Diabetes and CICO?

ttclaiborne

I have read lots of posts that say all you need to do to lose weight is count CICO. I'm diabetic and need to lose at least 50 pounds and all I'm told by doctors is to watch carbs. So I'm interested in hearing from other diabetics who have had success with counting calories only and to hear if you succeeded in losing weight and also lowering your blood sugar levels. I need to do both. Thanks!

ronjsteele1

I have my macros set at 50c/40f/40p. I am technically diabetic. I've lost 20#'s eating with those macros. The ONLY reason I have not lost more faster is because I don't run a huge deficit. I'm just now getting to the place where eating at TDEE -20% seems to be working for me and speeding things up. I can tell you that eating lower carb definitely speeds the weight loss but just keeping a good deficit will do it as well. I lift progressively minimum twice a week and do one hour of cardio at least 3 times a week. I treadmill to help with insulin resistance.

Christine_72

@nvmomketo will hopefully see this and be able to answer your questions.

From what I've read on here, many people have been able to reverse their diabetes by simply losing weight. Then there are those with blood sugar problems who can keep spikes somewhat stable by keeping their carbs on the lower side.

tomteboda

My mom is a type 1 diabetic. She has successfully lost 170 lbs by counting calories.

jgnatca

I was diabetic for over a decade. To lose weight you will have to follow CICO. But for blood sugar control you will also have to watch your proportion of macros. Also eating on a schedule with no skipped meals is very important so that your sugars don't go too low or too high.

I went to many classes as part of my diabetic training and weight loss.

What helped the most was visualizing a plate half full of vegetables, a portion of protein in a remaining quadrant, and carbs in the last third. That sort of meal provides balance and satiety, keeping everything in control.

nvmomketo

Counting calories was a failure for me. I was prediabetic and getting... "fluffy". I was 5'8" and about 170 when I found out my BG was too high. For a year I tried to just cut back on a few things and lose weight but I ended up gaining close to 20lbs that year. My BG did not improve at all that year.

I went to a LCHF diet. I found the more severely I cut carbs, the less hunger I had and the easier it was to keep a caloric deficit. I eventually set my calories to about 1500 kcals to lose just over a pound per week (but I lost more - LCHF agreed with me).

Within a month I cut my carbs back to about 5% (~20g) because I found I felt better with lower carbs. The ketogenic diet really agreed with me and I continued to lose weight well, and had my BG completely under control. 4's and 5's only (80s and 90s).

Once I lost my weight I increased carbs a bit for a while but I'm scaling them back again. My fasting blood glucose rose back up to prediabetic levels as soon as I stopped losing weight, and my postprandial (after meal) BG went up a bit too. Keeping my carbs under 30g keeps my BG (before and after meals) nice and normal without any highs. My fasting blood glucose is always my highest of the day now. I can't seem to fix that one.

So... I guess I am the opposite of what you were asking about. Counting carbohydrates was what helped me. Losing weight also helped with my FBG but only while I was losing. As soon as I stopped losing, at a normal BMI, size 8/10, 150 lbs, my FBG went right back up. My other BG numbers do not fluctuate much though. They are kept steady by diet.

I highly recommend that you read Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. He's a T1D md who invented home testing. His goal is normal BG for all... Not "normal diabetic" BG which is still too high, but healthy low BG. He essentially saved my health.

I also highly recommend buying a blood glucose monitor. It is intimidating at first, but knowing how foods and meals affect your BG is priceless information. I think everyone with insulin resistance should have one.

Sabine_Stroehm

ttclaiborne wrote: »

I have read lots of posts that say all you need to do to lose weight is count CICO. I'm diabetic and need to lose at least 50 pounds and all I'm told by doctors is to watch carbs. So I'm interested in hearing from other diabetics who have had success with counting calories only and to hear if you succeeded in losing weight and also lowering your blood sugar levels. I need to do both. Thanks!

I sure hope you'll consult with your doctor as you consider doing what folks on the internet suggest, given what the DOCTOR has recommended.

ronjsteele1

I definitely second Dr. Bernsteins book! His book is what finally got me back to normal after being a gestational diabetic.

I think that nvketo mom's experience actually makes a good point. Everyone is very different. If you have a family history of diabetes then you may have to be strict with your carbs. If you're like me (mine was induced by pancreatitis) then you may be able to get by with higher carbs. I think the only way you're going to know is to experiment both ways and see how your body responds. Testing your BG is imperative to this process.

I would suggest starting with reading Bernsteins book and then go from there. I think he lays out some principles that are really key to BS control that if you learn them first will take you a long way. From there you can look at what methods you need for BS control and ultimately weight loss.

Dreamyriver

jgnatca wrote: »

I was diabetic for over a decade. To lose weight you will have to follow CICO. But for blood sugar control you will also have to watch your proportion of macros. Also eating on a schedule with no skipped meals is very important so that your sugars don't go too low or too high.

I went to many classes as part of my diabetic training and weight loss.

What helped the most was visualizing a plate half full of vegetables, a portion of protein in a remaining quadrant, and carbs in the last third. That sort of meal provides balance and satiety, keeping everything in control.

Pretty much this for me - I count calories for weight loss and count carbs for my glucose control.