Recent blood tests have given a diagnosis of pre diabetes any help or advice appreciated

[KREJ200]

Hi from sunny old Scotland. I have recently had bloods taken for another health reasons which identified that I am pre-diabetic and have high cholesterol. I have been advised by my GP that this can be reversible through a change of lifestyle and diet.

I am overweight (21 stone) and don’t have much physical exercise except walking the dog. I have recently joined the gym with the hopes of being more active. I do smoke but have bought a vape (I know still not ideal) but I’m finding it difficult to stop so I suppose its some progress there. Due to my work and the hours during the week I have been reliant on frozen stuff pizza’s, chicken strips, chips. I do cook fresh food at the weekend though. I used to drink energy drinks daily (usually a monster) but have now quit. Alcohol wise I would have a drink at the weekend, mainly beers and wine.

I am looking for some input from people with similar circumstances that may offer either support/guidance with how to get a grasp of what’s currently going on with my current health.

I have been looking online which seems like information overload and find it difficult to process.

If there is any meal tips, food prep, or batch cooking tips that I could incorporate into my diet. The only fish I can eat is tinned tuna, so would probably me mainly eating chicken-based diet. As mentioned I have high cholesterol so if any information on this would be welcome.

Any help or information would be greatly appreciated.


Moved by mods to a new thread, edited by mod to change title

 

[Flappo]

I found that as long as I stick to a very simple diet I can stay healthy and have far less side effects from Diabetes medication ;

1. STOP DRINKING & SMOKING 100%
2. Plenty of Vitamin supplements
3. Bananas are Best
4. Plenty of exercise
5. Drink lots of water

You WILL soon feel a lot better believe me , I lost 8 stone !! I feel like a new man ( If anyone can find me one please let me know LOL )

 

[VashtiB]

Hello and welcome @KREJ200

Okay- welcome to the club no one wants to join. The great news is that being pre diabetic means it may be easier to turn it around

My first suggestion is to try to lower the carbs in your general diet. While I am keto you may well not have to be anywhere near that drastic.

Given you have fresh food during the weekend my first suggestion is to try to cook a bit extra so you have a couple of meals for the week. It's easier to avoid frozen food if you have prepared food in your fridge.

So some suggestions
-boiled eggs in the fridge - I sometimes mash them with salt and low carb mayonnaise
- tinned tuna with mayonnaise and spring onion and salt
-some chicken can be precooked and eaten later
-chicken wings can be cooked and then reheated later (or eaten cold). Try it with some blue vein cheese dip
-steak can be pretty easy to cook quickly
you can prepare meatballs on the weekend so they are easy to cook during the week.

Let me know if any of these work and if you need more ideas.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Hello @KREJ200 ,

Yeah, I know, it's scary. @VashtiB 's suggestions are absolutely sound, none of that will raise your blood sugars. And while dropping the smokes may be hard for the moment, especially because I imagine you're just really, REALLY stressed right now with the diagnosis, you can give it a go at a later date. Tackle one thing at a time, and when you're feeling a bit steadier on your feet and have your blood glucose under control, you can give it a go without the vape. You know it's better, but knowing a thing and acting on it aren't always... Doable. (No judgement here, I used to light one cigarette with the other, being a high strung kind of person. I know it feels nigh on impossible to quit, but I also know it can be done. Provided you're in the right mindset, and now, you don't seem to be.) As for the drinks on the weekend, if you think you can stick with wine, rather than beers, would that help? Beers can spike blood glucose, wines are much more doable. (Not to mention spirits... You could try a Bacardi coke zero? It's something you can nurse for a while and still be sociable and slightly buzzed/relaxed.).

Has anyone brought up Metabolic Syndrome to you? It's an umbrella term for a bunch of conditions that are often seen together. It means having have some, or all, of the following: Diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The thing is, when you drop the carbs and your blood sugars start coming down... Everything else tends to improve too. So for the moment, focus on the diabetes part, and hope the high cholesterol will calm down some too as you gain blood glucose control. Takes a long time to see a difference there, cholesterol is slow to change; blood glucose is a little faster in letting you know where you stand, especially if you get yourself a meter, but... Just give yourself a little time to wrap your head around this diabetes thing and get into a groove with it.

