I like the idea of doing more exercise on the weekends. Right now I am doing really well with exercise. Last night I was out literally all day and got home at 8:30 and went on my bike just because I wanted to get that in. I would have never done that before. I would have exercised on a day where I got home earlier, but not one I got home late.
Iâve heard that about weight loss being 90% about eating, too. Do you know of any books on that subject (Iâm all into reading books about this stuff)?
I think one good thing is that I feel WAY better than I did six or seven weeks ago, even if I weigh pretty much the same. Iâm planning to just keep doing what Iâm doing until I drop, or maybe I need to be more aggressive somewhere, but for now Iâm just trying to make all this stuff into a habit so I can just keep it up forever, even if/when I reach an ultimate ideal weight.
You might enjoy The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living: An Expert Guide to Making the Life-Saving Benefits of Carbohydrate Restriction Sustainable and Enjoyable by Stephen D. Phinney, Jeff S. Volek
This book is really aimed at medical professionals but was purposely written so the layman would not be intimidated. I found it very readable. Lots of explanations about how our body works backed up with scientific papers etc. The authors have published research in peer reviewed journals. Although not specifically written for diabetics it does have a chapter on diabetes. While saying exercise is very important, they explain how you are not going to exercise your way to weight loss.
One tip I picked up is that you need to add sodium to a low carb diet because your kidneys will start excreting more sodium as you start burning more fat.
I also liked their emphasis on our varying genetics and how some are more adapted to the agricultural revolution while others retain more of a hunter gatherer physiology. The disastrous experience of various groups of native peoples around the world with a western diet makes this a no brainer.
Thatâs a great book, Badmoon! So true that you canât exercise off the pounds. Exercise ups the metabolism for a period & increasing muscle mass helps diabetics, but itâs food thatâs the key.
Iâve been reading how people eat incorrectly before working out. The researcher talked about not eating several hours before working out & then immediately eating easily digestible protein after. He shot to hell all that carb loading stuff. His article wasnât directed to PWD.
I also liked Gary Taubes âWhy we get fat.â His earlier book âGood Calories, Bad Caloriesâ is also good, but a much harder read. I have to admit, many of the books that I have read on these subjects come from bodybuilding. I know it sounds strange, but it you wanted to find ways to become âlean,â not surprisingly bodybuilders are the ones who will try anything and have uncovered some of the keys. Some of the latest thinking in bodybuilding involves following a very low carb diet (Bernstein level) and then using carb up meals/days in a strategic manner. Some people argue you should have a âcheatâ day or meal. Others argue that you should eat carbs after a workout. But mostly, they argue that having some carbs keeps your body revved with a high metabolism and being mostly low carb assures that you are usually burning fat.
I liked âWhy We Get Fatâ a lot too, it was very readable and more of a history of science book than a âdietâ book. It seemed to conclude that eating less carbs was important but also investigated different suggestions as to how many to eat and didnât really come up with a definitive conclusion.
Thanks for the recommendation, Iâll see if my library has it.
Thanks for the suggestion. I put it on hold at my library. All copies were checked out, which must mean itâs good!
Iâm a personal trainer. Weight management is about calories in vs out. People here will tell you that insulni makes you gain weight-- i donât believe that at all, if youâre blood sugars are good your body will be functioning just like someone without diabetes.
But as far as weight loss. Eat nothing but whole wheat, fruit, veggies, lean meats, nuts, and some dairy. 3500 calories equals one pound so a 500 calorie deficit a day (3500) a week will make you lose a pound a week- whether itâs caloric deficit by diet or exercise or both. Itâs not suggested you lose more than that though unless youâre like obese
Donât weigh yourself everyday. Iâd do it just one a month personally⌠the first of the month at the same time. Your body will flucate throughout the day. And you said youâve been losing 1-2 pounds a month. Thatâs actually really good. Itâs progress. Losing 20 pounds healthily will take about 4-5 months. People always want quick changes but thatâs not how it works. Usually when people shift weight very quickly itâs not healthy. Also a lot of people who âSEEMâ to lose a lot of weight quickly are really just losing water weight and glycogen stores because glycogen weighs a lot. Another reason you donât want to lose too much is because youâll be at more risk of losing muscle mass instead of fat (or both). Just be persistant and donât give up.
I wouldnât necessarily recommend counting calories because that will make you paranoid and then you gotta do the math to figure out the amount of calories you need etc etc.
