Re: Diet to lose weight as a Type 1 Diabetic

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Denise Kennedy
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by Denise Kennedy on Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:48 pm

Re: Diet to lose weight as a Type 1 Diabetic

Hi Type 1 Diabetic - thanks for your question. It sounds as if you have your diabetes under control and essentially it is the weight that you need to tackle.

Start off by keeping a food diary, so that you know exactly what you are eating and when. The review that and look at where you can cut down calories (energy) - perhaps by cutting out snacks, by reducing portion size, by reducing fat content. The best advice for losing weight is the same if you have diabetes than if you don't, you just need to be more aware than someone who doesn't have diabetes.

You must make sure that you eat regularly and don't miss meals. Each meal needs to include some starchy carbohydrate, such as pasta, bread, rice, potatoes, in a small portion. Aim to make half of your plate vegetables and then have a serving of lean meat, fish or pulses for protein. Your are right that fat has lots of calories, so try to cut down on fat, swapping to low fat spreads, low fat milk. How about 0% greek yogurt instead of cream - delicious!

You also need to try to be more active. How about a pedometer and aim to increase the number of steps you do every week. You can do exercise activities or increase your activity in daily living - walk more to local places, climb stairs, park at the furthest part of the car park. Aim for slow, steady loss - it is not a race and too fast will make your diabetes harder to control.

You will need to adjust your insulin to account for smaller food portions and more activity. If your blood sugars are OK first thing in the morning then your long acting insulin is probably about right. But testing is the key for you here if you are at all unsure.

There is some really good information on losing weight on the Diabetes UK website where there is a booklet called "Weight Creeping up on You? Diabetes and Weight Management". You can download a copy for free from here - http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-dia ... ur-weight/. With a bit of thought and effort I am sure you can be successful.
Denise Kennedy
Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist

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by admin on Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:36 am

Diet to lose weight as a Type 1 Diabetic

Hello - I am asking this question on behalf of a Type 1 Diabetic patient:

I am 65 years old and have had Type 1 Diabetes since 1957. I take Porcine neutral Insulin at meal times 18-20 units approx for each meal and Levemir long acting insulin 24 units am and 30 units pm. I am on 100mg thyroxin per day as most of my thyroid was removed years ago, as it was overactive. I have put on a lot of weight and am now heavier than I have ever been in my life at 16 stone, so I am obese. For the past two years I was suffering from an overactive parathyroid gland which made me very exhausted and my activity level went down and I piled on the weight. The parathroid gland was surgically removed in January and my PTH levels are back to normal.

I need to lose at least 2-3 stones in weight. For years off and on I have asked dieticians for advice on how to lose weight and understand that I should reduce intake of fats to do so. But what I am longing to be given is a dieting plan for diabetics. I have tried weight watchers but their points system is difficult to combine with diabetic control and in the first week of a weight watchers diet I tend to get terrible hypos even though I am testing and monitoring and reducing my insulin.

Please can you give me any advice on any regime for a diabetic like me to help me gradually lose weight ?

Thank you for your assistance.
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Maradie
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by Maradie on Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:00 pm

Re: Diet to lose weight as a Type 1 Diabetic

Hi

I am also a type 1 diabetic and have to lose 4-5 stone to get into the healthy BMI area.

I have lost 2 stone so far on Slimming World.
It is a really easy diet to follow while on insulin injections as you can eat as much potatoes, pasta, rice etc as you can possibly manage. The things that are Syns (restricted) are bread, cakes, crisps, biscuits....basically your everyday naughty foods.
You have a daily Syn value of 15 Syns and as 2 medium slices of brown bread are 6 syns....you could have 2 brown bread sandwiches every day while staying completely on the "diet" plan.
All vegetables and most fruits are completely free so you can fill yourself up on those every single day!

I struggled at first when I hypo'd because most hypo foods are high Syn values (which is common sense when you think about it). High sugar and fat foods that get your blood sugar up, perfect for hypos but not so good when you are trying to lose weight.

I live by the idea that Slimming World is not a restrictive diet...it is a healthy eating plan for the rest of my life...and if I need an orange juice and a couple of digestives to stop my hypo...then it is an occasional thing and won't blow my weight loss targets. If I am eating healthy the rest of the week, I will still lose weight.

Good luck!! x

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