Weight loss impossible?

[Cinnabon74]

Hello,

I would like to know, after a lot of depressing consultations with Endos, Is weight loss IMPOSSIBLE for Diabetics (Type 1)?

THanks!

[JDRF-Team-wak]

I am not a physician, but a mom of a type 1 child, and the daughter of a type 2 diabetic.  I know that from experiences with my daughter it was hard for her to gain weight. When she was diagnosed the endo wanted her to gain 5 pounds.  It took her over year.

I have a sitter that is a type one diabetic, she needed to lose weight. I know that she worked with her endo to adjust the insulin dosage for a while, as insulin can sometimes put weight on as you are giving your self insulin to cover your carbohydrates.    What the doctor did was lower the insulin dosage, and put her on a well balance diet. The numbers we ran higher than normal for a short period of time. This person was on the pump, but also took Lantus to help avoid severe highs.  

I would suggest talking to your endo and seeing if there is a way for him/her to help you.  There has to be  way to do it safely.  
Good luck.  Let us know how it goes.

[Cinnabon74]

thanks for your response, Unfortunately the ENdo I have has been a true nightmare. He was satisfied with me eating 900 calories a day, and shooting A lot of insuling that had me put on 15 lbs. I can not afford a nutirionist and I have heard the meanest of comments from him, such as " NO matter how much you exercise or diet, you will never be able to loose weight". I have not had a great experience, so that sort of knock out my motivation.

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

Hi again, Cinnabon,
Weight loss is tough, that's for sure.  I have a coupla comments & questions.

First, how is your overall control at the moment?  I mean, are you getting regular exercise and eating what you know is a well-balanced diet?  Do you have frequent lows?

One of the surest ways to gain weight ... and to stay at higher weights ... is to have low bgs that require us to eat glucose tabs or eat food or drink juice to raise our BGs.  Some lows are inevitable, but for example, if you often go low at night and drink a little juice box to treat it (that was my story pre-pumping), you'll gradually & safely lose weight when you can stop those lows & stop the added, empty calories from treating it.

When we try to starve ourselves, we typically end up simply lowering our metabolism while our bodies try desperately to hold onto the calories we allow it.  What increases metabolism safely?  If you're cleared for weight-bearing exercise, that'll help a lot.  Talk to an exercise person or borrow book from the library on routines taht will add strength without bulk, etc.

Finally, have your thyroid checked out.  Lots of DMers also have sputtering or sluggish thyroids.  An underactive thyroid can put weight on and make it tough to lose (thyroid affects metabolism).  Sounds like your endo isn't your favorite person to work with, and so if you can find another one, you might find an easier relationship within which to work.  

In the end, weight loss requires hundreds, if not thousands of small steps and decisions -- day in and day out, week after month after year.  Much like managing DM, actually.  I read somewhere else that it's healthy to take 10,000 steps every day to have a reasonable level of fitness.  Perhaps aiming for that is a way to start.  An inexpensive pedometer (I think McD's was/is giving them away with some of their healthier adult meals) can give you an indication of how close you already are to that goal.

Good luck.