Weight & Insulin Resistance

[Lucyq]

Hi,

Just looking for a little advice... To introduce myself I'm a 19 year old female and I have been diabetic now for 9 years. I have pretty much ignored my diabetes until around a year ago when I found out I had background retinopathy. I try my best to keep my blood sugars under control now, and my hba1c is currently at 8.6%; much higher than i'd like it but a year ago I was 9.8% so good improvement...

I'm on lantus (32 units once per day) with novorapid as my bolus insulin. Recently I have been trying to lose some weight and have really been struggling. I am not overweight at 65kg and 5'6 but I have been trying to tone up going to the gym 3x per week, eating healthy not too many carbs and calories etc but have not seen ANY progress ;(.... I feel I am on a lot of insulin, especially novorapid, as I am doing 1 unit for every 5g of carbs, so in total I am getting a lot of insulin over 24hrs. plus, despite injecting before eating, my blood sugar will ALWAYS shoot up to around 16mmols before slowly coming back down to pre-meal reading... wondering if novorapid is not suiting me & is also affecting weight loss? blood sugar is perfect over night and will stay stable until any food touches my mouth!!

Thanks for any advice, will really appreciate it!

Lucy

 

[paulus1]

no need to lose weight to tone up. what carbs are you on. the more carbs you eat the more insulin but it works both ways the less the less insulin. the lchf is more aimed at type2 but no reasona type 1cant reduce there insulin need.

 

[TheBigNewt]

I've always said that for a Type 1 to lose weight they/we have to take less insulin. And eat less of course. I know it's not popular to say this, but the key to losing weight is eat less. Yeah, I know, go to the gym. I know, do the treadmill. But with Type 1 what could happen is you start getting low, and you know what happens then: OREOS BABY! Hard to lose weight doing that.

 

[Lucyq]

I've always said that for a Type 1 to lose weight they/we have to take less insulin. And eat less of course. I know it's not popular to say this, but the key to losing weight is eat less. Yeah, I know, go to the gym. I know, do the treadmill. But with Type 1 what could happen is you start getting low, and you know what happens then: OREOS BABY! Hard to lose weight doing that.

Thanks for the reply! Yeah I've really cut down what I eat and only eat good carbs e.g. brown pasta, fruits, sweet potato.. but because I have to do so much novorapid to keep up with the carbs, I feel like that's the reason behind no progress? do you think novorapid could be wrong for me?

 

[Daibell]

Thanks for the reply! Yeah I've really cut down what I eat and only eat good carbs e.g. brown pasta, fruits, sweet potato.. but because I have to do so much novorapid to keep up with the carbs, I feel like that's the reason behind no progress? do you think novorapid could be wrong for me?

Hi. There aren't really any good carbs - a carb is a carb is a carb. Yes, low-GI carbs have a smoother ride but the body can still use most of their potential glucose producing capability.

 

[Alexlewis1989]

Hi. There aren't really any good carbs - a carb is a carb is a carb. Yes, low-GI carbs have a smoother ride but the body can still use most of their potential glucose producing capability.

Hiya I’m new to this so haven’t a clue how it works just wondering do any one have trouble with thinking hair

 

[ickihun]

Hi,

Just looking for a little advice... To introduce myself I'm a 19 year old female and I have been diabetic now for 9 years. I have pretty much ignored my diabetes until around a year ago when I found out I had background retinopathy. I try my best to keep my blood sugars under control now, and my hba1c is currently at 8.6%; much higher than i'd like it but a year ago I was 9.8% so good improvement...

I'm on lantus (32 units once per day) with novorapid as my bolus insulin. Recently I have been trying to lose some weight and have really been struggling. I am not overweight at 65kg and 5'6 but I have been trying to tone up going to the gym 3x per week, eating healthy not too many carbs and calories etc but have not seen ANY progress ;(.... I feel I am on a lot of insulin, especially novorapid, as I am doing 1 unit for every 5g of carbs, so in total I am getting a lot of insulin over 24hrs. plus, despite injecting before eating, my blood sugar will ALWAYS shoot up to around 16mmols before slowly coming back down to pre-meal reading... wondering if novorapid is not suiting me & is also affecting weight loss? blood sugar is perfect over night and will stay stable until any food touches my mouth!!

Thanks for any advice, will really appreciate it!

Lucy

Type1s who aren't overweight done need to reduce their insulin. However, if you want a lower hba1c you need to manage your hypos so they aren't needing carbs which add weight.
How?
Catch them before they become a hypo with a meal brought forward and less insulin so less hypos.
Heavier testing to prevent hypos is the best way to lower your hba1c and not becoming underweight.

 

[himtoo]

Hi,

Just looking for a little advice... To introduce myself I'm a 19 year old female and I have been diabetic now for 9 years. I have pretty much ignored my diabetes until around a year ago when I found out I had background retinopathy. I try my best to keep my blood sugars under control now, and my hba1c is currently at 8.6%; much higher than i'd like it but a year ago I was 9.8% so good improvement...

I'm on lantus (32 units once per day) with novorapid as my bolus insulin. Recently I have been trying to lose some weight and have really been struggling. I am not overweight at 65kg and 5'6 but I have been trying to tone up going to the gym 3x per week, eating healthy not too many carbs and calories etc but have not seen ANY progress ;(.... I feel I am on a lot of insulin, especially novorapid, as I am doing 1 unit for every 5g of carbs, so in total I am getting a lot of insulin over 24hrs. plus, despite injecting before eating, my blood sugar will ALWAYS shoot up to around 16mmols before slowly coming back down to pre-meal reading... wondering if novorapid is not suiting me & is also affecting weight loss? blood sugar is perfect over night and will stay stable until any food touches my mouth!!

