Is it ok to go on Lighter for Life diet if prediabetic

[Fab]

Hi - I have been told by my doc that my glucose is a bit high (on fasting test) but not high enough to diagnose type 2 - she has told me to lose weight, cut out salt, anything with sugar and be careful with my carbs and start exercising and i go back in 3 months for the Hb blood test and the fasting test to see if i am being good )

I get so very hungry sometimes, like im starving, even tho i might have eaten 20 minutes before. Is this because my blood sugars are high or low.. what should i eat to help it?

also, i have been thinking about Lighter for Life diet, I would like to lose 2 stones asap. Is it safe to do so.

also.. i woudl jsut like to say, that i panicked and cried for 2 days when she told me and i did not know where to go for more help.. but... i googled and googled and came across this amazing website. So many people and I never knew how having diabeties could affect peoples lives. So i feel very reassured that you guys know what your talking about and I know that with the right advice I can beat this.
Thank you

 

[sugarless sue]

Is that the Lighter life diet ? The one where you eat food packs ?

I would save your money and try reducing carbohydrate in your diet for a while.This will not only reduce your blood sugar levels but also help you lose some weight which, in turn, helps keep your blood sugar levels down and may stop you becoming diabetic.

We usually post this for new type 2's but the information could also help you use it to lose weight.

Best of all it is free!

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the affect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

Sue/Ken.

Pick out the info that will help you and try reducing carbs for a week to see what effect it has on both your weight and blood sugar levels.

 

[Synonym]

Hello Fab and welcome to the forum.

The advice Sue has posted is excellent and will help you enormously. It takes a bit of getting your head round it all but it is well worth it.

Read as much as you can on the Forum and ask questions if necessary, there are always folk around to help.