need help putting on muscle mass and bulking up

[jamal]

am 19 and i just got diagnosed with type one diabetes it didnt bother me much but i lost weight and muscle.i went from 160 to 140 in about three weeks. i just went back to the gym and started lifting again i just wanna go back to my original size. i just want to know how long will it take and what supplements should i take...pplz help me asap

[UltiMica06]

Hmm...watch out!

Before being diagnosed...I was 155 then I went down to 130.

After being on Insulin for 3yrs now!....I am now 165.

I quickly gained weight within the 1st year.

Watch out what you eat....And do ur exercise!

[jamal]

is there any way to gain weight quicker .....am trying to bulk up quick as possible...about how much weight did you gain the first year....am gonna go to the nutricies physician next week my doctor said he could help with my diet

[BlueSky]

My suggestion is : don't be in hurry. Your focus needs to be on stabilising blood sugar. Eating excessively, using lots of insulin and doing lots of exefcise in an effort to gain weight and build muscle will make controlling blood sugar more difficult. And that could cause your efforts to fail anyway. So take it easy and don't try to force issue.

Having said that, I found that eating a high protein/fat breakfast, then working out, and following that with a protein shake, worked well for me. Ensure that your insulin levels during and after the workout are reasonably high, and eat as much carbo as you need to achieve target blood glucose levels. If you run out of insulin while working out, you won't build any muscle.

[Shubert]

My suggestion is : don't be in hurry.

This ^

Especially if you say you just got diagnosed and are still getting adjusted to diabetes and getting your BS under control. Having constant high BS while exercising isn't going to get you anywhere fast.

Honestly, I think it would be more beneficial to take some time to better understand the condition and work it into your lifestyle. This way, once you start your strenuous workouts, you are better prepared to deal with any surprises this disease can throw at you. As for how long it will take you, I don't know. It really depends on the effort you put into controlling your BS.

[jamal]

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[jamal]

my blood sugar is under control...i just started to hit the gym up again and i am trying to get use to lifting wieght with out the use of supplements...but i was reading this article and it says that whey protein is good for you if you are working out and have diabeties ...i just want to know if this is true....

[Mindstorm]

Well, don't believe everything you see or read.

It's good to make sure you're getting enough protein as you're gonna have to have to keep bulking up. Whey protein supplements are used by normal people trying to bulk up anyway, so I don't see how this stuff would magically be better for us diabetics.

Supplements will only help you so much, you mostly need to make sure you keep your diet balanced well and oriented around your exercise schedule. Doing a protein shake (with whey protein) with some fruit and yogurt and a bit of oatmeal has kept my roommate (he's not a diabetic but he's huge) able to put on and retain a sizeable amount of muscle mass.

Since you're a diabetic my best advice would be to see a dietician and tell them how intense your workout is going to be and that you're looking to add muscle mass. Make sure it's one that's dealt with your type of diabetes before (I got a fool once who kept trying to get me to eat low carb foods, but I'm a type 1 with an insulin pump! I'm skinny and have a crazy high metabolism so I needs my carbs!).

The advice for keeping enough insulin in your system and keeping your sugars right (and staying hydrated) are spot on. You'll have to experiment a bit before you find something that won't completely nuke your blood sugars, but I think the advice of high protein/fat breakfast, exercise, and a protein shake are pretty well in line. Make sure to balance out with cardio unless ya wanna get fat along with it, and keep some carbs in your system for the cardio (I'm not sure how far before you'll want to get carbs in your system before you go running, but I would eat at 6, run at 8, and have water halfway through the run with juice and a bit of insulin to make sure I could keep going).

Hey how long have your sugars been under control since you had the initial weight loss? You'll notice a lot of that weight will come back and your body composition will change a bit in the first six months to a year or so as a diabetic. As long as you're somewhat close to your weight before you were diagnosed (as in before things went wrong) your body should have recovered enough to get on a decent exercise regimen. If not, you might want to give your body some more time to recover or just do some light exercises for now. It was a couple months before I really started to feel alive again after I was diagnosed and then I was back to my old self and slowly put on weight as the months went on (stabilizing at a weight that was lower than where I was before, but that was a healthier balance overall).

[chris24541]

supplements you need to check with your doctor on them. i used to workout alot and took supplements (protein, no2, creatine). and i tried something new once which later my doctor said to leave alone for whatever reason i dont remember. also with protein you can get too much in your liver causing problems. you can always go natural and use no supplements :T

[jamal]

how do I use Insulin to put on wieght quicker.I heard some people who have type 1do this

[sarahspins]

Taking too much insulin and thus having to eat too many carbs will make you gain weight, but it will be primarily fat.

[Ashi]

Hi Jamal,

be very careful with supplements. I was taking thermogenic formulas a few years ago and ended up in the hospital a few times because my bgs kept dropping. Not 100% sure if it was the fatburners or not, but as soon as I went off, my bgs went back to normal.

CLA (congugated lineloic acid) is supposed to convert fat into lean muscle mass. There's a bit of controversy against this, but there is controversy against every supplement. Give it a try and see if it works for you.

[tk4454]

i can relate to u, i was a fat kid, became diabetic and didnt know it for months became a skinny kid, once diagnosed, gainning muscle wasnt a problem, quickly over a 4 year period i was the strongest kid in the school, insulin is a growth hormone itself IGF-1(kinda like steroids), just regulate your blood sugars and u will grow faster then non diabetics i swear. Also, protein shakes may help but u dont want to take excess protein , talk to ur diatecian about how much protein u can consume without harming ur kidneys, then make sure your getting that much every day for maximum growth, and dont take creatine unless u only drink water and lotts of it. it caused me severe cramps after games where i would have to get i.v.'s at the hospitol after my games, probly because i wasnt hydrated enough. so if u do decide to use creatine take half the daily suggested amount. I'm not a medical profesional so im just shareing what ive learned over the last 15 years of takeing 4 shots a day!

[skinny geordie]

really glad i found this site, its helping with alot of questions i've got since i've just been diagnosed and i don't even think the docs know what type i've got cos my symptoms are a bit crazy.
i'm desperate to put the weight on i've lost but listening to what you guys have got to say has given me a little bit of patience to let the insulin take effect.
if i don't put my weight back on i may try classic body building steroids such as d-bol and sustanance. is this dangerous for diabetics or is it the same standard side effects risk?

[DeusXM]

As I'm sure you're aware, steroids carry their own specific risks and I'm not sure if any research has been done on steroids and their effect on BG levels and other diabetes-related stuff.

Personally I'd avoid being the human guinea pig. What I would suggest though if you're looking to bulk up is the following.

- If you've been recently diagnosed with T1, you will put on weight very quickly once your BG is under control since you will retain water and stop burning fat and muscle for energy.
- Well-controlled BG will help if you want to gain weight, particularly if you deliberately take more insulin in order to force yourself to eat more carbs. As has been pointed out though, this will just go on as fat and there's risks in taking too much insulin anyway.
- Muscle weighs more than fat and looks better too. There's no reason you can't bulk up through lifting weights and increasing your protein intake, be it through eating more meat or investing in protein shakes etc.