Help needed!

[oldgreymare]

Hi all,

I was diagnosed at age 51 just over 6 months ago when initially welcome weight loss (35 kg in 10 months) just wasn't stopping, plus too much thirst, peeing, fatigue, infections, etc kicked in. Given ****** lifestyle for last 10 years, diabetes wasn't a surprise but discovering I'm type 1 (v low C peptide, v high GAD Ab) was.

I'm based in SE Asia with frequent travel to UK & USA. Have excellent GP & endo. Now on MDI (Lantus & Novorapid). Challenge is a complete lack of any standard routine (eating, exercise, work, sleeping, timezones, etc) in my life - diabetes control seems uniquely designed to torture me in this respect. I expect I'll eventually go to CGM & a pump, but hate the idea of anything attached to my body, plus tend to get skin reactions to adhesives...

I have a PhD in physiology so can interpret the science (and lack of) behind trying to fine tune insulin treatment, but my biggest problem to date is weight gain - since diagnosis gained 10kg in first 3 months on insulin.

This is 5 kg too much and this extra weight is literally driving me crazy (=clinically depressed). I know to many 5 kg may sound trivial and my BMI is 21 which on paper is great, but body fat of 32% gives more realistic picture.

I'm not always religious re bg testing, but have gone through intense phases analysing carbs, testing, insulin, etc and it looks like low carb coupled with lots of exercise (fortunately doesn't seem to send me higher) is the best route for me to keep both bg and weight controlled.

However, knowledge isn't enough - I fully understand and know what (and why) I need to do to be healthy & to get my bg under good control.

But knowing what I ought to do just isn't sufficiently motivating for a start/stop exerciser and 40+ yrs of carb loving binge eating habits...some aggressive support needed!

Thanks,
Nora

 

[cugila]

You are in the right place for support. That's what we are good at. If you do have any questions then just ask when you are ready. Take a good look around first, your question may already have been answered elsewhere.

 

[hanadr]

Support always available here.
Reducing the carbs seems to me to be a possible answer. It fits with an irregular lifestyle. You don't need a routine to make it work. As a physiologist, you know it's insulin which causes the weight gain and the only way to reduce insulin is to reduce carbs.
How about starting small? Try cutting all sweet things by half. Then reduce portions of starches and try for low Gi versions.
It's surprising how much difference small changes can make. Exercise is more fun in a group. Have you aanyone who can be your walking partner? A pedometer is a good motivator. Go for 10,000 steps a day. recod it somewhere.
Food diaries are also motivational. ( unless you are likely to become obsessed :shock: )

 

[oldgreymare]

Thanks so much for the encouragement.

Yes, I'm hopeful low carb is going to be the way to go for me. Have already eliminated rice and noodles from my diet (& thereby about 80% of all Asian cuisine!). Weaknesses include crisps, bread, oatmeal, fruit. Mostly avoided, but still too many lapses.

Frustrating to be restricted to expensive imported blueberries & strawberries when I'm surrounded by phenomenal tropical fruits, melons, etc but they all cause me to spike badly. Sigh. At least I like most green vegetables. Not a big meat eater - prefer nuts (esp almonds) and oily fish (salmon, sardines, etc). Love cheese and authentic greek yoghurt. Coffee and diet coke addict. Fortunately only rare sweet cravings, now converted to 85% chocolate. Regular drinker - dry white wine or gin/vodka with diet mixers.

I'm erratically obsessional! So keep extensive food/exercise/insulin logs for the occasional week at a time...like calorie king & sugarstats for monitoring software. But then wing it in between times. HbAC1 at dx was 13.8, down to 7.0 after 4 months. Next check at end of June. Expect HbAC1 to be higher as I'm now more aggressive about avoiding lows. Worried about falling into the feeding insulin trap - if I can get my weight under control next aim will be much more aggressive bg control.

Re exercise I actually prefer hiking/running on my own - lucky enough to be next door to jungle nature reserve, love it when I do get myself out on trails and run up the hills (always with mobile phone & glucose tablets!). Enjoy Pilates and work with a great trainer. I also own and ride horses regularly - not sure what a hypo on horseback would be like, but certain the horse will most likely sense it before me! But scary how even a couple of extra kgs unbalances one in the saddle - another reason I'm so upset about my recent weight gain. Probably need to add more serious resistance training to build muscle/reduce fat.

Will keep you all posted on my progress - please don't hesitate to browbeat me into better behaviour!