Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on November 17, 2011 at 3:59am

I've felt that. When I lift weights, it will show in my upper body. That was after like 24 or 5 years of insulin though!

Permalink Reply by Bradford on November 17, 2011 at 5:22am

That change could be from exogenous insulin...but I'd wager it is not.

a 7 lb change, all while still fitting the same exact clothes (pants)? I would chalk that up to your body mass muscle/fat composition changing due to your workout regimen (esp one that incorporates weight training in). Muscle weighs more than fat as we all know, so staying the same size but being heavier than you were seems to point at that as well. Maybe you could get a body composition test done, and then you'd have that info available if you gain/lose again in the future (b/c you could have your baseline data to compare to later). They come in a variety of forms...some as simple as a piece of equipment you hold in your hand after entering your height/weight/etc, some are scales you stand on barefoot (and it measures the impedence of a charge through your skin), some are more complicated including measuring your body fat % with calipers and/or submerging in a water bath, etc.  

Sounds like you're coming back from your injury/surgery quite well to be doing all the stuff you're doing! Nice work. Wishing you a healthy and happy full recovery on your ankle!

 

Permalink Reply by Catherine Jane Vancak on November 17, 2011 at 9:56am

Thanks Bradford. You know how we dancers can be a little finicky about our weight. I don't mind being heavier so long as I can still fit into my tutu! It's just a little difficult getting used to seeing that number on the scale. Sigh, but we aren't numbers anyways!

I've had my body fat measured and I know in the past 3 months I've lost 3% bringing me down to a grand total of 17% body fat which is pretty cool for sure. I guess I was training harder than I thought! Thanks for the encouragement!

Permalink Reply by BagLady on November 17, 2011 at 8:05am

I am sure this reveals my ignorance, but I am not familiar with the term 'exogenous insulin' . What does that mean?

Permalink Reply by Bradford on November 17, 2011 at 8:20am

Not ignorant at all! Just a fancy word ;)

Any insulin made by your body is "endogenous" (meaning that it is produced from within).

Any insulin we give to ourselves (whether an analog like lantus, apidra, humalog, novalog, etc, or in the past an animal derived insulin from cow or pig) would be "exogenous" (meaning it comes from outside).

So she's just referring to the insulin we give ourselves from day to day (which in some studies has been linked to weight gain...in part b/c the cells of the body are able to fully utilize the nutrients we are providing to it b/c of the available insulin levels).

Permalink Reply by BagLady on November 17, 2011 at 8:28am

Thank you for the excellent explanation! I understand now :)

Permalink Reply by Susannah Iltis on November 17, 2011 at 9:47am

Congratulations on coming back from injury and ankle surgery. That is huge with or without diabetes. Here's my two cents.

Insulin helps your muscles replenish glycogen stores. Glycogen stores in the muscles (and elsewhere) is heavy as it also involves water.

Potentially the period you were functioning under suboptimal conditions before your diagnosis could be years (I believe in the case of LADA). Meaning you were not producing the level of insulin your body actually needed, thus spilling glucose in your urine that your body could not handle, lesser glycogen stores, and your weight was less than it would have been.

Academic article on the topic of glycogen stores and weight. "Glycogen storage: illusions of easy weight loss, excessive weight regain, and distortions in estimates of body composition" from the The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. http://www.ajcn.org/content/56/1/2925.full.pdf (I am on a university campus which gives me access to this article. I am not sure if it is publicly available.)

Permalink Reply by Catherine Jane Vancak on November 17, 2011 at 10:00am

Hmm, that does make sense. I never thought that glycogen stores held a lot of water. I guess if I want to continue improving my strength I'm going to need to accept that the scale may be a bit higher than it was pre-diagnosis. I appreciate the information for sure. I was a little nervous if I had gained weight and it was all in my head. Unfortunately in my line of work ballet tights don't leave much to the imagination so I need to be extra careful. Luckily in ballet it's all about how you look, not how much you weigh. The audience can't weigh you :)

I wasn't able to read the article but I am very interested. Is there another way I could have access to it?

Permalink Reply by Bradford on November 17, 2011 at 10:39am

I agree that the scale just shows a number (and that you shouldn't base everything just on that one number). I think it can be useful/helpful in certain applications, but that it shouldn't be relied upon solely when making health decisions. I'm also not a big fan of BMI b/c of the unreliable nature of it being some sort of indicator of one's "health" (when it's simply a height/weight ratio and takes no account for physical abilities and body composition...but that's another story for another time :)
I can imagine working as a dancer is tough! Definitely a competitive job. And yes it's a plus that the audience doesn't weigh you :)

And to Susannah, I also couldn't access the article. Perhaps you can save the article as just a PDF (is there a PDF link you can click on within the university's database you're using)? If you can, then you could attach it in a reply w/ the "upload files" button just below the text box.
I, too, am interested in reading it.

Permalink Reply by Susannah Iltis on November 17, 2011 at 10:39am

Hope the file upload works.

Attachments:

• 292S.full.pdf, 283 KB

Permalink Reply by Catherine Jane Vancak on November 17, 2011 at 10:42am

It worked! Thank you so much. I can't wait to read it.