pre diabetic.......devistated.

Cathalain

Type-2 diabetic here, diagnosed 9/11/12.

I had a look at your food diary. Great job of logging, for sure, much better than how I do it! But... there's a couple of things I'm seeing here that have me a bit concerned.

The cereal has to go. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that you're like me in that grains/breads/etc. are a no-no. If there's anything, anything, ANYTHING on the planet that will make my sugars go up faster than bread or cereal, I don't know what it is. Even now, with my sugars under tight control, it is VERY, very rare that I'll eat cereal. It's just that nasty on my system.

Although it's good from a nutritional standpoint to eat fruit, for a diabetic it can cause havoc. There's way more carbs in fruit than you think. Try to stay away from bananas, grapes, cherries, pineapple and oranges - very, very high in carbs. Apples, pears and grapefruit are a little better. Most berries are okay (watch out for cranberries, though).

When I was first diagnosed, I was devastated - I thought I couldn't eat anything "fun" again. Not so! But the first thing you need to do is work on getting it down - there's only two ways to do that. Eating less carbs is one. The other is exercise. (I know, I know.) But I have to tell you that exercising, for me, made ALL the difference. At first I only exercised so that I could at least increase my carbs a LITTLE so that I wouldn't have to eat cardboard for dinner. Gradually though... I came to enjoy it. So will you.

Here's a small list of the things I changed for a while:
- Joseph's brand flax wraps. It's called lavash. Looks like a big square. Cut it in half and use for sandwiches. Not as high carb as bread.
- Sugar free coffee creamer. CoffeeMate makes some great ones. Caramel macchiato is my favorite.
- Dreamfields pasta. This one is controversial, as it doesn't work for everyone, but if it does for you and you love pasta, you have hit the JACKPOT. I LOVE this stuff. Can't get enough of it. It would have KILLED me to give up pasta but now I don't have to, luckily! It's in a black box with red and yellow stripes, can be found at any grocery store.
- Go to Linda's Low Carb website and make some delicious recipes. I LOVE her "Cheesy Nacho Soup". Find it here: http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/
- I got through for a while realizing that I could have all the meat and cheese I wanted. Who doesn't love bacon? Now, eventually you'll have to rein that in, due to fat and sodium and all that, but for now, concentrate on one thing at a time. Eat meat, eat cheese, eat eggs. All delicious stuff and no carbs - what's not to love?

I would recommend Gretchen Becker's "The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes, An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed". I have a copy of it that I don't really need anymore, so if you'd like me to send it to you, I can.

And friend me if you like. I've been there, and not so long ago. I know how awful it feels. But you'll pull through, I promise.

ETA: I am a spelling bee national CHAMPIAN

Shelley6591

Just so everyone is aware type 1 is very different from type 2. My husband's nieces have been type one since they were little, it's genetic and not reversible, type 2 can be and is brought on by diet/weight. I was diagnosed with insulin resistance about 15 years ago, I started medication and lost a lot of weight, I also became pregnant since the medication is a fertility drug and no one thought to warn me. I delivered a 10 pound baby exactly a year after starting the Metformin. After that I was told to get it together by my doctor as I was only 23, I was told to exercise, eat less, consume less sugar and the biggest one for me was less carbs! I had no idea! I was told not to put anything white in my mouth i.e bread, pasta, potatoes, rice etc... that was a HUGE eye opener for me. I also limit sale just because I previously had fluid issues. Three more pregnancies and 15 years later and I'm not diabetic. This website is an amazing tool in weight loss, the logging is great since a dietician can see everything plus you can come here for support like you did!

You're on the right track, try to stay positive and once your foot is better you can get back at it! Good luck!:flowerforyou:

MizMimi111

There is A LOT of misinformation in this post. (and other replies too).

The best advice is to see a doctor/nutritionist to get you on the right path. You need to understand the disease.

You have the right attitude. You need to get proper medical advice to be successful.

Good Luck!

