Type 1 Diabetes and Weight Loss

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RNatalie83
RNatalie83 Posts: 20
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been a Type 1 diabetic for the last 12 years and have slowly gained weight since I was diagnosed as a teenager. I have tried to lose weight many times without any success. I find that losing weight as a diabetic is difficult as there are many challenges to eating healthy and exercising. For example, I exercise and burn calories then I have a low blood sugar and end up eating all of my calories back. I have talked to nutritionists and doctors and they haven't been very helpful. I'm wondering if there are any Type 1 Diabetics on MFP who have lost weight successfully who can give me some much needed advice! Thanks!!
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Replies

  • manic4titans
    manic4titans Posts: 1,214 Member
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    I'm sorry. I really don't have any advice. My daughter was dx 3 years ago at the age of 4. I hear you when you say you b/g gets low you eat! She does too.

    I'm eager to hear what others have to say.
  • jalynn_tx
    jalynn_tx Posts: 1 Member
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    I am a 41 year old Type 1 diabetic. I have never had a difficult time managing my weight/glucose until 8 years ago and the birth of my 3rd child. I am having the same problems trying to control the sugar lows, and overcorrecting them at times and the additional calories associated with this! I am only in the 2nd week of this journey but this week is a little better because I am planning my daily menu, excercises etc. ahead and this week I ate a Special K protein bar before each 1 hour gym activity and it seemed to sustain me through the workout and the workout canceled the extra calories consumed with the protein bar. I am testing my blood sugar much more often and just trying to figure out when my lows are and adjusting my insulin accordingly.

    Good luck and if you find any tricks, please update us!
  • Sharonks
    Sharonks Posts: 884 Member
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    Two websites I have found very useful and informative are Blood Sugar 101 and tudiabetes.com. Both sites have a lot of info on how to try to prevent those swings. Diabetes is more of a self managed thing than anything the medical community seems to know about. I know that according to the ADA I should be eating about 60 carbs per meal. I shoot for that in a day. At 60 in a day I still don't have ideal BS (I'm type 2 on metformin) but I haven't hit 200 in a while. On 60 per meal I pretty much always hit 200 and have fastings around 175, and yet they consider me in good enough control at that level because my A1Cs are below 7.
  • lizzielou67
    lizzielou67 Posts: 35
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    I'm not a doctor so take my thoughts as such!

    I've been a Type 1 diabetic for 38 years. I was diagnosed at age 7 (so now you can all do the math to figure out how old I am - HA!). I wear an insulin pump (for almost 4 years now) due to the fact that I'm "too" in control and have a ton of low blood sugars. I also don't recognize them and have had many issues with this. The pump has been a life saver for me as these episodes have been decreased exponentionally.

    I just stared working out and eating "healthy" about 10 weeks ago. I'd suggest that you test before your workouts. You will need to find that "sweet spot" of blood sugar that works for you so that you don't drop or go high during or after your workouts. Mine is around 120 and I can't go lower than 100 or higher than 150. Also, if you can, test during exercise for a while to find out when you might be dropping. Then, test when you are done. You won't necessarily need to keep doing that once you get into a routine. I only test before and after now. Don't exercise if you blood sugars are too high! This will cause them to go even higher. Obviously, same goes for lows before exercise. If my blood sugar is below 100 before exercise, I eat glucose tablets to get it where it needs to be before I start. Again, those are my numbers and you'll have to find yours.

    If I DO go low (which still happens), I try to choose things that are not 'unhealthy' to use to raise my blood sugar. I use the small continers of Juicy Juice fun size boxes (100% juice and 15 carbs which is perfect). Only 60 calories! I usually only need to drink one. Or, I use Smarties candy. Again, calories (75 for 3 rolls) but no fat. Three normal sized rolls (not king sized) are around 18 carbs. Use the rule of 15 when you have a low to help you to NOT overeat - eat 15 carbs (low fat and low calorie) and test in 15 minutes. If you blood sugar isn't high enough to be safe, eat 15 carbs again and test in another 15 minutes. I've discoverd that I actually have to wait more like 20 to 25 minutes for my first 15 carbs to work. Again, find your sweet spot. It take work but you are worth it!!

    If you can, adjust your insulin on workout days. I see that you've talk to your doctor and say they aren't helpful. Do you see a GP or an endo? If you can, find an endo that IS more helpful. Mine is great and we've discussed all the aspects of getting healthy and how to do it safely without the lows.

    It's harder for diabetics to loose weight because insulin is a fat storing hormone that isn't as effective if you are overweight. But, it CAN be done!! Don't give up!!

