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Exercise/Suggestions - Type 1

L

Lindy01

Active Member
Messages
27
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all,

After injecting my arms, stomach and legs for 19 years I have recently found myself in need of some advice for my stomach area.

I attend Lindy Hop and Tap dancing lessons once a week and love it, and im male at the age of 29. However I do not like the way my stomach looks as I have been injecting around the area on a rotation basis since diagnosis and have noticed it looks fat like compared to the rest of my chest. I know I'm not over weight but feel lost as to how I can flatten the appearance of it. Reading online it appears it may be lipohypertrophy or insulin hypertrophy but was wanting to ask a question:

Is there any exercise or types of fitness that could help me feel more comfortable with the appearance of my injection/stomach area? Or any suggestions on ways to decrease the area?

Hope everyone's well and look forward to speak with you all.

Lee
 
I don't think exercise can get rid of lipohypertrophy. Although it could help the area underneath it - so you could do standard core / abs type exercises.

I think it's just a case of avoiding injecting in that area for a little while. Massaging the area can sometimes help breakdown the fat deposits. It might be worth having a chat to your DSN about the best way of tackling it.
 
Hi @Lindy01

I had a little fat tummy after I'd been using my pump for a few years as I always used it for sites. I stopped using my tummy due to absorption issues, and that little bulge went away gradually over a period of months. I didn't do anything extra to it - it gradually disappeared.

I think psychologically doing a few toning exercises (for the whole body) can help too.
 

@catapillar thank you for the reply. I will try looking into the advice you have given me, I know I won't get rid of it completely but just reducing it would be great. Will look into the core exercises. Thanks for taking get the time to reply
 

@azure

Hi

Thank you for the reply. That's very informative and will try and avoid my stomach area for a while and see how it goes. What sort of toning exercises/routines should I look into do you think?

How has using a pump been for you and is it big?

Your advice has been appreciated.
 
You can not spot reduce fat with any type of exercise, it's a stubborn myth. That said i only inject in my belly region too and noticed a big difference in appearance since i'm injecting on a rotation basis but i go higher and further out too. Furthermore for a male it's pretty much the standard to have the most fat in the belly region.
 
@qe5rt is correct, fat loss cannot be localised.

You may want to work on "core" exercises for the best overall results. An enjoyable and impact free example of this is swimming.

Although I appreciate it is the most invasive type of exercise in terms of being "on show", but as long as you get the results you are wanting then I wouldn't be worried about what others may think.

As to whether you can rid your injection sites of fat through exercise, I'm not sure. But it certainly won't hurt to try
 

I just did some gentle stretching exercises each day, making sure to hold my tummy in when I did them. I'm not sure they helped the little fat tummy, but I thought it was a good thing to tone up in general and it made me feel I was doing something. I also walked plenty.

I've been using a pump for 12 years and I love it! It's not big at all. I have an Animas Vibe. I'm petite and have small hands, but it fits in the palm of my hand easily lengthwise with space at the sides too. During the day, I normally clip it to my belt or waistband. I'll see if I can find a pic of one online
 


That's a stock photo from the Animas website. The Vibe is waterproof. I know she's pushing the pump towards the camera a bit but hopefully you can see the size in relation to her hand.
 
I think it was "Trust me I'm a Doctor" which had 3 different experimental exercise groups to see which worked best for weight loss; the group that did traditional sit ups, crunches, planks etc did not loose weight but they did tone the tummy area due to improved muscle over I think 12 weeks. As always form is more important than the amount, so concentrate on contracting your stomach muscles whilst performing the exercise and breathing, and also maximising the downward motion of the exercise.
 
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