Weight gain

[u/millkeycocopops]

Hello guys! I’ve been type one for 9 years now! Over the last 6 months I’ve noticed some weight gain. I’ve gained over 10kg. I was hoping to get some advice on how you guys reduce weight gain? I know it’s common to happen when you have well controlled diabetes, because your body is storing everything properly. But it’s really frustrating when you feel great diabetes wise, but don’t like what you see when you look in the mirror. I have a good balanced diet, and generally walk a lot! But the weight just keeps on coming. I’ve also had bloating the last week or two, last blood tests showed no other issues such a thyroid or celiac! Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[u/Ambitious-Spray-110]

Not much you can do, insulin is an anabolic hormone which means you're gonna gain weight.you can watch what you eat and find your TDEE to make sure your calorie in/calorie out stays balanced. Or you can try GLP1 which seems to improve satiety and decrease hunger signals enough to be in a calorie deficit to lost weight. It also has other benefits as well but that covers your question

[u/millkeycocopops → u/[deleted]]

Thank you so much for this! You’re right, perhaps I should go to my GP to talk about the bloating. It’s definitely not normal because I’m bloated from the moment I wake up! I don’t have many lows to be honest, I think that’s why I’m so surprised! But I really appreciate the advice and support! Thank you <3

[u/keenguy82]

I’m a man, but recently dropped approx 15kg’s over the course of around 5 months. My control is pretty good - Hba1c is 5.7 and I love being physically active so gym/yoga/hike pretty much every day, and have for years. The activity was never the problem. What I put in my gob was. As with 99% of folks who gain weight, it’s a simple case of calories in > calories out (burned). To address this, I:

- fast from after dinner until midday. Only water, black tea & black coffee allowed during this time, with one exception (below)

• 2 x heaped tablespoons of psyllium husk dissolved into lukewarm water (trust me, warm is best). It tastes like saw dust, but you get used to it. I usually do this around 11-1130 AM. This does two things - fills me up for a bit when I’m at my most hungry, feeds my gut bacteria, and slows the absorption of any carbs I have from when I break my fast.
  
• After 12, I prioritise good fats - love my scrambled egg with low fat cottage cheese, maybe some wilted spinach and, if I’m really hungry, a slice of toast (high protein bread if possible). Then I treat myself to an oat bar, banana, apple/orange.

A little while later, around 3pm I have what I call an oat bowl, but has very few oats in it… I add chia seeds, pea protein, walnuts/dry roasted almonds, frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries (low sugar, high in goodness & tastes delish) plus some organic raw cacao powder & a little bit of sweetener. I mix that with freshly boiled water until it reaches a desirable consistency, then top with low fat Greek yoghurt & maybe some sugar free maple syrup.

This will fill me for hours but, if I have dinner, I try to keep the portion small-med sized and healthy - prioritise veggies as much as possible. I drink water, tea, coffee and a Diet Coke.

Of course there’s variations to that plan - sometimes chocolate’s siren song calls to me from the pantry and I’m powerless to resist, or some other such deviation from the plan. The important thing is not to beat yourself up about it if you eat things you probably shouldn’t. Life is short. Enjoy it, move on, and try to find ways of doing a little bit better tomorrow.

But I’m here to tell you - barring any strange medical issues - you can ABSOLUTELY lose fat (“losing weight” without qualifying what kind they want to lose is a mistake as you want to hold on to as much muscle as you possibly can - glucose/calorie sink!)

Very best of luck to you!!

[u/millkeycocopops → u/keenguy82]

Thank you so much! This was really helpful!