“Pre-Diabetes” and Cholesterol issues

srednierm

Diving back into the weight loss process again. I need to lose 45 pounds to start, then another 10-15 to get where I should be.

MargaretYakoda

Hello and welcome to MFP!

I would like to invite you to a diabetes group. It seems slow but the members are knowledgeable about diabetes and pre-diabetes, and can help you get on track and make your goals in a healthy way.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1772-type-2-diabetes-support-group

zebasschick

i found light, continuous cardio got my cholesterol down to normal and my blood sugar down, as well.

it might not work for those with additional issues, but it worked for me.

lynnkeen

Hi! I was recently diagnosed with diabetes and the dr has put me on metformin and added a second blood pressure medication to help get that under control. It has really helped. My bp was typically 150s and now it is down in the 118s-120s.
Blood sugar is down but not as low as it needs to be - but in the green so I just watch it.
Because I am with Kaiser I was given access to some diabetic classes but I ended up dropping off of the list since I have been trying and successfully eating a more diabetic diet and losing weight before I could even take the first class. I started on 29 March and am down 20 pounds. I am 4’11” so weight is not good. Have arthritis in knees and hands so I have a lot of trouble walking but I get 2 miles in 5 days a week. Hopefully I can keep up the routine and get down to a more manageable state. Thabks for letting me share my story.

rileysowner

You will have to find what works for you. For me going Keto dropped my HbA1C from 6.3 to 5.2 in a matter of months. My blood pressure went down so I am off all but one med for it. I was on three. I can likely come off that last one as well. My triglycerides went to .79mmol/L from something like 2.9mmol/L if I recall the previous number correctly. HDL is nice and high. The only thing my doctor is concerned about is high LDL. In light of having lost over 90 pounds in a little over a year, and the improvement in all my other numbers, not to mention many other health improvements, I don't share that concern. Nor has my research shown that when one is constantly in nutritional ketosis that high LDL is necessary a bad thing. Based on how miserable I felt when taking statins, even when trying various different ones, and the minuscule absolute benefit they provide, I will go with what I am doing regardless. I haven't felt this good in decades. I am simply saying this works for me. It may not work for you. Find what does.

MargaretYakoda

lynnkeen wrote: »

Hi! I was recently diagnosed with diabetes and the dr has put me on metformin and added a second blood pressure medication to help get that under control. It has really helped. My bp was typically 150s and now it is down in the 118s-120s.
Blood sugar is down but not as low as it needs to be - but in the green so I just watch it.
Because I am with Kaiser I was given access to some diabetic classes but I ended up dropping off of the list since I have been trying and successfully eating a more diabetic diet and losing weight before I could even take the first class. I started on 29 March and am down 20 pounds. I am 4’11” so weight is not good. Have arthritis in knees and hands so I have a lot of trouble walking but I get 2 miles in 5 days a week. Hopefully I can keep up the routine and get down to a more manageable state. Thabks for letting me share my story.

A couple points:
1) Congratulations on your awesome progress with weight loss and getting your blood glucose levels down. That’s really important stuff.
2) At 4’11” you might get to a point where you hit a plateau and can’t figure out why you can’t bust through it.
That is because the rock bottom of 1200 calories per day is a standard set for people who are close to average adult height and activity level.
Keep that in mind if you’re close to goal and just can’t lose any more.

Here’s a detailed calculator that might help you figure out a decent calorie deficit for your height and activity level.

https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/

3) Riley’s Owner there has had success with keto. They are correct that in this journey you will need to find what works for you. But I want to push back a bit.
I have not done keto. Because I know that it’s too restrictive for me.
When I was first diagnosed as a diabetic my A1C was 9.2 - much higher than 6.3.
And as you can see, with Metformin and exercise, and the standard ADA low carb (not keto) diet, I dropped from 9.2 at diagnosis, to 5.7 in 3 months. And continued to drop, and stay in a good zone even when I fell off MFP, stopped exercising, and gained some weight back.

My cholesterol is also great. Then and now.

I just wanted to say that success is possible with almost any style of diet. The key is consistency, and exercise.
Find a diet that includes healthy foods that you enjoy, and exercise activities that bring you joy.
One option, considering your arthritis, might be an indoor recumbent elliptical. There are many different ones, at a variety of price points. The benefit is an overall workout that doesn’t stress your joints much.
Let me know if you want more information about those.

neanderthin

@MargaretYakoda good job with your numbers. Yeah keto is really not needed to reduce A1C to those low values because low carb works at reducing blood sugar almost as well, not quite but pretty well as far as IR or diabetes is concerned. Keto and ketones is more of a nutritional medical therapy to threat many other issues which IR and elevated A1C is just one of them.

rileysowner mentioned he's pretty much ketovore which is basically almost carnivore which anecdotally has shown to be more effective than keto for other medical concerns directly linked to inflammation and plant material and basically the reason I do keto as well.

