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Regular gym and fitness fanatic

Stevenleslie10

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all,

I am a 21 year old type 1 Diabetic and have been for over 10 years now. i regularly go to the gym, often 5/6 times per week as part of weight training. I also use the gym for high intensity classes like metafit/insanity and spin classes along with 2 nights per week football training. i am trying to cut down my body fat at the moment and doing so by lowering my insulin and carb levels.

However my problem is this, i have been trying to cut out carbs after 6pm as it can be stored as fat when sleeping. As a result of this ive been having hypos during the night which results me in binge eating anything i can get my hands on really

this has made it difficult to achieve the results i want and often messing all my blood sugars for the day ahead ( due to the mid night hypo-binge eating)

is there anyone on here that can help or has any advice?

much appreciated, steven


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I would start by slowly reducing my basal and testing frequently.
 
So, your basal is Lantus. If you take regular exercise now, you can probably reduce this slightly. I would reduce very slowly and lots if testing. I can drop in 1/2 units. This should help with hypo's after a workout. Keep records an discuss with your DSN or doc.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
A couple of slices of ham at bedtime might help too. No bread though!
 
Ham at bedtime? Thats a protein so its not going to do much to your sugar levels. Id discount that option. (Treatment for a type 2 is very different to treatment of a type 1)

Low carb in the evenings is good. Its what i do as i train as much as you. It seems like you need to lower your background insulin. What type of carbs are you having at dinner time? How much background insulin do you take? Do you split it?
Whats you bed time reading?
At what time in the night do you tend to hypo? How do you treat your hypo's?
 
Ham is slow release, for anyone. And protein still breaks down to yield energy.

Personally I would go for pate (higher fat), but people often get twitchy when you suggest they eat fat. Grin.
 
For a type 1, Its better to sort out the insulin level rather than the food issue. The OP is also trying to cut down fat so the fat content wont really do him much good especially taking it at night when he is sleeping and not doing any activity.

Then theres also the whole cholesterol debate.

If it was me, Id rather change my carbs at dinner and opt for sweet potatoe, brown rice or a small bit of whole meal pasta and then reduce my insulin.
The OP needs to basal test so that his blood sugar levels do not fluctuate by more than 1.7mmol from his pre bed blood reading.

Remember...when you workout, your body becomes much more sensitive to insulin so you need less. Your body also absorbs glucose faster when you work out so if you do hypo, they are easier to treat and are shorter than a hypo of a person who does not work out.
 
Wow. Can't remember ever reading that lean ham was considered a cholesterol risk. Perhaps you could show me the study?

Please note I did not suggest fat as a first resort. While I am convinced that recent studies do not show a link between unprocessed fats and cholesterol, others are not yet convinced - hence my original suggestion of ham. We can all decide whether to remove the fat, or not.

There is no reason for you to know that I have a lifetime experience of being hypoglycaemic, and having to make diet adjustments as a result. However, on this forum I try to allow people the benefit of having different/greater knowledge than myself, until they show their ignorance.

I have had many hypos in the middle of the night and was offering a suggestion based on those learning experiences. I am very curious as to why you have reacted so vehemently to a friendly suggestion to eat a small portion of a common food?

You may also note that my original suggestion was that
'A couple of slices of ham at bedtime might help too.'
That is not advising the OP ignore adjusting his medication and, following Mo's advice on medication, it was intended to help the OP in a way that would not impact on his insulin doses, since (as far as I know) only large portions of protein significantly affect glucose levels. From what I have seen, Mo's advice is consistently good.

The OP raised his question precisely because he has cut his carbs after 6pm, and has lowered his overall carb levels with the goal of weight loss. So your suggestion that he changes his carbs at dinner isn't going to help.

Apologies, Stevenleslie
We have de-railed your thread. I will remove my self, to prevent it going further off the rails!
Good luck with finding a solution to your problem.
 
you mentioned lean ham. wheres the fats in lean ham?
Fat from meat product is not really good fat so ofcourse it will affect cholesterol. Fat is fat.
I said.... "Its better to sort out the insulin level rather than the food issue" and if the OP wants to cut down on body fat.... do you still suggest ham with fat? If you suggest lean ham (which means theres not fat), would this affect his blood sugar? NO!

Lean ham may not have such a good effect on a type 1. Maybe a type 2 because your body still produces insulin. With a type 1, the body does not produce insulin. The OP is therefore taking too much so consuming ham may not even help. The solution therefore lies in the dose adjusting.

