Hello I work four days a week as a Science teacher and have type 1 diabetes and ulcerative colitis and have had numerous operations on my stomach because of severe endometriosis which has led to hysterectomy and ovary removal so Inam going through surgical menopause.
I am really struggling with my weight and am getting really down about the round face from steroids and huge bloated stomach.
I need to go to go to a slimming club as I am now fourteen stone instead of 10 and a half which I’m ashamed to say.
I am seeing my diabetic consultant on 24th September however until then I am needing advice on breakfast and lunch and snacks that I can make which have lots of energy but will not put on weight . I need the energy to get through the day with teaching so you see I need long acting carbohydrates .
I literally have very little breaks so have not got the time to prepare all the fancy receptors that I have seen.
Please can anyone help me as I’m getting really anxious and down about my huge weight gain.
Thanks Claudia Thomas
Hi Claudia
Firstly don't be 'ashamed' of your weight gain. You are doubtless aware that being emotionally and physically stressed from an inflammatory condition plus being on insulin and steroids contributes to weight gain and a disturbance of the hormones that regulate your fat levels. Surgical menopause will mean that your fat gets redistributed but not that you will necessarily gain extra fat though I expect you're discussing some kind of hrt? to help with those symptoms.
Your options are to restrict calories but this may not work well in the long term as most people find that their appetite hormones trump their will power as the body tries to hang onto its supplies.
I don't think you'll get much help from your consultant since remarkably diabetologists do not seem to get much training in nutrition yet going low carb/high fat is a very viable option for type 1s.
I am type 1 aged 48 and had tried all of the diet clubs etc. but at a certain point I could not longer bear the idea of a counting things constantly and then found that low carb actually works well in regards to weight management and blood sugar control (less margin for dosing errors). I really want to avoid becoming double diabetic (getting insulin resistant as well as insulin deficient) so a diet that keeps me slimmer and stops me needing larger and larger doses is important to me.
I am always being told that as a type 1 with total cho over 5 I should be on statins but decided that the benefit compared to the risk isn't worth it and now eat much more fat and protein than I do carbs. I have a great ratio of HDL to triglycerides which I understand to be a better predictor of CVD than my LDL.
Breakfasts this week have been:
full fat yogurt and some berries
salmon and 3 scrambled eggs
t x toast and peanut butter for last 2 days (not perfect but the nut butter slows down the toast's conversion to blood sugar and I did not want the 2nd slice I'd made)
I do have lashings of coffee (black mainly)
I'd disagree that you need whole grains for long term energy. Ideally you want to get into a situation where you are burning your own fat stores whilst not being ravenously hungry! Eating more fat and protein will help with that and give you a lot more nutritional bang for your buck..
I also work and in an active job (Personal Training) but my energy levels are honestly better when not eating the so called healthy regime of porridge, sandwiches, pasta and low fat that most NHS dieticians will recommend).
You could try nuts, boiled eggs, cheese as things to pick at during your busy day then make your evening meal the big event perhaps? I did not suddenly drop my carbs btw but simply cut them out of 1 meal at a time until down to 1 day where I am more relaxed and have some chocolate!
There are various people talking about this on You Tube from the legendary Dr Richard Bernstein (type 1 since 1946 i think) to Dr Ian Lake (GP and type 1). I believe the latter may be developing the upcoming Type 1 Low Carb programme on here if you're interested in registering (it is not live yet).
Good luck with your new term in any case and I hope you can dodge the staff room biscuit tin !
