Type 1 Diabetic - finding weight loss impossible

Hi Linnie

Welcome to MFP, and well done on turning things around with your diabetes control!

I'm an insulin-dependent diabetic too (diagnosed when I was 25), and I am also having trouble losing weight having recently rejoined the MFP family. My first week of eating like a saint, plus regular exercise, I lost 0 pounds. Not an ounce of even water weight! The second week (last week), I lost 2 pounds - though I hopped on the scales this morning and those pounds are back on. It's very disheartening.

However, this is not my first attempt at weight loss with MFP - two years ago I lost almost 3 stone in about a year. It was a true test in perseverance, because the journey is often two steps forward, one (or even two) step back. But it can be done. That is what's keeping me sane this time around.

I have been told by my diabetes nurse that insulin helps keep weight on, so I believe that's the main obstacle we face - as well as having to eat glucose tablets or snacks to combat the hypos. My primary tactic this time around is to monitor my blood sugar closer than ever - testing 8-10 times a day - to really nail down exactly how much insulin I need based on how many carbs in each meal. My theory is that if I can fine-tune it to just the right amount of insulin my body needs, I'll get fewer hypos/hypers, and hopefully less insulin sloshing around to encourage the fat to stay put.

The other tactics I'm employing apply to anyone losing weight: get more protein in your diet, exercise, and be accurate with your food diary. And of course, as the other poster says, get any guidance you can from your diabetes nurse / doctor / dietitian.

So sadly I don't yet have a magical cure to this problem - and I'd love to hear if anyone else does - but all I can say is that weight loss is possible, as long as you stick with it.

Anna xx

I understand that low carbing can help manage diabetes as well as your weight. Might wanna investigate that further as I'm no medic. Nor a moon.











Nor a planet-destroying space station.

I give myself shots and I am losing. Track your food and be 100% honest on your food diary. It is slow going and frustrating at times but it is possible if you eat at a calorie deficit.

Gonna hijack for a minute my apologies...

Type 2 is different than type 1...and what are you doing fiddling with your own insulin????? You are not a doctor and do not have the training to do so. This is a very dangerous habit to get into and you will harm yourself eventually.

Diabetics who have had it since they were children when well controlled can and do maintain a healthy weight easily...I have watched my sibling do it for over 40 years...as for the snacks you can choose better snacks that have lower calories. At our house there were very few glucose tablets/liquids used and even now that they are in their 40s if they need that boost it is juice or fruit never really high calorie snacks.

Hi Stef

With respect, I've had diabetes for 13 years now, and have good blood sugar control, so have a pretty good handle on it. I take insulin with every single meal, and as every meal typically has a different amount of carbs, I require different amounts of insulin each time. Getting that amount right (i.e. avoiding high or low spikes) is tricky because it depends on a lot of other factors too, e.g. if I do any exercise / activity beforehand or afterwards (lowers blood glucose), or if I am stressed or have a cold/infection (raises blood glucose). The doses can't be dictated to me (or to any insulin-dependent diabetic) by a doctor, because they are not by my side day in, day out, to advise me.

I'm delighted for your sibling having good control and a healthy weight, but that's not everyone's story. Hopefully the OP has found something useful in my response anyway.

I can honestly say i do not overeat. I do not eat more than 1200 calories a day and i keep a food diary regiously to prove this. I don't actually have a particulary big appetite i get full very quickly. Excessive insulin is a main factor in diabetics gaining weight and i knew this which is why i stopped doing my insulin in the first place. I'm not overweight by anymeans i have a healthy BMI i would just like to get back to my comfort weight.
Thanks for replying
x

do you weigh your food on a digital scale? If you are not you are probably eating more than you think.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think


Even diabetics can lose weight on a calorie deficet, it might be slower than the regular population but calories in<calories out means weight loss.

Hi all,

I'm new to the forums so hoping someone can help me.
I have been type 1 diabetic since i was 5 years old (i'm now 26). During my teen years it was really poorly controlled due to lack of understanding and being passed from doctor to doctor round the hospital. Two years ago it all caught up with me and i was hospilaised overnight for dehydration and potential ketoacidosis. Which luckily I didn't have.
Anyway, during that time my weight had dropped to 8st 8lbs, and i know this is because i was rarely doing my insulin etc. When i came out of hospital it gave me the kick up the ar$e i needed so my diabetes is now so much more controlled my HBA1C has gone from 15 down to 8.
The only side effect is the weight gain, almost straight away i went from 8st 8lbs to 9st 8lbs which i was actually happy with. I looked and felt so much better. However, in the last 7-8 months i have now gone up to 10st 7lbs.
I do not overeat. I've started dieting and exercising (i've tried low carb/low calories/weight watchers) and i'm only shifting a pound at the most. Is anyone having the same problems? and how can i lose weight!?

Thanks in advance

x

Hi there .

I'm in a very similar situation to you, I've been a type 1 for almost 20 years (since i was 4) and have also had 5 years of diabetes related eating disorders. The skipping insulin weight problem is actually called Diabulimia as type 1 diabetics are 3 times more likely to suffer from eating disorders because of the horrible aspects of control and severe monitoring of diabetes . Any way with insulin injections it's really hard to lose weight even if you're eating much less calories (believe me SezxyStef I've been hospitalised for starvation/exhaustion after 4 months of bulimia/diabulimia whilst still being technically overweight.
So I completely understand where you are coming from OP, I'm currently trying to just get healthy exercise and not let the eating disorders/diabetes interfere too much, as hard as that maybe .
I'm off for a walk now so let's see how this goes, and I hope not to go low on the way ha. Let me know how you're getting on and hopefully we can support each other x

P.S I try to drink orange juice when i go low as its full of fructose, slightly better than a kitkat ha

Type 1 diabetics are instructed by the doctors to "fiddle" with their own insulin. We have to because everyone is different.

Yep! I never had the most trouble gettin things back under control with diabetes after my son. It's been 2 years postpartum. Sugars are still up and down most days. I eat right, I exercise. I live with diabetes. I still have 15lbs to lose to get to prepreg weight. It sucks. Been T1 for 22 years. I was 10 when diagnosed.

Don't skip insulin! Take the darn shot when needed! Or live with 1 arm and 1 leg later in life. Go on kidney dialysis. Go ahead, skip it and go blind. HELLLLLOOOOOO!!!!! Cuz it WILL HAPPEN! OP you prob already know that, but seriously, live by it. Good luck.