I've been gaining weight from my insulin :/ im trying really hard to lose weight & everything i do isnt working. i've only been eating once a day & very little & it isnt working. what is a diet i can go on and lose weight quickly with my diabetes?
Can you guys please tell me what i should do & what i should eat.
Hey Stefanie.
It is so frustrating to be taking insulin and gaining weight! We've all been there.
It sounds like you haven't been eating enough actually. If you are only eating once a day, then your metabolism is probably slowing down. Do you exercise? Even walking can help lower your insulin needs. I have recently gotten a recommendation from a nurse regarding diet. She said, fill up on protein and veggies and exercise. It's been working for the most part. I eat three meals a day with a lot of protein and veggies and a little bit of carb and I always feel full.
Be patient! and Good luck.
Hi Stefanie,
To further the point, if you only eat once a day your body basically thinks it's being starved. Then, when you do eat something, your body stores it as fat because it thinks it's going to need it later. If you eat 3-5 small meals a day, your metabolism will speed up and your body won't store everything you eat as fat.
Weight loss takes time and patience, but if you want, I posted a link to a blog yesterday by Robb Wolf (See below). He has a lot of pointers that pertain to exercise, diet, and type 1 diabetes. The number one thing he mentions is cutting carbs, but I won't spoil his whole post :) Give it a read, it's pretty insightful.
http://robbwolf.com/2009/08/05/type-1-diabetes-and-crossfit/
Hope that helps. Take care & good luck
[quote user="Stefanie"]
I've been gaining weight from my insulin :/ im trying really hard to lose weight & everything i do isnt working. i've only been eating once a day & very little & it isnt working. what is a diet i can go on and lose weight quickly with my diabetes?
Can you guys please tell me what i should do & what i should eat.
[/quote]
Starvation is never good. As others have pointed out, the body's metabolism is not designed to eat merely once a day, so yours is shutting down and trying to conserve what little you are eating to ensure your body's system doesn't collapse. Instead, eat smaller portioned snacks and meals throughout the day while keeping a close eye on total calories. You didn't mention your height or build, but as a 5'2" woman, I lost weight gradually and in a healthy way when I ate 1,000 to 1,500 calories a day and burnt off 300 twice a week via treadmill incline walking.
Also, losing weight "quickly" is never ideal. We don't put on our weight in a few days, so why do we expect to lose it in a few days? I shed the 25 pounds I gained in graduate school over a period of about 9 months or so. That may seem slow, but I lost every pound and haven't put any back on because I did it gradually without starvation and crash/fad dieting. The water weight most people lose while on fast-acting crash diets nearly always comes back, which is why so many dieters are unsuccessful long term. You don't want to be another one of those.
[quote user="Khendra"]
Also, losing weight "quickly" is never ideal. We don't put on our weight in a few days, so why do we expect to lose it in a few days?
[/quote]
it's recommended to not lose more than 3 pounds a week.
i agree with everyone else here, eating once a day will NOT help you lose weight, but instead will cause you to gain weight. it's better to eat healthy and exercise to get in better shape, even if you don't drop any actual pounds..exercising will tighten and tone your body.
I also agree with everyone else here as I learned the same from not only my doctors, but from my personal trainers. However, I also learned from my endo that weight gain is due to insulin intake. If you are taking high amounts of insulin to compensate, you may need to speak to your dietitian, nutritionist, &/or endo about the best meal plan for you and your activity level and how to bring your insulin intake down. Like for me, I'm very active during the day, but due to my work schedule, I eat very late dinners. So, instead of raising my basal rates at night when my body burns less energy, my endo suggested I bolus aggressively for my late dinners so I won't wake up with high sugars. Then, instead of snacking more to compensate the lows I get during the day and then having to bolus for when my sugars spike after snacking, he suggested that I lower my basal rate during the day hours and to temporarily suspend (since I'm on a pump) my insulin intake all together for about 1/2 an hour to an hour if my activity level is more vigorous than usual. Now instead of taking in 60 - 80 units of insulin per day, I now take 40 - 50 units per day. It has made a HUGE difference for me. I find that it's easier to control my weight now.
[quote user="Stefanie"]
I've been gaining weight from my insulin :/ im trying really hard to lose weight & everything i do isnt working. i've only been eating once a day & very little & it isnt working. what is a diet i can go on and lose weight quickly with my diabetes?
Can you guys please tell me what i should do & what i should eat.
[/quote]
I've heard from many people that only eating ONCE a day can also cause you to gain weight. Because we you eat that one day, you tend to indulge yourself with food instead of eating just a little during a meal. You should eat a balanced meal 5 times a day with some snacks *if your blood sugars are falling low* that's what my doctors have always told me. I try to eat Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner and sometimes a snack before bed time to insure that my blood sugar doesn't fall low at night without me knowing about it.
I won't. I don't wanna. I don't think it's a problem. I mostly drink caffeine free these days so as not to keep me awake at night. I like it and don't think it's bad for me. So no, I'm not quitting. But all the power to you who do if that's what you want to do.
at least i am not the only one. i put on about 10 pounds after losing weight. not good. thanks for letting me know i am not the only one :)
Bruce
another thing to get checked is your thyroid. it doesn't sound like it's an issue for you in this case, but if your endo doesn't already have it checked when you get your A1C, I would suggest asking them to add that test. Thyroid problems can also cause you to gain weight and have a very hard time getting rid of it.
I also agree with what Scrappy said about finding ways to cut down the amount of insulin you need, it's very helpful as well. If you're taking more than you need, it will also not help the situation.