Struggling to understand Type 1/Insulin/Weight loss

Are you SURE you're type 1? Type 1 diabetes is caused by an auto-immune attack on the pancreas. Type 2 diabetes is caused mostly by obesity.

There are many many things that effect weight loss. Insulin can be a small art of the bigger picture, but if you are in a calorie deficit, you really should be able to lose weight.

If you aren't already trying it, you might consider a low carb diet. I usually don't recommend low carb to people, but I've read some really interesting literature that suggests diabetics do better than the average person on low carb.

But really... the best thing for you would be a heart-to-heart with your doctor and a recommendation to a dietitian who can help you.

My fiance has type 1 diabetes and in answer to your question yes by abusing/neglecting her insulin she can drop weight fast. She can also put it back on as fast under good control. I wouldn't recommend it but fact remains some type 1 diabetics do abuse to control weight.

From Yahoo Answers:

"Uncontrolled type 1 causes weight loss. Essentially insulin is the key that lets nutrients (carbs) into your cells in your body to create energy. Type 1's do not make insulin, so the cells are starving. For energy, the body will burn off fat cells and this is what causes a type 1 to have rapid weight loss."

Great question! I've had Type 1 almost 20 years and I am also struggling with weight loss.

I actually saw my endocrinologist today and we talked about it. He said that with improved control comes weight gain because improved control usually means lower sugar levels....and higher insulin levels in the body. The way to balance this is to eat lower carb (he is recommending a life change to 100g a day of carbs, max) so you need less insulin, and to time the majority of your days simple carbs around times you will work out and be able to use many of them for fuel instead of needing insulin to cover them. He also disagrees with MFP's goals for me, which said I need 1270 calories a day to lose a lb a week and has told me not to go lower than 1500 or I may hurt my metabolism.

Feel free to friend me or send me a message if you have more questions!

ETA: You people telling the OP that he doesn't have Type 1 obviously know nothing about it. Type 1 can be diagnosed AT ANY AGE, for someone at ANY WEIGHT. It's a complete and utter fallacy that it's diagnosed only in young people. Go Google LADA and educate yourselves.

And doing this can lead to a deadly condition called Diabetic Ketoacidosis. (can have a mortality rate of 50% in otherwise healthy individuals) DKA sets off a deady chain reaction in the body. Bad bad bad.

Fully aware and she was in hospital with Ketoacidosis at 19 due to going out partying/drinking and not injecting insulin trying to keep a size 10 figure.

She is now 29 and learnt a valuable lesson from that experience. Still remains though that insulin abuse is common to control the weight gain.

Regardless of Type 1 or Type 2, these are issues that need close attention with a doc. A lot of type 1s have a lot of success calculating insulin dosages based on sugar levels and carb intake. But this requires sugars at least 4 times a day.

And a diabetic should not "low carb" it without keeping a close watch on their sugars and the involvement of the medical professionals. It can lead to blood sugars that swing to low. Not saying the lower carbs aren't beneficial, but you can't switch to a low carb diet without addressing the need to adjust insulin dosages.

Short term, low blood sugar causes a higher risk for serious complications if left untreated then high blood sugar. High blood sugar (not talking high enough for DKA) generally takes years to damamge at a microscopic level before the big bad issues come up.. like heart disease, kidney issues, neuropathies, etc).

You need a Doctor and Nutritionist team to see the best results.

Ideally for T1 or T2 diabetes, you want to eat a Low Glycemic Index diet. Most type 2 can even control their diabetes with a strict low GI diet and can come off medications.

For either, you need to stay away from Keto type diets. Diabetes is in essence a vascular disease. It accelerates atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries) throughout the body, most notably in the retina, heart, and kidney. One of the first signs of diabetes is a positive urine test for micro albumin and the volume of protein in urine directly correlates with the progression of diabetic kidney disease. Any type of diet which increases organic acid secretion in the kidney such as atkins or keto will put undue stress on the kidney and rapidly progress it towards failure. This goes for diabetic ketoacidosis which is triggered by improper insulin use and excess carb eating.

Ultimately, get a doctor and nutritionist team and get your plan worked out.

I disagree on several of your "facts" here.

OP, see your doctor. There is no reason you cannot lose weight while on insulin, but it requires significant monitoring and dosage adjustments. Get a referral to a dietician who specialises in diabetes.

You can disagree but they are facts, or so I was taught in medical school which may be wrong.

I agree with those above who suggested seeing a dietician. It helps immensely.

I have had type 1 since I was 8 years old... Whatever you do, don't skip your insulin... Stupid I know :noway: but I did. I lost a heap of weight, but it was not worth getting that sick and nearly dying for. I ended up putting it all back plus another 10kgs lol and here I am now... You can definitely still lose weight, it's been hard and may be harder than a normal person to lose but it just makes it that much more worth it!!!