Any type of protein is going to be counterproductive if consumed at night. Digestion is supposed to slow by about 50% while you’re sleeping but if you eat a lot of protein, you digest even more slowly. Also, eating meat product before bed is not good as this can bring on nightmares. Instead of focusing on sleeping, your body is focusing on digesting the protein.

Fat stimulates the production of acid in the stomach, which can spill up into your esophagus, causing heartburn. Fatty foods can also loosen the lower esophageal sphincter, the barrier between the stomach and the esophagus, making it even easier for acid to get in all the wrong places infact fat will affect the quality of sleep!

id sooner recomend a small banana. Bananas help promote sleep because they contain the natural muscle-relaxants magnesium and potassium. They’re also carbs which will help make you sleepy as well and give a more stable blood glucose

DAFNE is a course for type 1 diabetics. DESMOND is a course for type 2 diabetics. Treatment for insulin dependant and non insulin dependant diabetes differs vastly.
In my opinion, Brunneria, your suggestions makes no sense.
 
Its a good hobby of your's to go gym regular for your fitness and that is too much important to take a specific amount of calories which can you burn easily. My big bro is a diabetic patient and he also goes to gym on regular basis and eat food consciously for his health to maintain his health and fitness good.
 

Hi there Stevenleslie10,
Great you're keeping fit, but if you're cutting out carbs after a day of intensive exercise you are at risk of overnight hypoglycaemia.
Have a look at this link - http://www.teambloodglucose.com/TeamBG/Type_1_Basics.html
Also I would suggest you join the facebook group Sporty Diabetic Type 1's (You'll find the link on TeamBg)
Hope that helps.
 
Hi, I go to gym 5 times a week for 2 hours and I was advised to eat an apple or some other type of carb portion after 30 min of exercising, and believe me it makes a BIG difference!! Oh, and to reduce my basal with 50% - 75% from an hour before I go till 1 hour after I finished!!!
 

Great that works for you Dzialo. If you're doing a moderate level of exercise that is really good advice - 30mins into exercise is roughly when your muscles have used up their easily accessible energy stores, so are looking to other sources for fuel.
For Stevenleslie it's a little more complicated, as he is exercising at different levels of intensity and whereas moderate intensity will lower your BGs, high intensity exercise will actually raise blood glucose levels. Taking on board more carbs at this point will take BGs even higher - obviously not desirable.

What appears to be happening to Stevenleslie is that he is not taking on board enough carb after finishing his activity, and is therefore not giving his muscles and liver the energy they need to re-fuel.
During the 30mins directly after exercise, there is a window where you can pretty much re-stock with carbs 'for free' - with no or reduced insulin requirement. Taking fuel on board (say a recovery drink) in this window will help your body recover much more quickly, and will help reduce the opportunity to suffer low BGs in the hours to follow.
 
Hi Steve-
I am very active like yourself, train at very high intensities (I am a gym instructor and sports therapist too so am constantly on the go) and am too trying to bring my body fat % down. I also struggled with the same situation as yours and it was so frustrating as it was a vicious cycle however after travelling to see a sports diabetes specialist in Taunton I was advised to reduce my basal (lantus) significantly when exercising past 4pm. I also split my dose so have 4 units in the morning at 9am and 4 units at 9pm. If I exercise in the evening then I half my evening lantus units to prevent hypos as exercise affects your sugar levels (lowers) 8-10 hours post exercising. I have since found this helps loads and I have reduced my body fat % hope this helps


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Hi Steven,

I had the exact same problem as you. Do you fallow the DAFNE regime? I'd also speak to your consultant about your background insulin as well. I was on Lantus for years but I found I was always hypoing - so I changed to Humulin I which only lasts for 12 hours instead of the supposed 24 hours from Lantus. I train 7 days per at high intensity as a powerlifter/ bodybuilder and sit with 6-8% body fat. To achieve low body fat percentages you need good background coverage, it sounds like you are getting too much background insulin and you are feed your insulin rather than appetite. The fitter you re the less background you should need. - I only take Humulin I once at night at a really low dose because of my activity levels. Also, you're diet is just as important as your insulin, if not more important. I eat a protein dominant diet with minimal carbohydrates and it works really well. This link might help you out > .

Cheers,

Andrew.
 
Yes take less indul
in
yes take less insulin with your dinner and at night time when you go to bed
 
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