I’d love to hear ideas/tips from those of you wearing a pump and have achieved weight loss. I was diagnosed in 97 and since then can’t seem to lose weight successfully. Any tips/ideas/recommendations would be appreciated. I take about 45-50 units a day (bolus and basal) and try to stick meals to 45 carbs or less. My goal is to lose about 30-40 pounds and maintain the loss. Thoughts? THANKS IN ADVANCE!
If you are thinking that 45 carbs per meal is low carbing, it’s not. You did not mention any exercise program either. I am not a medical person. My success was getting my carb intake down to 40 or less per day and a 1/2 hour (or more) brisk walk each day. Once I got over the initial shock to my routine and body, I enjoyed the diet and exercise. Keeping weight from returning is the most difficult problem for us. We have to remain dedicated and avoid returning to old habits. Dieting forever really sucks but we have to do it!
Good Luck,
Bruce in cold ND, USA
wow! 40 or less carbs for your whole day! What does your food journal look like for a day? I know 45 carbs per meal is not low carbs. My endo suggested that to help keep my boluses more regular. Curious to know what you eat in a day…
Here is another discussion we had on losing weight with the pump - hope it helps!
Backwards for your endo to suggest that you eat higher carb to keep bolus regular. Insulin should be dosed to food, not eating for insulin dosage. Helpful to keep carbs & protein fairly consistent from day to day, but not to match food to insulin.
I’m T1 & eat 30-35 carbs per day. Meals are basically protein & low carb veggies with nuts & cheese. I don’t eat grains in any form, milk, fruit (except small amounts of berries), juice or starchy vegetables. Many more things that I can eat than I can’t eat. For baking, I use almond flour, almond meal, golden flaxseed meal or coconut flour. I’ve found great low carb recipes. Don’t want you to think I live on steamed vegetables:) I’m never hungry & eat real meals. They’re just low carb ones.
Gerri,
Thanks for the info. Do you have a resource you follow that helped you get started on your plan?? book…website??? It makes sense because as a type I when I eat too many carbs I could just sleep and my bgs take so long to come down. 30-35 carbs a day is really low. Did you have any trouble with lows when you got started? I’m having a lot of issues between 3 and 4 am. I tried atkins years ago, but was cautioned by my endo about the stress it puts on your kidneys. Do you know anything about this?
thanks again for the info! Look forward to hearing from you.
Marie B. can you post the link to the old discussion again?
click - here -
I found info at Jenny’s site http://www.bloodsugar101.com & read Dr. Richard Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution. Changed my life. My doctors weren’t supportive of low carb, but now they can’t argue with success. Afraid pretty much everyone has unquestioningly swallowed the ADA guidelines. Say something enough times & it becomes institutionalized truth, despite evidence to the contrary. If the ADA plan worked, then we’d all have better A1cs.
I changed my diet on my own. Do we really need dieticians telling us what to do when we have our bodies as a guide to what works & what doesn’t?
I decided I’d try 30-35 carbs & see how it went. Carb cravings went away & I’m not hungry. I was hungry following the ADA way. I don’t feel the least deprived & don’t see it as a diet. It’s just how I eat. My husband (not diabetic) lost 35 lbs. with our low carb meals & he eats more than I do.
I’ll send you some great low carb recipe sites.
I tested a lot when I changed to low carb because my insulin doses changed drastically. With lower doses, any errors aren’t as serious.
There was info about Atkins that was completely unfounded hype. It was discredited, but the rumors still float around.
I’ve had success with Weight Watchers. The only frustrating diabetes-related issue I’ve experienced is having to use up food points to treat lows.
Other than that, though, it’s great. You eat normal food, have a lot of flexibility, and – for me – learn how to cook.
Don’t know how you all do it with such low daily carbs.
I too read Berstein’s book and found it to be too restrictive.
I don’t believe diets should be without fruit.
Found Bernstein’s list of foods to not eat was a bit much for my own taste.
The no-no’s list includes but is not limited to: All sweeteners except stevia, beans peas beets, carrots, corn onions parsnips, potatoes, tomatoes, winter squash, all fruits, milk, sweetened and low fat yogurts, cottage cheese, powdered milk, canned milk concentrate, wheat, rye, barley, corn,kasha, quinoa and sorghum grains, white, brown, wild rice or rice cakes, pasta, breakfast cereal, pancakes and waffles, bread, crackers and other flour products, most commercially prepared soups, snack food, balsamic vinegar. I don’t have a problem eating healthy, but alot of the products you can eat with his program I am unable to find or can’t afford.
Is anyone out there having success with a somewhat basic diet ?
I wonder too if the insulin converts to fat and what issues that could be causing…
Hi. The only thing that made me loose weight was “low carbing”. Not more than 36grams of carbs a day. Difficult in beginning but after 2 weeks got used to it, and my bgs is good, lost 10kg in 3 months. Last hbac1 was 6.1. The best ever in 34 years!!! I am not on the pump, been on MDI for 34 years, works well for me, with not complications yet. Very good to invest in Dr Bernstein’s books.
