Welcome to the forum
@Nearlyretired
Sorry to hear you’ve been told you are at risk of developing diabetes.
Were you told the result of your HbA1c? For ‘at risk’ it would generally be a number somewhere between 42 and 47mmol/mol.
Knowing where you are within that range can help you understand the extent to which your metabolism has been struggling, and whether some fairly modest tweaks, or a more substantial overhaul might be more appropriate.
We’ve had lots of members over the years who have successfully steered away from a diabetes diagnosis, or been able to put their T2 diabetes into remission by making sustainable changes to their menu and lifestyle.
The two main options seem to be
1. Significant weight loss. Approx 10-15kg. Especially visceral fat around the organs (often suggested by weight carried around the abdomen). Any method can work, but people often try a short, intense intervention like the NHS ‘path to remission’ soup and shake / 800 calorie/ Newcastle diet. then transition to a sustainable weight-maintaining menu afterwards.
2. A lower carb menu. Typically less than 130g a day of total carbohydrates, sometimes a bit lower than that. Not just cutting back on sweet and sugary things, but reducing portion sizes of rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits - or finding lower carb swaps such as celeriac for potatoes, and cauli ‘rice’.
There’s a meal plan and extra info here which might help
lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk