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Permalink Reply by Zoe on November 25, 2012 at 2:09pm

What is important isn't calories, but carbs. How many carbs do you eat a day? The less carbs you eat the less insulin you need and that combination: less carbs and less insulin will help you stabilize and lose. I am at a point in my life that I have a lot of trouble losing weight and gain easily. I was slowly slowly inching up. I've cut my carbs and its the first thing in many years that's allowed me to lose.

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Permalink Reply by LiL MaMa on November 25, 2012 at 2:24pm

I would schedule to have your thyroid checked right away. I have hashimotos thyroid (low thyroid-which causes weight gain) along with my LADA. You need your t4, t3, and tsh checked. If all comes back normal I would def cut the insulin by what Zoe said, going low carb.

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Permalink Reply by Zoe on November 25, 2012 at 2:53pm

Lil Mama brings up a very good point, especially if the weight gain is rapid, that is a very important cause to rule out. Hypoactive thyroid is much more common with Type 1's.

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Permalink Reply by Vancouversailor on November 25, 2012 at 6:05pm

The way insulin works is to convert excess blood sugars not needed for energy, to fat which is stored, primarily in the abdominal area. So contrary to common belief, it is not fat which makes you fat (the body is not capable of storing excess dietary fat) but sugar.
In addition to reducing the amount of carbs consumed, the Glycemic Index can be very helpful in preventing or reducing weight gain when going on insulin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index
http://www.gidiet.com/

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Permalink Reply by Jag1 on November 26, 2012 at 11:29am

I disagree. Excess fat that you eat is digested by your body to triglycerides, and these triglycerides are stored by your body just as easily as triglycerides that are produced from excess carbohydrate. Excess of any macronutrient will cause fat gain.

The point, that Shawnmarie makes below, is that calories do matter. The secret to preventing weight gain is to not eat excess food - whether carb, fat, or protein. (I'm not suggesting this is easy, but at the end of the day it is necessary no matter what foods you eat).

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Permalink Reply by Brian (bsc) on November 26, 2012 at 12:54pm

Dietary fat is absorbed into the bloodstream with bile acids, not as triglycerides. The liver processes these fatty acids into lipids, which include tris. While it is true that the tris will be taken up as bodyfat in the presence of insulin, a low carb diet that lowers insulin and reduces tris will really help (dietary carbs are a major source of tris).

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Permalink Reply by Jag1 on November 27, 2012 at 8:01am

I'm not sure what your point is. I agree with you that dietary carb can be a major source of triglycerides, but my point was that fat can also be a major source of triglycerides. It really depends on the diet that you are eating.

So just to be clear, which of our statements do you think is correct: "the body is not capable of storing excess dietary fat", or "excess of any macronutrient will cause fat gain"?

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Permalink Reply by MyBustedPancreas on November 26, 2012 at 6:07am

I agree with both the recommendations to look at your carb consumption and ensure that your thyroid is working properly. T1s are more susceptible to hypothyroidism due to a similar autoimmune attach on the thyroid. Hypothyroidism will cause weight gain.

What do you feel is your "ideal" weight? Keep in mind that one's idea weight changes over time, so depending on how old you are, you might just be experiencing some of that natural weight gain we women are so prone to.

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Permalink Reply by Shawnmarie on November 26, 2012 at 9:37am

Good advice from others. Just thought I'd share that for me, calories do matter. I count both calories and carbs to keep my weight where I want it to be. I try to keep my carbs around 100g per day, but I think I might need to start lowering that to avoid weight gain. I'm also hypothyroid and I think my medication is helping to keep that from affecting my weight. I know it can be very disconcerting to see the number on the scale going up, but I also think there's a formula you'll find that works for your body to keep things where you feel healthy and not out of control.

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Permalink Reply by jims on November 27, 2012 at 8:37am

All good advice but I would add - check on liver leak, If your diet is stable and not changing, a leaky liver will throw more glucose at problem and raise the Blood Glucose level.

This leak can override diet and exercise and in fact you will need much greater levels of exercise to overcome. Been there and done that.

I am not Doctor and had to load metformin to get liver back in line. Once liver leak stalled, diet worked and weight dropped ( 330 to 240 pounds).

Just a thought and check with your medical help/experts!

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Permalink Reply by Vancouversailor on November 27, 2012 at 10:51am

Very good points Jim
I believe that one thing a person can do to reduce unwanted glucose dumps from the liver is to have regular mealtimes and importantly to not skip breakfast. The trigger for these glucose releases is often lower than normal blood glucose levels - for example if someone goes for a morning job before eating breakfast, or gets into the unhealthy but unfortunately not uncommon habit of having one big meal a day. With a steady trickle of calories throughout the day the need for the liver to replenish the supply disappears.

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Permalink Reply by Roberta on November 27, 2012 at 11:11am

Thank you everyone for the information and tips. I'm going to have my thyroid checked. I'm already on a relatively low carb diet. The liver dumping is an interesting concept. I eat 3-5 small meals per day. However my fasting BG is always elevated when I wake. My endo is treating it with more lantus but could this be a result of not eating all night and the liver dumping as you are suggesting above?

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