Type I Diabetics HELP!!

WeCallThemDayWalkers

Hi all,

This post is not for me, but for my boyfriend. He's been counting his calories and upping his exercise for a month now and the scale is not moving at all for him. I can tell he's getting discouraged. He really needs to lose some lbs and I've been doing my best to help facilitate that by cooking meals, storing them in portion-sized containers, and calculating the calories of the food servings.

A little background:
He's 6'2
280 lbs

Starting calorie goal was 2700 and he did that for a week. No results, so lowered it to 2500. No results there after a week, so he lowered to 2400. Still no results there so he's lowered his calories to 2200 a couple of days ago....still no movement. It's dreadful because I've been championing the calorie-counting and it's not working for him.

For the record, he has Type I (childhood onset) diabetes and has been on insulin for 20 years. He takes preventative meds to keep his bp, kidneys, cholesterol, etc., safe. He's good about monitoring his sugar (although there is always room for improvement). We've been increasing his exercise from NONE to brisk walks or bike rides about 3 days per week.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated. I want to help him so much and he needs to see results. He's getting very down on himself and saying that he feels "broken"

Kenzietea2

I don't have diabetes, but I do know that you should start taking his measurements! Maybe the scale isn't moving as quickly as you'd like, but his body may be changing. I can understand how discouraging this could be, I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you!

PNOIZE

as a diabetic myself, my doctor did put me on a 1800 calorie diet. it is hard at first but i got the hang of it. bottom line is that he is exercising and watching his calorie intake. that right there is good. just keep it up and he will see results. Another thing is, if he is taking meds (like glypizide) may trigger weight gain. I take glypizide half our prior to having breakfast and dinner then metformin after breakfast and dinner. I did noticed that my weight did go up.

CaoimheAine

I agree with taking measurements. I got very discouraged for the first few weeks as I wasn't dropping but may have been due to water weight gain, but I had lost cm's!!! It's hard but definitely can be done and is just that much more rewarding afterwards

Justkeepswimmin

Hi - Wife of a type 1 diabetic - he's had it for 22 years. The weight loss is definately slower for a diabetic. My husband's cardiologist wants him to lose 3 lbs a month - realistic goals are vital here. He's 6'3'' and 228 lbs trying to lose about 25 lbs or possibly more. His highest weight was 238. He carrys it ALL in his stomach.

His calorie goal is 1980/day, there are days he is under because of his condition that effects his appetite, most days he's not over unless there's an extreme low. We have a 'real' goal of 1800/day with 180 cal's built in as a buffer so he doesn't feel bad if he has low blood sugar and goes over. *Note he try's to eat his exercize calories. I ALWAYS eat mine (I've lost 46 lbs total so far)...

Due to the diabetes and potential heart issues you want to make sure to track his sodium intake. My husband is on 1500 mg a day, and it took a year and 2 doctors telling him this to convince him to 'go there' with the 1500 mg a day. It has helped with the more immediate need to feel progress as well, due to how UNbloated he now is. I saw a visible difference in just a few days. This is the reccomended allotment by the FDA for diabetics.

If your boyfriend is eating back his exercize calories, the calories alloted are pretty high (not sure if he's eating them back or not)

Getting a HRM would be important because if he's not getting his heart rate up steadily for over 30 consistent minutes it'll be hard to jump that metabolism.

Also, watch out, because once you do get his metabolism moving....the insulin's effect will be different and ht may get some crazy lows. We've gone from 62 units of lantus per day to 42 units of lantus per day and dropping. Drop me a pm if you want to chat more too. I know it's hard to be working on your own journey and supplimenting someone elses as well, it's practically a full time job for me keeping up with my husban'ds sugar/carb/calorie/sodium/exercize routine. My husband travels mon-thur so has to eat OUT on 1500 mg of sodium 3 days a week (nitemare) and at night I have to balance what he has left of sodium/calories with what his blood sugar is and the carbs he needs with what restaurants are open and what he could possibly eat It's not easy and your bf is so lucky to have you.

Another thing is bombarding him with fewer calories, sodium and more work outs all at once may overwhelm him if he isn't determined and looking for answers himself. Both our cardiologist and endo want 5 days a week of 1 hr cardio minimum. I also set new 'tid bits' every two weeks or so such as eat more frequent meals, don't eat past a certain time (age old rules) Introducing everything at once would have had my hubby spaz out..so just a warning not to do that