Type 2 Diabetes and losing weight

[ronkey]

Hi all,

Can any one give any advice on my post, I have been diagnosed in February with type 2, over the period of time up to now I have changed my diet and exercise regularly.
I have gone from 17.7 stone to 14 4 stone, I am 6 foot 2 inches (what ever that is in metres/cms) and in my sixties.

I have lost not only fat but muscle as well, too much really, I have read on line that diabetes ironically can make you lose weight and muscle because the body does not make enough insulin/ glucose so it burns fat and muscle for energy!!?. if that's the case how can I change my diet to compensate for the muscle loss?

I look forward to any input on this subject .

Kind regards

Ronkey

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi all,

Can any one give any advice on my post, I have been diagnosed in February with type 2, over the period of time up to now I have changed my diet and exercise regularly.
I have gone from 17.7 stone to 14 4 stone, I am 6 foot 2 inches (what ever that is in metres/cms) and in my sixties.

I have lost not only fat but muscle as well, too much really, I have read on line that diabetes ironically can make you lose weight and muscle because the body does not make enough insulin/ glucose so it burns fat and muscle for energy!!?. if that's the case how can I change my diet to compensate for the muscle loss?

I look forward to any input on this subject .

Kind regards

Ronkey

Hello Ronkey.

Hello Ronkey.

Looking at your profile, it suggests you are T2, not taking any medication. Well done modifying your diet, because when it comes to managing T2, the most important thing we can do is to control what we eat, bearing in mind our conditions. What your profile doesn't do is tell me what sort of things you are eating on a day-to-day basis. Secondly, you don't say of your weight loss was deliberate, but in my response, I'm assuming it was.

Just looking at your stats, dropping some weight since diagnosis will have done you some good. The NHS BMI calculator suggests, from what information you have made available, that you have managed to go from a BMI of just over 31 to just over 25. According to the NHS, they consider 25 and over to be overweight, so on their scale you are just getting into the good zone.

Please don't think that's any form of telling off, because it isn't. To lose 3 st takes a lot of work, and you should be very pleased, but the thing about a changing body shape and losing s real chunk of weight, as you have, is that it takes your body a bit of time to catch up with the weight, in terms of look and tone. Some of the "look" issue is just that we (and our friends and families) are not used to seeing ourselves slimmer, so it takes us a while to get used to that chiselled chin,, sculpted cheekbones, thinner arms or whatever. As for our bodies catching up? Well, Murphy's Law says we must lose weight from our favourite parts first, leaving the bits we've always hated until last. But, on another gross generalisation, for T2s, any weight we carry around our midriff can be slow to move, and that's important for us. Shifting that tummy weight is where we see our greatest gains, in terms of managing our conditions.

One final comment from me though. You mention your body not making enough insulin, and therefore it cannibalising your muscle sources. This can indeed be the case for T1s at diagnosis, or if they don't get great control, but most T2s, particularly those controlling by diet only, actually produce plenty of insulin, but our bodies don't use it as well as it might. OK, so that might seem nit-picking, but it is important. Most of us T2s suffer what is known as "Insulin Resistance", and a consultation with Dr Google will return quite a bit of reading for you. I'd search on "T2 diabetes insulin resistance".

Have a good read around that Google search. I'm sure you will find it interesting and enlightening.

If you could give us an insight into what you're eating and drinking on a day-to-day basis, and let us know whether you are self testing or not, that would be extremely helpful. Additionally, if you are home self-testing, what do your before and after meal scores look like?

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Normally, as aT2, if you have a low carb diet but have enough protein and fat you won't keep losing weight and should stabilise at a sensible weight. If you keep losing weight without really trying then T1 becomes possible but it sounds like you just need to have enough protein and fats to keep the weight stable?

 

[ronkey]

Hello Ronkey.

Hello Ronkey.

Looking at your profile, it suggests you are T2, not taking any medication. Well done modifying your diet, because when it comes to managing T2, the most important thing we can do is to control what we eat, bearing in mind our conditions. What your profile doesn't do is tell me what sort of things you are eating on a day-to-day basis. Secondly, you don't say of your weight loss was deliberate, but in my response, I'm assuming it was.

Just looking at your stats, dropping some weight since diagnosis will have done you some good. The NHS BMI calculator suggests, from what information you have made available, that you have managed to go from a BMI of just over 31 to just over 25. According to the NHS, they consider 25 and over to be overweight, so on their scale you are just getting into the good zone.

Please don't think that's any form of telling off, because it isn't. To lose 3 st takes a lot of work, and you should be very pleased, but the thing about a changing body shape and losing s real chunk of weight, as you have, is that it takes your body a bit of time to catch up with the weight, in terms of look and tone. Some of the "look" issue is just that we (and our friends and families) are not used to seeing ourselves slimmer, so it takes us a while to get used to that chiselled chin,, sculpted cheekbones, thinner arms or whatever. As for our bodies catching up? Well, Murphy's Law says we must lose weight from our favourite parts first, leaving the bits we've always hated until last. But, on another gross generalisation, for T2s, any weight we carry around our midriff can be slow to move, and that's important for us. Shifting that tummy weight is where we see our greatest gains, in terms of managing our conditions.

One final comment from me though. You mention your body not making enough insulin, and therefore it cannibalising your muscle sources. This can indeed be the case for T1s at diagnosis, or if they don't get great control, but most T2s, particularly those controlling by diet only, actually produce plenty of insulin, but our bodies don't use it as well as it might. OK, so that might seem nit-picking, but it is important. Most of us T2s suffer what is known as "Insulin Resistance", and a consultation with Dr Google will return quite a bit of reading for you. I'd search on "T2 diabetes insulin resistance".