Just eat nothing but whole foods and exercise more. Say you exercise for 45 minutes and burn 250 calories and then eat 250 calories less, thats the 500 right there. 500 might sound like a lot of calories but itâs notâ its basicly a banana with peanutt butter. And theres no real good way to measure how many calories youâre burning unfortunately just make sure (assuming youâre healthy) that youâre sweating or a little uncomfortable to talk when you exercise.
Some diabetics worry about the calories from the foods they eat when theyâre low making a difference on weight loss. You might have to cut back on insulin if you start getting low a lot but donât worry about that right now, you should be burning those calories overall.
I feel like i typed a lot, iâm not sure how much sense it made so if you have any questions you can just message me or whatever!
Good luck!
Ps what kind of exercising are you doing?
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Hi, Jen ⌠This may sound kooky and possibly unrelated to your situation (apologies if thatâs so!). Over the past year or so, Iâve been battling chronic hunger and have, as a result of consuming more calories than before, put on 10-15 pounds. To battle the hunger, Iâm trying acupuncture. Iâve had acupuncture before, and while Iâve never been entirely convinced that itâs doing what itâs specifically supposed to be doing, I find the sessions very relaxing (in a buzzy, endorphin-producing kind of way, I guess?). I have partial coverage for the treatments through my Blue Cross plan, so Iâm giving the appetite control / weight loss program a try. Hereâs the link to the place Iâm trying (Vancouver). If I didnât enjoy the sessions anyway, I definitely wouldnât be going this route, but if thereâs any kind of weight loss bonus to the relaxation, Iâll let you know!
P.S. I do hard workouts every day. I think they definitely help to keep my weight within a certain range, but I havenât found that adding more exercise does much for weight loss in the short term.
I dunno if anyone here counts calories. I think we all count carbohydrates way more than calories?
Re counting calories when exercising, I have a Garmin thingy (405 I think?) that keeps track of miles and pace and knows my weight. I donât recall if it knows my height but it seems to do a reasonable job counting calories burnt. It works for walking, running and bicycling but is not set up for swimming. That being said, I am not sure that exercising more will guarantee weight loss either. Gary Taubesâ âWhy We Get Fatâ suggests that it doesnât. Iâm not sure. Iâve lost weight at the same time I was exercising but Iâve also modified my diet, gotten an insulin pump, gotten a CGM, tried different kinds of exercise, etc. and the thing I notice the most is when I say âdonât buy potato chips this weekâ, Iâll drop 5 lbs. Then I buy a bag to ârewardâ (sic) myself for having lost 5 lbs and blammo there they are again!
I am old school and I count both calories and carbs. I know a lot people donât think you need to count calories, but my opinion is that if they knew how much they were eating in the first place, they wouldnât be trying to lose weight. I am also of the belief that you need to do both to lose the weight. Every time that I gained weight, it was because I quit exercising. I gained about 65 pounds when my foot got infected - I was eating 1200 calories a day so the weight was from lack of exercise, not excessive eating. I didnât change my diet when I lost it, I got back on the treadmill. There have been studies saying that you need to exercise 55 minutes a day, 5 days a week just to maintain week.
I count calories. I do it for bodybuilding though. And yes exercise alone will make you loss weight-if youâre doing enough of it (and depending on the type of exercise). Itâs simple science- not to sound arrogant. Though, diet and health etc plays a big role as well and they all can effect one and other. And those 5 pounds from a potato chips isnât a real reflection on weight gain or not. You can gain upwards to 7 pounds in a day depending on what you eat, drink, water retention etc.
I was going to write a separate message, but replying here makes just as much sense! I have also read that 90% of weight loss is in the kitchen. Exercise builds muscle, and keeps your heart and lungs healthy, but it also revs up your appetite, and you can EASILY eat far more calories after exercise than you burned.
For me, itâs definitely the carbs. No question about it. When I was depressed last year, and binged on carbs, I gained about 25 lb. Then after my coma, I decided to face reality, and I started limiting my carbs to about 60g per day. Not Bernsteinian, but definitely a lot less than I used to consume.
Well, the weight just melted off. I lost the 25 lb. and then some, and I was never hungry, except when it was appropriate to eat. My insulin dose came down, too. At my age (63) I will never be the svelte teenager I once was, but Iâm at a normal BMI, and my lipid panel last time was the best ever.
And, AR, Iâm one of the few who does NOT get the post-exercise endorphins. I NEVER feel good before, during or after exercise â I only do it because I do believe it has health benefits, although theyâre not equal for everybody. I sort of envy you for having that motivation for exercise!!