Thanks for any advice, will really appreciate it!

Lucy

hi there @Lucyq
welcome to the forum !
given the figures you gave us your BMI calculates at 23 -- which is in the "good" zone

however -- you being a young lady you probably are wanting to look your best and continue a healthy lifestyle.

looking at your numbers for a start -- every one of us is different -- so it is impossible to compare
how many carbs are you averaging per day ( that will give a clue as to whether your basal / bolus ratio is in "range "

do you pre-bolus for your meals at all ( IE : take your fast acting insulin anywhere from 10 - 25 minutes before a meal )
doing this can help prevent post prandial spikes ( or at least lessen them )

take care Lucy
lots of good advice here -- just read and absorb -- and look at what is relevant to you.

all the best
himtoo
x

 

[Snapsy]

To my surprise when I started on my pump I lost weight without trying - the reason was, I quickly noticed, that I was no longer needing to feed excess insulin with carbohydrate! On MDI I was having lots of hypos - but once I started pumping and realised that I could make adjustments to my insulin dose more intuitively, I was just by accident suddenly not needing carby snacks any more.

I wish I'd made the connection years ago between lots of carbs / lots of insulin / lots of carbs / lots of insulin ad infinitum.

 

[himtoo]

To my surprise when I started on my pump I lost weight without trying - the reason was, I quickly noticed, that I was no longer needing to feed excess insulin with carbohydrate! On MDI I was having lots of hypos - but once I started pumping and realised that I could make adjustments to my insulin dose more intuitively, I was just by accident suddenly not needing carby snacks any more.

I wish I'd made the connection years ago between lots of carbs / lots of insulin / lots of carbs / lots of insulin ad infinitum.

agree that is part of the answer -- but not the total answer
a pump allows fine tuning and overall intake of insulin that MDI cant replicate
but MDI is not automatic weight gain -- I did MDI for over 9 years with no weight gain at all .

 

[Snapsy]

but MDI is not automatic weight gain -- I did MDI for over 9 years with no weight gain at all .

I agree. Interestingly I tried dieting back then - before I did DAFNE, that is, ages before I got a pump - but couldn't escape the fact that with my control being the way it was meant that I was often low and therefore often eating.

I didn't really ever gain per se, I just found it hard to ever shift any, really! Knowing then what I do now is likely to have made a difference.

 

[Resurgam]

Brown pasta, fruits and sweet potato - Unless you are eating a tiny amount of those as a serving your carb intake will be quite high. I know there is a huge difference in the diet a type one can eat and that suitable for controlling type 2, but those foods were on the diet sheet I got for cholesterol control - the one which had me putting on weight every week.

 

[EllieM]

I am a type 1 on lantus and humalog and have also been struggling to lose weight - my main problem being hypos (the tighter my control the more hypos I get).
I became diabetic in 1970 when I was 8 and like the OP I was very negligent of my diabetes in my late teens/ early twenties. This was helped by the fact that there were no blood testing kits available then so all you could do on a day to day basis was urine test (anyone remember those test tubes?) and await a visit to the diabetic specialist. My HbA1C was well over 10 when I finally went to a clinic when they were handing out blood testing kits.

Anyway, I agree that to lose weight you have to somehow cut out the hypos and reduce the lantus. This means reducing the carbs. Though I'm not on a low carb diet per se I've given up rice (cauliflower rice isn't bad!), and have pasta and bread (lo gi) in small quantities. My lantus has gone down from 30 to 20 (at the suggestion of my endocrinologist) and I feel much better on it.

I'm personally happiest when my HbA1C is in high 6s low 7s (50-55?), any lower than that and I start getting less warning for my hypos, and it just isn't worth it.

 

[Jaylee]

Hi,

Just looking for a little advice... To introduce myself I'm a 19 year old female and I have been diabetic now for 9 years. I have pretty much ignored my diabetes until around a year ago when I found out I had background retinopathy. I try my best to keep my blood sugars under control now, and my hba1c is currently at 8.6%; much higher than i'd like it but a year ago I was 9.8% so good improvement...

I'm on lantus (32 units once per day) with novorapid as my bolus insulin. Recently I have been trying to lose some weight and have really been struggling. I am not overweight at 65kg and 5'6 but I have been trying to tone up going to the gym 3x per week, eating healthy not too many carbs and calories etc but have not seen ANY progress ;(.... I feel I am on a lot of insulin, especially novorapid, as I am doing 1 unit for every 5g of carbs, so in total I am getting a lot of insulin over 24hrs. plus, despite injecting before eating, my blood sugar will ALWAYS shoot up to around 16mmols before slowly coming back down to pre-meal reading... wondering if novorapid is not suiting me & is also affecting weight loss? blood sugar is perfect over night and will stay stable until any food touches my mouth!!

Thanks for any advice, will really appreciate it!

Lucy

Hi Lucy,

I feel the focus on the ground up starting with your Lantus & setting your basal dose could be a good start regarding your insulin regime around your personal fitness goal..? Some info here. https://mysugr.com/basal-rate-testing/

With regards to your Novorapid & bolusing for food, lowering high peaks & hypo frequencies. Maybe a "back to basics" on using insulin here? http://www.dafne.uk.com

Of course, consultation with your HCPs on this is important.
Quite often our insulin needs change as we do. Blood sugar control is paramount regarding all these situations...

Good luck. & keep us posted.!