Mister LJ's Am I or Aren't I?

Hi and welcome!

Why were you told you were 'borderline diabetic'?
The numbers you list are well into the normal range.

Having said that, I'm not gonna lie, 3 sugars in tea is not going to be doing you any good whatsoever.
As for your weight... have you been gaining? That is often (but not always) a sign of growing insulin resistance.
But don't obsess about weight. There are a heck of a lot of people out there who are significantly overweight who are not T2.

Subcutaneous fat is a nice easy way for the media to blame people for T2, but the reality is that it is largely irrelevant. It is visceral fat that is important*, and slim people can get that too, while (as I said above) many fat people don't get visceral fat, or don't get enough of it to cause T2.

*though not everyone with T2 has visceral fat, they are the exception rather than the rule.

Mister LJ said:

Well, here I am! and thank you for this excellent forum being here for all the help available! It's great isn't it? and not to be taken for granted.

So what's my situation? well, I'm concerned, I was told quite sometime ago that I was borderline diabetic, probably not surprising that I'm a bit overweight and that my Dad had type two quite badly, Mum fed him very well and they didn't handle the situation very well at all. I've told myself I'm not going down his route with this, so it's time to do something about it.

My weight currently is 94.1kg, standing at 6'4" tall makes gives me a BMI reading of 25.3. So I need to get below 90kg at least. Blood pressures are quite good usually taking readings first thing in the mornings, this morning typically being 121/81 with a pulse of 78. I also take my weight reading every day at this time too. I'm not on any sort of medication although I am taking supplement B12 tablets from Boots for the last few days. (Blood Group B Negative)

I'll have to be honest that I don't exercise, I eat recklessly... three sugars in my tea! Bloomin heck what are you thinking reading this?? and I drink a pint of home brewed stout every day.

Here's my own data so far....
Sun 3Nov19 -
5.5 Wake up - Before any food or drink. Only a pint of tea 3 hours previously.
5.5 2 hours after breakfast.
4.7 before evening tea 6.30pm.
6.5 2hrs after evening meal 9.45pm
Mon 4Nov19 -
5.6 Wake up - 8.25am
4.8 before cuppa tea 3 sugars at 3.20pm. Hour later 6.3
6.7 before tea 5.16pm - Then Omelette & peas, jam tart & cream.
6.7 after 2 hours 7.30pm.
Tues 5Nov19 -
5.6 Wake up - 8.21am.....BP 121/81 pul 78.....94.1 kg

More to come.... your opinions?

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You skipped the "Yes, go do the doc and get a HbA1c to ease your mind" option. Your numbers look good, hitting fours regularly, not going over 6,7...

And 3 sugars? Amateur. I used to take 5. Even in my espresso. (Which honestly, was more like syrup by the time I was done adding that much. Those were my meal replacements, haha).

If you're concerned, get tested. I think your HbA1c will have no nasty surprises, but if you remain worried, maybe give all that sugar and stout a pass. And eat less recklessly. You might choke or something. It's never too soon to make some changes, if you're concerned about T2 in your future. You could well avoid it altogether with ease, if you're even inclined to get it. And lose those few pounds in the meantime too.
Relax.
Jo

Mister LJ said:

Weds 6Nov19 -
5.6 Wake up - 7.16am......BP 125/78 pul 73....94.1 kg
4.7 before breakfast - 11.27am - 70g porridge with green top milk and NO sugar.
5.5 2hrs after breakfast
4.7 before evening meal - 5.30pm - Cornbeef hash, glass of wine.
6.3 2hrs after evening meal
5.3 Just before sleep - 11.48pm.....BP 131/85 Pul 74

The efforts of yesterday resulted in quite a drop in weight this morning, so far I'm pleased wivmeself.
Going in to town lunch time.... Weatherspoons, is this a 'Good' idea?

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My gran always said I'd turn into a little sugaranimal one day. (Dutch candy). Turns out, gran was right!

