Weight Loss, Type 1 Diabetes & Endurance Athletics

In May I broke my ankle, which radically altered my plan to ride my bike 100 miles a few weeks later. In fact, it interrupted my general fitness plans. Slowly and surely, my weight has creeped up. Not fun at all. I noticed how bad it had gotten a few weeks ago, when two pairs of my favorite pants no longer fit comfortably. Weight loss with type 1 diabetes is never a very easy problem to tackle.

Weight Loss Action

I realized I could keep on this weight gain path OR I could take serious intentional action. Since I fancy myself a person of action, I have opted for action. I know that a weight loss plan is best approached from an intentional place. My first step was to spend a few days considering why the weight gain had happened.

Reasons for Weight Gain

I hadn’t dramatically changed my eating plan. But I did reflect that I had started eating zucchini gluten-free chocolate cupcakes as snack items. Despite being sort of healthy, I realize they need to be removed from my meal plan. I also noted that wasn’t paying attention to my portion sizes.

The big change that happened was a dramatic reduction in how much regular exercise I was getting. NOT GOOD. Because of the broken ankle, I wasn’t walking upwards of an hour a day with my fabulous dog pal Echo. I also wasn’t biking upwards of five hours a week.

Then when I wanted to start swimming, my right shoulder started hurting like crazy. After an MRI and an amazing massage on my shoulder, it turns out the shoulder pain is due to the mastectomy and the scar tissue I have under my arm. Turns out, massage and daily stretching is the key to no shoulder pain, now back to weight gain.

The on-going reduction in exercise time continued due to a massive flair up in foot pain. Geez louise, will I ever get a break!? The heel pain is in my right foot, opposite foot of the ankle break. It might be plantar fasciitis, or maybe it’s something else. Again, walking and running are difficult if almost impossible. I’ve got an appointment to see another foot doctor to see what options I have.

Action Steps Toward Success: Hot Tips!

#1: I will focus on weight loss for 3 months. I am starting today, November 1^st. I will finish my focus on January 31, 2017. Today I weigh 171 lbs. My goal is to lose 21 lbs. in 3 months. That means losing on average about 2 lbs. a week.

#2: I purchased a digital scale. I shall weigh myself (ONLY) once a week in the morning.

#3: I reactivated My Fitness Pal on my iPad and on my iPhone. I shall keep track of how many calories I eat every day. Each week, I will set a clear goal for what I shall focus on.

#4: Exercise Commitment: I have set a goal of getting a minimum of 7 hours of exercise every week. I will time my exercise around mealtimes, as this makes it possible to lower how much insulin I take. I shall exercise in 30 minute or 60 minute sessions. This is NOT a time for endurance training! I will track my exercise on My Fitness Pal. Yes, it’s true, I love tracking things!

#5: Diabetes focus: Weight loss when you have type 1 diabetes is no easy thing. In my case, I have observed that I am taking too much basal insulin. As I focus on calorie reduction and exercise increase, and after going to Dr. Ponder’s Sugar Surfing event in late September, I doubly realized I’ve got WAY TOO MUCH basal insulin going on!!!! Apparently many of us in the USA are basal insulin heavy. I’m going to do some serious basal testing THIS WEEK!!!

#6: Motivation: I am joining a Maintain Your Weight program at the local YWCA where I am a member. It starts on November 21 and goes until December 31. It will reward maintaining my weight with a prize! Plus I get to attend six small group classes and I will get a 30-minute massage! Huge motivational win!

Telling all of you about my plan is also motivational! Thank you for reading this blog and for being part of my continued health journey.

Posting how much I currently weigh was not easy. I had to work through shame and embarrassment to post my actual weight. And now I have done it! I love wins like this!!!

Here we go!

If you have a health plan, do tell me about it! Hearing from you makes all the difference!!

To health & wellness!