Have a good read around that Google search. I'm sure you will find it interesting and enlightening.

If you could give us an insight into what you're eating and drinking on a day-to-day basis, and let us know whether you are self testing or not, that would be extremely helpful. Additionally, if you are home self-testing, what do your before and after meal scores look like?

Hi AndBreathe,

Many thanks for your comprehensive and concise reply to my question. I have most days porridge in the mornings then around 15:30 when I get home from work brown/granary bread with either cheese, tin fish or lean ham, I have a apple or a pear about 16:00. my main meal at 18:30 , over the week I have salad, large bowl of soup, small amounts of potatoes with chicken, turkey and sausages, I have these meals with larger portions of veg. on Fridays I have fried eggs, beans or tomatoes and a small portion of chips.

I eat almonds, walnuts some roasted peanuts. I eat various fruit along with the ones I have already stated.

With regards to drinking, I have bottled water, decaffeinated tea, almond soya milk and the occasional zero alcohol with 0.2g of sugar

I use my exercise bike 3 to 4 times a week, the period lasts 50 minutes a day12 to 16 miles.

I use a accu chek Aviva meter after 2 hours of eating, the readings are between 6.3 to 6.6. I also have a reading when I wake up in the morning, it is normally around 5.1 to 5.5 the lowest figure I have had has been 4.6 after exercise.

I hope this gives you an insight into my routine.

Kind regards

Ronkey

 

[ronkey]

Hi. Normally, as aT2, if you have a low carb diet but have enough protein and fat you won't keep losing weight and should stabilise at a sensible weight. If you keep losing weight without really trying then T1 becomes possible but it sounds like you just need to have enough protein and fats to keep the weight stable?

Hi Daibell,

Many thanks for your reply, I have noted your comments, I am being told when people I know have not seen me for a while that I have lost too much weight.

I told them that my weight fell quiet quickly through diet and exercise, now I am trying to gain a small amount of weight but had a dilemma in how I could do it while living with type 2.

kind regards

Ronkey

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi AndBreathe,

Many thanks for your comprehensive and concise reply to my question. I have most days porridge in the mornings then around 15:30 when I get home from work brown/granary bread with either cheese, tin fish or lean ham, I have a apple or a pear about 16:00. my main meal at 18:30 , over the week I have salad, large bowl of soup, small amounts of potatoes with chicken, turkey and sausages, I have these meals with larger portions of veg. on Fridays I have fried eggs, beans or tomatoes and a small portion of chips.

I eat almonds, walnuts some roasted peanuts. I eat various fruit along with the ones I have already stated.

With regards to drinking, I have bottled water, decaffeinated tea, almond soya milk and the occasional zero alcohol with 0.2g of sugar

I use my exercise bike 3 to 4 times a week, the period lasts 50 minutes a day12 to 16 miles.

I use a accu chek Aviva meter after 2 hours of eating, the readings are between 6.3 to 6.6. I also have a reading when I wake up in the morning, it is normally around 5.1 to 5.5 the lowest figure I have had has been 4.6 after exercise.

I hope this gives you an insight into my routine.

Kind regards

Ronkey

Ronkey, people who haven't seen you for a while, will be surprised and/or shocked by your weight loss because you look different. Your BMI suggests you are actually straddling the absolutely top end of healthy weight, into overweight, whatever people say. I suggest you resist the temptation to try to gain weight, because what you don't need is to go into a yo-yo ohase whereby you are either gaining or losing. I would advocate you go for a period of holding steady, and seeing how your body looks in a few months. (Yes, months.) I would suggest by then, you and many others will be more used to your new appearance and your face and neck (where most people notice it most) will have settled a bit.

In terms of your diet, I'm rather inclined to dip out of advising you on that now I understand what you eat a bit better. I eat a low carbohydrate diet, and for me, that means I rarely eat bread, potatoes, cereals or sweet things. For me, if I were struggling to gain weight, or maintain it, I would eat a bit more fat, but I fear if you up your fat intake, whilst you are still eating those carbs, you will gain weight, and potentially quite quickly. You don't want to go falling of the diet wagon!

I am assuming you feel you have lost muscle on your limbs? You may have done, but you are also likely to have lost fat from those areas. Whether or not you felt you carried any fat on your limbs, you probably did.

If you want to build some more muscle, then up the exercise and maybe do a bit of additional walking, but I doubt you're clinically skinny in reality.

 

[Daphne917]

Hi @ronkey well done on your achievements so far! I am the same as you in that although I always ate what was considered healthily it wasn't until I changed my diet that the weight started to come off - approx 3 stones since this time last year and a number of people who haven't seen me for a while comment on it. I've still got some to lose as I am still overweight but I'm getting there and for me the most important thing is that, at 36, my hba1c is currently in the non-diabetic range - the weight loss is a welcome side affect!

 

[ronkey]

Hi @ronkey well done on your achievements so far! I am the same as you in that although I always ate what was considered healthily it wasn't until I changed my diet that the weight started to come off - approx 3 stones since this time last year and a number of people who haven't seen me for a while comment on it. I've still got some to lose as I am still overweight but I'm getting there and for me the most important thing is that, at 36, my hba1c is currently in the non-diabetic range - the weight loss is a welcome side affect!

Thank you Dapnne917

The posts on this thread including yours have been very helpful and informative.

You have done really well to lose 3 stone also, obviously the goal was to lose weight so it could have a impact on the diabetes levels.

I know that the cosmetic side for me should not over ride the health priority, just taking a while to adjust to my diminished appearance.

Kind regards

Ronkey