My first diet :) - MediFast and Type1 diabetes on pump

Good thread indeed. Thank you! Based on advice i found there, I premixed a couple of soups after today's soups were both crunchy
And, wow, congratulations on loosing so much weight. Good work!

Hello! I have to say, the iPhone app of this myfitnesspal website is fascinating for me - by just tracking everything I ate for about 2 weeks I lost weight, because I paid more attention. I absolutely love te scanner function - it pulls any packaged food with a bar code out of the database including all nutrition info - you just need to check it to make sure it does not look wrong, and of course figure out the number of servings/weight of your portion. I liked the trader joes portioned 'just a handful of' nuts and such - it helped me get limited food at inconvenient times, like at work. Strongly recommend this.
I will keep posting about the MediFast adventure from the the Point of view of the insulin pump-wielding Type 1 diabetic.
As for that, both my husband and I started today, and ate 5 MediFast meals with a total of around 500 kcal throughout the day, and a "lean and green" meal as the last meal of the day. I had a glass of red wine with it - which is not recommended, but I did it anyway, as I believe red wine is healthful, and I did not mind the extra 110 kcal. My total caloric intake was 980 kcal today, and I did not feel hungry, but pleasantly sated. I had a mild hypo after going for a walk with the dog. The hypo was a result of starting out high this morning, and was a result of correction. Apparently my basal rate is a bit high, maybe relative due to the low intake of carbs (under 90 g all day), or just in general. We recently upped it because I had gained weight an the slightly lower basal rate did not seem to cut it. The sensor is a godsend, it was beautiful to watch my bg hover at around 100 all day after I took 1 tab o glucose and a MediFast meal with only half of the calculated insulin to lift the BG out of 60s territory. Promising start! And not painful at all.
More later. Good luck you. Holidays are rough. Maybe try and disconnect food wise, by actually preparing something healthy and lean for yourself? We had arugula, 3 olives, and a 5.5 oz piece of ahi tuna for late dinner, and it tasted heavenly after eating weird premade food all day .

Hello, thank you for your concern. You are correct with the job of the basal rate, however it is always a good idea the follow the indications of the bg readings. Also i am not turning it OFF, still running more than 16 units per day . As I am using a sensor I get continuous readings, and with the low carb intake there was very little interference from meals. By lowering basal, it is a safer approach - and in this case of mine, correct, by the way - I had a completely straight line 100 mg/dl night with a 20% reduction of basal. ( proof is in the putting, with more basal, the bg would have dropped over night. This way I woke with 99 mg/dl.
My basal was recent increased during the day, because due to weight gain my sensitivity was down. My suspicion was that a very low carb diet will affect both the sensitivity and the other reasons why we upped the basal rate.

I am very used to using basal reduction or increase to deal with extended exercise or sickness.
Ad, when I am running 100 mg/dl stable WITH a sensor, I can easily correct of the bg starts trending up, because I notice within half hour or so. My personal protocol is to observe and correct very lightly if I reach 170 (for now) on a steady incline, and think it through, to figure out the reason (was it bolus or basal-related, or: food or exercise, or other. ANY incline will be considered, and any decline. The beauty of the low carb diet is that the bolus does not blare out the basal all the time, and that the amounts are fixed, so it is a very controlled good intake. This is not what I usually get .
When going stable fairly low, it is not as safe to potentially overdose the basal, because it is only a small step to hypo with all its stress hormones, extra glucose and injury risks.

As far as 'supervision' goes - I have my diabetes team to call when needed. Supervision would not be the word i would use, as it implicate that the medical specialist are in charge. This is not the case. I also know after 25 years of type 1 diabetes and 20 years o unsulin pump use, that no doctor or nurse can replace my own common sense, and experience - only i am with me at all times. My team are my advisors, not supervisors - as I am the person in charge of my life, survival and well being, something that diabetics should think on. The medical professionals are limited in advise to do something "off label" due the the liability concerns if something goes wrong. With the continuous bg readings I get a large amount of data to consider. So far, so excellent. Metabolic changes resulting from mild acidosis once fat burning state is reached will be visible in the bg readings and will be addressed as warranted.
FYI, due to using the sensing I know that my insulin is used up only 3 hours (instead of 6) as everyone had assumed for many years) hours after injection. I was using the Novolog for 10 years until this became clear within a week on the FDA approval study for the sensor, because we were able to watch what happens Real time (almost).
Cheers and thank you, and to you good luck also.

Ah, yes.
So, to recap: today is day 6 of our MediFast adventure. Both of us (my husband is doing this - his idea, in fact) are feeling quite well on it. Yesterday was a little it more challenging than the days before, and we had one or two stalks of celery to munch on. Also, to reward and motivate us, we had a real nice dinner: broiled tenderloin steak (5.5 oz each) rare, and a green salad with celery and green onions. A small glass of watered red wine. Soooo good!

Diabetes management: I have now reduced the basal rate of my pump to 70%, and the bolus wizard's carb ratio from 12 to 14. This is working well.

A check with a keton stick confirmed that a mild fat-burning state has been achieved: trace amounts of ketons in the urin. This is good and safe, and has nothing to do with "insulin-deficiency", but rather is a result of low carb/low calorie diet. So far I have not noticed a need for more insulin due to the metabolic shift, only for less insulin. (hence the 70% basal).
Taking a potassium supplement, and some vitamins, aside from the Pacific NW obligatory Vitamin D in winter

Blood sugar levels are great, and very stable. I have been reducing the basal rate over the last 6 days - there is a reason for that:
My BG has had a downward tendency (mild). I carefully correct low areas (70-60) by giving less insulin for the next meal, and below that, by taking one or two glucose tabs. Unless I am about to drive a car, which has not happened h yet (that I was low before/during) driving. In that case I will correct more aggressively and not take off until over 100. You know the deal.

We'll see if the 70% basal and the carb ratio change is where it's at right now. Definitely not more basal than that.

Oh, and my weight this morning was 171.8. That is at least 7 lbs less than I weighed when I first stepped on my own scale a few weeks ago. Yay! I am also thinking about keeping a blog, and will move this thread into it.

cheers!