Type 2 Diagnosed prediabetic,and struggling

Hello and welcome to the forum. Tagging @daisy1 for the info pack offered to all newcomers.

May I ask if you have raised the amount of healthy fats in your diet to offset the energy that you used to get from carbs? When we lower our carb intake we must turn to fats for energy and because we steer clear of processed foods we can sometimes lack salt in the diet so you could try increasing the amount slightly and see what happens. I increased my protein intake slightly to stop weight loss and so far it has worked.

Diagnosis comes as a blow but your HbA1c is not irreversible. We will be able to help you tweak your diet to get more favourable results, I'm sure.

Have a wander around the forum and ask as many questions as you like.

craig55 said:

A depressed newbie here,so apologies for the wings in advance.
I was diagnosed just inside the range of pre diabetic(42) in June of this year. I should not have been surprised as my mother at the age of 77 was diagnosed pre diabetic,and my father at 76 diabetic, but being told the news I was shocked to say the least. I had been known to eat a large bar of chocolate several times a week.and often cakes and biscuits. I would even wake in the night and crave sugar. Well that has all stopped. I was the tested in September to find that although not officially pre diabetic I had only come down to 41. I felt the reading must be wrong as I had I thought been so careful. Since then what I eat has taken over my life,and has made me so depressed. I have lost in total from being diagnosed almost a stone and look and feel terrible. I have always been slim for my height but with trying to be even more careful what I eat I am still loosing weight.
On the whole when I test my blood sugars they don’t seem too bad until I have a generous helping of potatoes. The carbs help to fill me up but are obviously a no no unless in moderation.
I am struggling on all sides and feel terrible. I have never been one to enjoy cooking btw.
Can anyone suggest simple ways of increasing my weight to keep inline with keeping my blood sugars under control.
Thanks in advance

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The carbs are what you have trouble processing, as practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested. Hence the spike when you eat potatoes. For the first few weeks/months after diagnosis I felt rather lost, more depressed than is usual for me, and all I had to think of all day was food and how it would affect me. Not quite obsessive, but close enough for government work. I'm no cook, I hardly can boil an egg, but I eat in a low carb way, which does indeed make you lose weight. BUT, whenever I eat enough nuts my weightloss stalls. So it's a matter of finding the right balance between fats, protein and carbs. (Ditch the carbs, up the other two.). Your HbA1c isn't exactly dramatic, you're not a T2 yet, and you could probably avoid becoming one in a good long while, it not entirely. Check dietdoctor.com for ideas. And as for potatoes filling you up, try adding cauliflower rice to the menu in its stead, with bacon and cheese. It's filling and low carb. So are eggs, cans of tuna or salmon (don't eat the can, just the contents), avocado, stuff like that... Extra meat, extra helpings of veggies?

Try to find a way of eating that is sustainable for you. Not just in how it affects your bloodsugar, but also how it makes you feel; find some joy in eating again. I rather enjoy my meals... Bacon and eggs with cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, and/or sausages sound good? Leafy green salad with tuna, mayonaise, capers, avocado, olives? Or a salad with slightly melted goat's cheese and a nice vinaigrette? (Talk about filling...! Not to mention easy. Just open packets of food and toss them in a bowl together. No cooking, save maybe some microwaving of the cheese...) Full fat greek yoghurt with a couple of berries thrown in, nuts, coconutshavings? Couple of squares of extra dark chocolate? (Lindt 85% <3 ).

If you ditch the potatoes, rice, porridge/cereal, bread, pasta, corn, fruit and such... And find other things that fill you right up, besides stopping the weight-loss, that's be good. Just up the fats and protein. Chicken with the skin on, nuts, avocado... It's good eating.

Good luck!
Jo

@craig55
Hello Craig and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
  

Welcome to the forum @craig55. Well done on reducing your HbA1c from 42 to 41 by your 3 month retest. It might not seem much but it's good in such a short time.
As the others have said you need to replace the energy from the sugar and carbs by increasing your intake of healthy fats and protein. Your taste for chocolate, cakes and biscuits will decrease in time. I used to eat a lot of sweet stuff and could eat a 500 gm bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk in a couple of hours, but don't like it now.
High cocoa content dark chocolate with cocoa content of 70% or more is low carb and a couple of squares is all I usually need now when I want something sweet.

craig55 said:

