Hi
@TrendyD , and welcome,
Ah, another person who thinks they're on the road to T2 due to their weight! Let me tell you a secret: being a little overweight is a symptom of prediabetes.
Carbohydrates turn to glucose once ingested, but as a prediabetic, you have insulin resistance... Meaning you can't turn that glucose into fuel to burn, so it gets stored in fat cells instead. Read that a few times and then see the implications: a lot of T2's are (morbidly) overweight, but it was caused by their insulin resistance, which then turns to diabetes. You don't become diabetic because you're overweight (10% of T2's are actually skinny, so it's not a prerequisite), you become bigger because you're slowly becoming diabetic. But hey, you're in the pre-phase, so with just a few tweaks to your diet, you could postpone a T2 diagnosis for years. Who knows, maybe avoid it entirely. What I wouldn't give to be in your shoes right now. (You probably feel like your world is falling apart, and there are still people who would want to trade with you. Imagine that eh...)
So, the most important thing you now already know: practically all carbohydrates turn to glucose. And you don't process that back out well because of insulin resistance. So the next step: cut back on carbs. That means the obvious straight sugars, but also starches; potatoes, bread, rice, corn, pasta, cereals/muesi. Fruits are high in sugars too, save for berries, avocado, starfruit and tomatoes. The rest, not so good.
There are 3 macro nutrients, and carbs are one of them. Fats and protein are the others. If you cut the carbs, you up the fats.That way you stay satiated, and don't miss out on any micronutrients like vitamins and minerals. In other words, you don't run the risk of getting malnourished.
So, what can you eat? Eggs, meat (bacon is your new best friend), poultry, fish, cheese, butter, full fat greek yoghurt, berries, avocado, above ground veggies, tomatoes, extra dark chocolate, cream, nuts...
Meals could look like this:
Eggs with bacon, cheese, couple of 'shrooms, high meat content sausages
Omelet with cinnamon, cream and erythitol (a sweetener that won't ruin your gutbacteria), with some coconut shavings and berries on the side. (And another dash of cream, because it's niiiice).
Green salad with a can of tuna (oil, not brine!), mayo, avocado, capers and olives
Green salad with slightly warmed up goat's cheese and bit of a nice vinaigrette
Meat, fish or poultry with cauliflower-rice (which can replace rice, spuds and pasta), bacon and cheese. Herbs to taste
Snacks could be a few squares of extra dark chocolate (Lindt 85% is nice), olives, cheeses, pork scratchings...
I hope that sounds pretty do-able. I skip breakfast myself, usually just have a cup of tea or two while my husband eats, so we still start the day together. This way I got my bloodsugars down to the non-diabetic range (You'll want to know your HbA1c results. If you don't know where you're coming from ,you don't know where you're headed, so ask for them), lost 25 kilo's and basically, got my life back. I was collapsing left and right, couldn't leave the house, couldn't walk any distances... Now I'm out every weekend doing walks with camera gear weighing me down, rather than the fat that used to be piled on me. In any case, if the mealideas sound a little bland and you're more adventurous than me in the kitchen, try dietdoctor.com for meal ideas. It's an amazing site, as is this one.
This is a whole lot of information, but there's really just one thing you have to remember right now: You'll be okay. Because you will be. Knowledge is power, and now you know where you're at physically, and what you can do about it yourself. So yeah... All good. Or, it will be.
Good luck, and welcome!
Jo
