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Help I can’t lose weight

Not sure why no one's mentioned calories. You need to count calories if you want to lose weight.

For example if you eat 1800 calories a day and weigh yourself every day and you aren't losing weight, move it down to 1700 calories a day for a week and see if it changes. Keep going until you start losing weight.

From experience unless you take it to an extreme the amount you inject or the amount of carbs matters not, it's all calories. Even when losing weight my dinner is usually 200g carbs covered by 20+ units of novorapid and I have no problems whatsoever.

If you burn more calories than you take in you can literally eat whatever you want and are still guaranteed to lose weight.
 
Well, I 've just had an interesting chat at my new diabetic clinic. For a T1 to lose weight, they need to reduce their insulin. In particular, for me, that means reducing my lantus. She looked at my records and promised me that I would never go blind, lose a kidney or have an amputation (48 years T1 here). Her only concern was hypos (as they are the only diabetic thing that could kill me). She also stressed how different T1 is to T2.
 
For what it's worth which isn't much, I took one look at the "eatwell plate" and realised it was absolutely crazy. I wouldn't eat like that if I was healthy, I'd expect to end up the size of a house, and with diabetes you're going to end up taking a billion units a day and if you get that wrong it will not be very nice either way.

That and it's disgustingly patronising.

Am I the only person to think that? Am I an idiot again?
 
EllieM said:
Well, I 've just had an interesting chat at my new diabetic clinic. For a T1 to lose weight, they need to reduce their insulin. In particular, for me, that means reducing my lantus.
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They're wrong. Could it help? perhaps. Is it required? no. It requires large amounts of insulin likely due to insulin resistance to affect the whole body rather than a localised area of lipohypertrophy.

Although losing weight requires eating less calories which usually requires less insulin so it's not really that you need to reduce your insulin, it's just likely that you'll do it naturally.
 

No, you're not an idiot. The eatwell plate is wrong on so many levels as is the old fashioned diet pyramid.
 


I’m sorry but that is wrong on so many levels. Your 200g carb meal and a 20 shot is absolutely mental. That’s roughly a full on Indian/Chinese take out with all the trimmings or a large portion of fish and chips. Which would make most type 1’s sugars spike into the high teens, even with that huge shot. I take it that’s split into 3 different sites?

Please don’t advise others like that. It’s calorie counting that’s added to the problem and reducing them in replace of carbs is utter non sense. I eat more than the recommendation of calories in the form of the eggs, butter, cheese and meat heavy meals on a daily basis. With hardly any carbs whatsoever. I’m never gonna put on weight. I’m my perfect bmi, My insulin needs are the bare minimum also. When I was eating like advised and had the occasional treat like fish and chips or even something classed as not that sweet from the Chinese my blood sugars would go mental even with enough insulin to cover the meal. 15 units back then, I was very active, 30 mile off road mountain bike treks, swimming, walked everywhere. Still had a podge around my stomach. Reduced carbs and insulin and better energy sources like protein and calories I’ve never been so toned and my exercise levels have reduced to almost zero..

Playing with fire whacking 20 units of Insulin in yourself to eat a 200g carb laden meal.
 


No. Just, No.

Losing weight isn't just about losing weight, for a start, it's about losing it correctly and to make someone healthier. A gram of fat, carbs and protein react in your body in completely different ways. As Diabetics, this is obvious as eating 20g of carbs will work in a completely different way to 20g of fat or protein.

If I keep hearing people saying a calorie is just a calorie, i'll go absolutely mad.
 

Firstly, insulin requirements differ from person to person and 20 isn't that much. When first diagnosed in my teens I was injecting 40 for much less carbs. 200g is an example of me, perhaps extreme yet I still lose weight incredibly easy while doing it. And no I don't spike into the high teens, most of the time not even over 8.

If you don't eat carbs then you're into ketosis and normal rules don't apply. However for most that's an incredibly boring life.

If I'm playing with fire then fire has given me a non diabetic a1c for 12 years.

Most people can't handle the truth that they just need to eat less. While healthy macros may make your body slightly healthier, it's not required. And plus, carbs aren't unhealthy.

I'm a lifter and on my cut while trying to preserve muscle I got a six pack extremely easily with a high carb **** diet. From anecdotes alone mine is stronger.
 

The law of thermodynamics still applies to diabetics. And funnily enough when losing weight with a high carb diet it applied to me.

Unless you have severe insulin reistance or are in ketosis you can simply eat less calories than your body burns and unless you're in some parallel universe wth different rules. You are guaranteed to lose weight.
 
If your eating 200g carbs and having 20 units of novorapid then your on pretty much the same ratio as most including myself when I was using novorapid to cover carb heavy meals

Almost all our vitamins and minerals come from carbs, there’s just certain ones that some diabetics are best to avoid. I’m never in ketosis and consume 30g carbs a day max.

