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Should I test myself?

I had my Fitbit given to me for Christmas last year and it was extremely motivating. But there are some things I'm fed up with and over time I'm less motivated by it. I find that due to my shift work I can't commit to daily exercise although I am trying to keep going with it. I only use it for counting steps and floors and gave up with the sleep monitoring as I could not get used to wearing it in bed and every movement caused it to light up too brightly. Its not waterproof and with hand washing I was fed up keep removing it (proper hand washing includes wrists as well).
I didn't know about the exercise after meals thing. That's really useful to know and I'll try and incorporate that in as well.
The cold weather is getting to me at the moment and I'm still trying to stay active but need motivating away from a warm sofa and snuggly puddy cat.
 
Orangeteddy said:
I had my Fitbit given to me for Christmas last year and it was extremely motivating. But there are some things I'm fed up with and over time I'm less motivated by it. I find that due to my shift work I can't commit to daily exercise although I am trying to keep going with it. I only use it for counting steps and floors and gave up with the sleep monitoring as I could not get used to wearing it in bed and every movement caused it to light up too brightly. Its not waterproof and with hand washing I was fed up keep removing it (proper hand washing includes wrists as well).
I didn't know about the exercise after meals thing. That's really useful to know and I'll try and incorporate that in as well.
The cold weather is getting to me at the moment and I'm still trying to stay active but need motivating away from a warm sofa and snuggly puddy cat.
Click to expand...
Ah yes, if I had a cat it would make all the difference, As it is, at present the only time I really feel warm is when I'm exercising. I sympathise with your problem wearing your Fitbit on your wrist. I chose a One and wear it on a bootlace round my neck. It doesn't do sleep or heart rate. IMO at the present level of technology those are not reliable enough to be worthwhile. I used to think that people who competed with other Fitbit users were really sad, but ended up competing with my daughter and a virtual friend in the US. I am rather horrified to find that I am extremely keen not to let them beat me. It's also a way for my daughter to keep tabs on me. If I'm racking up lots of steps she knows I'm not dead!
 
Orangeteddy said:
The cold weather is getting to me at the moment and I'm still trying to stay active but need motivating away from a warm sofa and snuggly puddy cat.
Click to expand...

Hi Orangeteddy, welcome to the forum from another pred (though I think that's an under-estimate in my case). From reading through your thread it looks to me that you are doing very well so far. I've found that my outside walking has to be cut back rather a lot because of the cold / bad weather and the darker nights can make things treacherous. Plus I don't have a cat!

There are lots of walking & exercise videos on youtube, that range from gentle movements to high intensity, and strength training, that you can do without moving far from the sofa. I've now got a stack of these, that I use daily, changing them around frequently so I don't get bored. If you're interested, here's a few to try:
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qekjP3U3Bo']Total Body Exercise for Reversing Pre-Diabetes - YouTube[/URL]
Walking - Part 1: Start Quick & Easy - YouTube
1 Mile Express Interval Walk - Low Impact Cardio You Can Do At Home In A Small Space! - YouTube

Once you find them there will be other options given on the right hand side of the page, there's plenty of choices.
 
Hi again, it looks to me like your change in diet over the past two weeks is making a difference but your fasting reading will is delayed in coming down, the fasting is usually the last to come down.

It is not about eating carbs to excess but more than you body can handle at that time. Would the fries experiment have had different results if you were not rushing out, if you had it as a late evening dinner.

Still very early days yet for firm conclusions and definate patterns. This is guess work on my part, you have to learn your own body and how it reacts.
 
Salvia said:
Hi Orangeteddy, welcome to the forum from another pred (though I think that's an under-estimate in my case). From reading through your thread it looks to me that you are doing very well so far. I've found that my outside walking has to be cut back rather a lot because of the cold / bad weather and the darker nights can make things treacherous. Plus I don't have a cat!

