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hi everyone need some advice please.

scottish lass

scottish lass

Member
Messages
8
Location
nothumberland
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
gym,
I am 60 and have been told I have prediabetes and have to change my lifestyle. Im overweight and on a weight watchers diet . I feel very tired and lethargic. as the day goes on it seems to get worse any ideas what could cause this..my family all have diabetes but I want to avoid it progressing any more. any advice would be welcome.
 
Hi, welcome. Do you know what blood test results led to the prediabetes diagnosis?

The good news is that this is manageable, especially if you have been caught at the prediabetes stage.

The main thing to get your blood sugars back under control is to reduce carbohydrates in your diet. So much less bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. Also cut down (cut out if you can) obvious sugars and most fruits. This may be at odds with the weight watchers diet which is not designed for diabetics, and with what the GP might tell you. What do you typically eat?

For weight loss, diet on its own won't do it, you have to burn more calories than you eat through exercise.

Have a good read around, there's lots of good advice on here, and ask any more questions.
 
What does your weight watchers diet involve?

I only feel like you describe if I'm eating too much rice, bread, pasta, potato type things. But I have no idea how much of those are included in WW dieting.
 
sanguine said:
Hi, welcome. Do you know what blood test results led to the prediabetes diagnosis?

The good news is that this is manageable, especially if you have been caught at the prediabetes stage.

The main thing to get your blood sugars back under control is to reduce carbohydrates in your diet. So much less bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. Also cut down (cut out if you can) obvious sugars and most fruits. This may be at odds with the weight watchers diet which is not designed for diabetics, and with what the GP might tell you. What do you typically eat?

For weight loss, diet on its own won't do it, you have to burn more calories than you eat through exercise.

Have a good read around, there's lots of good advice on here, and ask any more questions.
Click to expand...
sanguine said:
Hi, welcome. Do you know what blood test results led to the prediabetes diagnosis?

The good news is that this is manageable, especially if you have been caught at the prediabetes stage.

The main thing to get your blood sugars back under control is to reduce carbohydrates in your diet. So much less bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. Also cut down (cut out if you can) obvious sugars and most fruits. This may be at odds with the weight watchers diet which is not designed for diabetics, and with what the GP might tell you. What do you typically eat?

For weight loss, diet on its own won't do it, you have to burn more calories than you eat through exercise.

Have a good read around, there's lots of good advice on here, and ask any more questions.
Click to expand...
thanks for your reply I am looking around the advice now, The test I had was the one that tells you over the period of 2-3 months. I don't eat much bread or potatoes or pasta when I have it and its normally wholemeal I do have .I eat loads veg and fruits. will need to look at my diet, thanks for the advice,
 
scottish lass said:
thanks for your reply I am looking around the advice now, The test I had was the one that tells you over the period of 2-3 months. I don't eat much bread or potatoes or pasta when I have it and its normally wholemeal I do have .I eat loads veg and fruits. will need to look at my diet, thanks for the advice,
Click to expand...
It might be the fruit sugar...
How much are you eating? And what sort of fruit?
 
Good evening and welcome.
 
hi, welcome :)

well done for attempting to lose the weight already, and also for finding us, the first thing is dont panic! we can help you understand everything you need to know about this, its more likely your pre disposed to becoming diabetic because of your family history than because your weight, the weight wont help though, so trying to lose some will do you no end of good, as already said carbohydrates are the enemy for us, reducing them will do two things, help your blood sugar levels and help you to lose the weight so its a win win if you can, they are hidden in many things so research and label reading is your new job lol, you will learn alot about your health and many of us find this to be blessing in disguise as we learn how to be healthy, with the control of your diabetes you can avoid anything progressing hopefully so try not to focus on the complications you will no doubt be reading about, focus on the lifestyle changing stuff and the success stories that brings about, please ask lots of questions, we are here to share experiences and help where we can

best of luck :)
 
Do you have a blood glucose meter?

If so, you can test the effect of each type of fruit on your BG.
I can tolerate berries, if they are with a meal. Other fruit, not so much. Bananas, mangos and grapes send my BG sky high.