One thing I can tell you though increased carb intake leads to more insulin needed to keep blood sugars stable and without using that extra glucose, I.e running a marathon every night after consumption then your going to be storing all that excess glucose as fat once that massive shot of insulin has dealt with it and that’s a fact. Not a boring life.. just fact..
 

Unless I'm a genetic anomaly it's not a fact. I'm a lifter and go through bulk and cut cycles and have done for 5+ years. I don't particularly enjoy eating so I eat lots of carbs as they're high in calories.

Every single time I cut I find it incredibly easy to lose weight and if anything as the years go on I'm injecting less insulin while eating more. Perhaps due to increased muscle mass.

The only times I've found what you eat actually matters are near bodybuilder level bodyfat levels. Or at high strength levels where you need lots of protein to progress.
 
Except me - I have proved it to myself over and over - low calorie, I go deathly pale and collapse, unable to achieve anything - sometimes not even standing up.
When I eat low carb I can consume far more calories, run around like a spring lamb and lose weight easily.
200 gm of carb is, for me, not a meal, but almost a week's allowance - if I want to lose weight.
 
I agree that the Eatwellplate is an anathema. I certainly wouldn't eat.
I sense a certain confrontational stance. Do you feel you have been an idiot before?
 
Love it, running round like a spring lamb rather than a spring chicken!! 200gm is massive, probably a week for me too but I sneak with G&Ts
 
Insulin is a growth hormone that builds fat, when excess glucose is in the body and more insulin is added to deal with it what do you get? In your instance you have youth on your side and your lifting weights so training hard at the same time. You also sound like you have a speedy metabolism like myself. Not sure what you weigh but I’m coming in at 57kg at 5.7. Lean as hell and my insulin works a dream. It’s been proven not only through scientific research but also what we see day in day out that adding more carbs and insulin leads to increased body weight, which then leads to increased insulin resistance and even more insulin needed. Then fat is then built instead of lean muscle and the circle gets even more vicious.

Ever heard of dr Bernstein??
 
Insulin takers with too low carb meals will convert protein into glucose instead. You will find your bolusing for protein in carb absence.
Try and balance the 2 safely.
100-150g carb and high protein works well for me to lose weight, on insulin.
 
sarahm723 said:
You left me hanging there ha appease tell me what you decided to do thanks
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I cut out carbs, basically. I went full keto with my food, so less than 30g carbs a day, around 50g protein and up to 100g fat. I think that comes to a total of 1200 calories, but I’m not counting calories. That’s more than enough for my fairly inactive lifestyle, I’ve got plenty to eat, am never hungry between meals and have lost 9lbs since I started at the beginning of February. I’ve cut my basal in half down to 20 units a day, and rarely need more than a unit of Novorapid with any food - I’ve just had to request a half unit pen as a whole unit is proving too much. And I feel great, for the first time in 20 years. Plus, I’ve dropped my HbA1c almost in half in that time.

Keto might be a bit extreme, but dropping your carbohydrate amount will certainly help if you want to lose some weight. You’ll still need to take your basal forever (unless they cure T1!) but you can reduce the doses with less carbohydrate in your food. But it’s important to take it to avoid DKA.
 
ickihun said:
Insulin takers with too low carb meals will convert protein into glucose instead. You will find your bolusing for protein in carb absence.
Try and balance the 2 safely.
100-150g carb and high protein works well for me to lose weight, on insulin.
Click to expand...

It’s not even really about loosing weight, it just so happens that the approach dr Bernstein teaches really does cause people to shed their excess weight as well as following what is a natural way of eating. It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle. The reason for low carb high protein is so handy to diabetics is that as a type one on insulin or a type 2 for that matter that now makes little or no insulin is the rate of digestion and insulin needs. It’s spread over 6 or so hours now rather than fast acting carbs like starchy veg, bread and pasta etc that take a matter of hours and impact on blood sugars almost instantly once we’ve eaten them.

150g in weight of a protein source needs 3 units of humulin s in a non insulin resistant person to cover it.

150g of carbs needs 15 units of insulin in a non insulin resistant diabetic. That can be most peoples evening meal of just some potatoes or rice as a side dish with their main. My evening meals weren’t far off in carb count.

I have studied to quite an extent about blood sugar normalisation and it’s association with weight loss is almost hand in hand. The answer lies in reducing insulin needs by reducing carbs and getting energy from slower, longer lasting sources like protein and fats from nuts, seeds and even 100% cocoa chocolate.
 

What you get is the same as you get in non diabetics. Unless you're insulin resistant.

Adding more carbs results in more insulin requirements. The insulin is a side effect rather than a cause of weight gain in this circumstance.

Metabolism is mostly a myth, the science says it differs by very very little between people. I'm not lucky or special, I just count calories. You can't create energy from nothing, as well as you can't create weight from nothing.

Literally 99% of people on the planet will lose weight from eating less calories. Changing a lifestyle other than eating less is not required unless you've invented a perpetual motion human body.
 
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