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Type 2 Diabetes Weight Loss Reality...
and What I am Doing About it
By Elizabeth "Bjay" Woolley - June 25, 2006
Type
2 Diabetes Weight Loss Aventure Main Page
I debated including this because I didn't want to discourage anyone.
But knowing this helped me, so hopefully it will help other Type
2's in my situation too.
Many of you members know I have been trying to lose weight for
a while. I was doing 2 high-intensity one-hour water aerobics classes
a week, weight training at least twice a week, seeing a personal
trainer, and the treadmill on the in-between days. Still nothing,
if anything I gained weight. I carry around a Calorie King
book and watch what I eat.
I was very frustrated because while my blood sugar was better,
and I felt good, I was still fat. My endo told me to be happy with
better health because it would be "near impossible" to
lose weight. But I wanted the fat down because then I felt I could
possibly take less medications and lessen the severity of my disease.
So I did some research on the internet. I wanted to know the MAGIC
number. How much exercise do I have to do to get this huge belly
to get the hell out of here? Because I'll tell you what - I'm freakin
motivated, just give me the damn number.
Here's what I found. Remember I'm not a health care professional.
This is my interpretation, take it with a grain of salt.
We start to resist insulin. Why? Nobody knows for sure. Genetics?
Bad lifestyle? A random deformity in the molecule? Who knows.
We know our cells that burn sugar for energy become immune to and
resist insulin. However, not ALL cells become immune at the same
time. It is thought our fat cells are still totally sensitive to
insulin for a long time.
Because we need energy, our pancreas starts to churn out more insulin.
This starts to happen way before we are diagnosed. Our insulin levels
go way up while our blood sugar levels look normal. In my life,
I think this started to happen in my teens when I was still skinny.
I say this because that's when I started to get PCOS symptoms....PCOS
is caused by insulin resistance. I was pretty skinny until I got
into my early/mid 20's. Then I ballooned up really fast.
Insulin has more functions than just being an escort for sugar
into cells. It stores fat. It signals for carb cravings. It signals
for fat to not be released for energy. So since we have extra insulin
swimming around, we are becoming super-duper fat storing machines.
I know this sucks...but come times of famine or hardship we are
the survivors because our bodies become so efficient at storing
fat. I really think this is why Hispanics, Blacks, and Native Americans
are so prone to diabetes because it was just generations ago our
ancestors had to deal with times of hunger. Bodies adjusted to that,
and then WHAM we come into a time of plenty and we are feeding our
bodies a truckload of crap compared to what our ancestors ate. Plus
many of us are abandoning traditional diets and seasonal ways of
eating for the one-size-fits-all American diet. Anyway...I'm going
off....let me get back on track here...
Because of our insulin resistance and body chemistry that creates,
we are prone to storing fat deep within our bellies - it goes into
the organs and around the organs and then just keeps heaping up
into a nice solid pot belly. That's why so many of us look pregnant
when we aren't. The fat becomes on organ unto itself sending out
signals and orders to the rest of the body. This is the absolute
worst kind of fat. It's called intra-abdominal visceral fat.
This is our biggest problem. The fat interferes with our normal
hormonal patterns. It causes inflammation of the organs. It taxes
the organs. It can be the cause of so many problems - blood pressure,
cholesterol, triglycerides, etc. This is why the "waist-to-hip
ratio" is considered a gauge of health and potential for health
risks.
Even worse, it is very hard to get rid of visceral fat. But it
IS possible. Doctors will throw meds at us to help the symptoms
of the problem (high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol,
etc.) rather than believe we have what it takes to try to decrease
this fat. This is why my endo told me it would be "near impossible."
Screw him.
Okay. So what do we do? Are we doomed? With most other diseases,
if you've got the disease there isn't much you can do. Fortunately,
we have a disease we can make a big difference in.
I warn you though, what I am about to say WILL sound near-impossible.
But it is NOT impossible. I was totally discouraged at first. BUT,
I tried it, and it really isn't that bad. I'm actually having fun
and feeling really good. I've gotten energy to do things I NEVER
thought I would actually enjoy - like yard work. Plus when I get
my belly down and just need maintenance, I'll be able to lower the
intensity of my efforts.
Okay go to this page and you will find resources and some links
to some studies I found. Some confirm that people in my situation
will have to work harder than the average bear and try very hard
to work against what our bodies are trying to do.
http://diabeticmommy.com/39-type-2-diabetes-weight-loss-guidelines.htm
In short, here is what I found. Remember I think most of these
studies were with older type 2 diabetics or older people with excess
visceral fat. If you are younger, then maybe these numbers might
be lower for you. For me, they seem to be about right, and I'm 37.
