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Permalink Reply by MyBustedPancreas on July 11, 2012 at 7:52am

Impressive, but you're telling us what many T1s have already discovered (and what many dieticians disagree with). The last time I had to meet with a dietician (in order to get a new authorization for my pump....absurd given my experience with T1), I got into a heated debate with her about exactly how many carbs I should be eating. Her "professional" opinion was that, given my intensive level of activity, I should be eating upwards of 250g carbs/day. Yes, that was seriously her recommendation! I laughed. If I ate that many carbs per day, my BG would be all over the freaking place and I'd be taking a ton of insulin to cover not only the meals, but also the post-meal spikes.  I would constantly be going high and low and would likely gain a few pounds from all the yo-yoing. 

It sounds like what you're experiencing is the benefits of limiting the carbs.  Your basal rate dropped because not only did you lose weight, but you probably also eliminated any insulin resistance you were experiencing in the process.  The exercise also helps diminish insulin resistance. 

Years and years ago, many of us T1s followed restrictive, low-carbohydrate diets (exchange style), in large part because the insulins were not as good/effective.  Meals and snacks had to be eaten with great regularity, regardless if you were hungry or not.   When things switched over to carb counting (in the 90s?), there was this sudden switch in telling T1s that they could eat whatever they wanted! 

Here's what I have discovered - my pancreas is broke so, no, I can't really just eat whatever I want and still feel good.  The pump and carb counting DOES enable me more flexibility in what I eat, and I LOVE that.  I don't have to eat around my insulin like we did in the old days and I can even have small treats on the rare occasion that I'm really craving it.  BUT, can I eat like a "normal" American?  No.  I can't eat pizza or loads of carbs or sweets on a regular basis.  Doing this would send my BGs into a tizzy.  Quite frankly, I like the discipline that I've developed over the years.  I don't think anyone, diabetic or not, needs to be eating a ton of carbs.  It's just not healthy for anyone IMO.

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Permalink Reply by Sick of TYPE 1 on July 12, 2012 at 6:41am

I agree all people so be doing less carbs - it’s funny ever since the Gov. has pushed their 11 grains a day at the bottom of the pyramid America has gotten obese and T2 - scary maybe daddy Gov. does not know best - maybe it’s time to go against conventional wisdom - I have a friend who is a dilatation and a T1 and a 3rd party was telling her my success without grains and she freaked out saying "I NEED GRAINS"

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Permalink Reply by HFXNS on July 12, 2012 at 11:19am

I got into a heated debate with her about exactly how many carbs I should be eating. Her "professional" opinion was that, given my intensive level of activity, I should be eating upwards of 250g carbs/day.

THANK YOU for saying this! I recently saw a dietitian who said I wasn't eating enough carb (about 70-120 g a day--not exactly Atkins!) and that the amount of carb I ate varied too much. She suggested a firm rule of 40 carbs at breakfast and lunch and 60 at dinner. That pissed me off. I told her it was too many carbs for me, and left it at that.

Dietitians simply do not understand what carbohydrate does to us and how much easier it is to control your blood glucose when you cut down on the amount of carb you consume.

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Permalink Reply by Jen on July 14, 2012 at 7:17am

Being told I could eat whatever I wanted was seriously the most damaging advice I've ever been told by a medical professional. Of course, after growing up on a restricted diet, and being in my 20s, I was very happy and did go and eat whatever I wanted ... and it's taken YEARS to get back into a lower-carb diet. It would have been so much easier if I'd just been told to stick with the same diet all along, just with much more flexibility and better control and with the possibility of having a small treat without spiking my blood sugar (which my parents used to allow me occasionally when growing up, despite the spike).

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Permalink Reply by Red_T1 on July 11, 2012 at 8:09am

Congrats! I've been doing basically the same thing (Paleo instead of Primal and no CrossFit, just lifting on my own). I've lost 30 since Dec 11. Woo! Keep it up!

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Permalink Reply by Sick of TYPE 1 on July 12, 2012 at 6:41am

wow 30? thats awesome - keep going strong

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Permalink Reply by Red_T1 on July 12, 2012 at 7:39am

Thanks :)

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Permalink Reply by JaninaWalker on July 19, 2012 at 3:05pm

I'm totally in favour of this stream of thought. I've been low carb for almost half of the 31 years of being T1.

But I had gained 7 lbs over the winter from taking more insulin. Then in April saw the Dr Oz show about raspberry ketones. Doing research I discovered that they will intensify the fat burning process, so since I already am in that process, I knew I was an ideal candidate to try them, but I didn't know if they would work, so I got 4 brands to try. Two were good and two were a waste of money for various reasons. In total I have lost 17 lbs since May 2nd even without going for long walks, so I hope to add walking in for the last 10 lbs I want to lose. For the last 10 lbs I am buying one more container of the product that worked best that had me lose 8 lbs. It was the third I tried.

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Permalink Reply by Terry on July 11, 2012 at 11:12am

I read with interest the link to marksdailyapple blog. He actually is measuring his blood ketones using a fingerstick meter. In this way he is able to see his ketone level and corresponding rate of weight loss. I'm picking up some ketone strips at the pharmacy today and I want to do the same observation.

I consume about 60 grams of carbohydrate per day. I've lost 13 pounds in the last two months while I've never felt hungry. My BGs are much easier to control and my total daily insulin dropped by half. I've been a T1 for 28 years and wish I had discovered this way of eating sooner. Good luck with your new diet!

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Permalink Reply by Sick of TYPE 1 on July 12, 2012 at 6:36am

Yes I too wish I had not been trained with eat what you want and just give more insulin attitude- as long as your BS are good don’t worry about high amounts of ketones - **HOWEVER** if your BS is high AND you have high ketones talk to your doctor fast- this is not the kind of wt. loss you want (you may know this but if someone reading this does not... don’t want to send them down a path of destruction)

But good job to you as well- many blessings

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Permalink Reply by Glen on July 12, 2012 at 7:20am

After seeing these posts yesterday, I decided I would like to give a low carb diet a shot. I just started reading "Why we get fat" yesterday as well.

The one thing I've struggled with on any type of diet is what to do when my blood sugar goes low or when I know it's going to go low.

What do you use to raise your blood sugar or how do you keep within your goal range of carbs when you know your going to go do some physical activity?

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Permalink Reply by Red_T1 on July 12, 2012 at 7:42am

I don't know what most people do, but I just eat glucose tabs. I don't count them toward my daily totals. I only count what I have to take insulin to cover.

After starting this I developed a lot of lows because my basal rates were suddenly too high, so I was pretty aggressive about lowering them to prevent the lows.

Of course, less insulin means easier weight loss so its a win-win :)

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