Type 1 Diabeties:Advantage or Disadvantage?

ColtonMiller56

Hi, I am a 18 year old 5'11, 162 lb male. I am also type 1 diabetic. I go to the gym and workout hard and do 20 minutes of HIIT training a everyday. Since doing this I have nearly quit taking my insulin completely because I am very insulin sensitive now. I take a very small amount in the morning, but I don't take any with my meals anymore( unless it's a cheat meal). I eat around 250 grams of carbs a day and still have trouble keeping my blood sugar up although there is basically no insulin in my body. Does anyone know if this is an advantage or disadvantage when trying to burn fat and build muscle?

tycoon460

Hi, I'm also a type 1 (diagnosed in the last few months). My C-peptide test results show I'm still making a small amount of insulin. My doctor called it a honeymoon phase. Told me goal is to make it last as long as possible and to enjoy it.

It has been said that HIIT can increase your insulin sensitivity and speed up metabolism. I've experienced it first hand. That being said everyone is different.

Insulin is needed to process food for energy, period. I still monitor my blood glucose and keeping it in acceptable ranges since that is now part of my life. I try not to get concerned over my insulin ratio if it's working. I just try to eat clean and healthy. When I eat I take insulin to cover it as needed. For corrections if I'm high I take insulin, if I'm low I take carbs. There should be no advantage or disadvantage to insulin sensitivity as long as you're in the reasonable safe blood glucose range with your ratio.

If you're constantly low I would highly recommend letting your doctor know. My specialist has always said they adjust the insulin ratios to person. The person shouldn't have to eat snacks or take glucose tablets constantly to cover incorrect ratios.

Main thing is to watch your blood glucose. If you go to high for to long of time you can develop Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA). During which means your body is basically unable to break down carbs (easiest thing you eat for energy) due to lack of insulin and will go to stripping away body fat and muscle mass to survive. While this sounds like a great way to lose weight (Atkins type diet). This leads to ketones building up in the blood (blood turning acidic) and can turn into a very serious condition (which can result in death if untreated).

Now going back to the HIIT everyday. That sounds like way too much to me. I've usually seen it only recommended a maximum of 4 times a week if that. I don't have the time or desire to build my own workouts so I buy them from fitness sites. The ones I've used usually do 5 days of workouts a week (cycling muscle groups with HIIT and strength training), 1 day of yoga/stretching, and 1 recovery day. That way you don't run into an overtraining situation (hopefully) and don't get burned out.