Thank you so much for the information. It’s difficult to process the technical jargon but I need to do my best to understand

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It is a bit much, but well-worth the study. Take notes, it helps. (No kidding, it does.). And, ask anything.

craig55 said:

A depressed newbie here,so apologies for the wings in advance.
I was diagnosed just inside the range of pre diabetic(42) in June of this year. I should not have been surprised as my mother at the age of 77 was diagnosed pre diabetic,and my father at 76 diabetic, but being told the news I was shocked to say the least. I had been known to eat a large bar of chocolate several times a week.and often cakes and biscuits. I would even wake in the night and crave sugar. Well that has all stopped. I was the tested in September to find that although not officially pre diabetic I had only come down to 41. I felt the reading must be wrong as I had I thought been so careful. Since then what I eat has taken over my life,and has made me so depressed. I have lost in total from being diagnosed almost a stone and look and feel terrible. I have always been slim for my height but with trying to be even more careful what I eat I am still loosing weight.
On the whole when I test my blood sugars they don’t seem too bad until I have a generous helping of potatoes. The carbs help to fill me up but are obviously a no no unless in moderation.
I am struggling on all sides and feel terrible. I have never been one to enjoy cooking btw.
Can anyone suggest simple ways of increasing my weight to keep inline with keeping my blood sugars under control.
Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

welcome here craig55
please stay in this forum for help advice and encouragement, people in here are so kind and offers kind advice all the time ... and it also keeps one motivated to be in this forum , it is not that bad only being pre-diabetic ... you still have the chance to turn the development , but of cause if it is genetic, sometimes one must just bite the bullet and take the control back... and most can in fact do that... say that to yourself dear...

please don´t be so depressed , most can get ideal blood glucose again if they just count their level of carbs daily and stay under 100-150 grams daily. the easiest way to do that is to eat a breakfast almost without carbs like; eggs and bacon, ham and cheese (no bread ) cheese and pepper fruit, omelets with tomatoes or mushrooms , avocado with shrims or tacosauce and so on..

https://tasty.co/compilation/5-low-carb-breakfasts

https://www.ditchthecarbs.com/23-easy-low-carb-breakfast-ideas/


There are so many wonderful kinds of foods and treats we can, in fact, eat.. I have chosen to see it as a challenge and also a new sport of educating myself into new kinds of food choices.. the low carb eating style actually offers so many delicious new kinds of treats also for a person that love "sweets/sugar"
well of cause it is important not to keep eating sugar and candies filled with sugar but for instance, 80-90% dark chocolate only contains very little sugar.
when I miss sugar the most I use sucralose which tastes very much the same as sugar..( it is not really healthy in very high amounts, but it doesn´t raise blood glucose)

high-fat yogurt (10% fat or more) with fresh berries are also good,

here some link to great treats:

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/recipes/desserts

https://lowcarbyum.com/easy-no-bake-low-carb-desserts/

Welcome to the forum - and yes, quite a lot of us have had that same lost feeling. I am also quite slim and had no need to lose weight but found myself losing weight when I chenged my eating habits (and I have no excuse as I had been taught a lot of good strategies by a nutritionist 10 years previously when I had gestational diabetes).

As others have said: upping fats to compensate is for less carbs will make you feel more full and will help curb the weight loss. And it doesn't necessarily have to be what we traditionally think of as 'healthy' food - I for one am not likely to make myself a salad if given the choice. But I do enjoy a steak, in its own juices, with veggies. Eggs, bacon, spinach, mushrooms, cheese are lovely as breakfast. Or if doing all those separately is too much of a hassle - omelette! Food does have to be enjoyable because what's the fun in it all otherwise?

I'm not a big fan of cooking either - so make sure you have alternatives on hand if you stare at the oven and move towards the snacks instead. Cheese. Nuts. Olives. Smoked salmon. Regular ham (watch out for the honey ham etc though). Those are my go-tos when I don't actually want to do anything that involves cooking pans.

You can still eat high cocoa chocolate, or use it in cooking - you can make cakes which are low in carbohydrate, or trifles with almond based sponge cake, sugar free jelly, some berries, real custard and thick cream - you can't get them ready made, but they are simple enough to make for yourself.
Substituting lower carb foods for the potatoes (and other high carb foods) seems to be a good idea - that is the basis of non medicated control, fewer carbs means lower blood glucose for the lucky types who are most likely making too much insulin rather than too little.