8kg weight gain in 2 months! Please help

[carolina1209]

Hi everybody
I'm Carolina from Taiwan.
31 years old.
I got dignose with Type1 diabetes 2 months ago.(Feb)
Since then I have tried hard to limit my carbs intake so that I don't need to use too much insulin.
In the first month I have 7 units humalog in the morning, 4 for lunch and 4 for dinner. Bad time 6 units Abasaglar. Daily carbs intake is about 80g.
And I excercise 5 times a week. But I kept gaining weight. From 53kg to 58 kg.
The second month I cut down even more carbs. I didn't gain weight but also didn't lose weight.
Last week I went in ski vacation , I didn't eat low carbs. But I also didn't eat much junk food or drink lots alcohol! Just eat like a normal person. And I gained 3 kg in this one week vacation.
2 months only, from 53 kg to 61kg!

What can I do now? Can anybody give me some advise how to lose weight?

 

[catapillar]

Had you lost lots of weight pre diagnosis? If so, that 53kg weight as the starting point is what you weighed because your body was starving, it couldn't get glucose into the cells to use energy so your body thought you weren't eating anything and began to break down fat and muscle tissue to use that for energy. Now you have insulin your body is desperate to put the weight lost pre diagnosis back on and rebuild itself.

 

[carolina1209]

Had you lost lots of weight pre diagnosis? If so, that 53kg weight as the starting point is what you weighed because your body was starving, it couldn't get glucose into the cells to use energy so your body thought you weren't eating anything and began to break down fat and muscle tissue to use that for energy. Now you have insulin your body is desperate to put the weight lost pre diagnosis back on and rebuild itself.

Yes, I lost 14 kg in one year.
So is there anyway to stop the weight gain?
Or I will just keep putting all the 14 kg back?
And how to lose weight while using insulin?
Thanks!

 

[catapillar]

You aren't gaining weight. You're going back to your healthy pre-diagnosis weight. The only reason you lost all the weight was because you had undiagnosed type 1 and were really sick.

You lose weight on insulin the same as not on insulin, diet and exercise. You just have to be concious to adjust your insulin to match less food and more exercise.

 

[himtoo]

I would like to say welcome @carolina1209 !!!
I agree with @catapillar.
you are only putting on the weight you lost as a result of becoming sick with Diabetes.

please have a good read of all the subjects here on the forum
there is a lot of useful information and some lovely people.

you are most welcome here !!

 

[carolina1209]

I was just going to say the same as previous posters. I'm the opposite to you. I'm losing now my insulin is right. Annoyingly I'm being changed to another insulin routine to save the nhs the cost of my huge insulin resistant.
I've been told I can skip meals on my new insulin routine to aid my weight loss.
I'd only advise this if your over weight for your frame. And of course on the insulin routine which allows that.
You medics will keep you right on which weight is healthy for you. Definitely worth listening to avoid other problems.
Is a healthy weight a problem to you?

Hi
I'm not overweight actually.
My BMI is 22,4 so it's it's actually consider a standard weight.
But I have high body fat.
And after taking insulin I can feel my belly gets bigger. :'(

 

[azure]

Hi
I'm not overweight actually.
My BMI is 22,4 so it's it's actually consider a standard weight.
But I have high body fat.
And after taking insulin I can feel my belly gets bigger. :'(

If you're not overweight then please don't worry. You've only been diagnosed two months. You lost a large amount of weight before diagnosis and your body was being starved because it couldn't use the food you were eating. Now you have the insulin you need, your body is rebuilding itself.

I've had Type 1 23 years and have stayed at the same BMI and stayed slim. Insulin does NOT make people fat. It saves lives

Give your body a chance to rebuild itself and to settle down. If you eat normally, your weight will stabilise at the natural weight for you

 

[azure]

Some posts in this thread have been deleted. Insulin does not make you fat nor does a normal intake of carbs.

Severe weight loss is common with Type 1 and putting that weight back on is normal.

 

[joanne75]

Hi @azure, I notice you say insulin does not make you fat and I kind of understand that we all need insulin and some ie: Type 1 need to inject it as we cannot naturally make it, but why is it so difficult for diabetics to loose weight? Is it anything to do with the insulin? are we saying the more insulin you take to cover your food the fatter you will become? Sorry if I seem ignorant but I struggle to understand why it is so difficult to loose weight for some diabetics thanks

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi @azure, I notice you say insulin does not make you fat and I kind of understand that we all need insulin and some ie: Type 1 need to inject it as we cannot naturally make it, but why is it so difficult for diabetics to loose weight? Is it anything to do with the insulin? are we saying the more insulin you take to cover your food the fatter you will become? Sorry if I seem ignorant but I struggle to understand why it is so difficult to loose weight for some diabetics thanks

I don't think @azure is around at the moment, but I'll have a stab at answering your query. She can always correct me later, if necessary. Every day's a school day with Diabetes.

