Weight loss and diabetes

[oardanny]

Hello, I am 38 years old and weigh almost 100 kg. I'm tall, and I would like to lose a few kilos. At my height, I think 88-90kg is ideal. I've been a diabetic (type 1) for two years now, and I'm having trouble losing weight.

I have a lot of energy and desire to exercise (I love heavy weights and running), but the biggest problem is that when I start to exercise, my blood sugar drops; I usually have hypoglycemia, so I have to take sugar. All those calories I burned have to be reabsorbed in the form of sugar. I hate it, I feel like my effort is meaningless, and I don't know what to do.

My doctor told me that I need to eat before exercise, preferably so-called "long sugars," such as cereal, bread, etc., which I do, but my sugar still drops during exercise. And if I eat a lot of sugar before exercise, I have hyperglycemia, and no matter how much I exercise, the sugar does not go down. In the end, I feel bad both mentally and especially physically. It feels like a never-ending struggle..like I never burn off the fat I want to get rid of.

Do you have any tips for losing weight with diabetes? Are there any dietary supplements for diabetics to use before and/or during the exercise?

[Baraboobiker]

Oardanny,

I wish I could offer suggestions but your issue is beyond my primitive to nonexistent knowledge of Type 1 diabetes and exercise. Your post does make me think of how I take all of this for granted, ie having to be concerned about hypo/hyperglycemia. Hopefully someone knowledgeable about medicine/sports will be able to help.

[Tsnor]

Here's some reading. https://diabetesjournals.org/care/artic ... A-Position Physical Activity/Exercise and Diabetes: A Position Statement of the American Diabetes Association

They pretty much agree with what you are seeing, the need to play with food intake (and/or insulin levels) to support your exercise. Look like you need to time your exercise vs your meals and insulin.

" Regular exercise also has considerable health benefits for people with type 1 diabetes (e.g., improved cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, insulin sensitivity, etc.) (4). The challenges related to blood glucose management vary with diabetes type, activity type, and presence of diabetes-related complications "

"Additional carbohydrate intake and/or insulin reductions are typically required to maintain glycemic balance during and after physical activity. Frequent blood glucose checks are required to implement carbohydrate intake and insulin dose adjustment strategies."

"Blood glucose responses to physical activity in type 1 diabetes are highly variable (72). In general, aerobic exercise decreases blood glucose levels if performed during postprandial periods with the usual insulin dose administered at the meal before exercise (73), and prolonged activity done then may cause exaggerated decreases (74–76). Exercise while fasting may produce a lesser decrease or a small increase in blood glucose (77). Very intense activities may provide better glucose stability (22) or a rise in blood glucose if the relative intensity is high and done for a brief duration (≤10 min) (78). Mixed activities, such as interval training or team/individual field sports, are associated with better glucose stability than those that are predominantly aerobic (18,79–82), although variable results have been reported for intermittent, high-intensity exercise (80)."


Not a doctor. Good luck. (If me, I'd google 5-10 sources to get background then check with your doctor. You doctor will want to support you as you increase exercise level. All the "highly variable" stuff says to me that anything can happen when you start exercising, so all you can do is try it and adjust.)

[oardanny]

Oardanny,

I wish I could offer suggestions but your issue is beyond my primitive to nonexistent knowledge of Type 1 diabetes and exercise. Your post does make me think of how I take all of this for granted, ie having to be concerned about hypo/hyperglycemia. Hopefully someone knowledgeable about medicine/sports will be able to help.

Thank you for your kind words. Sometimes it's really a struggle.

[oardanny]

Here's some reading. https://diabetesjournals.org/care/artic ... A-Position Physical Activity/Exercise and Diabetes: A Position Statement of the American Diabetes Association

They pretty much agree with what you are seeing, the need to play with food intake (and/or insulin levels) to support your exercise. Look like you need to time your exercise vs your meals and insulin.

" Regular exercise also has considerable health benefits for people with type 1 diabetes (e.g., improved cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, insulin sensitivity, etc.) (4). The challenges related to blood glucose management vary with diabetes type, activity type, and presence of diabetes-related complications "

"Additional carbohydrate intake and/or insulin reductions are typically required to maintain glycemic balance during and after physical activity. Frequent blood glucose checks are required to implement carbohydrate intake and insulin dose adjustment strategies."

"Blood glucose responses to physical activity in type 1 diabetes are highly variable (72). In general, aerobic exercise decreases blood glucose levels if performed during postprandial periods with the usual insulin dose administered at the meal before exercise (73), and prolonged activity done then may cause exaggerated decreases (74–76). Exercise while fasting may produce a lesser decrease or a small increase in blood glucose (77). Very intense activities may provide better glucose stability (22) or a rise in blood glucose if the relative intensity is high and done for a brief duration (≤10 min) (78). Mixed activities, such as interval training or team/individual field sports, are associated with better glucose stability than those that are predominantly aerobic (18,79–82), although variable results have been reported for intermittent, high-intensity exercise (80)."


Not a doctor. Good luck. (If me, I'd google 5-10 sources to get background then check with your doctor. You doctor will want to support you as you increase exercise level. All the "highly variable" stuff says to me that anything can happen when you start exercising, so all you can do is try it and adjust.)

Thanks, Tsnor, for the link and info. I have to dig deep into all the expert articles because nothing the doctor has told me is working. It seems as if he is getting information from old books or has no idea about the disease at all. For example, at the last visit, he told me that stress has no effect on blood sugar, and was shaking his head, while it is proven, and I experience it every week, that blood sugar goes up under stress, and it is difficult to bring it back down even with insulin. I've also noticed that with cardio, blood sugar goes down, but when I lift heavy weights, it goes up (maybe the body thinks it's stressed and shoots the blood sugar up.)

Last week, I started wearing the Freestyle libre glucose sensor (it's such a small device on my arm, so I don't have to draw blood from my fingers anymore), and I'm hoping it will help me keep track of my glucose. I can now measure myself more often during exercise, so hopefully, that will help.

[iain]

I don't know whether experience from Type 2 diabetics would help? I know it is a different source, but not responding to the insulin might give a similar impact to producing little anyway? If so, I would read through NavHazard's posts. I am no doctor, but I would suspect that improved fitness will eventually increase your base metabolism so even if you negate the calories burned with extra sugar, there should be a long term benefit. Also it would seem that lighter excercise with frequent short breaks to balance your level;s is one possible approach, or alternatively punctuating your rowing with bursts might lift your levels for the next steady section?

Best of luck.

Iain