Type 1 Diabetes and Weight Loss

This is long, but here just some of the things that have worked for me during this most recent postpartum journey. At 38 weeks into the BBG workouts I'm just under my pre-pregnancy weight, 50lbs less than I was at 38 weeks pregnant, more importantly I have been keeping up with my children. The following have been helpful for my goals of feeling good and maintaining great blood sugars. Obviously everyone's body is different and talk to your doctor about nutrition and exercise that will work for you.

• Intermittent Fasting (8 hour ab diet)
• This has become my all time favorite habit change. This is the concept of eating all your daily calories in an 8 hour time frame in order to give the body time to fast. I always swore by breakfast first thing in the morning and now I swear by delaying it. This was an adjustment at first and now I'm hooked!
• I did this to lose the last of the weight with my first baby as well and didn't stick with it because I saw it as a short term idea. This time I started sooner, once breastfeeding was tampering off anyways. Now I never want to stop. I feel amazing, my cravings are at an all time low, energy levels are great, and it gives me a nice long fasting period where I can aim to keep blood sugars tightly controlled without worrying about how much food or extra bolus insulin is affecting me. 
• I aim to eat all my calories between 10am-6pm. If I am sick or fatigued I will eat outside of that. I listen to my body. If my blood sugar is low or going low I eat of course. I'm not super strict with it. Somedays it's more of a 10 hour eating window than 8, but the idea to delay breakfast until after my morning workout and stop eating after dinner stays in place. 
• Healthy eating during that time frame, LOTS of food to fill my daily calorie need, and very little to hardly any alcohol. 
• I do try to eat more of my carbs in the morning and more veggies and protein in the evening. I also try to space out my carbs so I don't stack my insulin and end up with an afternoon low.
• Water. All the water. 
• Bikini Body Guide/Sweat Program
• I said I would never do the BBG workouts and can safely say I've never stuck with any one program so long. To quote myself, "They are just circuit workouts and I know how to do circuits." These kick my butt, I can not always finish them and often don't. The schedule works great for me because I find I can flex it around my unpredictable life. 
• I don't have the app, yet, maybe if it goes on sale again, but I'm not a fan of subscriptions and already pay gym fees for me and the kids (we love our gym daycare and I don't want to workout from home with them). I have Kayla Itsines book and PDF workouts.
• I also still sometimes use workouts from BodyBuilding.com, Jamie Eason's LiveFit Training Program is free and I love it. The whole website has wonderful information for free. Workouts and nutrition. They are selling supplements, but you don't have to buy anything to access the great programs and resources. Right now, I prefer the shorter BBG workouts.
• Having Three Small Children
• I.DO.NOT.STOP.MOVING. I have a 3 year old and infant twins. I run to feed, change diapers, play, tickle, sing, read, and do it all again. In my arms are one or two 20lbs babies, getting up and off the floor with them, throwing them in the air, and running up and down stairs all day. 
• My kids are seriously fussy the days we don't go to the gym, so they are my accountability. They love it more than I do, if possible, and I try to take them if I'm not in the mood, even if I just spent some time on a yoga mat stretching or using the foam roller.... so I can relax. I think they need their break from me too!
• I can not afford to cheat as much as I used to because I can not afford to feel tired or drained with them. I need to eat foods that fuel and won't spike my blood sugars because it's harder for me to be able to treat a high as well. 
• I also can not cheat as often as I once did because my 3 year old can hear crackers being opened or smell chocolate from a mile away and then I'm not setting the right example. I'm not exaggerating on this, the kid can hear or smell me eating chocolate from across the house.
• Still though, I do have treats, daily. At good times and in reasonable portions. To survive. 
• The biggest thing, good BLOOD SUGARS!! 
• It's not about the number on the scale, it's about the number on the blood work!!!
• My goal is an A1C of 6.5% or less.
• Intermittent fasting as I stated above has helped me! It's not necessarily for everyone.
• I use both meter checks and my Dexcom CGM to monitor sugars before, during, and after exercise. 
• Fat burning blood sugars are between 80-120mg/dL, just knowing this helps keep me motivated 24/7 for good blood sugars.
• Fasting workouts help me maintain better workout blood sugars. I used to carb up or turn down my pump for workouts and ended up with longer spikes and unhealthy swings. 
• Now I take insulin at the end of my workout for my big breakfast I eat right after. I take a little extra because I tend to have a "fat burn" insulin spike after workouts. Or at least that's what I tell myself it is. This number has been a little tricky for me honestly, but it is clearly workout related because I don't have on the days that I don't workout.
• Treating highs- I like to "treat" my highs and lows as healthy as possible. I treat a high with water, insulin, and if possible getting on our home elliptical or walking. If I cannot do that, squats and lunges with my kids in my arms tends to work too. About 10-15 minutes of exercise and then I do a meter check. If blood sugar is above 250mg/mL you are suppose to wait until it comes to down to exercise, check with your doctor.
• Treating lows during exercise- I have coffee with cream if I need something to bring up my sugars OR vitamin gummies OR organic fruit snacks. Now there are totally better healthier options, these work for me right now. I take a few sips of coffee or just a few gummies in order to not over treat if I am running a mild low for myself. If it drops too low I will stop working out. 
• I tend to adjust my workout around my blood sugar if I need to and I just let it go. I am grateful to get a workout in at all and am not attached to what I'm doing. If circuits are dropping me too fast, I back off and do something else like yoga or rowing (the row machine for me does not drop my blood sugars very quickly, it might for someone else, someone faster maybe?!). If my Dexcom starts to show a trend up in blood sugar I might pick up the pace or switch to cardio. With fasting blood sugars I have found much more stability in morning workout numbers and usually get to complete my workout of choice, but being flexible has helped me a great deal.