Pre-diabetes/diabetes. What has worked for you

I have been diagnosed as a pre-diabetic, I have been working with a nutritionist that recommends the plate method, where half of your plate is veggies/fruit, 1/4 carbs and 1/4 meat. She also says keep it under 45grams of carbs for each meal/snack.

Use to be type 2 with a lot of work i changes that to being diabetic free Changing my food habits didn't do it alone for me. Working out played a huge part. After i lost 44 lbs I was not longer type 2. It can be done and it does take time and a lot of hard work and self disciplined

I'm not in ketosis, but omitting all grain, dairy, sugar, and salt has given me better health than I've ever had.

My diet is mainly vegetables, eggs and egg whites, unsalted mixed nuts and berries or green apples.

My last two a1cs have been solid average, and my blood sugar has been below 100 on all recent blood tests.

I have also reversed prehypertension.

Aside from a few struggles during Thanksgiving and Christmas, I typically have no cravings or binging. I feel much more peaceful when I am eating well.

I did not "cut down" on unhealthy eating, I just stopped cold. If you have enough determination to stay off pharmaceuticals, you will not find it difficult.

Two weeks ago today I received the results of some lab work that indicated that I was insulin resistant. My fasting glucose was only 81. What made them determine that I was insulin resistant was the triglycerides level of 153 and the LDL-p number was through the roof. So in the last two weeks I have gone low carb higher fat, but I have no idea how low carb I should go and whether to count total carbs or net carbs. My total carbs have varied from a low of 40 grams per day to 75 grams a day.
I have tried to eat a much higher fat diet, but I don't do well with too many animal fats.

How do I figure out how many carbs/proteins/fats to eat each day? Any advice that anyone could offer would be appreciated. I am going to also increase my exercise, but I gave had eye surgery and can't go all out yet. Also, I have to stay on 1200 cal/day.

I love hearing about all the positive changes that people are making! Angie, I think you'll get the most information by asking your doctor for a referral to a registered dietitian to help you sort out the best type of eating plan for you. Also, you might try using more of the healthier vegetable fats such as canola or olive oil. Staying within a 1200 calorie meal plan and balancing everything will take a bit of time, and working with an RD will be helpful. ~Lynn /Glucerna

I totally agree with visiting a dietician! I was diagnosed with Type 2 back in April. My doctor put me in touch with the local hospitals Diabetes Management class. I credit it with me being able to stay off medication for the diabetes. And it wasn't a matter of cutting out carbs. The dietician put me on 165g carbs a day. It was a matter of when I ate the carbs, no stockpiling them. 45 for breakfast, 15 for mid-morning snack, 45 for lunch, 15 for afternoon snack, 45 for dinner and 30 for a night time snack (crazy I know!) but my blood sugar dropped significantly. I was concentrating on the amount of carbs I wasn't paying attention to the number of calories I was intaking, until I started using myfitnesspal and my fitbit, to count calories did I start losing significant amount of weight. I have lost 30lbs since June using diet and exercise.

please please watch you tube video by Dr Joel Fuhrman... and i bought the book..EAT TO LIVE..i have been a type 2 diabetic since Jan of 2005...i have done every diabetic diet known to man....

i know you have read about low carb and you can really eat some great stuff...you can eat butter sausage ham steak mayo lots and lots of fat...i have done that one many times its a life killer...this is just my opinion...there are a lot of people who do it but if you really do the research, all that fat especially animal fat is and will kill you.... i always went on low carb when i wanted to eat crap...fat fat fat.....

i know you can find 100 people who love low carb and 100 who dont...you got to do the one that works for you...bottom line...we got to lose weight and get ourselves healthy...

if you want to eat all that fat and think that will heal you, do it....but please just watch Joel Fuhrman videos.... Im doing it now ..its a plant based diet very low fat ..adn my blood sugar numbers are dropping drastically... i lost 6 pounds just in the first 2 days....

one last time...do what you feel is right...but i have done the low carb and had blood work done and i have done the plantbased diet and had the same blood work done and my doctor was amazed at my blood work when i did the plantbased.... the numbers dont lie...

i actually lost 29 pounds in 2 weeks on this plant based diet.... EAT TO LIVE...lots and lots of great food.... please check it out....

holler back if you want to talk..i always love fellow diabetes friends....

Bill

570 odd days ago I started here, a month into being dx'd with T2. My insurance was the pits, could test 1x daily, could take ONE class or meeting in a year only.

Started on 1450 calories/140 or so carbs, now eating 1250 calories. I was taking Metformin 500mg twice a day.

For me it also was dropping the pounds. Once they dropped, exercise kicked in, am now walking and working on running

Not only do I no longer take Metformin but I am no longer on the 2 meds I was taking for hypertension and the 2 for cholesterol. I'm a tip toe from being in the healthy BMI range (for the first time in decades) My M.D says I no longer am considered to be a diabetic, have hypertension or cholesterol issues.

I did not drastically change what I was eating just the amount (i.e I don't eat clean, I do eat junk food and I do eat out, I'm a chocoholic). I do weigh & measure everything and I pre plan/pre log my meals so I know where I stand before the day even starts.

You definitely have to experiment to see what works for YOU and more importantly what YOU can adhere to.

Low carb/high fat/moderate protein is what has worked for me...and it worked very quickly and (mostly) painlessly

My A1c at diagnosis was 7.3 It has been below 5.7 at every test since then and is currently (as of 11/27/13) 5.1. I quit taking medications 6 months ago

My lipid panel since LCHF is pretty dang good
Your Total Cholesterol of 162 is DESIRABLE
Your LDL of 93 is OPTIMAL
Your HDL of 57 is NORMAL
Your Triglyceride level of 62 is NORMAL
Your Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 2.84 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) IDEAL
Your LDL/HDL ratio is: 1.632 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 2.0) IDEAL
Your triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 1.088 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) IDEAL

I use a glucometer to determine which foods are a good idea and which foods I should step back from. Basically, rather than following a set number of carbs per meal, you evaluate a particular meal using meter readings before eating and then at your peak.


http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php ( This is the bloodsugar101 site that under tight control diabetics know about - I also HIGHLY recommend reading the rest of this site!!)

http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/test-review-adjust.html (Alan is a frequent poster on the ADA forums at diabetes.org and his blog is also very helpful and plain speaking)




Technique for eating to your meter:

Establish your target range for blood sugar levels.(http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045621.php) Commit to keeping your blood sugar under this level.
Test right before eating. Log the reading.
Test again one hour after your first bite, and log the reading along with what and how much you ate. This is assumed to be about the highest peak - the spike - from the meal.
Test a third time two hours after your first bite. This is hoped to show your blood sugar dropping back to roughly what it was before the meal. If it is, you're showing a good second phase insulin response. If it is not, you should continue testing until you find your blood sugar beginning to drop.

Analyzing these readings along with the foods you've eaten enables you to see which foods have the worst effect on your blood sugar, so you can avoid consuming them in the future.

It's fair to give each meal a second chance, in case there could be an outside influence on the elevated reading, but after two or three experiments, it is wise to avoid or sharply restrict the foods which drastically spike your blood sugar. After several weeks of extensive testing this way, you'll have compiled a personalized list of foods you can eat safely, for the most part. Not saying things don't change, and foods which were safe at one time could become troublesome later (and thankfully, the reverse as well), but for the most part, eating to your meter is an excellent way to control diabetes and keep side effects at bay.

Good luck!