questions

Remind yourself of the misery that will last a LIFETIME if you progress to developing diabetes.

DON'T ignore it !!

The good news about diabetes is you can change how you are doing by starting today!

ChristinaCS said:

hello, i was diagnosed with prediabetes about 3 months ago. and i really just dont know how to stop cravings for sodas and other foods i know i shouldnt eat. how can i stop the cravings?
i was doing pretty well on the diet the first month, i was beeing treated with metformin and alopurinol. i am still being treated with metformin but have found myself in a face of... denial of my diagnosis. i have been breaking the diet more days than following it. missing my workouts, going out and drinking on weekends..... and i feel like i need to get back on track with everything... how can i do it?

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I was prediabetic for about 5 years. A1c always seemed to be 5.9% - 6.1%. I figured it was fine and wasn't going to get any worse anytime soon. Then it shot up to 8.5% and I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I quickly got it back down to 5.9% and I hope to get it down around 5.0%. That being said, I am left with beating myself up for not making the change to LCHF much sooner. It has been easier than I ever imagined.....and I should have started it as soon as I became prediabetic. Don't wait. Make the change now. You don't have to go hard core keto. Just cut way back on carbs, and especially cut out sugary drinks and sweets and limit bread. You can thank me later.

ChristinaCS said:

hello, i was diagnosed with prediabetes about 3 months ago. and i really just dont know how to stop cravings for sodas and other foods i know i shouldnt eat. how can i stop the cravings?
i was doing pretty well on the diet the first month, i was beeing treated with metformin and alopurinol. i am still being treated with metformin but have found myself in a face of... denial of my diagnosis. i have been breaking the diet more days than following it. missing my workouts, going out and drinking on weekends..... and i feel like i need to get back on track with everything... how can i do it?

Click to expand...

I think it's maybe not so much cravings, though cutting back on carbs will make your body protest for a while as they are addictive, and you'll go through withdrawal for a bit... Assuming that's the diet you're following. (Low carb, high fat). But maybe, just maybe, you're also reacting to the diagnosis. It could have triggered the stages of grief, one of which is denial, another is anger (and doing everything you know you shouldn't is kind of rebelling as a result of those two). Just a guess though.

I didn't know I was prediabetic, the specialist I was seeing didn't bother to tell me. I would've done just about anything not to get T2 eventually. By the time I was diagnosed my muscles were wasting away, I was tired to the point of pain, couldn't walk around in my own home without face-planting. (And those hard landings made my knees very unhappy). Not to mention the morbid obesity. Just keep in mind, it's easier to tackle prediabetes than it is to come back from that. If you act now, and make sure you eat foods you both enjoy and keep you full, it's easier... If you hate salads, and you feel like you have to eat those every day, this isn't going to work. So figure out what foods work for you. I enjoy every single meal I eat. Otherwise, I would've fallen off the wagon and never gotten back on a long time ago, I fear. So stick with what you love AND doesn't raise your bloodsugars. I drink a lot of tea, espresso, and sparkling water. Eat heaps of bacon, cheese, meat, fish, poultry, above ground veggies... And salads, because I love those.

The cravings will go if you stick with it *consistently*, and will go sooner if you cut out artificial sweeteners, as your body will keep wanting sweet stuff if you keep on those. (Voice of experience here...). As for drinking on the weekends, you can... Just check this page for which drinks you can safely have. (Without messing up your bloodsugars. If you drink & drive there's noting safe about it, but you get the idea, right?) https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/alcohol

I'm not entirely sure about the Allopurinol... It's for your kidneys (or gout), but one of the possible, though rare side effects, is Diabetes T2. I know my kidneyfunction suffered when my bloodsugars were high, but if you're still prediabetic it should be better than this, I think... What was your HbA1c? Do you know?

In any case, good luck!
Jo

I was diagnosed 11 months ago.
I have a sweet tooth although more accurate description would be my whole being, dna genetics the whole caboodle is a sweet tooth

When I first came off sugar I felt lousy but to be honest the fear of diabetes was worse.

Maybe you being ore diabetic just isn’t severe enough because you haven’t quite Got it.

But as someone who had high levels at 87 I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

It isn’t easy to stop the cravings and even now 11 months later I struggle with them. Day to day is fine. I’ve got diet sorted but as soon as things change, I’m gone. It’s back to wanting to eat everything.

At the end of the day though it’s your decision.

I used to struggle with food. Have had food issues all my life and to be honest the diabetes sorted that. I still eat when I shouldn’t but nothing like I used to.
Food just isn’t the same anymore but that’s a small thing out of life.

Just stop eating what you can’t have (and no it isn’t easy trust me I’ve slipped loads) but just stop.
Take it out of the house don’t go to shops aisles etc. Just don’t.

It’s not easy but you can do it if you want to. But you really have to want to.

My body detests carbs so much 2 days of eating bit more than usual as on hols and poof, feel lousy. Living the holiday but really looking forward to going home so I can get back to my food!! Just to feel better.

You can do this. Just make yourself do it.

Good luck

I've been working on food issues, particularly emotional eating, for a couple of years now, since dieting has not worked for me and I was piling on weight. Suddenly being plunged into what feels like a strict diet (because I can't eat what I want) interfered with this. I think the only way to get over the cravings is to tough it out. Also, I realised I was being a bit resistant to the idea of LCHF eating as it feels a bit 'naughty', so when I was hungry I was trying to stave it off with small snacks of fruit etc. It's been a lot better since I started eating bigger meals and eating properly when I'm hungry. With hindsight, I can see that I'd been developing a very sweet tooth, and was indulging it with chocolates. I have a deadline of the end of August to get my HbA1c down in my next blood test, so I'm just trying to grit my teeth and power through. I don't want any of the side effects of diabetes, though, so that seems to be my only option.

I have very low carb desserts made with sugar free jelly and yoghurt whipped in when the jelly has cooled - I make the jelly from two sachets with just half a pint of hot water (I sometimes need to warm the bowl to get it to dissolve) then when it is cooling add the yoghurt and rinse out the pot with a half pint of cold water. I do sometimes add in chia seeds (to soak up the juice) and a pack of frozen berries. I also get low carb fruit squash and fizzy drinks which are flavoured water - they have improved a lot over the last few years.
If you stick to eating lower carb foods you will probably find that your perception of sweetness increases - I find that the sugar free jellies are too sweet without the yoghurt, which seems to reduce the impact - and things such as peas and beetroot taste sweet - having tasted the super sweet sweetcorn I got for my husband by accident - that is far too sweet to be a vegetable.