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Just to let you know that I have read several papers recently that challenge the simplistic âcalories in, calories outâ notion. How many calories you use depends on your weight â fat people actually have higher metabolisms than thin people, because they have more tissue to support. If you reduce calories, yes, you will lose weight for a while, but it will stop as soon as you get to the new weight that needs that amount of calories to support it. If reducing 500 calories a day really worked long-term, a person doing that would eventually weigh ZERO, and we all know that doesnât happen!
Also, many people think they are doing themselves a favor by eating whole-grain bread, but because the grain has been milled, itâs pretty much equivalent to eating white bread. That is, the wheat has been broken up, and presents more surfaces to be converted into glucose quickly. Same thing for oatmeal, and any other ground-up grain. So-called whole grain is really not the answer to the carb problem. Grain is really not necessary for human nutrition; all the nutrients and fiber it contains can be found in lower-carb vegetables and meat.
So, yes, eat healthy foods and exercise, but know what is healthy for YOUR body. Grain is not healthy for mine.
Hmmm, never is a really long time? Iâm not sure how to fix that without trying to put you through your paces. I suspect my old martial arts instructor would say âyou need to work out harderâ but I canât say that without seeing what you are doing! I often feel like garbage when I start working out, always having to leave chores and stuff undone to hit the road, often in a narrow window between the next wave of crappy weather (now that itâs fallâŚ) and then hurrying up, trying to squeeze in showers and all that stuff too but I have always understood the endorphins to be a biological response and wonder if the probem might be âsuperstructuralâ as in if your brain says âI never feel goodâ you might be creating a self-fulfilling prophecy? One of my buddies @ U of I did a study that showed that studentsâ math scores improved after moderate exercise exposed to greenspace. I think their research may be more oriented towards the greenspace side of things but I think the exercise element is important.
Do you feel better after a more gonzo round of dancing? It might feel like a âsocialâ buzz but I wouldnât be suprised if that might also have produce some âhappy juiceâ? Some of my martial arts buddies participated in a contradanse group in my former life and I recall them mentioning getting sweaty during dancing. For me it was finding something that I could be in charge of myself and it also helps to be disengaged from competitiion and just trying to push myself. But also to know when to chill out and take it easier?
I am a 48 yo divorced M with Type 1 diabetes and MS. I currently weigh 173 down from 230 4 years ago. Iâve had numerious reactions recently and Dr. lowered basal rate on pump. Says may have been happening due to weight loss. I live in Philadelphia Pa with 2 dogs
for me, exercise and cutting carbs helps. I donât do Atkins or Paleo or anything extreme, but I try to limit my carb servings to 15-20g 3-4x a day. Itâs when I am eating 40-60+g 3-4x a day is when I gain weight or stay where Iâm at with exercise. I did that for just a week this summer while I was on vacation and I literally gained 15lbs of weight I had just lost. Now itâs coming off more slowly.
Also try testing for thyroid levels. Sometimes if theyâre low it can affect your weight loss. Hypothyroidism is a common condition seen in people with diabetes.
Good luck to you!
Your advice is just the standard same old, same old. This is the advice that has failed millions. If it really worked, there wouldnât be an obesity problem. In fact a recent study has shown that people following a 500 calorie deficit diet (as you recommend) uniformly failed to lose the weight predicted by the formula you gave. It just does not work that way.
If you are really into bodybuilding, then you know that macronutrient manipulation and timing has a huge effect. BodybuiIders routinely do low carb and controlled carb diets aimed specifically at manipulating insulin levels. A very popular bodybuilding approach uses a low carb and then only allows carbs after a workout when insulin sensitivity is high.
It is not âall about calories,â heck it is only marginally about calories. And to suggest this to diabetics who struggle with the effects of insulin is disheartening. I hear this message as clearly telling us as diabetics that our extra weight is a direct result of our personal failing. We wonât exercise and we canât control our eating. Frankly, I donât think that is Jenâs problem, she has already made significant effort to restrict calories and exercise, with little effect.
I would recommend that you would greatly benefit from reading âWhy we get fatâ by Gary Taubes.
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I think that basal rates and total daily dose are related to overall body size. The recommendations in âUsing Insulinâ by Walsh and âThink like a Pancreasâ by Scheiner both reflect this relationship.
ps. I donât think your basal change is related to living in Philadelphia or having 2 dogs, but I could be wrong.