I want to help my sister...

[Melanie_Ginn]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first thread on here and i joined this forum as i am wanting to help my sister who has type 1 diabetes.

My sister Laura has had diabetes for 16 years now, she seems to get down because of her diabetes but i am guessing this is normal. She still lives the life as many others can, She goes out for drinks with her friends and enjoys take aways every now and again.

The thing that bothers her the most is her weight, as we are both overweight we constantly talk about wanting to loose this weight. This is easy for me as i can diet as normal but for Laura she can not do this.

She is getting married next September in Cyprus and all she talks about is wanting to loose weight before her wedding. I really want to help her with this and would like to find some website or a special diet for diabetics which is safe.

Does anyone know of a website or a diet i could research for her and then show her what i have found? She is my sister and i love her with all my heart and hate seeing her upset like this.

Thanks for reading and all help is greatly appriecated :)

Mel

[Gordonm]

I have had diabetes for 34 years and have never been overweight. I must say that I also control what I eat and exercise. The reason for overweight is not from diabetes it is consuming more calories than you use. She/you must control your caloric intake along with exercise you should see a weight loss. A diet will never work. None do. You must change your lifestyle and eating habits and the way you look at food. She certainly can have a healthier diet and go on a good diet. Not a fad diet but something with good nutrition. If you care for her deeply maybe she/both of you should see a nutrionalist and get the proper foods you should eat. Exercise will always help. :D

Good luck with it.

[pandeia]

A low carb diet might work for you... not too low carb, but low enough to see some results. It all depends on your weight, height, exercise routine, etc. You should check out the low-carb diet posts on here, they help out a lot :)

[shiftzor]

Ye I totally agree, restricting carb intake is the best way of losing weight and also using insulin to closely match your food intake. Don't feed the insulin, always accurately cover food with insulin otherwise you end up eating far too much. Carb counting and using an insulin to carb ratio is the best way to achieve this. Reading books like Using Insulin by John Welsh will also increase your knowledge and will ultimately enable you to help your sister. Keep asking questions!

[Lizzie G]

id suggest focusing on getting fit and working on cutting out excess carbs, but not cutting them out altogether. i lost quite a bit of weight and that was by reducing what i ate and consequently the amount of insulin I needed (both basal and bolus) and doing lots of exercise. encourage your sister to join this forum so she can ask questions if shes uncertain of safety aspects and so on, theres loads of people here to help. also, the book 'think like a pancreas' by gary scheiner is fantastic, and is really helpful in getting your insulin right; i know from experience that if you are taking too much insulin you end up 'feeding' it and its a very efficient way to gain weight. hope some of this helps and good luck xxx

[Erin]

Can I ask what she does to treat her diabetes? What insulins, how many shots per day, how she decides how much insulin to take.

From your brief post it sounds like she's feeding her insulin. That her doses are fixed or inflexible so she doesn't have much choice as to what to eat. There are lots of different (and imho better) ways to manage D now a days, and these ways often allow for tighter blood glucose control, and more flexibility in diet, which allows for safe weight loss.

I'd recommend her talking to her doctor about a different insulin regimen, and then having her come here for support as she makes the switch. The only downside are that the more modern insulins are more expensive. Does she have health insurance?

[amccrazgrl]

You could always start and excerise program with your sister. She should start eating more meals at home if she eats out. She could try eating less food or doing such programs like Weight Watchers. (depending on the money situation.)