Best Diet for Type 1

Hollieo4 said:

Hi everyone!

Since being diagnosed a year ago I have gained at least 1.5 stone! I am very unhappy about this. I did initially blame it on eating unhealthily and not having time to take care of myself properly. (I have a busy 18 month old - although I know that's no excuse!) So I joined Weight Watchers online 4 weeks ago but have only lost 5.5lbs!! I was so good last week, tracked and pointed EVERYTHING and actually gained 1lb! I don't understand it and feel at a loss as well as frustrated. I take 14 units of Lantus daily and around 11 units of Novorapid a day when following the Weight Watchers plan. Would this amount of insulin cause you to gain or hold on to weight? I followed the plan a few years ago and never had a problem so I don't know what else it could be. Are there any other diets you would recommend? My blood sugars have been great but I am desperate to lose weight. Please help!!

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Hi @Hollieo4 ,

Ultimately you have to find what's works for you and what doesn't.

I know a couple of T1's in the real world who eat whatever they want, bolus for it and don't worry about anything. At the other extreme, there is at least one forum member who's cut her carbohydrate intake down to less than 20g per day and so uses hardly any insulin.

When compared to the diabetic person next to you, your body will react differently to 14u of Lantus and 11u of Novorapid than theirs will. So these kind of comparisons aren't really helpful.

Have you reduced your carbohydrate intake since diagnosis? Changed your activity levels?

Best wishes
Urb'.

I'm not sure I could actually fit enough food in my stomach for 11u of novo not to put to sleep forever...

Hollieo4 said:

Since being diagnosed a year ago I have gained at least 1.5 stone!

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Is this weight gain compared to when you were healthy pre diagnosis, or compared to your weight at diagnosis, when you were, essentially, starving to death due to undiagnosed type 1 diabetes?

So at the time of diagnosis had you lost a lot of weight without trying, you know because you were starving to death with undiagnosed type 1 diabetes?

Do you think aiming to be at a weight when you were starving to death is healthy thing to be aiming for?

Hi @Hollie04, it’s possible that before the norovirus tipped you into DKA you were already in the early stages of developing T1 and despite not yet having developed any noticeable symptoms you weren’t able to utilise all the carbs you ate. If this were so, and it’s only a possibility, then it would explain your weight gain after diagnosis.
As far as losing weight’s concerned then I can only say that the only diet that’s worked well for me has been the 5:2. However, I did get tired and I don’t think I could have done it easily with an 18 month old to look after. I think I’d have been the one having the afternoon nap!
The basal insulin you take is needed to ensure that there’s enough energy for your body to function; it acts like a key to let energy into cells.
The bolus insulin, the novorapid, is used for the food you eat. If you’re happy adjusting your ratios then this is the one to juggle. You’ve no doubt been doing this successfully as your blood sugars are good.
Current thinking is that if you can drastically reduce carbs it’s easier to lose weight. The lchf diet does this. I don’t do lchf (low carb high fat) myself but there are a few T1s who do. There’s also this:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/low-carb-high-fat-diet.html
Have a look round the site, you’ll probably come across a few posts where it’s discussed.

I feel the same, lots of different views! I think the main thing is to be as healthy as possible and as relaxed as possible when running around after a toddler. I can understand your wish to lose weight though. But you need to stay energetic! I hope that some of the others will say how they did it.
The old way used to be to restrict calories - I’m an oldie - and lose weight slowly so you didn’t shrink smaller than your skin.
Why do you want to shed the extra kilos? Is it because new clothes are expensive, because it’s easier to run around with less or because everything today tells us we should be thin?
Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes

5.5lbs in 4 weeks is good. It’ll only take another 3 or 4 months at this rate and you’ll get there in time for summer. And I hope the rain’s eased off and the sun’s returned by then!

Hi, @Hollieo4 , there's lots of posts on this site associating insulin with weight gain, but I think it is important for you as a recently dx'd T1 to understand that those posts are very often from T2s.

