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exercise and diet advice

vxrich

vxrich

Well-Known Member
Messages
207
Location
Staffs
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hi All

This is the first time that I have have posted on this forum and I am after some advice on exercise and losing weight. Im T1, 37 yrs old weigh just under 15 stone and have a bmi of around 24-25. Im looking at losing around 1-1.5 stone. Im very active in general but make an effort to jog 3-4 miles 3-4 times a week and have been doing so for the last 5 months but I dont really seem to be getting anywhere.

One of my problems is that I exercise at around 6pm, eat a healthy meal, inject as required and then Ill have a bowl of cerial (normally 2 weetabix) at around 10pm as I find that my sugars drop at around 3am if I dont have my cerial before goin to bed. Is this the problem- eating carbs to late at night? If so whats the answer?

Im planning on including 2 nights of weight training into my exercise routine as I used to be very much into bodybuilding but since being diabetic I found the diet required was not helping my diabetes much so if any one could give me some tips on a good workout routine that could be done over 2-3 sessions that would be great. Im not looking to get to the size that I was before but would like to burn the fat and generally tone up

Cheers

Rich
 
Hi Rich,

There's surprisingly little convincing evidence that excercise has much impact on weight. I'm training for an event at the moment and have actually gained a couple of pounds at the same time! :shock:
I think you're closer to the mark with diet and insulin. Insulin is the most important hormone not only concerning blood glucose, but also in weight gain. Insulin levels and body weight are directly linked.
If you need starchy cereals before bed to stop your blood glucose falling, it suggests you might be using too much insulin, which will certainly make weight loss very difficult.
How much insulin do you use in the course of a typical day?

All the best,

fergus
 
Hi Fergus-thanks for the reply. On a normal day my diet and insulin intake is:

Morning: 3 weetabix,1 banana,handful of blueberries-8 units novorapid
lunch 2 wholemeal pittabreads with tuna and small salad,1apple-12-15 units novorapid
evening: omlette with rice and salad, 1 apple-15-20 units novorapid
evening: 30 units lanctus
evening: 3 weetabix if exercised- no insulin

I feel tho my diet isnt too bad (except when Ive have a few beers!) and I exercise regulary and I just seem to stay the same. Any ideas to what else I can do to burn off the excess weight?
 
Hi Rich,

In my view, your diet looks rather full of the sorts of carbohydrates that many members find makes blood sugar control very difficult. Foods like Weetabix, breads, bananas, rice release a lot of glucose into the bloodstream when digested. Your insulin doses seem to reflect this because they are certainly on the high side.
An average of around 70 units per day is a lot, particularly if you are exercising regularly. I think weight loss will be off the menu unless you get this down to healthier level. That doesn't necessarily mean eating less food, but changing the types of food eaten.
I'd also suggest your overnight hypo problem is a result of taking a large single Lantus dose before bed. That will certainly push you low early in the morning and probably wear off by the evening so your blood sugars will rise then.
Many people find splitting their Lantus solves these problems. One half before bed and the other in the morning and you'll fix the hypo problem and get better coverage throughout the day to boot.

Does any of that ring true?

All the best,

fergus
 
I suppose when I actually sit back and look at the amount of carbs I eat on a daily basis there are quite a few and it makes sense what you say about the insulin intake to compensate for this amount of carbs. I think I still look at what foods are healthy for a 'normal' person and not what are healthy for a diabetic person.

I understand that I should be eating low GI foods etc and what I really need is to speak to a dietician to help me totally understand what will benefit me in my fat burning program and general well being. Do you know of anyone on the forum who specialises in diet etc?

Thanks for your help

Rich
 
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