Weight loss with Type 1

[Lexi's Mom]

I am sure that there are threads already about how to lose weight when you are a type 1 diabetic.

Can anyone point me to them?

Or does anyone have any success stories to tell that might give me some direction?

My daughter has her endo appointment at the end of the month and would like to go prepared to do some talking to the doctor.

Need help! My daughter does not need to lose much but diffently does not want to gain anymore. She will be 15 after the first of the year. She is on regular and NPH.

[danismom79]

Originally Posted by Lexi's Mom

Need help! My daughter does not need to lose much but diffently does not want to gain anymore. She will be 15 after the first of the year. She is on regular and NPH.

How's she doing with that? My daughter used R and NPH as well, and because of that, she had to eat a certain amount of carbs. In general, I don't find that conducive to weight loss. Have you discussed switching regimens with your endo?

[Christopher]

I am not sure a person with diabetes needs to do anything different than a person that doesn't have it to lose weight. Why would they? A healthy diet, smaller portions, a regular exercise regimen are all things that could help someone lose weight.

I think it is very important to tread carefully when dealing with teenage girls, body image, weight loss/gain, eating disorders. If this is something that she wants to do and you understand her reasons behind why she wants to do it, then there are ways to go about it. As I said above, those ways of going about it shouldn't have anything to do with having diabetes, given that she manages her diabetes in a sensible fashion (testing before and after exercise, etc).

[emm142]

Originally Posted by Christopher

I am not sure a person with diabetes needs to do anything different than a person that doesn't have it to lose weight. Why would they? A healthy diet, smaller portions, a regular exercise regimen are all things that could help someone lose weight.

I think it is very important to tread carefully when dealing with teenage girls, body image, weight loss/gain, eating disorders. If this is something that she wants to do and you understand her reasons behind why she wants to do it, then there are ways to go about it. As I said above, those ways of going about it shouldn't have anything to do with having diabetes, given that she manages her diabetes in a sensible fashion (testing before and after exercise, etc).

It does have something to do with D, because she's on R and NPH so is likely on a fixed number of carbs. If she just drops her carbs without adjusting the insulin then she will go low, and if she exercises without extra carbs then she will go low. And if she reduces her insulin without reducing carbs / exercising more, then she will go high.

OP, how is regular/NPH working generally? If there are other problems, you might want to switch to a different regimen.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by emm142

It does have something to do with D, because she's on R and NPH so is likely on a fixed number of carbs. If she just drops her carbs without adjusting the insulin then she will go low, and if she exercises without extra carbs then she will go low. And if she reduces her insulin without reducing carbs / exercising more, then she will go high.

OP, how is regular/NPH working generally? If there are other problems, you might want to switch to a different regimen.

Good point. Since the OP was asking a general question about weight loss and Type 1 diabetes, I was responding to that, rather than her particular regimen (which I should have taken into account).

[wilf]

There are two ways to lose weight:
- exercise more
- reduce calorie consumption

Both will require adjustments to the insulin regimen, and I am concerned that the NPH/Regular regimen she is on will not be flexible enough to accommodate the needed adjustments.

If you are really firm on wanting to stay with the regimen, then maybe try posting the details and we can make suggests on how to tweak things to facilitate her losing a few pounds..

[Deal]

Originally Posted by wilf

There are two ways to lose weight:
- exercise more
- reduce calorie consumption

Now Wilf, you won't sell many books by boiling it down to the facts.

[RomeoEcho]

One thing to considder is having her look at what her carb choices are. We all understand that R and NPH fixes your carbs, but there are healthy options and unhealthy options. An apple with 20 grams of carbs and a cookie with 20 grams of carbs have very different calorie contents. This is also a healthy habbit to get into in general and does not promote the trap of "all carbs are bad."

[miss_behave]

I'd absolutely suggest changing your insulin regime. Feeding the insulin, as in having to eat a certain number of carbs regardless of how hungry you are as you must do with NPH/Regular is certainly not conducive to losing weight. There are much more flexible regimes that would allow your daughter to eat only when she's hungry, and/or easily reduce her carb intake for weight loss purposes. Furthermore, the incidence of hypoglycaemia is decreased with basal/bolus regimes, hopefully reducing the need to eat extra carbs to treat a low. This type of regime would also allow her to reduce insulin to accommodate for exercise rather than carb up to stave off lows.

[Connie(BC)Type 1]

I was on Regular and NPH for years, and was never on a strict schedule, always on MDI, it can be done. Wilf does it for his daughter.
NPH was always used as a basal and never for food, therefore it didn't need to be fed. If I felt like eating a snack I took regular. I seldom had evening snacks, it just wasn't done in our house.

Wilf's advice is perfect!