Jump to content

Diabetic and vegan


Narum
 Share

Recommended Posts

I began working out 3-4 years ago (at the same time I turned vegan) and it's been a very good journey so far. However, there is one issue that continue to haunt me; my body fat %. I'm not trying to hit a single digit number, I just want to get rid of my love handles.

 

I suspect that me being a type 1 diabetic has a lot to do with it. I was diagnosed at the age of 7; now, 16 years later I am 23 years old. I'm 178 CM tall and about 79-80kg heavy. I have little fat elsewhere on my body (it's all located around my midsection, and some of it is visceral fat --the unhealthy type--)

 

I've tried a lot of different approaches - 1500 calories, 1900 calories, 2300 calories, 2500 calories and 2800 calories. All HIT-cardio, 3 day splits with cardio in between, 3 day full body with cardio in between, 5 day split, 3 day full body with rest in between. Low fat, high carb, mod prot. Low carb, mod fat high prot, 80-10-10. Intermittent fasting, 3 meals with snacks, 5 smaller meals, 1 large meal, etc etc etc. I've tried most of the things to try (for long periods of time)

 

My midsection just won't budge - and it's really killing my motivation. I don't work out for a six-pack, I just don't want to have a gut or love handles.

 

I now have 3 days split with 2 cardio days in between, sat and sun is off. The length of my workouts is at around 35 minutes. (Very intense)

My TDEE is 2400 calories, and I'm eating 2300 and burning the rest off with my workouts.

 

My macros are:

carbs: 271.

Fat: 69.

Prot: 138.

 

I take multivitamins and minerals, ZMA, Humapro Bcaa and 100% organic soy protein. I do not smoke, I do not drink and I get between 6-8 hours of sleep every night.

 

Does anyone have any tips on how I can lose the last few pounds? It's driving me crazy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So you've done low-fat, and high-fruit. Did you learn that this is the only permanent way to be thin? You've done a lot of different diets, and eaten too little.... and that's messed up your metabolism and kept you in fat-storage mode. So just get on low-fat high-cal and stay there. Then give it time.

 

High-fruit doesn't work very well for me (being a diabetic) My blood-glucose levels shoot up and I get nauseous, tired, and I struggle to maintain stable levels. Often I'd get too low afterwards (I had a few cases of severe hypoglycemia) so that didn't work for me.

 

Now I'm doing a carb-cycle. Three days of 30% carbs, 25% fat 45% prot, followed by one day of 45% carbs, 32% prot and 23% fat. Then it's another 3 days of 30/25/45 into 45/32/23. When I think of it I haven't actually carb-cycled before, so maybe that's what I've done wrong!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, that would be a hard one to figure out being type 1 diabetic and trying to get down to low bodyfat. Though I do know that decades ago, insulin shots were the way to go to get rid of bodyfat easily (and not healthy as the individuals were not diabetic at all).

 

Carb cycling sounds good to try next. But be careful that you don't go into starvation mode/preservation mode (where your body shuts down to only basal metabolism).

 

Also look into your carbs. Try to keep the carbs whole instead of ground up (flours, meal, etc). And maybe only on your high carb day, then you can do the ground up/ fine milled grains/seeds/beans. Why I say that is because if I keep my grains whole, the body definitely doesn't get the rise in sugars from the fine particles entering the blood stream right away, the internal flora get a chance to eat and make by-products my body needs (B-12 for instance), and I do not digest all of it which means I saved some calories. Anyways that is my theory on that.

 

Another thing you might want to look into, since you said visceral fat, is your emotional well-being. Fat stored there is usually from stress. You might need to do something you love to de-stress. Endorphins when exercising are great, but what to do when you are stressing from something in the moment, and you have to deal with it now. Emotional stress (and possibly physical stress from your workouts - make sure you are resting for recovery well) raises cortisol levels, and you might want to look into supplements (in addition to any physical skills of destressing - such as meditation) that could help you keep the cortisol levels down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...