My situation that drew me to low carb, was my elevated A1C which was 5.9 at the time which goes back to 2007 and at that time was 60 lbs heavier than I am now and consumed a decent diet but still enough fast food, processed foods and I was a dessert lover (sugar) and I played hockey twice a week and worked out 2 or 3 times a week as well. I started dieting by just consuming less food and counted calories and I lost weight 4 or 5 times over about a 2 year time frame, but basically was just spinning my wheels with that approach and my A1C really never did much either.

Then I changed my diet to include mostly whole food, which I was consuming to a degree but just ramped that up and that was somewhat successful although really tough getting rid of all take out and my dreaded dessert and sugar habit and again weight went up and down over the next year maybe a little more but my A1C did drop to around 5.7. My research then led me to lower carb and different diet scenario's which was also pretty tough to comply with but I did find it worked really well for my overall well being, I felt better, my A1C was in the low 5's, wasn't always thinking about food but my problem with sugar always came back to haunt me.

Finally I decided to eliminate most carbs which included all sugar and took on a ketogenic diet. That was hell, but when I was full on keto almost all of my other health concerns basically disappeared. Anyway I fell off the keto band wagon a few time over a 2 year period and all those symptoms returned, so that basically just told me it's either keto or suffer and accept it, that was about 12 years ago. Anyway as far as my A1C is concerned it's now in the mid 4's, 4.6 the last time I checked and I just did blood work last week and have an appointment with my Doc but suspect that hasn't changed. My cholesterol is fine with HDL in the 90's and my trigs in the high 30's-low 40's and even if my cholesterol wasn't I wouldn't be too concerned anyway and my calcium scan is 0, so don't care either.

MargaretYakoda

@neanderthin to be clear what I was pushing back a bit on was the idea that keto was the sole reason for Riley’s drop in A1C.
Exercise and lower - but not keto level - carb diet can also drop an A1C from 6.3 to 5.2.

I believe keto works for you and him.
But carnivore, ketovore, and keto are restrictive in a way that the majority of people would probably not be happy with.

If someone wants to do keto?
Have at. As long as they’re healthy and happy? And their medical team is signed on? No argument from me.

I was just pointing out that there are many ways to a happier, healthier life. And the path is going to be different for everyone.

For example: If I absolutely had to go on a keto diet? I would not be able to eat these amazing Chinese plum-orange peel-licorice-clove candies that I got as a birthday present, because one serving is 28 carbs.
That would not be something I personally would find acceptable. Others would likely be quite happy to give up that treat solely on the basis that it has licorice in it. 🤣

Everyone is different.
A diet as extreme as keto and no fancy plums? Or a daily dose of a medication that I happen to tolerate very well, and has a long track record of being very effective, and an occasional treat of an imported, sweet, salty, sticky, licorice and orange peel flavored plum?

I’m choosing the plum.

YMMV

neanderthin

MargaretYakoda wrote: »

@neanderthin to be clear what I was pushing back a bit on was the idea that keto was the sole reason for Riley’s drop in A1C.
Exercise and lower - but not keto level - carb diet can also drop an A1C from 6.3 to 5.2.

I believe keto works for you and him.
But carnivore, ketovore, and keto are restrictive in a way that the majority of people would probably not be happy with.

If someone wants to do keto?
Have at. As long as they’re healthy and happy? And their medical team is signed on? No argument from me.

I was just pointing out that there are many ways to a happier, healthier life. And the path is going to be different for everyone.

For example: If I absolutely had to go on a keto diet? I would not be able to eat these amazing Chinese plum-orange peel-licorice-clove candies that I got as a birthday present, because one serving is 28 carbs.
That would not be something I personally would find acceptable. Others would likely be quite happy to give up that treat solely on the basis that it has licorice in it. 🤣

Everyone is different.
A diet as extreme as keto and no fancy plums? Or a daily dose of a medication that I happen to tolerate very well, and has a long track record of being very effective, and an occasional treat of an imported, sweet, salty, sticky, licorice and orange peel flavored plum?

I’m choosing the plum.

YMMV

Where did I say everyone had to do keto and did you not read my first 2 paragraphs or understand most of my post. That's confusing, anyway take care.