Is that 5 portions of veg, and 5 of fruit, or just 5 in total?

It sounds like WW is pretty high carb, if you are eating potato, pasta, bread on it, plus fruit every day... That would wipe me out too.

Could you try halving your portions (or cutting them completely) for a day or two? Fill up on other stuff like meat or veg. And see how you feel? Just as a short term test.
 
I think finding this site will help me understand more. ging to be busy reading, thanks for the good advice. no doubt I will have lots questions. thanks
 
Brunneria said:
Do you have a blood glucose meter?

If so, you can test the effect of each type of fruit on your BG.
I can tolerate berries, if they are with a meal. Other fruit, not so much. Bananas, mangos and grapes send my BG sky high.

Is that 5 portions of veg, and 5 of fruit, or just 5 in total?

It sounds like WW is pretty high carb, if you are eating potato, pasta, bread on it, plus fruit every day... That would wipe me out too.

Could you try halving your portions (or cutting them completely) for a day or two? Fill up on other stuff like meat or veg. And see how you feel? Just as a short term test.
Click to expand...
 
I don't have a blood meter yet but will get one. going to try a change in diet see how it goes. to be honest don't know very much about prediabetes.
 
scottish lass said:
I don't have a blood meter yet but will get one. going to try a change in diet see how it goes. to be honest don't know very much about prediabetes.
Click to expand...

When buying a meter, the thing to watch for is the cost of the test strips. Several of us (incl me), use the Codefree. It's the cheapest I've seen. Amazon or eBay. Even if you don't go for that one, you can use it as a price comparison...
 
scottish lass said:
I eat pears grapes oranges bananas, Since being on weightwatcher I have at least 5 portions fruit and veg.
Click to expand...

Grapes oranges and bananas are all high in sugar, diabetics tend to avoid them (all tropical fruits in fact). Pears and apples are OK for some and not for others. The best fruits for us are usually berries - black, rasp, blue, straw.

Also avoid low-fat products which also have added sugar. Go for foods which have 5g total carb per 100g if possible.
 
scottish lass said:
I am 60 and have been told I have prediabetes and have to change my lifestyle. Im overweight and on a weight watchers diet . I feel very tired and lethargic. as the day goes on it seems to get worse any ideas what could cause this..my family all have diabetes but I want to avoid it progressing any more. any advice would be welcome.
Click to expand...
Hi there, I am prediabetic too, so 5 weeks into the whole losing weight, watching the carbs and looking after myself better. I felt like you did at first, but after a week or so, I started to find I had more energy and actually felt better than I have in years. For a long time I've felt like an 80 year old trapped in an almost-forties body.

My advice to you is this...
1. Get a blood glucose meter so you can see what your response is to a certain amount of carb. But for the love of God, don't tell your doctor you're testing at home LOL
2. I'd suggest eating normally (as in what you eat now) for couple of days just to see what your starting point is (I didn't, but it would have been useful information as I'd now be able to see what impact the lifestyle changes is having on my BG). Track what you're eating and count how much carb it amounts to. Then I'd start to reduce that by about 20g a day until you reach a point where you decide you've gone low enough, or until you see your BG is at an acceptable level. On hindsight, this is how I would have done it. Of course, you don't have to, I'm just throwing ideas out there.
3. If you don't already exercise, start to bring some more into your life. If it seems overwhelming start small, with activities you like. I chose swimming because I have a lot of weight to lose and walking hurts my "saddle-bags" too much LOL. You don't even need to go to a gym, you could just do some vigorous housework, walk to somebody else's desk instead of using the phone at work, park further away in the car park etc.
 
scottish lass said:
I don't have a blood meter yet but will get one. going to try a change in diet see how it goes. to be honest don't know very much about prediabetes.
Click to expand...
Don't despair. You are still in a position to prevent getting the full version.
Lots of good advice on forum. Read, consider, ask questions, and act on advice applicable.

Best first steps are reduce carbs, and get testing with a meter.
 
Don't buy wow food, it is often low fat and high in sugar - well something has to. Make it taste nice! LOL
 
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