The biology is very different. Excessive amounts of insulin because of insulin resistance in T2s can lead to weight gain which is why they sensibly reduce carb intake.

But it's not the same with T1s. We're generally not insulin resistant, so we're not taking massive amounts of insulin, just enough to let us turn carbs into energy, so weight gain tends not to be that much of an issue.

Your 11 u novo isn't a large amount by any means. Some T2s are injecting hundreds and need to get specialised insulins which are 3 or 5 times as concentrated.

It's a different scenario altogether, and it's important to understand the different biology going on between the two types.

I worry that some T1s have been led astray by reading T2s stories of weight gain and then gone down some dark paths which end up in unnecessary eating disorders. Sites like this one are incredibly useful but there's still a bit of sifting required to tell whether the advice is aimed at T1 or T2.

We're obviously all different, but if it's any small comfort, I've been on insulin as a T1 for 30 years since 21, weight has generally hovered around the 70 kg mark for all of those three decades (haven't got scales at home, get weighed twice a year at reviews).

I've not found insulin to have had any significant influence on my weight. Eating more or less does - kept an eye on my weight as I approached middle age as plenty of males get a bit podgier once they hit their 50's, turned out that there was nothing a short spell eating a few spring vegetable broths, salads, lighter meals for a week or two wouldn't sort.

It's not the insulin, it's the food. Insulin keeps us alive, so please, please, please, try not to be influenced too much by the posts which try to paint insulin as a dark, negative force when it's really not.

Hi @Hollieo4 the correct amount of insulin is whatever keeps your blood glucose in range, some people only need a little, for others it's more ( I have 1:7 insulin to carb ratio so I have had entire meals that need 11 units
)
I also wouldn't worry about the 1lb gain you can go up and down that much just based on how much water you drank, if you have used the WC that day, and for me my time of the month can push up my weight.

One thing I did learn about insulin and exercise is that if you can exercise 2-3 hours after your last bolus (so the bolus insulin has cleared your system) your body is more likely to burn fat for its fuel rather than trying to pull it straight out of the blood stream. Easier said than done of course, but if you can it's worth trying.

Finally you should feel good about the weight you have lost. As everyone will tell you, slow and steady means you are more likely to keep it off.

I agree with you @Scott-C I have seen many posts with T1's worried that they are taking too much insulin. And there are many posts from T2's talking about how desperate they are to avoid going onto it. All of which can give the impression insulin is bad and cause feelings of failure in those taking it. But insulin is a miracle drug! All the kale smoothies and running in the world won't bring my pancreas back. Whereas precious insulin keeps me alive and I am grateful I for its existence. Keep going with your diet and exercise plan @Hollieo4 but remember insulin is your ally not the enemy.

Sorry @Hollieo4 reading back over it I came across a bit strident in my last post! But it is.something I feel passionate about. All of Scott advice is excellent.

Neoncat said:

I agree with you @Scott-C I have seen many posts with T1's worried that they are taking too much insulin.

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Some of those posts are frankly disturbing.

There's a nice Italian place just down the road from me, and I'll occasionally pop in there after work for a panini (salami, cheese, mushrooms), comes with a side salad, and a bowl of olives.

The panini is about 50g, absorption rate is slowed by the fat in the olives, cheese and salami, so it's a relatively easy judgment call, and it's nice having a chat with the lovely staff there.

Yet, newly dx'd T1s looking for advice on a simple totally manageable thing like going out for a tasty panini after work, will instead be faced with an onslaught of, "it's wheat, it's wheat, it's 50g, are you mad, dr bernstein says no, nobody needs carbs, the food companies are trying to kill you...etc. etc."

It's no wonder that newly dx'd get so confused.

I too agree with @Scott-C. He’s summed it up: it’s food, not insulin, that creates weight. I also think that it’s not good to lose weight too quickly as there’s a risk of ditching muscle rather than fat. The best effect of the 5:2 diet was that it used a day or two of semi starvation as a way of decreasing appetite and overall calorie intake.
I know that T1s are adopting the lchf diet but the long-term effects of it have yet to be seen.