According to my diabetes educator, you can drink sugar-free but do not eat anything listed sugar-free because it still uses some form of sugar alcohols and those could be worse than the real thing. I have never tested this or tried out her theory - if I want something, I make an allowance for it. Also, one serving is considered 15g carbs, not one serving of what the box says.

When I was first diagnosed I was given a meal plan of 1,500 calories and told to look at consuming 45-60g carbs per meal, no snacking. If you look at it that way, you could have meals maxing out at 45g carbs and that gives you three 15g carbs for three snacks throughout the day.

It's great that you're making changes and looking for ways to help improve your health. Ask your doctor about any pre-diabetes education programs in your area. www.diabetes.org has good information on pre-diabetes as well as an overall healthy diet. Keep making small changes one at a time, and you'll see progress. ~Lynn /Glucerna

Dear OP

I was diagnosed as a diabetic on Oct. 21 2013 - this was after a fight for the last 4+ years with the pre-diabetic status. I would fluctuate and go up and down on the weight just by eatting salads and watching the intake during the day, but at night i had major control issues. Eventually i topped out at 370 lbs a month before 32nd b-day this year. While i made some effort to change, i failed and was diagnosed anyway.

Since then, I made the commitment to not only speak with my dietician and nurse educator to get the intake under control, but i joined this site, and above all else, STARTED getting active. I started out doing 1 mile walks daily during the week and 3 mile walks on the weekend. So far i have logged approx 50 miles total walking distance, and with the snow here, at least 10+ hours of shoveling (Even committed to keeping the snowblower in storage and focusing on doing it the old fashion way!). While i have had some difficulty, the thing that i believe to have helped the most was getting active more than anything! The results speak for themselves. One month after my D-day, I was down almost 20 lbs, plus shaved 20 points off my BP and even lowered my pulse rate about 15 bpm. Todays weight in brings me to a total of 32 lbs lost! I have energy again, and on top of that, my wedding ring fits for the first time in 5+ years!!!

Find a friend or many to help you on this journey. It may be too late for me and others like me, but if we can help save one brother or sister from the life we now face, I know many would be happy to help!

CK!

What a powerful message! I really like the ways you've found to include physical activity in your daily routine. ~Lynn /Glucerna