    I've had a hard time actually losing weight (the number on the scale aren't going down much) but I've lost inches and have discoverd that I'm actually not eating enough calories.
  • RNatalie83
    RNatalie83 Posts: 20
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    Thanks everyone for your responses! I see an Endocrinologist as well as a diabetes educator a few times a year. My Endocrinologist is wonderful, but when it comes down to figuring out how my insulin schedual I find my educator is the one I turn to. They have been great helping me keep my diabetes in check, but just not helpful when it comes to helping me figure out how to lose the weight. What I have been doing is adjusting my insulin to carb ratio on days when I exercise. My ratio is normally 1:5 (ie one unit of insulin to 5 grams of carbs). Through trial and error I have found that I can change my ratio to 1:10 on days that I exercise. I also decrease my long acting insulin by about 10% on days I exercise. It is all trial an error!! Things have been becoming much easier. I do go low much less often. I'm just finding that I still can't seen to shed pounds.

    Thanks for the 15 rule. I find I have a hard time controlling myself when my blood sugar go low. Once I feel a low I tend to eat until I feel better. Maybe I just need to try to control myself a bit better!! It is just the body's natural reaction when your blood sugar is low to increase your cravings for food to increase your glucose. I don't find that I go low while I am exercising. My lows tend to happen about 8 hours later (which is usually in the middle of the night or right before I go to bed depending on when I exercise).

    Has anyone found anything that helps control hunger due to swings in blood sugar? I have tried using cinnamon as it helps stablize blood sugar but I don't find that it is working for me (maybe it only helps non-diabetics).

    Thanks for the websites! I will check them out.
  • lizzielou67
    lizzielou67 Posts: 35
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    It sounds like you are on the right track with chaning your insulin to carb ratio on exercise days and taking less long acting. Good job!

    Are excersie days the only days that that the lows happen at bedtime/nighttime? If so, I'd think you may want to take your long acting (Lantus?) down even more on those days.

    Lows can occur up to 24 hours after exercise (that stinks doesn't it?).

    Do you exercise too close to bedtime? Or, are you are eating (and taking a bolus) to close to bedtime? If so, you may want to ramp down that insulin even more in that case.

    How about some carbs and protien right after your workouts? What does you blood sugar run then? If it's at 100 or lower, then make sure you treat that as a low (with 15 grams of carbs and some protien).

    As far as hunger after a low? I've got no suggestions for that. I usually am so low that I feel like a hunk of cr@p after and don't even want to think of eating. My endo has always suggested a "snack" of some fat and protien after a low. I don't do it but why don't you try one serving of crackers (Ritz, Wheat Thins etc.) with 2 Tbsp of peanut butter when you blood sugar gets back to normal range? You would feel like you ate something but you wouldn't have to/want to "binge." Those are healthy choices for your body as well and help stabalize your blood sugar.

    Don't panic about not "dropping the weight!!" I lost ONE pound in my first 9 weeks of healthy living (eating right and exercising). ONE! But, my body is changing for the better (inches lost and lower heart rate etc.). I found I wasn't eating enough calories and when I upped that, I lost 2 pounds last week.

    It's hard as a diabetic who takes insulin. My endo says it feels like a race that has no finish line at times. Don't ever give up though.

    As you've noticed, you need less insulin on exercise days. That's a start. The more you take the more fat your body stores. The more you weigh, the less effective the insulin is. A vicious circle!! So, when you start taking less, you'll help you body to store less fat. You'll lose weight (even if it is slowly) and the less and less you'll have to take. That's a great circle to get caught in!!
  • KristaTellier
    KristaTellier Posts: 270 Member
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    One of the things that I've learned is there is a direct link between my heart rate (HR) and my blood sugars. BRIEF EXAMPLE: Lets say I do a 30 min cardio workout, here is (very generally) what will happen depending on where my HR is at...

    HR 120-140 = pretty quick fall in blood sugars
    HR 140-155 = blood sugars will stay the same (maybe drop a little the closer I am to the lower HR of this range)
    HR 155+ = blood sugars will rise

    A couple of years ago I was able to get this down to a science for my body. It was really amazing. I was able to decrease a lot of lows and frustrations when it came to working out by figuring this out. However, it does take a lot of work (comparing HR's and blood sugars multiple times pre, during, and post workout... I was doing 15-20 blood sugar checks a day at the start ). Things have changed a little over the last couple of years (my weight, insulin requirements, age, etc.) and I haven't kept up with making adjustments as well as I could, so I don't know the *exact* correlations any more. But, I still am able to use general guidelines to help me. For example: If my blood sugars are lower at the start of a workout than I would like... I have the option of working extra-hard and making sure my HR is kept at a high level. If I do this, I know my chances of dropping too low are reduced. If my blood sugars are a bit higher than my ideal starting point, I have the option of doing a less-intense workout knowing it will help bring down my blood sugars faster - which means I may not need to take a correction bolus/shot. SIDE NOTE: When I was a kid I remember coming to the conclusion that different activities would impact my blood sugars differently. For example: When I swam I would go low during the activity, and then about 8 hours later. When I played basketball for fun I would drop during the activity. When I played basketball competitively, my blood sugars would rise. At the time I never considered HR, but looking back I'm thinking it was probably a big component of that equation.

