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Type1. Struggling to lose weight.

PkBhoy84

Member
Messages
15
Location
Glasgow
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Mushrooms and Prawns
Good morning. I am really struggling to lose weight. I Currently weigh approximately 16.5st. I go to the gym,swimming, jogging and Krav Maga classes. Nothing seems to help? I have managed to bring my Hba1c down from 112 to 71. I realise I still have some distance to go and if I can lose weight then it will help me achieve my goals.

Anyone else having problems with this or advice on what foods to eat?
 
I have just joined Slimming World and have found that I am eating more and have lost weight too. The first time in a few years.
 
Hi Pk, it depends on your diet to be honest. Mostly its what you put in your body that can contribute to weight loss. Exercise is good for keeping bs down, and helps health.


Edited by a mod
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Do you count carbs and adjust your pre-meal imsulin to match what you're about to eat?

How long have you been diagnosed Type 1?
 
I'm type 2 on tablets so not sure if that makes a difference. The manager at Slimming World is really good and knowledgeable too.
 
Gourley68 said:
I'm type 2 on tablets so not sure if that makes a difference. The manager at Slimming World is really good and knowledgeable too.
Click to expand...

Yes, it may make a difference as the OP would need to be confident adjusting insulin or making any necessary amendments to the SW diet in order to avoid hypos or highs
 
I can really pile on the pounds if I start eating carbs even when exercising. Last Xmas I ran every morning ~9 km at a decent pace for ~2 weeks and thought I could eat what I want. I was 6 kilos heavier by the time I went back to work and my running started to suffer:-(
Conversely I managed to lose 5.5 kgs in one week alone when cycling to and from work in temperatures around -10 deg C, I was also sticking a very strict low carb/calorie diet at the time.

For me weight loss starts in the kitchen and exercise can help to speed it up
 
A few things:
1.) You couldn't outrun a poor diet- I'm not assuming your diet is poor. My point is to say that you can run 20+ miles a day, but if your diet isn't setup properly you're not going to lose weight (and you may even gain some).

2.) Running, swimming, and high repetition/low weight lifting is cardio to me. Personally, I think that cardio is an integral part of one's general health, but I don't consider cardio to be one of the more effective ways to losing weight. Basically, when I go for an hour long run it's meant for my general health rather than to lose weight.

3.) Heavy weight lifting- While I still consider it a very small part of the equation, I think it's the most effective type of exercise when it comes to weight loss. First, heavy weight lifting promotes muscle growth/retention. When losing weight, you want it to be fat loss rather than muscle loss. Second, weight lifting causes your body to burn calories hours after you finish a (hard) workout when compared to cardio where your body adjust quickly after you stop. Third, heavy lifting helps ensure that if you're going to GAIN weight, it has a high likelihood of being primarily muscle. That may seem odd in this context, but if you're struggling to lose weight the last thing you want is to pack on additional body fat. Few would complain about adding additional muscle.

4.) When someone tells me they're having trouble losing weight, the first thing I ask is for them to be more specific. 99% of the time, those people don't have a diet plan outlined, aren't keeping a food log, aren't measuring their food portions with a scale,etc. Those things may seem unnecessary, and for the most part they are, but if you're struggling to lose weight you need to pinpoint EXACTLY where and why. The fact of the matter is that for MOST people (but not all) it's an issue of lifestyle intervention (making the necessary diet/health changes) rather than a metabolic or body-related issue.
 
azure said:
Do you count carbs and adjust your pre-meal imsulin to match what you're about to eat?

How long have you been diagnosed Type 1?
Click to expand...
Yes I do my best to count carbs accurately and use the Dafne ratios for my insulin. I have been diagnosed as type1 for just under 2 years.
 
Thanks very much for your reply and the information. I will look into higher weights and try to keep a more detailed food diary.
 
PkBhoy84 said:
Yes I do my best to count carbs accurately and use the Dafne ratios for my insulin. I have been diagnosed as type1 for just under 2 years.
Click to expand...

Ok : ) @TorqPenderloin has given some very good advice above. I'd second the bit about keeping a food diary. It means you can then look back and see if there are any obvious places where you may be eating more than you need, and also, with all that food written down you can begin to identify places to cut carbs. I put on a few pounds after diagnosis, but lost them slowly but surely by cutting my carbs slightly. Doing that day after day made a huge difference. I didn't reduce my carbs a lot. I think it was the consistency that worked - making sure to follow my plan each day.

After that tiny blip, I now weigh exactly the same as I did before diagnosis. I think it takes a while to get the hang of how insulin/carbs affects your body. I found it hard to have to think about that, having just been able to eat and not think previously.

You might also find planning out a week's menu in advance helpful. It saves time, helps shopping planning - and means you eat good food each day rather than suddenly having to grab what's available or quick.
 
Get the sugar smart app and go off the sugary foods I did. In 7 months you will feel good this is not a diet. Cut the sugar in foods and you will be able to eat plenty like I do and still lose weight. Being over weight I think is just eating the wrong choices for a long time, number one wrong choice is sugar in all its forms, you will feel amazing trust me.
 
I have to keep my carbs to only veggies and the few that come in nuts. Then I eat MODERATE protein and enough fat to satisfy. I still need to watch calories to a degree. I cannot just gorge on all kinds of fat. I do better with mono/ plant fats like avocado, Evoo, mayo, salmon/ tuna and nuts as opposed to saturated animal fats.
Grains and dairy really go right to fat stores. Many people can eat them but I am not one of the lucky ones.

Getting your bs under control will help too.
 
After 50yrs of failed dieting, low fat and calorie(truthful!)counting I switched to no/low carb and my weight is begining to ease down. I'm also doing intermittent fasting, 4hrs feeding/ 20hrs not, and I find that easier than trying to control portion sizes all day. I'm feeling really good, and positive!
 
A couple of years ago, before my diagnosis of type 3c diabetes ( Insulin Dependent), I lost 2 1/2 stone at Slimming World but found once I reached my target weight it was very difficult to stay there. It was fairly easy to lose the weight initially, but you will have to treat it as a lifetime diet to stay at the weight you want. A couple of blow outs and your'e back to square one or worse.
Even my Slimming World instructor got fed up with it in the end. I've thought of going back, but know if I don't keep up the classes I will just lose it and put it all back on again. I need to lose a couple of stone myself but as a newly diagnosed diabetic I am trying to get my insulin regime sorted before I attempt any sort of diet. So far my BS levels are not stable enough to consider it.
 
I'm a type 1 (49 years) and have a profound difficulty losing weight. I've kept food diaries, eaten 1200 calories or less, exercised - you name it. Everything left me fat.
Lately, I've seen a bit of loss by eating much more vegetables and cutting out carbs completely (as best I can). Because of my Charcot, I'm not big into exercise, so the weight loss is slow, but I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing.
 
@PkBhoy84 as a T1, I can understand where you are coming from. It can be hard to lose weight. I managed to lose weight through a fairly straight forward route, most of which is outlined by @TorqPenderloin .

Basically, I cut carbs to around 40-50g a day, monitored calorie intake and made sure I didn't eat more than 2000 calories a day, completely removed alcohol from my diet for three months and weight trained 3x per week.

The biggest item here was the alcohol removal, which means your liver is not spending its time removing toxins and processing alcohol, and can therefore burn fat.

The combination of these things helped me hugely reduce body fat percentage and obviously lose weight. As every personal trainer I've spoken to says, body recomposition takes place 90% in the kitchen.
 
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