My mother in law had type 2, her diabetes was getting so bad they were looking to put her on insulin, this freaked her out and she COMPLETELY changed her diet. She cut red meat (not sure why), and stopped all starchy white carbs only whole grain and brown rice. She uses fiber for cooking and never uses sugar, I think she uses stevia ( if that's spelled right) . From doing this she dropped her weight to a healthy range and now tests normal, before this she was on diabetes meds and heart meds...now nothing, it really is amazing, personally I am just not a fan of her cooking now. It is fixable. Also a good rule of thumb for diabetes is if you go low follow the rule of 15, that is 15 carbs every 15 minutes till you feel better ( not perfect just OK) a half a can of soda does this In a pinch and pez candy on hand can work miracles for a diabetic with dropping blood sugar. If you go high...DO NOT GO TO SLEEP!!!! Diabetics can go into a diabetic coma from spiking and then sleeping, the best thing you can do is walk around if you have someone there, if not just at least sit up watch TV and fidget, you need to use that energy, sleeping will just allow it to build. Also you need test strips, your doctor should have given you them when he/she said prediabetic. At first you will betesting often and many test before or after eating, you will need to know your llimits to be able to avoid drugs or worst case insulin. If my stubborn mother in law worked her miracle (in months) I am sure you can too.

astrampe

As some of the others said - your carbs are way too much and of the wrong sort, and there is very little protein in your diary - change your macros to 35% protein, 35% carbs and 30% fat...
Drop the cereal - eggs on wholegrain toast is better and will last longer and not mess with your blood sugar....Stay away from refined carbs - at least eat oat oatmeal instead of cereal....
Good luck!

kikityme

You've got to watch the carbs. The only cereal I can eat is plain Cheerios, the one in the yellow box. (blaaaahhh.) I'll add 2 sliced strawberries, and that's my fruit for the day. Oatmeal is a no go for me anyway.

Bread for me was immediately removed from the equation, even whole grain.

Did the doctor put you on meds? With the Janumet, it's weird, but I don't crave the things I thought I'd kill any one here for. The other pleasant thing about Janumet? If I eat something that IS too high in carbs, yeah....all hell breaks loose intestinally speaking. That'll get you off the bread REAL quick

But you need new testing! Seriously, you can lose body parts. That was enough to scare me straight. It was hard when I thought I had been eating healthy-and truly I was, but not diabetic healthy.

PrairieSlims

Don't give up Amy!!! diabetes can be reversed through diet, exercise, water, etc. and of course MFP support!!!

QuietBloom

Well shoot, I am sorry to hear this. Cutting back on your carbs and upping your healthy fats and proteins are the best suggestion I can make. I would ask your doctor for a recommended amount of carb intake per day. And yes, you can lose weight by just laying around, so no worries. Just set yourself to sedentary in MFP.

I disagree that losing the extra weight as fast as possible is a great idea, though. No more than 2 lbs per week at maximum if you are obese, then go to 1 lb per week until you are within 15 lbs of your goal. At that point drop to a 0.5 lb per week loss.

You got this.

_Resolve_

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes November 2012, I wont bore you with the details but you can check my profile for my blog address and read about it if you want.

Here are my suggestions:

Don't be devastated, you are one of 25.8 million people in the US that have diabetes. We are a strong bunch and there are lots of advocacy and support programs out there if you need them. I can point you in the direction if you want.

Don't listen to the low carb hype but do take time a research exactly what carbs do to your bg levels.

Have an A1C done as soon as possible to get a true starting point, without knowing what your glucose has been trending at it will be impossible to measure and make changes

Once you are able to be active, get active. Try and go to the gym or out for a walk, run or cycle EVERY morning. If you burn off your glucose stores early in the day you will set yourself for success all day.

Learn to love veggies, when I first started out I was instructed to make 1/2 of my plate veggies, 1/4 protein 1/4 grain. As I started to lose more weight and get more active we started working on macros - I have eaten 1/2 of my daily macros as carbs and still have my glucose in complete control.

I could go on for days about this subject as it hits very close to home, when I was diagnosed with an A1C of 9.7% at 375 pounds I thought my life was over. It's very overwhelming, try and read up on the disease and be prepared for a hard road ahead. This isn't a death sentence like it feels like right now, use it as your reason why you want to get fit.

Welcome to the club :flowerforyou:

Point202

Hi Amy, I looked at your food diary and I can tell you straight away that the Special K breakfast cereal won't work for you. Pretzels, pizza, even with a thin crust, won't work. You may have to cut all refined carbs and even fruit sugars to get your blood sugar stable. Try switching to steel cut oats with some blueberries for breakfast. (It takes a while to cook in the morning, but if you use a rice cooker, its perfect. Put in one cup of oats to two cups of water, a little salt. Turn on the cooker, and instead of putting a lid on it, put a wooden spoon over the top, it will keep it from boiling over. I do that then go do my morning routine, 35 minutes later, breakfast!)
Don't eat any refined carbs like pretzels, pasta, sandwich rolls, cereals that aren't actual WHOLE grain. This will definitely help. DO NOT drink fruit juices or eat fruit right now except maybe some berries. Drink water, eat veggies and protein. This should really help. Best of luck to you!