Also, uh, banana's.... They're very high in carbs and anyone following a low carb way of eating would usually steer clear. We're all different though. But that's another thing it illustrates perfectly: there's loads and loads of information on the internet, and a heck of a lot of it, contradicts! Just like in this thread, evidently, haha. That's another reason to get a meter and test around meals. What is true for @Flappo , who seems to be dealing with banana's just fine, isn't true for me. (Granted, I'm allergic to banana's, but if I wasn't, I wouldn't be eating them because a single one would be carbier than what I put away in a whole day!). So you start sussing out how your body works, how it copes, and what it can and can't handle. Test before a meal and 2 hours after that first bite. You're aiming for a rise of no more, and preferably less, than 2.0 mmol/l. If you manage that, your blood glucose should come down gradually, and hopefully, get more in the direction of the normal range. I fare well on a very, very low carb diet, but you might not have to be anywhere near as drastic. And what some health guru on Instagram, or random internet person (like me) might say, none of us have YOUR body, your level of insulin resistance/sensitivity, and other contributing factors like medications, conditions, sensitivities, daily rythm, amount and quality of sleep, stress... You're you, none of us are. So make yourself your own experiment, and be a little forgiving to yourself in the meantime. Get a meter and learn what you need. There are no absolutes here, though I do tend to speak in them sometimes, but... Try and find a method that suits you. Find work-arounds, like wine rather than beer, or batch cooking on the weekend... Make this doable for you and your life, because this is something you'll be doing for the long haul, and it has to agree with you, not with some fitgirl on Tiktok.

You'll get the hang of this. It's very scary right at the start, but all of us got through this bit to come to a point where we tell others how to get through it. You're not alone.
Jo

PS: This might help some: https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html

 

[KREJ200]

I found that as long as I stick to a very simple diet I can stay healthy and have far less side effects from Diabetes medication ;

1. STOP DRINKING & SMOKING 100%
2. Plenty of Vitamin supplements
3. Bananas are Best
4. Plenty of exercise
5. Drink lots of water

You WILL soon feel a lot better believe me , I lost 8 stone !! I feel like a new man ( If anyone can find me one please let me know LOL )

@Flappo

Thanks for the reply and the advice. 8 stone thats amazing well done.
Can I ask what supplements you are taking?

 

[KREJ200]

Hello and welcome @KREJ200

Okay- welcome to the club no one wants to join. The great news is that being pre diabetic means it may be easier to turn it around

My first suggestion is to try to lower the carbs in your general diet. While I am keto you may well not have to be anywhere near that drastic.

Given you have fresh food during the weekend my first suggestion is to try to cook a bit extra so you have a couple of meals for the week. It's easier to avoid frozen food if you have prepared food in your fridge.

So some suggestions
-boiled eggs in the fridge - I sometimes mash them with salt and low carb mayonnaise
- tinned tuna with mayonnaise and spring onion and salt
-some chicken can be precooked and eaten later
-chicken wings can be cooked and then reheated later (or eaten cold). Try it with some blue vein cheese dip
-steak can be pretty easy to cook quickly
you can prepare meatballs on the weekend so they are easy to cook during the week.

Let me know if any of these work and if you need more ideas.

Thanks for the welcome. Its good to have support from people in similar circumstances.

That’s great suggestions thanks very much, as I have only found out last week my diet has been consisting of eggs, chicken, and tuna. I am just trying to find a balance that works for me. I feel like im pining for food that I cant have which is proving difficult but need to have willpower in order to turn around.

I have been living really unhealthy since the pandemic and haven’t been able to kick out of unhealthy habits but this has came as a “wake up call” that’s been well overdue.


Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

 

[lovinglife]

@KREJ200

One bit of advice I would say is watch the bananas, you may find like lot of us with T2 here you can’t tolerate them even in small amounts. They are full of sugar and can raise your BG quite a bit, you may be one of the lucky ones who can eat them but I strongly suggest you do test after eating a banana to see if you are.

Also you don’t need to give up alcohol entirely, I don’t drink a lot but I do drink a couple of glasses of wine and spirits with diet mixers, be wary of the “trendy” brands of mixers like Fevertree, they are branded as light and if my recollection is correct still have about 10g sugar in a bottle (it may be more)

I have Diet Coke, shwepps diet tonic (which I’ve noticed is making a slow comeback in the pubs) diet lemonade - if I can’t get any of those when I’m out I just have soda water in my spirits, but that can be an acquired taste if your used to drinking standard mixers in your drinks. I also sometimes just have a lot of ice and no mixer.

 

[Flappo]

@Flappo

Thanks for the reply and the advice. 8 stone thats amazing well done.
Can I ask what supplements you are taking?

Vitamins A, B12 , C, D , E & Magnesium

I sometimes replace the Vitamin C pill with a Banana

I found if I stop eating at 3pm that helps with weight loss , after that my metabolism seems to slow down and I get tummy issues

 

[Flappo]

I stopped dinking after going to the doctor and going through my weekly alcohol intake

12 x cans of Kronenborg , 2 x Bottles of wine , 1/2 Bottle of Gin ( 3 x times a week )

His reaction was - How on earth are you still alive ??

I think I dodged a bullet to put it mildly