A big surprise and quick results
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carbonaut
Posts: 3
I've been with MFP for three days after being diagnosed as pre-diabetic 9 days ago. A big shock and rather scary as I have recently met somebody with Diabetes who had a fairly hopeless management process for his illness.
For people here I'll just tell you some background and how I've lived and eaten.....and then I'll let you guys know how I've dealt with the problem. It may help, it may not but it's been illuminating for me.
I'm 59 years old, I was bought up in London and back in the day we only ate fresh, homemade food. I was lucky enough to have Grand Parents who lived on a small farm in Devon UK and it effectively provided fresh veg, chickens, eggs, milk and cream. Devon is a County rich in great food.
So my diet was a rich and a natural healthy table provided for me all the way until I left home at 18 years old. I was 6'2" tall and 11 stone 8oz's then as I'am to this day. BMI 22.4 Hips 32" Waist 34"
My diet pretty much continued on those lines, with the introduction of the occasional Pizza, Chinese take away, and the ubiquitous indian Curry and plenty of good Wine, mostly red and great English Beer.
Time passes, I was an amateur footballer for 15 years, fit and healthy, food fashions, circumstances and budgets began to develop a structure to my diet.
Pasta, Olive Oil, Garlic, Onion, Salads, Herbs, Roasted Meats, Roasted Root Vegetables, al dente fresh veg, sauces and stocks finished with butter, Wholewheat Breads, Homemade Sour Dough Breads, Steaks, Fresh Fish and Seafood.
I worked for Ryder Truck Rental back in the seventies and my job took me into a British Sugar Corporation Refinary and as a result I have never eaten sugar, sugary drinks, not many biscuits or cakes, so I don't eat manufactured food and never have done.
So forty years on my local Doctors surgery ask me to complete two Fasting Blood tests for Glucose and I return marginal levels of 6.9 mmol/l or for those who use this measurement 124.3 mg/dl. ( Covert mmol/l to mg/dl x .0.555 or mg/dl to mmo/l x 18.0182)
So by their analysis I was Pre-diabetic. I had no idea what this meant, I was told to eat smaller meals, more of them, and not to change my diet. I was encourged to eat starch, flour, pasta.
I did my research on Day Zero and by Day One I had a new regime; I stopped eating anything with flour in it, no potato,no starch, no animal fats, and as always no sugar.
I've never eaten Breakfast, I don't snack, I have always had a light lunch and a big dinner. So I took the advice and now eat four smaller meals a day. I've always eaten one big meal a day. But the new regime needed to be bent into a new plan.
A smoothie first thing, An Omelette and something- spinach-cheese-tomato-mushrooms filling mid morning, a late lunch around 2pm and supper around 7pm is what I've done for 8 days.
I've hooked into Cinnamon, Tumeric, and other Indian foods. Samba's, Dhals, Indian Vegetables - Okra- green beans-ginger-garlic-plus some that I have no idea what they are...little gourds plus all their different seeds and spices.
For the first 5 days I had no dietry or nutritional matrix to use, but I followed the regime of products left out as described.
A few shocks, I ate a bar of chocolate, drank a Bottle of Red Wine, and the changes may have thrown my blood sugars into chaos. Or alternatively perhaps I was getting withdrawal symptoms. I actually thought I was Diabetic and considered owning up to the Doctor.
I had a Glucose testing gizmo ( Free from ABBOT Freestyle ) and I tested myself up to six times a day and my readings where challenging. 9.6, 8.8, 9.7, 7,6, 6.6, 13.8, 12.4 and then a slight reduction down to 7.7, 6,5......Thankfully I ran out of testing strips and refused to pay £25.00 for 50 but managed to get 100 for £12.00 on ebay but they took another two days to arrive.
That 48 hours I happily continued with the regime, I felt like I was at death's door on occasion and then extremely well, most odd.
So I've got the new strips and I've nervously test my blood twice today .....6.7; - half an hour after a Banana, Oats, Cinammon and fresh ginger Smoothie made with 3.5% full fat yoghurt and 6oz of semi skilled milk........5.6;- 2 hours after a fresh croissant filled with 2oz of cheese and half a tomato and finally 5.2; 2 hours after a 3 Egg Omelette filled with 2oz of cheese....
I think I've cracked it so I'm going to persevere with NO FLOUR, NO SUGAR, NO POTATO, NO RICE/STARCH in any form.
Very Simple for me, I'm sure for many it will be harder but I suspect there's some value in this regime. I live in a multi-racial part of a cosmopolitan City....the Halal butcher and the Indian Deli are my daily library now as I build a small portfolio of foods that cure and feed.
It's not my nature to get "foruming" but here's my story, thank you for reading it!
For people here I'll just tell you some background and how I've lived and eaten.....and then I'll let you guys know how I've dealt with the problem. It may help, it may not but it's been illuminating for me.