There are lots of walking & exercise videos on youtube, that range from gentle movements to high intensity, and strength training, that you can do without moving far from the sofa. I've now got a stack of these, that I use daily, changing them around frequently so I don't get bored. If you're interested, here's a few to try:
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qekjP3U3Bo']Total Body Exercise for Reversing Pre-Diabetes - YouTube[/URL]
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVjwkaLGDk'][URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVjwkaLGDk']Walking - Part 1: Start Quick & Easy - YouTube
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuan1Tsjul8']1 Mile Express Interval Walk - Low Impact Cardio You Can Do At Home In A Small Space! - YouTube[/URL]
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVjwkaLGDk'][URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuan1Tsjul8'][/URL]
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVjwkaLGDk']Once you find them there will be other options given on the right hand side of the page, there's plenty of choices.[/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL]
Click to expand...
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVjwkaLGDk'][URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVjwkaLGDk'][URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVjwkaLGDk']
[URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVjwkaLGDk']The last link is to a Jessica Smith video - I find her really good. I didn't think it was possible to walk in my living room but it is. I find her much less annoying than the shouty 'celebs' with super-toned whooping girls in the background - Jessica Smith's mum exercises with her (and her dog Peanut) and the music is less intrusive. And it gives the cat something to laugh at from the comfort of his own chair.[/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL]
 
Salvia said:
Hi Orangeteddy, welcome to the forum from another pred (though I think that's an under-estimate in my case). From reading through your thread it looks to me that you are doing very well so far. I've found that my outside walking has to be cut back rather a lot because of the cold / bad weather and the darker nights can make things treacherous. Plus I don't have a cat!

There are lots of walking & exercise videos on youtube, that range from gentle movements to high intensity, and strength training, that you can do without moving far from the sofa. I've now got a stack of these, that I use daily, changing them around frequently so I don't get bored. If you're interested, here's a few to try:
Total Body Exercise for Reversing Pre-Diabetes - YouTube
Walking - Part 1: Start Quick & Easy - YouTube
1 Mile Express Interval Walk - Low Impact Cardio You Can Do At Home In A Small Space! - YouTube

Once you find them there will be other options given on the right hand side of the page, there's plenty of choices.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this Salvia. I do a fair bit of walking as it is an I have a treadmill in my garage which makes it so much easier to do.
 
Alison Campbell said:
Hi again, it looks to me like your change in diet over the past two weeks is making a difference but your fasting reading will is delayed in coming down, the fasting is usually the last to come down.

It is not about eating carbs to excess but more than you body can handle at that time. Would the fries experiment have had different results if you were not rushing out, if you had it as a late evening dinner.

Still very early days yet for firm conclusions and definate patterns. This is guess work on my part, you have to learn your own body and how it reacts.
Click to expand...

Hi Alison

As you say it is early days and I can see it would be easy to obsess about test results. I know that since being told I'm prediabetic - only a fortnight ago I have stopped eating sweets and chocolate - and have seriously looked at my carbs. The obvious ones i.e the white potato I have cut right back on if not out altogether - apart from those fries I mentioned earlier.

I've only had my tester 3 days and I keep forgetting to select the option it has to let it know you are doing a post meal test. I'm not sure what effect that has on my result - probably none?

This morning my fasting result was 7.9 and I did a another test 2 hrs after breakfast and it was 6.7.

Breakfast was almond pancake, fried egg, 2 sausages and mushrooms. (Very nice it was too!)

I'm think about not bothering with the fasting test as it seems like it will always be higher.
 
Although some people say that fasting does not matter and can't be controlled, I have found that is a clearer prediction of long term control (weekly, monthly)for people with the impaired fasting glucose type of prediabetes. At this time as much data as possible is important, later on as you know how foods effect you, you maybe able to test less.

That is quite a jump in fasting 6.8 to 7.9, perhaps you did not get away with those fries after all? Too early to tell but you will get to know how your body reacts.
 
Orangeteddy said:
Hi Alison - I have no idea really what has caused the HBA1C reading other than perhaps too much of the sweet stuff. I did of course have carbs in my diet too but I used to like things like jacket spuds, and fries and bread although to be honest I never ate any of them to excess. I do have a sweet tooth and this may be why.

I've only done 4 readings so far on the new tester although I did post them on another thread as I asked a question there. However, in order they have been 4.2 - 6.2 - 6.8 - 5.9
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with those levels
 
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