Pre-Diabetic???

wonderish
wonderish Posts: 89 Member
Just found out from my doctors assistant after blood work that I have a impaired glucose tolerance and high triglycerides.... I have a apt booked for Friday - but of course my mind is racing now.... i get the be active part...but what about food??

Replies

  • I am glad you are going for an appointment. The food diary is not so bad. It takes time to get used to eating the right carbs at the right times to keep the blood sugar from going to high or low. It is well worth the time spent to attend pre-diabetic sessions at your clinc or hospital if they offer them. My husband started out with a AC1 number of 9 which is really high. He has been holding at an AC! of 6 to 5.6 which is normal numbers. It took a year for us to really grap our heads around the food diary. Now it is second nature to use and he is doing wonderful. I wish you good luck. Help is out there for you but.,you need to want to make some life changes to your eating habit. Good Luck.... I'm pulling for you. It is not as bad at you might be imaging.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    Eating a low carb diet will help get your blood sugar under control and lower your triglycerides. LCHF is a great plan that lays out the foods you should be eating and what you should limit and it's easy to adjust for the amount of carbs you can tolerate. A good place to start is just trying to keep your carbs under a 100g a day and see how you do.

    A lot of people (including me) have to go lower than that but since you're so young you might be able to get by eating more especially if you're exercising which helps a great deal all by itself. Good luck, I know you'll do great with diet and exercise. Here's a link to get you started:

    LCHF for Beginners
    http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
    Eating a low carb diet will help get your blood sugar under control and lower your triglycerides. LCHF is a great plan that lays out the foods you should be eating and what you should limit and it's easy to adjust for the amount of carbs you can tolerate. A good place to start is just trying to keep your carbs under a 100g a day and see how you do.

    A lot of people (including me) have to go lower than that but since you're so young you might be able to get by eating more especially if you're exercising which helps a great deal all by itself. Good luck, I know you'll do great with diet and exercise. Here's a link to get you started:

    LCHF for Beginners
    http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

    Seconding this. A low carb, high fat diet is the best way to go with someone with glucose intolerance and high triglycerides. Check out my diary if you want.
  • Hey There,
    I'm a type 1 diabetic for 23 plus years....If you don't mind me adding this.....stick to a healthy (low GI diet)...you need all your carbs, proteins, fats, but all in moderation and portion of course. You can check foods that are low on the glycemic index ....Check out the Canadian healthy food eating guide. Diabetes, pre or not....eating is about balance,...ensuring your body gets all the required nutrients to produce energy and fuel us for activity. Good luck, and I hope all goes well....
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Just found out from my doctors assistant after blood work that I have a impaired glucose tolerance and high triglycerides.... I have a apt booked for Friday - but of course my mind is racing now.... i get the be active part...but what about food??

    Impaired glucose tolerance - eat less glucose including less starch (a polymer of glucose). Less fruit, cereals, bread, pasta, potato, pizza, chips, crisps, cookies, cakes.
  • MyJourney1960
    MyJourney1960 Posts: 1,133 Member
    can i just add that please please please take care of this. My (now ex) husband was prediabetic for a while and he ended up being a full blown diabetic - it is a shame because it could have been avoided had he started to take care of himself.
  • Snooozie
    Snooozie Posts: 3,461 Member
    Check out the posts in this group particularly the intro - there is a lot of great info and resources on diet and nutrition re keeping your blood sugars down and level - excellent info to educate yourself and hopefully avoid you having to join the group down the road! congrats on taking the steps to better health! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/1772-type-2-diabetes-support-group.
  • hannahthesoundgirl
    hannahthesoundgirl Posts: 15 Member
    I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic at the beginning of 2012. I think I was barely there anyway--she only put me on the lowest dose of Metformin once a day. I had been tired all the time and not feeling that great and the Metformin really helped me be awake and feel like myself again. It was nice. This year, my family and I decided to have a weight-loss competition. I've been working on losing weight and working on getting in shape. In April I ran out of Metformin and my doctor wouldn't refill my prescription without re-checking my bloodwork to make sure we were still where we should be. I'd been off it for a while by the time I got in to the office and my bloodwork came back great! So now I'm off medicine and just using diet and exercise to combat pre-diabetes. It can be taken care of and maybe even reversed if you do what you're supposed to do. It is much better to catch it now than later.
  • 19bulldog60
    19bulldog60 Posts: 96 Member
    YOU CAN BEAT THIS ! I was told that I was a prediabetic with a AIC = 6.9% and a high triglycerides = 254. I read a book called "Prediabetes for Dummies" by Dr. Alan Rubin which helped me greatly. The book explains the signs, causes, health risks, and treatments available. Also has suggestions on meal plans, what food to eat and exercise tips to reverse prediabetes. Good read. I started following a 50% carbs (good carbs) / 30% protein / 20 % fats and set my marco to lose 1.5 pounds per week. My excercise was walking . After 6 months, I lost 36 pounds and my AIC was 5.4% and my Trig. was at 70. GOOD LUCK !!!!! YOU CAN DO THIS !!!
  • kenzietate
    kenzietate Posts: 399 Member
    I am pre-diabetic. The only way I have been able to lose weight and control my blood sugar levels is by eating low carb. I follow the Ketogenic diet (do not use for type one diabetes). I have been on 1500 mg of metformin for the last 4 years and after only a month of eating Keto I have had to reduce my dosage b/c I it is causing my blood sugar to go too low. Previously when I was testing my blood sugar I was getting around 115 mg fasting and 130+ for after meals. With metformin they were closer to 110 and 120. Now with the reduced metformin they are 90 mg fasting and 108 after eating. I love it! There are two groups on here Reddit Keto and xxKeto (ladies on keto) that have info on keto.

