How do you loose weight if you have diabetes type 1?
My bezzie has diabeties and she is get a bit fat and she wants to know how to loose weight, but if she does to much exercise her blood sugars go low and has to eat chocolate, which is filled with sugars and fat she has just burned off. Please help her!
August 24th, 2010 at 8:11 am
Chocolate is not the best thing to eat if her blood sugar is low. What she needs is glucose which can be in the form of a tablet or gel. Other forms of sugar will raise her blood sugar but not in a healthy way. The body needs to convert anything you eat into glucose to burn as fuel. If she takes in glucose the body does not need to convert so the blood sugar levels out quicker and safer.
August 24th, 2010 at 8:44 am
Just like any one else, fewer calories, more exercise.
If she goes low when exercising, she should take less medication or sip Gatorade or something similar while working out and keep monitoring her sugar. She may suspect her blood sugar is low, but may find she’s just tired from the exercise.
What is a bezzie?
August 24th, 2010 at 9:28 am
She doesn’t have to eat chocolate. No one HAS to eat chocolate. There are many sources of glucose which are much better for you, and work faster in a low-sugar state! Orange juice is one of them–and there are glucose tablets and liquids available at the drug stores which work very fast.
She needs a good diet. Make sure she is eating properly. This means a very balanced, very nutritionally sound diet–especially important for Type I’s. Exercise is essential, but she may be doing too high-intensity excercise. Walking is better–and low-intensity. Aerobics can put her into a hypo state too quickly.
The American Diabetes Association Web site has a good diet plan for Type I’s . http://www.diabetes.org/
remember, this is a different disease than Type II diabetes, and is often treated differently. Don’t follow just any diabetic meal plan. Find the one that is right for her type.
August 24th, 2010 at 10:14 am
If she will be increasing her exercise levels, and eating a healthier diet/smaller portions in order to lose weight, she needs to reduce her insulin dosages. Otherwise she is just feeding the insulin and low blood sugars.
This will likely include a reduction to her basal rate, possibly as well her bolus ratios and correction factors. The problem with Type 1 diabetes is that while Type 1 diabetes is a disease of insulin deficiency and not insulin resistance (Type 2 diabetes is related to insulin resistance), most Type 1 diabetics have to inject larger amounts of insulin than their body would ever produce. Injecting insulin is just not as efficient as insulin directly from the pancreas. This can set the stage for weight gain in some people, and if a person is not careful with their diet, over time they can develop insulin resistance as well. This is especially an issue in Type 1 diabetics with a history of Type 2 diabetes (the form often related to obesity and lifestyle). These people with the genes for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes can develop what’s unofficially called “double diabetes”. This is very bad and increases the risk for diabetes complications.
The main goal is to eat a healthy diet that is good for *everyone*. No processed/junk/fast foods, small frequent meals, whole grains, lean meats, fish, veggies, fruits, and good fats like olive oil. Focus on eating foods in their natural state, such as veggies. Use premeasured glucose tubes or tablets instead of foods with empty calories to treat low blood sugar. Chocolate shouldn’t be used to treat low blood sugar anyway, not just because of weight gain issues, but because the fat in chocolate delays absorption, which you do NOT want in this case.
The fact is, there is no one simple solution here. Anyone with Type 1 diabetes (especially if she is underage) needs to develop a plan with their doctor and diabetes care team. Type 1 diabetes management is too complex and individualized to handle any other way. Getting specific medical advice for someone with a serious health condition online is not the answer. Her specialist will have to determine how to adjust her insulin needs safely while not compromising diabetes control. She will have to learn how to do this from a medical professional who knows her case. As you can see, just starting an exercise routine is not the answer. Many Type 1 diabetics have serious issues trying to exercise and control their blood sugar. Some have an *increase* due to stress hormones. Others drop low. Others go high and THEN drop low hours later. There is no one solution, but research is being done as we speak for ways to better manage BG during exercise in Type 1 diabetics.
She may also want to switch to the newer insulins, if she is not already on them. They can cause less unnecessary background insulin and insulin spikes (NPH is notorious for peaks requiring snacks), may help reduce snacks and make it easier to exercise without as many low blood sugar episodes. An insulin pump also helps some people, as you can lower your insulin (basal rate) for exercise, and generally speaking, you do not need snacks with an insulin pump. It makes it much easier to adjust your insulin dose, so you’re not always “feeding” the insulin, but rather giving insulin for the food that you eat.
All of that said, please tell her to talk to her healhcare team. No one here can give you specific medical advice, just general guidelines. When it comes to Type 1 diabetes, you need to always be safe and not sorry.
P.S. Type 1 diabetics (Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease) are more prone to autoimmune thyroid disease due to shared genetic tendency. Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, or autoimmune hypothyroidism, can cause unexplained weight gain and low blood sugars. Her doctor should screen her for that if that has not already been done.
Also, a recent study noted that a quick sudden burst of *high intensity* exercise before/after a moderately intense exercise session reduces the risk of low blood sugar in Type 1 diabetics (who are prone to post exercise hypoglycemia).
August 24th, 2010 at 10:22 am
First, have her switch to Skittles (17 of them) or glucose tablets (4 of them). They have little to no fat so they’re faster-acting so she’ll feel better faster – fat slows down absorption of the sugar. Tell her to keep her carbs at less than 30-35g per meal, with one or two 15g snacks during the day, and she’ll lose about a pound a week.
August 24th, 2010 at 10:54 am
You eat 15 carbs for every 30-60 minutes of workout without taking insulin just before you go to the gym, also eat healthy foods. I have the same problem and am trying to lose a little weight.