Problem with weight loss

There is no easy answer unfortunately. You need to eat less calories than you expend. Try to keep a food diary for a week or too, the results may surprise you. Many people underestimate their food intake. Also, exercise will help but it's only a small part of weight loss. If you have access to a dietician, they may help but the simple answer is to reduce calories.


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Get MyFitnessPal app and record everything you eat and drink and be honest - it works great


Diagnosed type II 1998 2 x 80 mg Gliclazide, 4 x 500mg Metformin and 1 x 100mg Sitagliptin

Hi Milja,

If you use insulin, then achieving weight loss usually requires reducing your insulin requirements without compromising your BG control. In practice this often means reducing carbs and perhaps also protein intake (protein breaks down to sugars and amino acids during digestion) in order to be able to safely reduce your insulin. Regular aerobic exercise and perhaps using metformin can increase insulin sensitivity even in Type 1s.

Our bodies only start burning fat stores once all glucose stores are depleted - keep carbs low and try decreasing protein and increasing the % of fat in your diet, but as others have said, total calories do count - reconsider your portion sizes as well?

oldgreymare said:

Hi Milja,

If you use insulin, then achieving weight loss usually requires reducing your insulin requirements without compromising your BG control. In practice this often means reducing carbs and perhaps also protein intake (protein breaks down to sugars and amino acids during digestion) in order to be able to safely reduce your insulin. Regular aerobic exercise and perhaps using metformin can increase insulin sensitivity even in Type 1s.

Our bodies only start burning fat stores once all glucose stores are depleted - keep carbs low and try decreasing protein and increasing the % of fat in your diet, but as others have said, total calories do count - reconsider your portion sizes as well?

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This may be a silly question but I'm new to all of this... If our body only starts burning fat once the glucose stores are depleted would this not mean that my blood glucose levels would have to be really low? Would this not make me hypo or then have to consume some carbs to get back to normal but then my body would just be burning off those extra carbs?... Not sure if that makes any sense, sorry :/ x


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Lottie89 said:

This may be a silly question but I'm new to all of this... If our body only starts burning fat once the glucose stores are depleted would this not mean that my blood glucose levels would have to be really low? Would this not make me hypo or then have to consume some carbs to get back to normal but then my body would just be burning off those extra carbs?... Not sure if that makes any sense, sorry :/ x


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Sorry should have clarified that it is glucose from muscle glycogen stores that is depleted first. In a nondiabetic blood glucose levels will stay in a tightly regulated narrow range even during exercise and fat burning. You are correct that if you consume more carbs the body will use these first for energy before fat stores.

Are you Type 1? The challenge is to find the right insulin and carbs levels that will keep BG levels as optimal as possible but not so many carbs that the insulin is promoting fat creation from any "extra" glucose. Some suggestion that insulin also directly inhibits fat burning.

This is extremely difficult (speaking from personal experience!). Traditional advice is to simply match your insulin to your carb intake, but this doesn't take into account how much fat the insulin will create from any excess carbs. But if you want to lose weight and increase fat burning then reducing carbs has 2 effects - lowers insulin requirements (needs frequently testing to track esp at beginning) and also adapts muscle to fat burning cycle. But best results with truly low carb no more than 50g, preferably less than 30g a day. Can take some time to change diet to these levels - google low carb flu.

IF you like chemistry this site is amazing but very detailed and rather technical. http://eatingacademy.com/

This Swedish doctor is a bit easier to follow - mostly talking to Type 2s but great info generally on LCHF http://www.dietdoctor.com/

This video by a doctor who became Type 1 may be interesting
Hope thats a bit clearer! It is very complicated but worth persevering.