Exercise and weight loss

[Laureeem]

Hi all,
I wonder if anyone can help me?
At the end of Feb I got really sick as gastroparesis has flared up. I went a month only managing to eat the equivalent of 1 whole meal a day and lost 7kg. Since then, my stomach is better (albeit slow) and I’ve decided to get right into health and fitness. I’ve been calorie counting, weight living and doing a bit of cardio - but I seem to have lost all control of my blood sugars. I can do the same amount of prep one day before a certain exercise and be absolutely fine and the next day I can do exactly the same and go into a hypo. Other days my levels can get so high I need to do massive corrections. I also don’t get high blood sugars when lifting weights - and have always been particularly insulin sensitive.
Basically I’m looking to lose fat and gain muscle but not lose all control of my diabetes and eat rabbit food for the rest of my life. Can anyone help me? I’m desperately trying to be the best version of myself - and even with more regular exercise and healthier eating I’ve managed to put ok 3.5kg!
Can someone please help me? I really want to get through this!

 

[EllieM]

Hi @laureem and welcome to the forums.

Personally I eat low carb to make things easier but that is because I am very insulin resistant, and you sound like the opposite. But I do find that my insulin sensitivity varies a lot with exercise so I am much less likely to hypo if I exercise before a meal rather than after.

Do you have access to a cgm (libre or dexcom)? That could make life a lot easier. Personally when I'm at the gym without a cgm I end up doing a blood test half way through just to stave off a hypo or a hyper. (I go both ways ).

Also are you on a pump or mdi? Are you trying to lose weight, or just convert fat to muscle?

 

[Fairygodmother]

Hi @Laureeem, I’m sorry you’re having to deal with gastroporesis as well as T1, it must make things tricky for you. I wonder if the fluctuations in blood sugar are connected to an erratic absorption of glucose as a result of the gastroporesis? Were you given any strategies to make your stomach more efficient? If so, have they meant that you’ve had to adjust the number of times in a day that you eat and dose for eating? If you’ve increased the number and type of meals you have then maybe there’s some insulin stacking occurring and/or a change in the time between eating and carb uptake. It’s just speculation on my part, I’m not a doctor.
As for reducing body fat and increasing muscle, I suspect it’ll be easier to accomplish with some medical input about controlling blood sugars alongside the gastroporesis. @EllieM’s suggestion of a low carb diet may be the way to go; people who adopt a kept diet say they need less insulin, though they still need to inject for their meals.
I say ‘may’ so please don’t rush to adopt a suggestion without expert medical advice.

 

[Jaylee]

Hi @Laureeem ,

I'll tag in @NicoleC1971 who may have some ideas on your query.. Fitness is her thing.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Hi all,
I wonder if anyone can help me?
At the end of Feb I got really sick as gastroparesis has flared up. I went a month only managing to eat the equivalent of 1 whole meal a day and lost 7kg. Since then, my stomach is better (albeit slow) and I’ve decided to get right into health and fitness. I’ve been calorie counting, weight living and doing a bit of cardio - but I seem to have lost all control of my blood sugars. I can do the same amount of prep one day before a certain exercise and be absolutely fine and the next day I can do exactly the same and go into a hypo. Other days my levels can get so high I need to do massive corrections. I also don’t get high blood sugars when lifting weights - and have always been particularly insulin sensitive.
Basically I’m looking to lose fat and gain muscle but not lose all control of my diabetes and eat rabbit food for the rest of my life. Can anyone help me? I’m desperately trying to be the best version of myself - and even with more regular exercise and healthier eating I’ve managed to put ok 3.5kg!
Can someone please help me? I really want to get through this!

Hi Laureem, glad you are trying to get back into fitness and can understand your frustration. I have a friend with gastroparesis but that's the limit of my knowledge (as I understand it your stomach is out of sync with your insulin action leading to hypos then highs?). My advice on the diabetes front is to keep your diet regime very predictable and boring for now in terms of type of meal (balanced, high carb or low carb) and quantity of carbs. Recently saw a good video which I will link here and please excuse me if this too basic but this guy is a type 1 dietician and seems to know his stuff!
https://youtube.be/zwFctJulHobRo
The Ultimate Mealtime Insulin Dosing Guide John Pemberton (on Youtube if that link doesn't work)
As with others here I feel that low carb is the best way to go for losing fat but I recognise this may not suit your stomach as low carb/higher fat and protein meals will take longer to absorb though require less bolus so maybe reduce the margin for error?
As for the exercise in the first instance I'd take the physiological stress out of the situation by trying some Pilates or yoga. You can definitely get strong muscles in your legs, bum and core without needing to lift anything more than your own body weight but because you aren't raising your heart rate that much it may give you a flatter line than high intensity, endurance cardio or weights. There are some good beginner Pilates classes online and I like Peleton app for mine (free trial for 30 days) or studio classes available from 17th May in the UK.
Ultimately your diet will make the biggest difference to fat loss but exercise plus good sleep and hydration will certainly help you in the long run. I would advise getting the blood sugars a little more predictable before you try and do too much as I think exercise is a bit of a curve ball for type 1s let alone someone with gastroparesis! Don't give up but do try short sessions first.
I am a trainer btw with type 1 myself so always happy to offer advice on the exercise front.