has any type 1 ever managed to lose weight while on Insulin

Yes, I lost a stone and a half when I reduced my carb. intake.It's settled at a constant weight now but I don't need to lose any more weight and I wasn't 'intending' to lose weight when I reduced the carbs....it was just a nice bonus. I do eat smaller portions than I did and walk plenty too but it was quite joyous to hear a doc. call me 'thin' the other day.I'm only on very small doses of insulin, so I don't know if that makes a difference to losing the weight but I know lots of other folks have lost weight when reducing the carbs.

I have lost and gained weight on insulin.

If you truly reduce your carbohydrate intake or increase your low-intensity activity levels, you will be able to lose weight like anyone else.

I don't see why my metabolism should work differently being a diabetic to how it did before.

The reason I put on weight initially is the extra snacks/meals I needed to keep my blood sugar levels stable. However, reducing the portion size of my regular meals meant that the snacks were offset.

Good luck on your ride.

Sam.

Eat sparingly and take minimum insulin and gradually you should lose, My T1 husband is very overweight, but has lost over a stone, whilst he's been ill. He's been keeping BGs on target and eating reduced carbs and much less than usual. He hasn't been exercising, because he's so anaemic, he can't walk 10 metres without getting out of breath.. Exercise doesn't make as much difference as you might think. It's meant to improve your metabolic rate though.

Exercise doesn't make as much difference as you might think

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It doesn't harm - and surely can only be positive when carried out at the correct intensity for the the individual. And used in conjunction with a controlled diet (whatever control you prefer, e.g. low-carb, low calorie, low portion... etc) will enable the subject to lose weight in a controlled way.

i have actually lost 6 stones since 1st diagnosed, just by eating lower carb and walking

I have gained weight since diagnosis in Apr last year and I was already overweight regardless of my twice a week gym habit, so this was not good! :cry:

I raised this matter with my dsn and dietician and I have been given cheap rosemary conley classes for 12 weeks, started last monday and feel hungry already so must be working! I was told that out of the 3 main ones (Slimming World, Weight Watchers and RC) that this was the must suitable one to do. Will report back in 3 months and let you know. Did enjoy the aerobics too - but my calves ached yesterday!

If you find a sucessful method let us know!

Best of Luck

Louise

When I attended a DAFNE course they made us slowly reduce our background insulins over the course of the week. I lost 4 lbs just sat there. Didn't last though! :wink:

How does that work?
Were you reducing your background insulin becasue it was too high?

I take about 16 units of background a day and I'm sure this contributes to my inablility to loose weigh ( I eat low carbs too and have only shifted 2 pounds over 4 months)

I also exercise but admittedly not enough.

Desperate to loose weight and though low carbing was the answer but would love to know how you reduced your back ground dose without affecting control...

Sal

Well the nurse leading the course , rightly or wrongly, believed that 75% of the group were on too high a dose of background insulin. Over the course of the week we were told to gradually reduce our dose. I started the week on 25 daily units of glargine (lantus), by the end of the week I was on 16 units. The idea being that the background insulin was making us hungrier than we actually were. Hence lowering the dose lowered the appetite, the lower the appetite the lower the calorific intake etc.

As I say we all lost a bit of weight that week but personally I saw my consultant a while after that course and he recommended I go back up to 24-5 units of lantus a day! I obeyed, the weight was back on.

It depends if you buy into the idea that lantus or analogue insulins create an artificially inflated appetite. But whatever you do talk to your nurse, GP, consultant before reducing any dosage.

Update: What I would also say is that the DAFNE course creates a situation that doesn't reflect real life. You spend a week in a room with other diabetics and medics and it's all about acheiving control. You eat/sleep/breath control in that environment. I think that was condusive to reducing dosages and is not actually how we all live or lives. An average day for me inviolves more mental/physical exersion than was experienced in a class room. The principles of dosage control are right but you have to bear in mind all of our dosages were effectively calibrated for sitting on our asses all week talking about diabetes! :lol:

I have to say DANFE classes differ depending on where you are. Mine was split so 4 days (every friday) over 4 weeks so we could keep food and exercise diaries and refl;ect on any ratio / background dose changes from the previous weeks. We then had a review after 3 months and are due to have another after 9, with email contact in between if we need it.

I think this works better than Farmer fudge's 1 week although harder to fit it it reflected our lifestyles better.

incidentally - all our background doses went up in my group!

Smart move, Martin.

Be careful though, there's an element of trial and error as you reduce carbs and insulin so do it in stages if you can. Also, if you increase protein to replace the carbs, you'll find that more of it may be converted to blood glucose.
One thing's for certain though, as you reduce the insulin, the weight will follow, you may well feel less hunger, your blood sugars will stabilise and you'll often feel more energetic.
I shed 4 stones this way and couldn't recommend it highly enough.

All the best,

fergus

Hi Martin
There's a simple answer to your problem-go on "insulin" and you will be able to maintain your weight and probably lose some, as I have.
You are not taking "insulin" but a synthetic form of it. I was on synthetic insulin for 14 years and new analogues for 5 and put on loads of weight, as a result of lack of consistency in blood sugars, and frequent hypos; not to mention other side effects -feel free to read my rantings on previous postings!.
I changed to pork insulin a year ago and have had the best control since I was diagnosed in '89, and have, for the first time in years, been in control of my eating and my weight loss.
The only true insulin available is natural purified animal insulin. Type-1s need to wise up soon before it is no longer available-when patients have problems with synthetic and particularly analogue insulins there will be no alternative!
In my experience, and from the experience of other type-1s I've spoken to about this issue is Doctors are ignoring our problems, it is never suggested by health professionals that synthetic insulins are ever at fault.
Futher advice can be sought from the IDDT, their number is on their website.
Good luck!
Jus

Rosemary conley update - 3lbs lost in first week - that includes a weekend at my nan's and having to treat 3 overnight hypos (a new experience for me but I am sure as my weight and diet changes my insulin needs will also)

So all good and diet has been easy on the whole, already counting carbs so counting cals also is not much more of an effort!

Well done Troubr, I had a look at their website and noticed that they also have a slim at home pack (at half price) which might be useful for anyone who can't go to classes ... though I think the class element is a good motivation.

Thanks Phoenix!

The thing I would say is that with the classes they do an exercise class with it, they can vary - mine is aerobic (dancey) with a bit of mat work, others in my area do salsa. Also going each week and being weighed is a good incentive to keep at it (I know from my past experience at slimming world).

hey it is possivle to lose weight lol with havin type one diabetes i did lol but then i guess it was due to stress and my bloods bein all over the place all though im just bout gettin back on my feet again now with my levels and not put anythin back on lol i went fom 17stone to 11-12 stone i lost it in bout 18 months to 2 years i think it was lol i kno its not the best way to do it and wasnt at all due to bad control i was goin through an intensly stressful and difficult time in my life