    The other thing I TRY and do (obviously doesn't always work out this way) is to plan meals/snacks around my activities (or vice versa). Starting a workout 30-45 mins after a meal or snack that I would have anyway has been helpful because I consume less calories overall. I won't take as much/any insulin for the food, and the exercise I do soon after seems to do the job of what the insulin would have. This means I don't need to eat any extra food just because I want to workout. But, this isn't always possible, as we all know! :)

    The one other thing I have found (and am still learning) is that if I do take insulin directly before a workout, it seems to go about 3x's the distance! So... if I was to have a meal and then planned to workout, I might still want to take some insulin to cover the food since I know my exercise won't cover all of it. I then need to take some insulin. I learned that, for me, I need to cut the amount of insulin down quite a bit for it to cover the carbs that I want (and not more)... if I'm following it immediately by exercise (no matter what HR range my workout is in).

    These are some things that have helped me. I don't know many T1s, so I'm not sure if the above strategies work for more than just me (diabetes is so fickle). But, they might be some strategies to consider if you haven't already.

    Please continue to post anything else that works (or doesn't work) for you... I'm always looking for ways to improve (and decrease the Diabetes frustration :)).

    A little about me:
    Diagnosed at age 10, have had T1 for 25 years
    Have been on the pump for 15 years (or more maybe?)
    A1c is usually in the 6's (not nearly this low in my teens & early 20's) - my goal is to hit a 5.something at some point in my life :)

    This is my first post/reply to any message board (ever), so if this posts weird or if I've done something wrong, please excuse this newbie!
  • lizzielou67
    lizzielou67 Posts: 35
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    Wow Krista! You've done a ton of great work figuring out your blood sugar with exercise. That's awesome. I know exactly the same things happen to me. If I work out "too hard" and have a large hike in heart rate, my blood sugars go UP. I just have been too lazy to do the extra testing during exercise. I can sort of tell during a workout how my body will react. If I know my heart rate is way up, my blood sugars will rise. Luckily, I know exactly where I have to be before exercise to get mysef from going much over 140 after. I don't workout if my blood sugar is lower than 100. For me, that's a danger zone.

    I'm suffering from too may lows (that I don't recognize) so my doc. wants me to keep my blood sugars around 120 to 130 for my "normal" daily readings. I also am not allowed to get my A1c below 6.5. My last two appointments were at 6 and she had a fit!!
    :-)

    I don't eat before workouts at all (I hate a tummy with food in it while I'm working out) so I've not experimented with that like you have.

    It's so different for everyone but I think as we each tell what we do and don't do, it give us all good ideas to try for ourselves. That "sweet spot" is hard to find but it's there!!
  • Kelene616
    Kelene616 Posts: 166 Member
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    Bummmm4p for later. I actually have endo appointment in an hour lol
  • Mbeattie
    Mbeattie Posts: 1
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    Hello everyone!

    My name is Marissa, and this past June, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 19. Prior to getting sick, I was weighing 130 pounds. In the two weeks prior to being diagnosed I lost 15 pounds of mostly muscle i presume. I've always been struggling to lose those 15 pounds so I was hoping that after getting healthy i would just gain back a healthy 5 if anything, but I soon discovered that with the muscle loss, i now had a horribly, horrible metabolism. I gained back everything and 15 more.
    I am now 135 pounds and am dying to lose 15 pounds.
    I'd say I eat perfectly and balanced and have been doing some weight training to gain back muscle but it's getting very frustrating because I feel like I'm working way harder to lose the weight and others are losing weight with less effort.
    Any suggestions that anyone could offer?. I still feel very new to this whole diabetes situation!
  • juliea_diabetic
    juliea_diabetic Posts: 4
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    Hi everyone!