I'm surprised at the rises after the curry, tart and porridge, I wouldn't have a prayer with those myself! (I hope you thoroughly enjoyed them!) As for Wetherspoons, I can't find a menu online (I think it is available when you have a location for one, but not a franshise wide menu) and we don't have them here, but when in doubt, tell 'em to keep the spuds/bread/rice and up the veggies/meat. And enjoy your meal.

Mister LJ said:

Weds 6Nov19 -
5.6 Wake up - 7.16am......BP 125/78 pul 73....94.1 kg
4.7 before breakfast - 11.27am - 70g porridge with green top milk and NO sugar.
5.5 2hrs after breakfast
4.7 before evening meal - 5.30pm - Cornbeef hash, glass of wine.
6.3 2hrs after evening meal
5.3 Just before sleep - 11.48pm.....BP 131/85 Pul 74

The efforts of yesterday resulted in quite a drop in weight this morning, so far I'm pleased wivmeself.
Going in to town lunch time.... Weatherspoons, is this a 'Good' idea?

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I'm curious, have you ever tested around the one hour mark after a carby meal to see where your spikes get up to? Like after your porridge or whichever meal left you at 6.5 by the 2 hour mark?

Mister LJ said:

Hi, thanks for replies and welcomes....

My last and only HbA1c was done two or three years ago so I can't really remember much about what was said then. It was at a time when I had a blood test for psa (Prostate enlargement test) and I was told then.

Yes, I've been putting on weight, I'm just greedy, junk food is rather addictive, but FIVE sugars Jo.... that is insane!

My data for yesterday....
Tues 5Nov19 -
5.6 Wake up - 8.21am.....BP 121/81 pul 78.....94.1 kg. Then no sugar tea.
5.0 before breakfast - 11.54am - 2 bacon, 2 eggs, 5 shrooms, tin chop toms, no sugar tea. (ughh!)
5.7 2hrs after breakfast
5.3 before evening meal - 5.51pm
7.0 2hrs after evening meal - Curry Rice, Lemon curd tart & cream, glass of red wine.
6.9 Just before sleep - 11.11pm

Going to test for a bowl of porridge now, will show results tomorrow.

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Hi there

I am not voting because the right option doesn't appear and that would be Get An Inulin test done
Your numbers are good right now and you are very slightly overweight with no other symptoms of metabolic disease other than you've been gaining weight.
Is your waistline half your height? in the absence of a visceral fat measure that is a better indicator than weight itself.
You are aware of the risk but right now I suspect your HBA1c would be normal however an abnormal HBA1c is the end game of becoming diabetic as it starts with excess insulin being produced to counteract a diet high in processed carbs (plus a genetic risk to be carb intolerant ) which is then followed by insulin resistance which causes further weight gain. Only when the body can no longer store enough energy as fat using insulin (analogous to stuffing clothes into an over-packed suitcase and then finally not being able to shut it) do you get energy/glucose spilling into the blood stream and a type 2 diagnosis. The individual tolerance for carbs is just that hence you can get some thin diabetics or TOFI S as well as the classic fatter ones.
The name of that test is HOMA-IR and there have been some threads on here so you could check that out. In the meantime why not act as if you are diabetic by tackling the junk food issue!

I think you don't need to test as often now. Results are consistently low.

Being dxd was the only thing that changed my diet. I wasn't too extreme but it did involve a lot of carbs. Even though I knew there was a chance with my family history the most I did was try and get weight down with slimming world and weight watchers. I now know why they didn't work.

You have more information than I had, didn't even know prediabetic was a thing let alone get told I was!
Jo always has great advice. I'd follow hers! If you are worried about hitting the huge tree in the road best swerve early.

I had a very wise friend who was a herbalist I used to have 3 spoons of sugar in my tea He suggested that I put 3 spoons of sugar on a saucer each time I had a cup of tea . Was I really eating that !! However my friend advised cutting down about 1/2 a spoon for about a week until I was not having any sugar ,now I can taste the sweetness of my drink has been stirred with a spoon that has been in a sugary drink
Carol