Kind Regards
Riana
Mossel Bay
South Africa
To those eating the 35-40 carbs per day, what do you eat for breakfast?
I have eaten salads in the past, but some mornings, I’m just not into it. I’ve been told not to do Atkins, you know the whole bacon and eggs only in the morning, and some mornings, I’m starving…
Suggestions?
Why not bacon and eggs? I eat low carb (30-50g per day) and I’ve been eating 3 eggs and two slices of bacon every morning for the past 2 years. If you’re not locked into eating something “breakfasty” for breakfast you could have left overs from your dinner the night before or something like that. I’ve also seen recipes for pancakes made with almond flour or coconut flour which would be low carb, though, I haven’t tried them myself. I find that Mark’s Daily Apple posts some good low carb recipes (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/category/recipes/), maybe you can find some ideas there.
Thank you so much for all the information and advice.
I have in the last two weeks started to cut back on my calorie intake and also increase my exercise.
How do you bike the races while pumping?
I have never been taught or shown how to basal test.
Thanks again for all the information and tips.
It is most appreciated and will be helpful to me in my journey to lose the weight and get into better shape.
I LOVE bacon and eggs. I’ve just been told not to do all protein as it is hard on the kidneys and liver.
So, I guess I’m just a tad confused on what to do. To be totally honest, I also LOVE cheese… lol
I’m originally from WI, cheese capital so to speak. LOL
If I wasn’t told to eat bacon and eggs every day like you I’d be doing it in a heartbeat. LOL
The guidelines I’ve seen for the recommended amount of protein you should have in your diet is about 0.8g of protein per kg of body weight per day (or little more or a little less depending on how active you are.) You can do the math based on your body weight to find out how much protein you can have per day and then compare it to what your doctors say you should do to keep your kidneys and liver healthy. You might find that eggs and bacon would fit into your day without giving you too much extra protein. ( For example my 3 egg omelet and 2 slices of bacon gives me 20g of protein)
Best of luck!
Hi JohnG
I’ve enjoyed your posts. I’m on MDI. How do you figure out how much bolus insulin you should be at? Is it a formula using your weight? For example, what is 50% in terms of units per day?
I used to be on the pump, so I remember the terminology. But, the MM never had percentages. They only had dialy insulin intake (combining bolus and basal together). I was using around 50 units per day of Humalog (including both bolus and basals)
Now, I’m on Levemir and using 52 units a day, plus several units of Apidra and Humalog to keep my BG down. I’m starting to have really bad reactions to carb intake and for the past few weeks I’ve been doing some serious low-carbing. My BG numbers are doing better, but I’m not seeing any significant weight loss. I still feel like crap.
I don’t need to lose a lot of weight- I look fine. But, for my own desires of what my body should look like, I’d like to lose 30 lbs. Having trouble as many people are.
As for food, I love eating salads and I rarely get hungry- so that’s not what bothers me, but as for nutrition, I know there isn’t much in a salad. I’m afraid of taking from one good habit to give in to one bad habit. I do about 900 calories per day as it is.
Thanks!
Hey Marps,
How many units of Apridra & Humalog do you take? Seems that you’re injecting a lot of Levemir & using that to control BG.
Basal is usually based on weight, but you know how that goes. It’s generally dosed at about 50% of bolus, but again everyone’s different.
900 calories isn’t much. If you’re eating low carb (I’ve been for over 1.5 years), you need sufficient protein & fat. I lost weight low carbing, too much weight at first, & it’s not a low calorie diet. Without enough protein, you’ll feel crappy.
Basal testing is easy. Basically, you skip meals & test a lot to see if BG stays level. Lunch is usually a good one to skip, then do the same another day skipping dinner. Of course, if you plummet or rise you’ll know it’s too much or too little basal:) Don’t basal test on days when you exercise, are stressed, sick or hormonal.
I’ve been having a lot of issues w short acting insulins. I’ve been correcting highs with doses like 4-8 units of Apidra. But covering for even a moderate carb meal can be up to 10 or 12 (I’ve done as much as 20 units) of Humalog, as my carb ratio is very low. 1 unit per 4 grams of carbs. Plus for dinnertime, I’m to take 6 units of Humalog even if my meal has ZERO carbs in it.
I’ve been adjusting my Levemir intake over the past few days, even splitting my Levemir for the first time two days ago.
I’m at 56 now (without doing any Apidra in the past 7 hours). Think I may have adjusted too high for my last Levemir injection. 
As for low carb, I eat some meats. And I love peanut butter and cottage cheese.
I guess I’m really confused on the low carb thing. I’m going to have to read the Bernstein’s book again- because I’ll admit that I only grazed over it. Going to have to really hunker down and READ it.