I understand that regaining any weight lost, pre-diagnosis is all very natural, and in fact it is your body's way of sorting itself out from being in such an unwell state.

My understanding is that the issue with weight gain (exceeding any pre-diagnosis regain) can be due to not quite getting the insulin doses quite right, causing hypos, then having to eat carbs to treat the hypo. In that case, the imbalance, can encourage your insulin to stimulate fat storage.

Some T1 also experience insulin resistance, which means it's harder for their bodies to utilise their insulin efficiently, meaning they sometimes can take higher than usual amounts of insulin to cover whatever they eat, or drink.

As I understand it, accurate carb counting can be really helpful in developing a good understanding of carb ratios and therefore efficient insulin dosing. Where an individual is insulin resistant, tweaking their diet a bit can help, or some take medications, such as Metformin to help with their insulin resistance.

I'm sure Azure will conform or correct as necessary. If @Juicyj is around, hopefully she might comment too.

I'm eternally grateful not to have had to work on the insulin puzzle, so far. I'm sure whatever work you can put into it now will stand you in good stead in the future. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[Lynz84]

Hi @azure, I notice you say insulin does not make you fat and I kind of understand that we all need insulin and some ie: Type 1 need to inject it as we cannot naturally make it, but why is it so difficult for diabetics to loose weight? Is it anything to do with the insulin? are we saying the more insulin you take to cover your food the fatter you will become? Sorry if I seem ignorant but I struggle to understand why it is so difficult to loose weight for some diabetics thanks

Hey Joanne75
I used to think that insulin made you put on weight or at the very least kept it on there. I have been type 1 six years and for 4.5 of those I was overweight. In the last 18months I have lost 2.5 stone and all I did was eat healthily and add some exercise. I personally believe it's all to do with peoples education on food and diet rather than insulin that increases and maintains weight.

 

[azure]

Hi @joanne75

It's a common myth that insulin makes you fat, and one that annoys me a lot. Obviously, if a Type 1 were to eat a poor diet and an excessive amount of food, they'd get fat just like anyone else would, but that would be because of the food not the insulin they took to cover that food.

 

[tim2000s]

Hi @azure, I notice you say insulin does not make you fat and I kind of understand that we all need insulin and some ie: Type 1 need to inject it as we cannot naturally make it, but why is it so difficult for diabetics to loose weight? Is it anything to do with the insulin? are we saying the more insulin you take to cover your food the fatter you will become? Sorry if I seem ignorant but I struggle to understand why it is so difficult to loose weight for some diabetics thanks

As a T1 who ate rubbish for a number of years, I put weight on. Then I lost it by undertaking a body transformation programme. What was the key to that? Monitoring calorific intake and the exercise regime. In all reality I had been eating/drinking about 3000 calories a day of "prepared foods" whilst working in a desk job for ten years and not exercising enough. Funnily enough you get fat like that.

That wasn't insulin's fault, that was mine. Cutting back on the calories and adjusting what I ate along with my exercise made a much bigger difference.

 

[TheBigNewt]

Before dx I weighed up to 80ks and lost weight (happily) when I got it without trying. Bad way to lose weight lol. I think I gained some back and have been at 72kg for 30 yrs. I think your insulin use is quite reasonable, it's almost exactly what I take for bolus, but I take 25U Lantus in AM. You should level out pretty quick IMO. I think it's hard for us to lose a lot of weight if we're overweight or obese though. You'd have to skip some meals and corresponding shots. For instance yesterday I overdid French fries for lunch and skipped dinner because I ran high. I just corrected. Probably lost a pound or so.

 

[AndBreathe]

Before dx I weighed up to 80ks and lost weight (happily) when I got it without trying. Bad way to lose weight lol. I think I gained some back and have been at 72kg for 30 yrs. I think your insulin use is quite reasonable, it's almost exactly what I take for bolus, but I take 25U Lantus in AM. You should level out pretty quick IMO. I think it's hard for us to lose a lot of weight if we're overweight or obese though. You'd have to skip some meals and corresponding shots. For instance yesterday I overdid French fries for lunch and skipped dinner because I ran high. I just corrected. Probably lost a pound or so.

I'm pretty certain you're not advocating abusing insulin (by not taking it) as a safe way to manage weight. Are you?

@carolina1209 - If once your body has recovered a bit from the harm of your pre-diagnosis phase, and your weight is stabilised, you want to trim up a bit, it might be worthwhile starting a thread specifically for that, as many T1s appear able to manage their weight, including trimming up it seems, without abusing their insulin or skipping meals.