Hi Rolloski, and welcome,
I'll tag
@daisy1 for her invaluable info-sheet, she'll be along shortly. So, 25 and a T2? That's.... Young. I do hope you were checked for T1 (C-peptide test, and another one I always forget the name of). In any case, yay for getting a meter; most of us have to self-fund. Did they tell you how to use it?
As for wrapping your head around it, it takes a while... So do give yourself some time, don't feel like you have to "get on with it", because it is quite the life-changer. Some things you need to know: Practically all carbohydrates turn to glucose once ingested, so anything carby'll make your bloodsugars spike. Not just straight sugars, but starches too. Logical step: avoid carbs. That's spuds, pasta, rice, corn, cereals, fruit (except for berries, tomatoes, avocado and starfruit), anything made with wheat/oats, really... The good thing being, carbs are one of three macro-nutrients, and when you ditch one, you up the others. The choice being fats and protein. And since protein also raises bloodsugars (though nowhere near as dramatically as carbs do), guess what... Bacon's on the menu! So's butter, full fat yoghurt etc... I'm guessing if weight is a problem, you have tried a number of diets over the years, and they probably didn't work. Because you're insulin resistant, insulin doesn't do its job anymore of turning glucose into energy to burn. It just stores it in fatcells. (That's why becoming heavier is a symptom of prediabetes: NOT a cause!) Once you know that, it makes dropping weight easy. Cut the carbs, up the fats, lower your bloodsugars, lose weight. It really is that simple. I'm going a bit fast here, but if you want more in-depth explanations, try dietdoctor.com or Dr. jason Fung's The Diabetes Code. Very informative.
In any case, you're probably wondering what you CAN eat without spiking bloodsugars. Well.. Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, above ground veggies/leafy greens, full fat greek yoghurt, extra dark chocolate (85% or more), olives, nuts etc... Meal ideas? More of them on dietdoctor.com, but I like to keep it simple myself:
Scrambled eggs with bacon, cheese, mushrooms, tomato, maybe some high meat content sausages?
Eggs with ham, bacon and cheese
Omelet with spinach and/or smoked salmon
Omelet with cream, cinnamon, with some berries and coconut shavings
Full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts and berries
Leafy green salad with a can of tuna (oil, not brine!), mayonaise, capers, olives and avocado
Leafy green salad with (warmed goat's) cheese and bacon, maybe a nice vinaigrette?
Meat, fish or poultry with veggies. I usually go for cauliflower rice or broccoli rice, with cheese and bacon to bulk it up. Never the same meal twice in a row because of various herbs/spices.
I dropped 50 pounds this way and have been in the non-diabetic range for 2 years now. How do you know your meals are working for you? If you test before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite, you shouldn't've gone up more than 2.0 mmol/l. If it is more, the meal was carbier than you could process out again. After a while you'll know what foods spike you and which won't, so it's just a lot of strips when you start out, it'll get less as time progresses.
Metformin doesn't do much about the glucose you obtain via foods... Your liver stores glucose, and dumps it in the morning, to give you energy to start the day. (Dawn phenomenon). Metformin tells your liver to calm down a little with the dumping, (about 75% less than it used to is the average, I believe) but that's about all it does. It's not going to lower bloodsugars if you eat take-out or anything, that's not it's function. Just so you know. I'm hoping, since you didn't mention any sideeffects, it hasn't been giving you and intestinal issues? Quite a few of us can't tolerate the stuff. That was my reason to look for alternatives, and I found the low carb, high fat solution to my problem.
In any case... I apologise for giving you such an information overload, but I do hope it helps.
Just know you'll be okay. There may as yet not be a cure for T2, but you can get it into remission by adopting a low-carb lifestyle.
BUT: It is your choice. There are 3 options, really. 1: Going low carb without medication, 2: going low carb with some medication, or 3: going meds only. The drawback of meds only, is that it means T2
will be a progressive disease, requiring ever more meds over the years, and eventually, in all likelyhood, insulin injections. With diet in the mix you can be complication free, and possibly medication free, for a long, long time, if not indefinitely. Up to you.
Again, welcome!
Jo
