Finding it difficult to limit carbs

I've good some bad news/good news for you here. Of course, your results may vary and you most certainly should follow your doctor's advice over that of internet strangers.

First the bad news. I was diagnosed with diabetes back in 2017. I was put on the low carb diet and yes I had to stick to it. It was hard but not impossible. It just takes a lot of planning at first but in a month or two it will be a lot easier since you will be more familiar with what you like and what you don't.

Now for the good news. I lost over 150 pounds since 2017 and my blood sugar has dropped so drastically that I don't even pay attention to my carbs any more. I've discussed this with my doctor and she is fine with it as long as my blood sugar doesn't go up. I still eat lower carbs than I did before being diagnosed with diabetes but then again, I eat lower everything since then.

Diabetes is no joke. If your doctor has directed you to limit carbs, you should follow that advice to the best of your ability. Did you get any guidelines for that? As in, how many carbs you should be aiming for? Personally, I would not jump on the keto train, but there are people who have some success with it. Maybe ask your doctor for a referral to a nutritionist?

Listen to your doctor. If you find you lack self-control then get therapy to help you learn self-discipline. Your life is not worth bread.

What are you doing for exercise?

"Pre-diabetes" means you have "peripheral insulin resistance". You have been eating enough carbohydrate that your insulin level has been staying high. Because of the constant stimulus of insulin telling your muscles to uptake sugar, without corresponding burning off of the sugar they have soaked up, your muscles have down-regulated the number of insulin receptors they have, to 'turn down the noise' of the constant insulin level that resulted from a combination of over-eating and possibly of eating round-the-clock. There's some implication of high fructose corn syrup as well but that mechanism hasn't been worked out yet.

In normal people insulin levels drop off overnight; you need to give your body an opportunity to do this for your muscles to have a chance to up-regulate the number of insulin receptors they have. So don't eat after 8 pm (water is okay). In addition you need to exercise daily to clear out all the glucose that your muscles have already pulled out of your blood (and stored internally as glycogen) so that your muscles 'want' to uptake more glucose again. Only by exercising daily can your muscles get the biological signal to regain sensitivity to insulin and start uptaking sugar at an appropriate rate when insulin levels are within the normal range instead of elevated as they are now.

So. Count calories. Eat only non-grain non-potato non-rice non-taro non-tapioca carbs (those all have a high glycemic index-quick absorption that spikes blood sugar followed by insulin). Regard corn syrup as a poison. Don't eat after 8 pm. And exercise like crazy.

PS: be suspicious of non-heirloom corn as well--modern eating corn has been bred to be extra sweet, and corn tends to do that by being high in fructose. There's some fructose in fruit too but nowhere near as much. "dose" matters.

I'd ask for a referral to a registered dietitian. I've never heard of keto being necessary for pre-diabetes, it's not even the default recommendation for actual T2D, and many people on MFP have controlled T2D without medication or gone into remission (not getting into the debate on that) by controlling carbs and sticking to moderate carbs eaten with fiber and protein, but not even going fully low carb.

I don't have IR or T2D, but I enjoy eating lowish carb from time to time (around 100 g to 120 g), and that did not require me to cut out fruit or starchy carbs, just watch portions.

Did the doctor say lower your carbs or do keto, they are two different things. I would ask them for a clarification and/or an appointment with a registered dietitian.

I am also not a doctor, but I'd recommend consulting a registered dietician, as your doctor seems to be not giving you generally accepted advice. The truth is just because someone is a doctor does not make them automatically an expert on all things medical.

The biggest thing you could probably do yourself, both for pre-diabetes and overall health, is lose weight. If you have 100 to lose, losing that would likely make a significant difference.

Hannahwalksfar wrote: »

I’m just going to tell myself that all the woos mean the people love my advice

I have gotten woo'd every time I've suggested following a doctor's instructions or deferring to his/her expertise, as you did in this thread. It's just a thing here, I guess.

It’s like doctors shouldn’t even exist according to the majority of posters here. Bit concerning really.

Ask for a referral to a dietician.

In the meantime, look into something like the Mediterranean Diet, which has better long term compliance rates, as well as good results for diabetes.

If you have weight to lose, losing that weight will usually help pre-diabetes, no matter which diet you use to lose.

I have full on diabetes and I can manage it with exercise and a diet that includes occasional carbs. I eat a very keto like diet when I need to get my blood glucose into the normal range (like this week, since I went ahead and had the bread and the cobbler on Sunday), but can eat a few more carbs when I am stable. This also means that it can be helpful to use an upcoming occasion to stick to my plan. "Oh, I can't have any unplanned carbs this week, because I am going to Sunday brunch!"