I am insulin resistant (basically pre-diabetic) and have been for about 6 years. I was coming here to basically make these recommendations.

I find that for me limiting refined carbs and sugars, or substituting them for whole grain varieties is very helpful. Especially for breakfast. Instead of Special K, try a lower sugar cereal (look on the box, you'll be shocked at how much added sugar is in most cereals). Try GrapeNuts or Shredded Wheat, or some of the Kashi varieties, or a small serving of oatmeal with some peanut butter). Also substituting fruits and veggies that are lower on the Glycemic Index are better (i.e. berries instead of a banana). And when I do eat something more refined or higher in "sugar" I always eat some protein with it (a few nuts, a little bit of cheese, a glass of milk, peanut butter, etc). Basically you want your body to have to work as long as possible to digest what you're eating, so you get a slower impact on your blood sugar.

I also attempt to keep my intake at less than 45% carbs for the day. I've toyed around with what works for me, and I feel best when I'm at or about this level of carb intake. When I stray away from this too much (which I've done, hence why I'm here) I pack on the pounds and my blood sugar swings all over the place.

ETA: My diary is open to friends. You're welcome to add me as a friend if you're looking for some meal ideas.

SezxyStef

My brother has been a diabetic since he was six so I am quite familiar with what they should and shouldn't eat...

As for the foot yes, due to diabetes any foot injury has to be taken special care of due to poor circulation and healing...

Your diary...

Red berry special K...stick to regular special k...
Limit fruit intake and replace with veggies
Yogurt covered pretzles shoudl be limited as well
Instant cream of wheat - maple flavor no...
No fruit smoothies...unless you make them yourself and limit the amount of fruit
McDonalds ice cream???

to be frank you can look at your diary yourself and see the stuff that is spiking sugar...it's easy...

My brother had to stay away from starchy carbs and sweets like cookies, cakes, ice cream etc.

Not that he couldn't have them just very limited quantities...and he is 46 now and no issues at all because he has monitored himself carefully...

And yes listen to your doctor about bed rest...I wont get into details or scare you but trust me on this...get your foot healed...or you will regret it.

cebreisch

I'm considered pre-diabetic too. My husband is diabetic and has it under control now.

He started doing P90X and Insanity and got his body fat way down - his A1C came back right at 6, and his doctor told him he didn't have to take the medication anymore (obviously he's Type 2).

But it was diet and exercise, pure and simple. When he started logging on MFP, he said he couldn't believe how bad things were that he thought were reasonably healthy.

He will have cliff builder bars for either dinner and/or snacks, and tries to focus more on protein.

One of the tricks that he learned from me that he LOVES is turning a regular cheeseburger into 1/2 a double cheeseburger - cut it in half, remove half the bun, and put the protein the remaining half bun with the other 1/2 of the cheeseburger. Voila!! Helps to save carbs!! If I go to a steakhouse and get a burger, I'll order it without the bun, particularly if I want fries or a baked potato.

He also loves cashews for snacks. Usually goes by the "handful rule"....regular handful as a serving.

We order a lot of kids meals when we go places, and if it isn't a kids meal, we'll split something.

Weight Watchers has you limit your fruits to 3 fruits/day. Try to watch the intake on that.

If you like ice cream - try Skinny Cow products - they are YUMMY, and they are very food journal friendly.

One thing that's REALLY helped me is Chocolite protein bars. About 100 calories, 10g fiber, 10g protein, sugar free, gluten free...I order them from www.healthsmartfoods.com and will get a coupon code off of www.retailmenot.com for something like 15%-20% off. I like the triple chocolate fudge and the cookies-n-cream. My husband likes the cashew caramel, cookies-n-cream, and the peanut butter ones.

DucklingtoSwan

I agree with everyone here who said you need to have some blood work. You need to find out what the hard cold numbers are. I was diagnosed with type 2 in December, and got serious right after the new year. I started logging everything, though aside from being mindful of my sugar and 'white' carb intake I didn't make any huge changes. The Dr. said not to worry about checking my blood or taking insulin yet, he wanted to see if I could make any positive changes just with calorie reduction and getting some more movement in. From December to now I have lost short of 30 pounds and had new blood work done this past Friday. My fasting glucose has dropped from a whopping 242 to 138. Still high (needs to be around or below 100) but I am thrilled with the improvement. So was my Dr. I am on two Diabetes medications but he said if I keep it up I should be able to go back off them fairly soon.

my point is, like most have said here, watch those empty carbs- if you really love your cereal in the mornings, for instance (I do) look up which ones have the least impact on blood sugar spikes, Cheerios is one of the best. If that's too bland for you you can throw some berries in and still be in pretty good shape. Also, changing from white breads to whole grain and wheat wasn't that hard a transition, and I got used to it. If it meant the difference between having my crunchy English muffin once in a while or not, believe me I was willing to make the adjustment.