    I am a T1 diabetic and currently a college student in good ole Texas. I have always haved trouble keeping a consistent weight (even when I was on swim team and xc team in high school) due to diabetes. Now that type of physical activity in college I have slowly started to gain weight. I am looking for support and tips on how to lose weight while keeping a good blood sugar level. I tend to fall low during or after exercise, particularly in the middle of the night. Again, looking for help! Thanks yall :)
  • piratesaregrand
    piratesaregrand Posts: 356 Member
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    Meeeee

    I've been type 1 since I was 10. I've been on here just over a year and lost 35kg and halved my insulin :)

    I log my food and inject amounts according to the carb amount taking into account any excerise I'm going to do. It's working really well. I always make sure my blood sugar is a little high before I start at the gym - around 10 and it will fall to about 6 after, then I have dinner and a tiny amount of insulin
  • manic4titans
    manic4titans Posts: 1,214 Member
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    never mind**
  • rebeccaline
    rebeccaline Posts: 2
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    I'm a recently diagnosed type one diabetic (in May) i except side minimum 2 hours daily and I typically eat 1200-1300 calories a day yet I'm still gaining weight. I lost 20 pounds when I was diagnosed and I've gained all that back I'm not overweight but I'd like to lose weight and this has been very frustrating. I take 15 lantus and 1-3 novolog at meals. I was wondering if anyone had any insight?
  • rebeccaline
    rebeccaline Posts: 2
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    *exercise oops lol
  • natashacassie
    natashacassie Posts: 3
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    I have also found it hard to lose weight. I think part of it is due to insulin. I have found in the past that it takes my body a month or two to adjust and start to shed a few pounds and it's way to easy to put it back on. I am trying to cut out complex carbs (breads, fewer pastas) and stick to more naturally occurring (fruits and the like) and see if that has an impact.
  • mfg94
    mfg94 Posts: 6 Member
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    I really struggle with the large hypos that i seem to have overnight regularly from doing heavy exercise pretty much everyday. i've lowered my lantus quite a bit but i'm still struggling. i have no idea what carb - to - insulin ratios im supposed to be doing at my evening meal but i feel like its definitely not correct for me at the moment. So i binge when i have nighttime hypos and that really messes up being able to lose weight!! :(
  • ar1984
    ar1984 Posts: 5 Member
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    I was diagnosed 14 years ago today, just before by 16th birthday. I started my journey to a healthier lifestyle last year. I have lost 30 pounds since September, cut my insulin requirements by almost 65%, and reduced my A1C by a whole 1%. I have been pumping for close to 10 years now and have developed a love hate relationship with it. After my diagnosis, I put on 20 lbs in only a few months. Over the subsequent years, my weight slowly kept creeping upwards. I finally decided I wasn't going to by larger clothing, I was going to do something about it.

    I found at first that there was a lot of frustration with increasing exercise and concurrently trying to reduce calories. I had to keep a couple hundred calories set aside each day for surprise lows - it was getting ridiculous. The best advice I can give on this front, is do your absolute best to not over treat. Figure out exactly how much fast acting carb you need and stick to it (trial and error). It helped when I stopped using juice to treat and switched to the gross flavoured Dex4. It is so much easier to not overindulge on those because I can't stand the taste.

    I still have a hard time balancing my macros because I find that I crave complex carbs when my sugars run higher. I have cut out bread for low carb tortillas and decreased my pasta consumption to a couple times a month. It was difficult at first, but I feel so much better now without the heavy starch. I found less swings in blood sugar as I swapped out complex carbs and processed foods for naturally occurring carbs in fruits and more homemade fare.

    Now, I'm having a hard time with dawn phenomenon. It doesn't matter how much insulin I take with breakfast or how much I increase my basal in the morning, I seem to run higher after breakfast. This is challenging since I'm now craving complex carbs for lunch and dinner... Oh, the cycle continues.

    Good luck on your journey! Feel free to bounce questions!
  • wuzzmom
    wuzzmom Posts: 1 Member
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    I have to say, as much as it sucks trying to lose weight, I'm so glad I'm not the only Type 1 diabetic out there struggling with this! I've been watching what I eat and exercising for about 2 months now, though the first month was spent trying to form habits, and then adjusting my insulin ratio to match my new requirements. I haven't really lost any weight yet, though I'm hoping that'll come the longer I stick with it, though it does get discouraging not seeing any results. I'll keep at it though!
  • JayRu2
    JayRu2 Posts: 1
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    One of the things we Type 1ers forget about (or are not told about) is that insulin isn't the only hormone absent in our pancreatically challenged bodies. We also make no amylin. Amylin is normally produced by the pancreas and released into the blood after meals where it helps the body to regulate levels of blood glucose. It slows the absorption of glucose from food, suppresses the production of glucose by the liver and makes us feel satiated after a meal. Without it we can feel hungry even when our bodies don't need fuel and our brains have enough blood sugar.
    It's worth asking your endo about Pramlintide aka Symlin, a synthetic, human-made hormone that resembles human amylin and comes in an injection pen (Rx only).
    I tried it years ago and it didn't work but it has been shown to be effective on many. I'm planning to try it again now that I've been on the pump a while.

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