Weight Gain!
I have had Type 1 diabetes for about 5 years now and I am 24 years old. I have always maintained my weight since day one even though I didn't make the healthiest of food choices. But for the past few months i decided it was time for a change, I wanted to start eating healthier. I go to the gym 5 days a week and eat much healthier than before. After doing all this, I started to gain weight, 12 pounds to be exact in just a few months, feel very tired all the time and have no energy at all. It makes no sense to me! I eat like a pig and don't exercise and have all the energy in the world and I maintain my weight and then I eat healthy and exercise and I gain weight and just want to sleep all the time. At first I thought I was building muscle and I know muscle weighs more than fat however, there is no muscle, it's all fat. How can this happen? I have been working with a nutritionist and she told me that what I am eating is exactly what I should be eating, she just told me to eat less fruit and that my weight gain is coming from the fruit?! She didn't seem too sure though. I wasn't completely convinced with anything she was telling me. That's the first time I've heard that one. Has anyone had a problem with weight gain after eating healthier and starting an exercise regimen besides building muscle? I am just trying to understand this and cant. I don't know what else to do!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by bsc on -
Well, I will give you my opinion and it is somewhat of a contrarian opinion. First, for most people I don't think exercise really is of much use in weight loss. For a perspective on this read Gary Taubes. In particular, I don't believe aerobic exercise is helpful. Now weight training can help you get a different body composition and it can help you preserve muscle mass during a diet, so I am a fan of weight training.
That being said, what you describe suggests poor nutrition advice and overtraining. First, lets talk about overtraining. When you exercise, you tax your body and after the exercise you need to recover. If you are not used to exercise you may need more time and resources to recover. If you exercise before you recover you can end up needing to recover twice as much and this "stacking" can lead to overtraining. Typical symptoms are fatigue, weight gain, waking up at night, increased pulse in morning, falling ill (colds, etc) and feeling like cr*p after working out. If you suddenly went from couch potato to spending an hour in the gym everyday, that could be an issue.
Second. Nutrition. I think you have to be cautious about getting advice from nutritionists, particularly when there are issues of diabetes, weight loss and exercise involved. Most nutritionists will tell you that you lose weight when you run a calorie deficit. I think that has been shown to invalid and just not work work in the long-term. If you want a regime to lose weight and become lean you would be well served to consider low carb diets. I am also a fan of a technique called Intermittent Fasting. And while I did totally trash nutritionists, her advice to cut back on fruits is actually good advice. Fruits are basically devoid of nutrition and are just carbs. There are two things you can do with carbs, immediately burn them for energy or pack them on your body as bodyfat.
So let me leave you with two thoughts. 95% of weight loss happens in the kitchen and you should exercise to become strong and fit, not to lose weight.
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Permalink Reply by babygirl8408 on -
Thank you!! I basically exercised because it made me feel good and I did have more energy. I just wanted to maintain and stay fit. I have never been heavy, my weight has always been around 122 but am now 134 all of sudden. I know it may not seem like that much to some people but when I notice it in my clothes, I want to do something now to get it down before it gets worse and is even harder to lose. But since I started gaining weight I haven't been feeling well and haven't wanted to go to the gym. But thanks for all your feedback, very interesting and I will definitely take that into consideration.
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Permalink Reply by LiL MaMa on -
Call your endo and ask him to test your thyroid. A full thyroid panel with TSH, Free t3, and Free t4 sounds like you may have hypothyroid which would explain all of your symptoms. It often goes hand in hand with diabetes, I have both.
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Permalink Reply by babygirl8408 on
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Actually now that you mention it, my mother has a problem with her Thyroid also, and I am seeing my Endo today so I will definitely mention that to him! Thank you!!
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Permalink Reply by Scott Wilkins on -
One thing I found out a few years ago that has helped me understand this is that one of the "side effects" of Insulin is hunger. Are you on a pump or take shots? If you take shots then your body will experience hunger at different levels than if you were not Type 1 diabetic. So you have to take that into account as you work your diet and what you eat. Personally, I'm not too great at it, and could use to loose a few pounds. I hope you find a solution to your problem, as it can be very frustrating with diabetes. Extra weight makes control that much more difficult.
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Permalink Reply by babygirl8408 on
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Thanks you Scott. I am on an insulin pump. I eat at the same time every day and the same amount of food each time. It's always worked for me but for the past few months my weights been out of control and I cant explain it because I am eating healthier and exercising regularly. Definitely not what I expected to happen so it's very frustrating to try and understand. Hopefully my doctor will have an answer for me!
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Permalink Reply by Belila on -
I have the same problem, I am in 30-70 insulin walk for 5 days a week about 75 mins a day and still gaining weight , I gained almost 12 LB in these 3 months but I also quit smoking 3 months ago, I really want to watch my carb intake as I tried the low carb diet before and it worked good but since I used insulin, it was v. hard for me to lose weight even with low carb, I also need an advice what to do.
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