Also, the studies I'm quoting below did not have the participants
change their diet.
If you have excess intra-adominal visceral fat and you do NOTHING.
You will gain about 4 pounds per year.
If you want to stop this weight gain, you will have to do exercise
the equivalent of jogging 11 miles per week.
If you want to decrease this fat and you will have to do exercise
the equivalent of jogging 17 miles per week.
(See Editor's note below) I started
this past Monday, June 24, 2006. As of today 6 days later, I have
done about 18 miles. I try to do 3 miles on weekday mornings on
the treadmill. And try to get the other 2 miles in when I can. I
have jogged as much of it as I can. I do intervals, meaning I speed
up to a slow jog and slow down to a fast walk and keep cycling through
that for 2 miles. For the final mile, I try to see how far I can
jog without stopping with the ultimate goal of jogging the whole
thing. On Monday I could barely jog like a tenth of mile without
stopping or slowing down. By Wednesday I was able to jog 1/4 mile.
Today I jogged for 1/2 a mile, slowed down for about a tenth of
a mile to bring down my heart rate, and then jogged another 1/2
a mile. If I get out of breath or my heart rate goes up too high,
I slow down until I am able to start again. I had to slow down a
lot at first.
Editor's note: Now that time has passed,
and I have learned more, I realize I was pushing myself too hard
at the beginning. Luckily I didn't injure myself. You can't push
yourself past what your body is conditioned for, otherwise you will
hinder weight loss. You need to slowly condition your body, slowly
increasing intensity and time. If you are doing miles, you increase
by tenths of miles. If you are going for speed, increase by incremental
amounts. If you are running/jogging you DON'T have to run an entire
mile or quarter mile. In fact, it's better to jog a little and walk
a little. Make sure your heart rate is not too high. Long and slow
is better with short bursts of high intensity, maybe only once a
week. Remember I am not a health care professional or exercise expert.
See a personal trainer and/or read up!
The studies I read allowed the subjects
a couple months of base training or conditioning time to be able
to do the exercise needed for the study.
As far as eating, I have tried to cut back a little. I am allowing
myself about 100 calories max per hour. I'm horrible at meal planning
and my schedule is always up in the air. I never know where or what
I'm going to eat. So I work with that. As far as carbs I try to
never eat more than 2 servings, 3 max for special occasions, at
one meal. Snacks are usually about 15 carbs.
I get up at about 9 am and go to bed around 12 or 1 pm. This means
I am awake for about 15-16 hours.
On weekdays I get up at 8 am, get ready to do the treadmill - get
my water, put on my clothes, plug the thing in, find a good TV channel,
I eat something small, like a South Beach bar. I exercise for about
an hour till about 9:30.
When I'm done I eat breakfast - usually sauteed veggies with an
egg scrambled in and lots of jalapenos and spice and some bread
with butter. I have a good breakfast. It's maybe about 300-400 calories.
From there I start watching the hours and calories. If I'm hungry
an hour later, I find something about 100 calories, if two hours
have passed then 200 calories, if three hours then 300 calories,
etc. If I eat lunch at 1 pm and eat dinner at 6 pm, then dinner
is about 500 calories unless I ate something in between. Usually
I don't eat after dinner and if I do, it's way before bedtime. .
I watch the carbs and try to keep them low and "good carbs"
because I stopped my insulin and Amaryl last week in an effort to
reduce extra insulin in my system. I promised myself I would exercise
an hour for every day I didn't take it and I've done that. My fastings
levels are doing very good with the exercise. They started horribly
- like around 250 on Monday but now are getting under 150 pretty
quickly and hopefully will be back around 100 within the next couple
weeks.
I got on the scale today and it's down 2 pounds. I was SORE and
worn OUT this week. Some days I just wanted to sleep all day. This
was my menstrual week too, so I was really not feeling good anyway.
But last night while waiting for hubby to come home so we could
go out to dinner, I actually went and got a rake and raked in the
front yard until he got home. I HATE raking or sweeping. It hurts
my neck and it's been over 100 degrees outside too, but it was actually
enjoyable. I've strengthened something somewhere that helped out
with that and gave me the energy to do it.
Anyway, wanted to update on what I've found and what I'm doing.
Send me good vibes and say your prayers for me.
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