    Some other resources:
    http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/

    http://www.reddit.com/r/xxketo/
  • happycauseIride
    happycauseIride Posts: 536 Member
    I also was diagnosed as Pre-Diabetic on Aug 2 of last year. Doc wanted to put me on Metformin and meds for high BP. Cholesterol and Tryglycerides we all high as well. I'm 38, I felt like crap, weighed 284, but didn't want to be put on meds so she told me to lose 10% of my body weight. I have diabetes and heart troubles in my family history and it was enough to kick me into gear. I went back for blood work last November, was down 30 lbs and all numbers were within acceptable range. Checked again in March and they got even better. No longer pre-diabetic and BP was great. No meds needed. I am on thyroid meds and have been since 2006.

    You can beat this. Get moving and eat healthy. Simple as that. I walk every day. I don't follow low carb, high protein or anything like that. I still eat pizza from time to time and an occasional candy bar. But I also eat veggies, salads and cut out pop and drink lots of water.

    Good luck.
  • allisonrinkel
    allisonrinkel Posts: 224 Member
    Definitely try your hardest to lower your levels using a healthy diet. I work for a specialist and a LOT of people get put on Insulin and other meds because doctors hardly seem to know what a healthy diet is. I would hate to see you put on medications that will likely only make you feel crummy and have to be put on even more. I see it every day, and it breaks my heart!! Best wishes, I hope you are able to nip this in the bud!!
  • TheBitSlinger
    TheBitSlinger Posts: 621 Member
    Just found out from my doctors assistant after blood work that I have a impaired glucose tolerance and high triglycerides.... I have a apt booked for Friday - but of course my mind is racing now.... i get the be active part...but what about food??

    In re: the "get active" bit, recent research has conclusively shown that regular, cardio-positive exercise will cause cells to create new receptors for insulin. For type 2 diabetics (insulin resistant), that is AWESOME news. If you're pre-diabetic, I'm guessing on you're on track for type 2 diabetes.

    I beat type 2 diabetes by doing 3 simple things:

    1) Avoid high gylcemic foods (Google the "gylcemic index" or just read *Sugar Busters!*). The more refined/processed the carb, the higher its GI is.
    2) Restricting calories.
    3) Regular exercise (I do 3.5 miles a day on an elliptical), but especially strength/resistance training. Strength training creates new muscle cells. More cells mean more consumption of blood glucose molecules. All cells, including fat cells, consume glucose, but muscle cells burn the most.

    And by "beat", I mean I went from insulin-dependence (6 shots per day) to requiring no insulin and no oral medications.
  • wonderish
    wonderish Posts: 89 Member
    Thanks everyone for all the responses!

    I am taking this very serious. I know this can be beat by living a healthy life style... So im going to do just that!! :)
  • ngyoung
    ngyoung Posts: 311 Member
    Got my trigs down from 174 to 74 eating low carb. My glucose wasn't bad yet. Just be aware going low carb doesn't mean swapping high carbage junk with low carb junk. Once you get away from most refined sugar and carbs you will definitely feel better and managing hunger gets much easier.
  • TheFitnessTutor
    TheFitnessTutor Posts: 356 Member
    low carb, and start lifting weights...while getting in adequate calories.