Hi I’m currently trying to lose weight. I have been type 1 for 2 years and over the past year a bit of weight has went on, not a lot but enough to bother me. Iv started training twice a week with a personal trainer I love it and my bg levels have been super. My eating is good but I’m now over a month in and every week Iv put on weight (it’s not muscle mass) help?!? my trainer has suggested I need to double my daily protein intake and suggested diet whey protein shakes. Took my first on Sunday after a lunch which required 3 units of novorapid within 1 hour Miao Miao alarm was blaring with a bg reading of 2.4
does anyone have any experience with protein shakes and weightloss? Does this happen when you take protein shakes? Iv asked my dsn but she’s reading from a book and I’m sure what she’s telling me is right for me personally. Just wanting some advice?
Hi
@Danid211 I know i am a little late to this post but having gone through my own process of losing weight and getting in to the gym i thought id share my experiences with you.
So around 5 years ago i had kind of hit rock bottom with regards to my own self confidence. My diabetes control was also affected during this period (i.e. i lacked care when it came to food choices - although i never missed an injection). I woke up one day, looked at myself in the mirror and kind of had an epiphany. From that day on i vowed to begin moving, i was around 15 stone and this was mostly fat and was all belly fat. I began with cardio and as i got in to a routine i started lifting weights too and began sharpening up the diet, to the best of my ability i went as low carb as possible (although i had to allow carbs to deal with hypos and i had to eat carbs in order to inject). For me i landed on carb cycling as my way around this.... in short you eat higher carbs on training days (regardless of type of training) and lower carb on rest days (by low i mean i was happy with anything around the 100-150 gram mark and high was upwards of 150-250grams) however a quick Google will give you some information to look up more detail on this.
Fast forward 5 years and i am now a keen weight lifter (4 times per week) and will try and throw in 1 or 2 cardio days as well and i am still using this carb cycling method. Any diabetic who trains to lose weight will know, it doesnt happen overnight because of the NEED to have carbs in your diet. However, persistence and smart food choices does yield results. I have managed to completely change my body shape and i am now a very similar weight to where i started 5 years.... approaching 15 stone but of muscle.... and still a little fat... i cant lie here. With regards to your questions around protein shakes, i probably have 3 scoops per day, sometimes maybe 4 (at separate times) and they dont affect my sugar levels at all, although this will depend on the brand and its nutrition information (the brand i use has something like 1.8 grams of carbs per scoop but nearly 20 grams of protein - as such i dont need to inject when i drink one). Most government based recommendations for protein are FAR less than what the human body really needs and if you are training too, then you may need to seriously up your intake to yield muscle gains and then hold on to it too. If you are training enough then you simply dont need to administer insulin for your protein intake, its incredibly rare for me to see a spike after a large amount of protein (only really BBQ season when i eat too many burgers in one afternoon). In my experience, there is no rhyme or reason to some of the post-exercise BG's that i see. I have had weight lifting sessions that have sent me sky rocketing (normally a very intense session causes this - your muscles release glycogen during a workout and this can cause a spike in your BG, however, they soak it all up again within a couple of hours and this is where hypos occur if you correct that high BG) but i have also had intense sessions that have seen me grabbing for dextrose tables 20 minutes after i finish. The same nonsensical logic can be applied to cardio sessions (although i must input here, HIIT sessions ALWAYS cause a spike for me and will require a small dose of insulin to ensure everything settles properly after the exercise). Time, dedication and keeping a close eye on how your body behaves within those 4 hours after exercise is the key to understanding it all and even then you wont quite get it right all of the time. Dont be fearful of hypos, be prepared (with glucose/dextrose on you at all times), because when you are training regularly they WILL happen.
Sorry for the long winded reply but i have been in your position, i know how daunting it is and i know it can be done with some hard work. I hope you find comfort in this reply and if you want any further advice feel free to message me directly.
Happy training!