weight loss.
