Fasting with type 1 diabetes

L’appétit vient en mangeant.

French expression for the appetite comes while eating

I’ve put on five kilos during the pandemic. This proves that you can gain weight on a low carb diet, although some bloggers would have you believe that you can eat the fridge with no consequences. My case is crystal clear – the love of my life is called cheese and I’m more comfortable paralyzed on the sofa than doing yoga in the park. Though I’m thankful for the extra real estate to inject insulin, I was happier while I still fit into my skinny jeans. Those kilos have to go.  

I’m convinced that the best route to weight loss is through fasting. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say. Many people these days have this strange idea that when they diet they have to eat small meals all the time. How are you supposed to lose weight when you’re constantly thinking about food?

The bear followed the One-meal-a-day-diet a while back, and after a week he stopped being hungry. I was hoping that it would work the same way for me. Providing your basal insulin is set right (and this is an excellent opportunity to test this), short fasts should not be a problem if you’re a diabetic on a basal-bolus regimen. Eating just one meal a day wouldn’t work for me, as it would have to be very large and dosing insulin for it would be tricky. Instead, I decided to follow the 16:8 diet and eat two meals a day within an eight-hour window. 

The reward for eating less would be a bottomless cup of coffee. As I don’t drink alcohol or smoke anymore I consider it important to have some vices. Only scary people enjoy herbal tea and go jogging for fun.

I settled for my regular breakfast and an early dinner. With just two meals I had to add extra protein for dinner. As a rule of thumb, you should have one gram of protein per kilo of body weight. You don’t want to skimp on protein when you’re dieting because the body starts to break down muscle, and you’re already bound to lose some alongside the fat. Best not to make it worse. 

In my case, this meant a minimum of sixty grams of protein to my not-yet-sixty-kilo-body. That is of course if I’m naked on the scale at a special angle leaning backward and to the right while standing on one leg at the same time. I’m sure you’ve tried it. If not you’ll find it in the manual for how scales work under tips for best results.

It’s been four days and I’m no longer hungry all the time. I’ll be back in my skinny jeans in no time.

Image by Gino Crescoli from Pixabay