Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Gerri on March 20, 2012 at 11:03pm

Am T1 & hypothyroid (Hashimoto's). Not easy having both. Every time my thyroid dose is raised, my insulin needs increase.

The best way I've found to lose weight & maintain a good weight is by eating low carb. Low carb=less insulin. Less insulin= fewer, less drastic mistakes & less high/low corrections. Dr. Richard Bernstein's book Diabetes Solution changed my life. Sounds corny, but true.

Don't know what you use to correct lows. I use jelly beans because they're portable, fast acting, cheap & I hate glucose tabs. Each Jelly Belly brand has 1 gram of glucose & 4 calories. Easy to count when low to use an exact amount & very few calories.

Permalink Reply by KCCO on March 21, 2012 at 8:22am

I'm going to have to try the Jelly Belly solution--I HATE glucose tabs too. That powder that always poofs out when you pop the lid back on...yuck. And they leave my teeth feeling gross too. I try to only drink juice, but those suckers add weight to my purse! Maybe with Jelly Belly's I can get my favorite flavors and make a low bg slightly enjoyable.

Anyways! I've been T1 for 13 years now, my thyroid has been enlarged since I was diagnosed, but last year my doc started me on a small dose of levothyroxine. His exact words were "It's not a weight loss pill, but it will help your metabolism as you attempt to lose weight." So far, I've gained 18lbs despite eating low-carb, cutting out probably 90% of the processed foods and sugar in my diet (and I looooved my Little Debbies too), and beginning an exercise regimen.

I've scheduled a visit with a new doctor, so we'll see what he suggests. Good luck with your weight loss attempts!

Anyone who has been in our shoes, please post!

Permalink Reply by hallie_c on April 18, 2013 at 11:06pm

Hey ladies! A couple things that have worked for me:

1. The less insulin you use, the better you'll be able to lose weight. I'm sure you know that insulin helps the body store calories as fat, so I try to use as little insulin as possible. I basically don't eat carbs except to correct or prevent lows (such as after a workout), and I do workouts that rev up my metabolism so I need less insulin throughout the day. HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) is my favorite - great workout, short amount of time, and can boost your metabolism for up to 48 hours after the workout.

2. As per Gerri and KCCO's responses, correct with the closest thing to pure sugar you can get (including just pure sugar! love me some sugar cubes) and be careful not to overcorrect. That last one is hard for me because I tend to panic when I go low and eat everything in sight. It's helpful to have corrective amounts counted out beforehand (15, 30, 45 carb portions in ziplocs) so you don't, for example, eat a whole bag of gummy bears.

3. The plain truth is that it is hard to lose weight for anyone, and even harder for a diabetic, and even harder for a diabetic with low thyroid! It will always be difficult, but it will never be impossible. I find that the more I remind myself what I'm fighting against, the harder I fight - so when I'm feeling down about how my weight loss goals are going, I remember that I have to work 10x as hard as a perfectly healthy woman in order to lose weight, so it's ok if things are going slowly. Don't listen to the regular rules about how fast it should go, and don't get down on yourself - think of all the things your body does for you and try to think of weight loss not as punishment for your body, but something caring you do for it, for your health.

If you have any other questions feel free to reply or message me! I'm a personal trainer and have had type 1 for coming on 13 years, and I'm happy to help :)

ps. the MyFitnessPal app is what I use to track calories. If you're not already using something I HIGHLY recommend it, it's super simple and has a massive database of foods.

Permalink Reply by knittykat on May 14, 2013 at 6:38pm

Thanks for including rule 3 there. I have been getting increasingly upset about my lack of progress, mostly because I'm reading success stories from other (typical) low-carbers. I haven't seen any progress at all in three weeks, and it's really hard not to compare myself to "success stories." I will try to be nicer to myself now!