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Hello new here and a bit lost

Lawrencepa

Well-Known Member
Messages
54
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
Hi I'm Lawrence nice to meet you all I had a fasting blood test recently which came as 8.8 for blood sugar. Which I've been told is considerably high for someone without diabetes. I've since had a GTT which said it was normal which is relieving but I want to take action to be in the safe zone.
I want to treat myself as if I have diabetes now and I am panicking but want to get it together and make sure I don't receive a similar result. I've literally just started but won't fully start until next week.
My biggest weakness is definitely my pizza takeaway cravings which I feel addicted to and will order an extra large pizza in a weekly basis. I know these need to stop and I hope I can. Aside from that I don't eat too unhealthy but I understand I need to cut out the carbs. Which I will do as of next week.
Apart from aiming low on carbs is there much else I can do? Do I need to focus on calories? I don't eat a lot but i feel like I've had enough the majority of the time. How long does it take for diabetes to develop? I don't understand how I can keep sugar and carbs completely down when fruit and veg is filled with them. I have so many other questions but I will leave that for another time because I've gone on long enough
 
Hi @Lawrencepa and welcome to the forum. It's good to hear that you aren't diabetic. You have done well to decide to take action now to avoid becoming diabetic. You have understood that carbs are the main things to avoid, along with sugary stuff like fruit.
But there are a lot of things you can eat, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and most vegetables grown above ground. Berries are usually ok too.
The best thing you can do is to get a blood glucose meter so you can test before, then 90-120 minutes after eating to find out which foods effect you.
Best to avoid pizzas though.
 
Hi @Lawrencepa and welcome,

Can you tell us what the results of your OGTT were? Your fasting baseline and your post drink levels at 2 hours (and any other time you were tested) If you don't know, I suggest you find out as it could be very important. Doctors are too fond of saying things like "it's fine", "it's normal" when in fact it is teetering on the edge of abnormal. You need to know! You could ring and ask, or ask for a print out, or ask if your surgery puts test results on line and how to register for this. (In England surgeries were asked to have test results on line by April 2016 but not all have)

I second the suggestion to get a blood glucose meter. They are essential if you want to learn which foods cause your blood sugars to rise too high. There is no other way of doing this. The worst foods are rice, bread, potatoes, pasta, breakfast cereals and most fruits. You probably don't need to cut these out but you may need to reduce the amount you eat, and pizza is not a good idea at all!
 

I asked the receptionist but she didn't really know what she was talking about. She said had 5 for GTT I don't know what it was after the energy drink. Unless she meant the 8.8 was what it was after. Because I'm pretty sure the Dr said I was only 0.1 over for the first blood test. I will ask for a printout when I see him on Monday.
 
I miss pizzas but I'm told fathead pizzas (low carb) are good. Not tried them yet. You'll need to roll your sleeves up and cook your own though!
Here is a link to the Diet Dr website, there's loads of low carb recipes there including pizza:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/?s=Pizza
 

Yes, you must find out.
 
Hi. It's good that you are taking steps to move yourself back well into the non-diabetic zone. Yes, lower the carbs and have enough fats and proteins to help you feel full as they slow carb absorption. Yes, root veg aren't the best due to carbs but many veg are low in carbs but have loads of fibre etc. Avoid tropical fruit but apples, pears, berries etc are good and have fibre and not too many carbs. A meter will guide you into the right foods and tell you how you are doing.
 

If I snack on 2 pieces of fruit a day would that be considered excessive?
 
Lawrencepa said:
If I snack on 2 pieces of fruit a day would that be considered excessive?
Click to expand...

It depends on the fruit, and it depends what you eat it with. It is normally advisable to eat fruit as part of a meal rather than a snack, and with something like cream or plain full fat yogurts. Tropical fruits are difficult. Berries are the best. You need to use a meter to test out your personal tolerance of fruits - remembering that some are fast release, so unless eaten with fats will spike your levels earlier than other foods.
 
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