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Weight Loss Helpppp!

chloenelson1993

Member
Messages
14
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hi All,

I completed DAFNE July 2016 and have managed to get my HbA1c from 97 to 76. Unfortunately as a side effect from this i have gained almost a stone !

I wont lie i definitely used my higher hbA1c to my advantage to keep my weight at bay particularly as i managed to lose a stone and a half back in 2015 (more from not eating and high bloods
-bad i know)

The weight gain is really affecting me as i am a keen exerciser which is where my problem lies! As i work 8:30am to 5pm most weeks and have lunch at 1pm i have to do what is known as 'unplanned exercise'. Due to this i am having to snack at 4pm ish at least 3cps(usually 1 or 2 bananas) as i drop by approx 10mmols during exercise so have to go with a reading of about 16
.

I could lower my lunchtime QA or take none instead of eating CPs however i will then be sitting for 4-5 hours on a high blood reading - and if i exercise more i will have to eat more cps so that also wont help lose weight


Any advice would be grateful. Any dietary advice also that people have found works?

Thanks in advance
 
@chloenelson1993 If you were running high BS, then some or even all of your weight gain may just be because your diabetes is now controlled. That is, it's a good thing and you're at your natural weight.

For exercise, I try to start a little higher than if I wasn't exercising (but not at 16, more like 8-10 depending on the exercise and length). I then top up with glucose/carbs as needed. I find this works well.

I wouldn't worry about carbs offsetting the benefit of exercise. I understand that exercise far outweighs the few extra calories you're taking in
 
@chloenelson1993 what do you treat your hypos with? I had massive trouble trying to lose weight but I never included my hypo treatment which was chocolate so empty carbs!!xx
 
Thehappydiabetic said:
@chloenelson1993 what do you treat your hypos with? I had massive trouble trying to lose weight but I never included my hypo treatment which was chocolate so empty carbs!!xx
Click to expand...

I use Glucotabs, and then biscuits/chocolate depending on how low I am feeling or if it takes longer than usual for my BG's to rise(which I find more now with the Glucotabs than previously with Lucozade etc).

Thanks
 
Hi Chloe, As someone who battled their diabetes and exercise for years I can sympathise. I used to play Touch Rugby with a group at work during 2 lunchtimes a week. I'd have to adjust my basel dose in the morning and run my BG up to 16 in order to be able to play without hypoing. Then sometimes there would be last minutes drop outs and we wouldn't have enough people to make up the teams. I'd be left feeling rubbish for the rest of the day whilst trying to get my BG down. Despite the exercise over about 8 years my weight just crept up and up. When I did a food diary, about 15-20% of my daily intake was correcting lows from exercise.
For the last 4 years I have been on an insulin pump and it has revolutionised how exercise works for me. I finally figured out that I am super sensitive to exercise and that I was never going to be able to achieve good control or weight loss whist on MDI.
It might be worth speaking to your DS about what your options are.
 

Thank you for your reply. I am so happy to find someone who has had the same struggles ( I mean that in the nicest way possible ) I was beginning to think I was stuck on my own with the problem .

I have began following people who exercise and are type 1 diabetics and they are all on pumps so it's definitely something I've began to consider .

When mentioning the pump to my DSN though they don't seem so keen and just say it's a lot more hard work and working out ( I think they are worried because I'm beginning to get fed up and slacking slightly) so I'm guessing it will have to be something else I will have to fight for .
 
@chloenelson1993 although pumping is hard work, since beginning my life on a pump I have for the first time - in three decades - felt that at last the hard work actually gets the results I want, which I'd never achieved on MDI despite fanatical micromagement.

I am now able to exercise safely and with confidence. My weight is very stable. And I have - for the first time in my 40+ years - got confidence in myself.

I wrote a long essay to my DSN about why I wanted a pump. You'll find it here - sixth post down on this page, post number 45 - http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/thr...really-like-to-live-with-type-1.103794/page-3

Regarding weight, I was much heavier pre-DAFNE and pre-pump than I am now. I am now NOT having to feed excess insulin with food! I don't have so much insulin in me than I used to have on MDI, and I have far fewer hypos now I pump. For exercise I can simply turn the tap down......

 
I would echo Snapsy totally. A pump is not easy, but progress is motivation in itself to keep going. On MDI I would have some months where I focussed on my diabetes and then get to clinic and my HBA1C was 7.9 (sorry it was old units at the time). Then life would get busy and it would be back to 8.2, 8.3 again. The effort made a difference, but I was never going to get anywhere close to the target range. The biggest difference by far though was how I felt in myself, until I went on the pump I hadn't realised how tired I was all the time. It was another barrier to exercise and weight loss that I didn't recognise at the time. If I had my time again I would have been hammering on my consultants door for a pump 10 years earlier!
 
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