I'm 59 years old, I was bought up in London and back in the day we only ate fresh, homemade food. I was lucky enough to have Grand Parents who lived on a small farm in Devon UK and it effectively provided fresh veg, chickens, eggs, milk and cream. Devon is a County rich in great food.
So my diet was a rich and a natural healthy table provided for me all the way until I left home at 18 years old. I was 6'2" tall and 11 stone 8oz's then as I'am to this day. BMI 22.4 Hips 32" Waist 34"
My diet pretty much continued on those lines, with the introduction of the occasional Pizza, Chinese take away, and the ubiquitous indian Curry and plenty of good Wine, mostly red and great English Beer.
Time passes, I was an amateur footballer for 15 years, fit and healthy, food fashions, circumstances and budgets began to develop a structure to my diet.
Pasta, Olive Oil, Garlic, Onion, Salads, Herbs, Roasted Meats, Roasted Root Vegetables, al dente fresh veg, sauces and stocks finished with butter, Wholewheat Breads, Homemade Sour Dough Breads, Steaks, Fresh Fish and Seafood.
I worked for Ryder Truck Rental back in the seventies and my job took me into a British Sugar Corporation Refinary and as a result I have never eaten sugar, sugary drinks, not many biscuits or cakes, so I don't eat manufactured food and never have done.
So forty years on my local Doctors surgery ask me to complete two Fasting Blood tests for Glucose and I return marginal levels of 6.9 mmol/l or for those who use this measurement 124.3 mg/dl. ( Covert mmol/l to mg/dl x .0.555 or mg/dl to mmo/l x 18.0182)
So by their analysis I was Pre-diabetic. I had no idea what this meant, I was told to eat smaller meals, more of them, and not to change my diet. I was encourged to eat starch, flour, pasta.
I did my research on Day Zero and by Day One I had a new regime; I stopped eating anything with flour in it, no potato,no starch, no animal fats, and as always no sugar.
I've never eaten Breakfast, I don't snack, I have always had a light lunch and a big dinner. So I took the advice and now eat four smaller meals a day. I've always eaten one big meal a day. But the new regime needed to be bent into a new plan.
A smoothie first thing, An Omelette and something- spinach-cheese-tomato-mushrooms filling mid morning, a late lunch around 2pm and supper around 7pm is what I've done for 8 days.
I've hooked into Cinnamon, Tumeric, and other Indian foods. Samba's, Dhals, Indian Vegetables - Okra- green beans-ginger-garlic-plus some that I have no idea what they are...little gourds plus all their different seeds and spices.
For the first 5 days I had no dietry or nutritional matrix to use, but I followed the regime of products left out as described.
A few shocks, I ate a bar of chocolate, drank a Bottle of Red Wine, and the changes may have thrown my blood sugars into chaos. Or alternatively perhaps I was getting withdrawal symptoms. I actually thought I was Diabetic and considered owning up to the Doctor.
I had a Glucose testing gizmo ( Free from ABBOT Freestyle ) and I tested myself up to six times a day and my readings where challenging. 9.6, 8.8, 9.7, 7,6, 6.6, 13.8, 12.4 and then a slight reduction down to 7.7, 6,5......Thankfully I ran out of testing strips and refused to pay £25.00 for 50 but managed to get 100 for £12.00 on ebay but they took another two days to arrive.
That 48 hours I happily continued with the regime, I felt like I was at death's door on occasion and then extremely well, most odd.
So I've got the new strips and I've nervously test my blood twice today .....6.7; - half an hour after a Banana, Oats, Cinammon and fresh ginger Smoothie made with 3.5% full fat yoghurt and 6oz of semi skilled milk........5.6;- 2 hours after a fresh croissant filled with 2oz of cheese and half a tomato and finally 5.2; 2 hours after a 3 Egg Omelette filled with 2oz of cheese....
I think I've cracked it so I'm going to persevere with NO FLOUR, NO SUGAR, NO POTATO, NO RICE/STARCH in any form.
Very Simple for me, I'm sure for many it will be harder but I suspect there's some value in this regime. I live in a multi-racial part of a cosmopolitan City....the Halal butcher and the Indian Deli are my daily library now as I build a small portfolio of foods that cure and feed.
It's not my nature to get "foruming" but here's my story, thank you for reading it!
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Replies
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Thanks for telling your story. I was just diagnosed as prediabetic also, which was a surprise to me. I have been conscious of my blood sugar, not skipping meals or eating a lot of sweets or carbs at once. It does run in my family on my father's side, though. My cholesterol had been border line, so when my blood results came back, I was surprised that my cholesterol was in the normal range, but my glucose levels were high. This is a wake-up call for me. I am eating better than I ever have, lots of veggies, watching my portions. This site really helps!0