I am very, VERY surprised that your doctor didn't order any tests and just threw the diagnosis out there by looking at your foot. Even if he's 100% positive, a blood test should have been standard response.

I guess my point (and there is one) is, no need to be so hard on yourself about it (I know, easier said than done... I spent the holidays in a private panicked stupor) and the fact that you are trying to take control is a VERY good start. :flowerforyou:

AllOutof_Bubblegum

I am seeing a lot of carbs in your diary...try swapping out that special K cereal and oatmeal for a veggie loaded omelette, protein smoothie or cottage cheese. And if you eat oatmeal, make it steel-cut, not instant, and flavor it with fruit instead of sugar.

amysgottadothisthang

Big thanks to all that responded to my post! I really appreciate the info! I threw out the special K already!!!! No more "treats" even if they fit into my day. I am going to change this! I have to!

FitMe758

Please look into the American Diabetes Association website under "Food & Fitness"
http://www.diabetes.org/

Also the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetics Association) is a great source as well: http://www.eatright.org/

I had Gestational Diabetes, which thankfully resolved after my daughter's birth and I was under the care of a very strict Perinatologist.
So his advice to me will probably be very different than what you need. But the two resources above are great.

There are also fantastic magazines that you can get from your local library with a TON of recipes and ides (free for e-readers) or by subscription.

drojen

I don't have any words of wisdom, but I wanted to save this post for myself since I was also told I was pre-diabetic. I'd gotten it under control by cutting out all sugary snacks and making sure to eat high fibre, whole grains etc. however, lately, I've been allowing the sugary snacks to sneak back into my diet. I needed this reminder of what can happen if I don't keep things under control, so I thank you for this post. I'm sorry you are dealing with this, but you seem to have gotten some great advice here. Good luck to you.

SraArroz

No real words of wisdom here, I'm also a fairly newly diagnosed diabetic and am trying to get healthy so I can control my diabetes with diet and exercise and avoid the insulin that would most likely be in my future. Just know that you're not alone and that there is some really good information on here. I need to look for that book that was recommended about being a newly diagnosed diabetic. I've been on the Sugar Smart Diet and it has helped my numbers. Although I'm rethinking the bananas I bought today after reading some of the posts.

LosingItForGood13

also read up on dash diet which is a great diet and u already have most of the food in your house already nothing outrageous

gonesewing

I suspected my daughter (who is 13) is insulin resistant/pre diabetic because she gains weight so easily. So about 8 weeks ago or so I totally change our meal plan to a refined sugar free/white flour free house. It has worked out fantastic. She eats 6 times a day, 3 meals, three snacks and is losing about 1/2 lb a week. She thinks the diet is great, she told me she is eating more flavourful foods and just plain more food now than before, she is NEVER hungry. We still have pizza, had it tonight actually, but I made the dough myself with whole wheat pastry floor and just a bit of honey to activate the yeast, with low fat cheese, onions, sun dried tomatoes, bacon etc. One of things I always make sure is to ALWAYS combine any type of carb with fiber and protein. She still eats a lot of fruit (she is still only a kid, so I never limit that) but I always pair it with fiber and protein. Hummus is an excellent source of fiber and she has that a lot. My daughter loves food so I used that to my advantage and she likes almost everything (except green beans :P) and will try almost anything. I never give her smoothies because I want her to eat and chew all her food. Slow down the process so that the sugar she does get her body has to work for it. I also downsized all our meal plates, we eat from the smaller ones now, the whole family does. I follow the 1/2 veggie, 1/4 carb, 1/4 protein per plate idea as well, with a salad.

It is a lot of work, but can be done. Initially, I spent hours and hours in the grocery store reading labels (there is SO MUCH crap out there, I think there are over 15 different names for sugar :P) but now it is much less. I still have to really label watch when trying new stuff, but I have a good basis now. I also cook much simpler so spend less time in the actual kitchen. There are a lot of sugar free recipes out there on the internet and sometimes only need a small change to make it work, like for meatloaf, my recipe uses rolled oats instead of bread crumbs.

Good luck!